– Watch As HFT Debate Devolves Into Epic Screamfest In Milliseconds (ZeroHedge, April 1, 2014):
The clearly agitated BATS CEO came out swinging, blasting Katsuyama and Lewis “Shame On You,” for apparently telling the truth of what occurs in the stock ‘market and letting everyone in on it’. The tension grows when he presses Katsuyama on whether he really believes it is rigged… who then erupts “I believe the markets are rigged.. and that you are a part of the rigging.” Then the gloves come off “you wanna do this, let’s do this!” and then it got worse (or better)…
Just the first 3 minute round in this epic clip is worth the price of admission (and note the floor traders cheers in the background)… but to watch the status quo crushed under the awesome honesty of reality as this is all exposed, watch on…
And here’s the highlights…
Who won? (based on CNBC’s own ongoing poll – link)
Things escalated a little for O’Brien (as 3 hours later)…
As a gentle reminder of why the BATS CEO is upset to start with…
How a rogue algo crushed the BATS IPO
In Nanex’ own words:
Start at line 192 — these weren’t stale quotes from Nasdaq by any means. These were highly accurate and precisely updated quotes from a sophisticated algorithm programmed to take BATS’s price to 0. You can see the BATS trades just before the algo on Nasdaq starts up. In other words, after the BATS trades print, everything is fine (except of course for BATS’ system). Nasdaq’s system is just fine. So is CQS (the SIP). That algo did its job with the precision of a master watch maker.
The data and charts make this abundantly clear. The trade(s) that shut down Apple would be considered stale/bad quotes. But not those 500+ trades on Nasdaq.
Nanex’ verdict:
It had to be someone who’s machines are directly connected to Nasdaq because they used Intermarket Sweep Order orders.
And visually:
Look at the timing! There are many quotes lasting less than 1/10,000 of a second in there! (10 quotes/millisecond). And note the almost perfect 45 degree line in log-scaled blue line below.
Had to be from same algo. Way too perfect. Way. Too. Perfect.
If BATS’ system hadn’t failed, this algo would have likely been obscured.
Alas, BATS did fail, and the result was March 2012’s epic embarrassment for BATS which already cost the CEO his chairmanship, and the firm hundreds of millions in fresh equity, but also which destroyed any hope that the retail investor may be coming back to what is now a permanently and terminally broken market.
And with this occurring now, it is unlikley O’Brien will ever get it back…