Comment by lucianbr | Hacker News Reader

Comment by lucianbr | Hacker News Reader

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I mean, you could also write "of course whoever has servers closer to the exchange can do HFT better". "Of course companies that invested a lot in having servers closer will reap the advantages."

No, expertise is not the difference. If you're a private person with 100 years experience in trading, you still can't do HFT. You need to be an instutition, have lots of capital to invest in servers, software development maintainance etc. As a private person I think you don't even get access to the API.

"Of course whoever has more capital has advantages in the market"? Of course they do, but I don't think "of course they should".

For this discussion, that funds don't beat the market average over a long term is irrelevant. Why not say "who cares you get more latency than the other bank, if you want money just invest in S&P500 and long term you'll beat them". But you don't apply that to banks against banks, only to banks against Joe. Why?

>of course whoever has servers closer to the exchange can do HFT better

Can do better at what? Can get their trade in the order book faster? Yes they can. But does that automatically mean they will make more money? No it does not.

>If you're a private person with 100 years experience in trading, you still can't do HFT.

Of course not, 100 years ago there were no computers. Having 100 years of experience in trading on the pit would not give you any expertise in software development.

Someone with 10 thousand years of experience plowing can't compete against someone with a tractor. That's kind of the point of the tractor...

I'm sorry that it disturbs you that the Average Joe sitting at home with his discount online brokerage account is unable to gain the same kind of benefits putting out individual orders here and there on speculative stocks that he likely knows nothing about, that hedge funds, institutions, and other highly specialized and skilled professionals are able to gain by doing this for a living.

The Average Joe does have access to highly diversified and low fee ETFs, and as I said the Average Joe can reap almost all of the rewards that the best hedge funds and banks do by sticking to those instead of trying to play the market.

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