Where Goldman Sachs goes, others follow. Goldman has decided High Frequency Trading is no longer tenable, backs IEX (a fair exchange), is leaving the dinosaur NYSE, and shutting down its own dark pool. These changes will shake the trading world to its core. The parasite called HFT will be dead soon enough, with HFT companies being wallpapered in lawsuits and indictments.
Why is Goldman doing this? Michael Lewis says in Flash Boys that Goldman genuinely thinks that HFT is out of control and the next flash crash could be 10x worse and damage everyone including them. They want out – and if the demise of HFT decimates some of their competition – so much the better.
Goldman exiting virtually all venues except the upstart IEX is certainly a major change.
Another thing that is certain: take a long, hard look at the market as you know it today, because in less than a year it will be history.
Scary! Especially after LSMFT!