WE CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE

From August 18 NYT columnist Joe Nocera:

“Someone told me recently that a handful of firms that use high-frequency trading strategies are developing a new microwave system to connect their Chicago and New York offices. The reason? To shave literally nanoseconds off the time it takes to complete trades. It’s true. It’s also madness.

After I wrote about high-frequency trading two weeks ago, I wound up thinking I had understated how corrosive — and pervasive — it has become. In fact, the markets have been largely optimized for high-frequency trading. The exchanges cater to these traders. Everyone scrambles to get their business. Firms like Knight Capital — which lost $440 million a couple weeks ago in a computer fiasco — both take orders from brokers and run their own trading systems. That gives them, undeniably, advantages for their own trading. The regulators, focused on the prospect of computer malfunctions that lead to wild price swings, are missing the forest for the trees. The real issue is the capture of the markets by high-frequency traders, not the occasions their computers run amok.

As for the long-term investor or the companies that want to tap the capital markets, their concerns scarcely matter. High-frequency trading is where Wall Street now makes its money. That’s all that counts.”

And from the comments section comes someone called Alierias, Airville, PA He/She has the perfect fix.

"The high frequency trading fix:

A tax on the trades, on a sliding scale based on the time the asset is held.

99% tax on all transactions held for a second or less

95% tax on trades held for less than 5 seconds

90% tax on trades held for less than 30 seconds

75% tax on trades held for less than one minute

50% tax on trades held for less than one hour

25% tax on trades held for less than 24 hours

20% tax on trades held for less than 7 days

10% tax on trades held for less than one calender month

5% tax on trades held for less than one year

1% tax on trades held for less than five years

0% tax on trades held for more than five years"

We need to e-mail the above sliding scale to our politicians and demand it be implemented into law. Make this thing go viral. Send it to media outlets such as Fox and MSNBC. Stop the insanity. Restore fairness to our markets. Let the 1/100^th of 1 percent scream at the top of their lungs. They provide nothing of value.