UPDATE 3: Ban "Flash Trading"? Not so much.
CNBC reports on air that SEC Chair Mary Schapiro says that "the SEC is looking at inequities caused by Flash Trading and ways to eliminate that".
I knew it, I knew it, I knew it. The frontrunning effing theives will win again.
UPDATE 4: It sounds like he said/she said between Schumer and Schapiro.
Schumer said Schapiro "personally assured him that the agency plans to ban the practice" in a phone call yesterday, according to a statement.
"We salute the SEC for moving forward with this ban that will restore integrity to the markets," Schumer said in a statement e-mailed today. "The agency is absolutely making the right call by stepping up and ending this unfair practice."
UPDATE 5: CNBC reporters on the NYSE floor and at the NASDAQ say that traders are non-plussed about the potential ban of Flash Trading. They report that traders compare the use of Flash Trading to Steroid use in baseball: If everybody does it, you get more hits, runs, and homeruns, but without it, things will go back to normal.
ORIGINAL DIARY:
An immediate ban on the highly-controversial "High Frequency Trading" practice known as "Flash Trading" is imminent.
Bloomberg sources this from Senator Schumer himself:
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission plans to ban flash trades that give some brokerages an advance look at orders, Senator Charles Schumer said, citing a conversation with SEC Chairman Mary Schapiro. (h/t KronekerD)
Apparently, the outrage of small traders has been heard!
UPDATE 1: CNBC anchor says that the SEC's Mary Schapiro is considering a ban of ALL High Frequency Trading, not just Flash Trading.
I doubt that will happen, but one can hope for more honest trading.
UPDATE 2: The practice of allowing market insiders to see and react to small traders' orders before anyone else does is about to be banned. In another era, practices like this were called FRONTRUNNING and are very illegal:
A US Securities and Exchange Commission ban on flash trades is "imminent," said a senior U.S. lawmaker in a statement on Tuesday.
Democratic Senator Charles Schumer said SEC Chairman Mary Schapiro "personally assured him that the agency plans to ban the practice of so-called 'flash trading' that gives advance knowledge of stock orders to certain traders."
"We salute the SEC for moving forward with this ban that will restore integrity to the markets," Schumer said.