Sleeping giant, page-17

Just for info from CNBC interview on 5 May 2014 with Warren Buffett, Charlie Munger and Bill Gates discussing HFT.

Munger:- "its the functional equivalent of letting rats into a granary" and "does the rest of civilisation no good at all"

Gates:- " It doesn't seem like its much value added because when you need liquidity its not guaranteed to be there...It seems like a strange sort of profit."

Buffett:- "Its not a liquidity provider. It may create more volume but that's not the same as being a liquidity provider" In addition "To the extent that it is front running, I think society has generally been against front running for good reasons...Here they've gained an advantage by figuring out how the system worked and getting there first and that adds nothing to economic activity."
On the other hand, he said, high- frequency trading isn't costing the average investor a "penny". "They've never had it so "good"