WALL STREET NEEDS A GROSS OVERHAUL

The Us is proposing a ban on 'flash' trading. A few at Wall Street are using a technique that gives a some traders an edge over everyone else — and the Securities and Exchange Commission wants to stamp it out.

Quoting from the NY Times, by Jenny Anderson,: "The S.E.C. on Thursday proposed banning what are known as flash orders, which use powerful computers to glimpse at investors’ orders. The practice is often associated with a controversial corner of finance called high-frequency trading, which has grown, largely hidden from view, into a potent force in the markets.

The proposed ban was announced on the same day that the S.E.C. put forward new rules for credit ratings agencies, which were widely criticized for their role in the financial crisis. Together, the moves telegraphed a tougher line from the commission after a series of prominent missteps, including its failure to spot the Ponzi scheme orchestrated by Bernard L. Madoff."

Any system of trading which favors some investors over others should be seen as a totally unfair and unbalanced. Quoting again from the times: "Critics say flash orders favor sophisticated, fast-moving traders at the expense of slower market participants. Using lightning-quick computers, high-frequency traders often issue and then cancel orders almost simultaneously and get an early peek at how others are trading."

Mary L. Schapiro, the chairwoman of the S.E.C., said on Thursday that in proposing the ban, the commission was trying to balance the often competing interests of long-term investors and short-term traders. The proposal requires a second vote by the commission to become binding. For the complete article, click here. Hopefully, some of the disgraceful practices government overseer agencies have ignored for several years until now, needs to be brought back into the American way of protecting ALL its people...otr is that too much for which to hope.