Trading Tech Talk 8: the Modern Markets Initiative

Trading Tech Talk 8: the Modern Markets Initiative

CTO Interview: Today we have Peter Nabicht, Former CTO at Allston.

He discusses:

An overview of the Modern Markets Initiative

• Research at MMI


• Some of the key takeaways/problems he found in Flash Boys


• The key tenet of the book that the markets are rigged against the little guy, and that HFT is the culprit


• His view on a minimum order lifespan and/or a charge for canceling orders, which Blair Hull advocated


• His view on dark pools, the other focus of Flash Boys

The Inbox: More Flash Boys, mini options

Question from Brendan Karl, Binghamton, NY - Great rundown of Flash Boys in your last episode guys. I'm sure you could probably fill many episodes with your problems with that book. But I'm curious what, if anything, you guys actually agreed with from the book? Thanks for putting this show on the air. Whether you agree with Flash Boys or not the book certainly shows that there needs to be more discussion on this topic. You guys are fighting the good fight.

Question from The Dark Horse - I've been hearing a lot about the failure (or potential failure) of the mini options lately. A lot of people seem to be pointing the finger at the symbology being such an implementation headache that the brokers and traders didn't want to touch them. What's your take?