I don't know how I personally feel about HFT. I don't have a high enough view of the system as a whole to make a determination if HFT is or will be a problem.
But the mention (http://www.cnbc.com/id/100809395) of Reuters selling data to customers 2 seconds before the conference calls (which occurr 5 minutes before the public receives the data) unsettles me a bit. Two seconds isn't a long time except when you consider that HFT operates in milli, micro, or maybe even nano seconds.
I am not sure whether I would go as far as to consider it insider trading, but I do think the conference call and the data meant for HFT should all be released at the same time as the public data.
But that isn't public data, it is private research.
That a university is doing the work muddies the water, but pretend that a private institute is selling access to its research, what benefit is there in telling it how to sell the data?
But the mention (http://www.cnbc.com/id/100809395) of Reuters selling data to customers 2 seconds before the conference calls (which occurr 5 minutes before the public receives the data) unsettles me a bit. Two seconds isn't a long time except when you consider that HFT operates in milli, micro, or maybe even nano seconds.
I am not sure whether I would go as far as to consider it insider trading, but I do think the conference call and the data meant for HFT should all be released at the same time as the public data.