Pros and cons of high-frequency trading

By purchasing at the bid price and selling at the ask price, high-frequency traders can make profits of a penny or less per share . This translates to big profits when multiplied over millions of shares.

Is high-frequency trading growing? Profits in high-frequency trading have fallen to about 0.0005 per share , or a twentieth of a penny, mostly due to rising competition and less volatility, which create profit opportunities for the trading algorithms.15 Nis 2014

Many proponents of high-frequency trading argue that it enhances liquidity in the market . HFT clearly increases competition in the market as trades are executed faster and the volume of trades significantly increases. The increased liquidity causes bid-ask spreads to decline, making the markets more price-efficient.

Critics see high-frequency trading as unethical and as giving an unfair advantage for large firms against smaller institutions and investors. Stock markets are supposed to offer a fair and level playing field, which HFT arguably disrupts since the technology can be used for ultra-short-term strategies.