What We're Reading

• 200 million social security numbers breached @ Experian.  US Attorney General to launch probe. (nothing is safe if a credit bureau is hacked)
• The DoJ confirms the FBI is investigating high frequency trading (HFT).  With the way broker/dealers (AMTD, ETFC, SCHW) were slapped heavily last week, it looks like this time it's serious.
• The FBI is asking the public (traders and stock exchange workers) to blow the whistle on HFT.
• The SEC (accustomed to making it's own decisions when it comes to TBTF banks) feels their authority has been undercut and doesn't care for Dodd-Frank or The Financial Stability Oversight Council, who now can make it's own regulations with respect to "systemically important" financial institutions.  Shocking.........because the SEC did such a horrible bang-up job of stopping the last financial crisis. Heritage.org
• Where have all the workers gone?  WSJ takes a look (free access).  If you ask me, there's no incentive with minimum wage so low and those long o

Great visual by CNBC but checkout the 2nd video as well as this topic is REALLY heating up.  Definitely a lot of "passion" out there on the subject of high frequency trading and the supposed level playing field.  What do you think?  Please share

Certainly HFT (high frequency trading) takes advantage of minute price discrepancies and can fire off trades faster than your head can spin but is it "rigged"?  Is it illegal? Clearly big funds have an advantage over Joe the Plumber trying to trade his own portfolio.  They, after all, can afford all the bells and whistles, the fancy (more expensive) indicators, gain insider insight and if nothing else, insider information however can you say that's illegal or "rigged"?  Maybe it's more their presence causes concerns over stock market integrity with flash crashes occurring (it seems) on a continual basis now. 

We here at StockBuz strive to trade our ports, whether dollar cost averaging or full trades and do a darn good job at it so collaboration works.  Whether members feel "rigged" is the proper term to use is anyone's guess but right or wrong..............it certainly sells books.