The diversity of high-frequency traders

The regulatory debate concerning high-frequency trading (HFT) emphasizes the importance of distinguishing different HFT strategies and their influence on market quality. Using data from NASDAQ-OMX Stockholm, we compare market-making HFTs to opportunistic HFTs. We find that market makers constitute the lion's share of HFT trading volume (63–72%) and limit order traffic (81–86%). Furthermore, market makers have higher order-to-trade ratios and lower latency than opportunistic HFTs. In a natural experiment based on tick size changes, we find that the activity of market-making HFTs mitigates intraday price volatility.     

Algorithmic market making for options

In this article, we tackle the problem of a market maker in charge of a book of options on a single liquid underlying asset. By using an approximation of the portfolio in terms of its vega, we show that the seemingly high-dimensional stochastic optimal control problem of an option market maker is in fact tractable. More precisely, when volatility is modeled using a classical stochastic volatility model—e.g. the Heston model—the problem faced by an option market maker is characterized by a low-dimensional functional equation that can be solved numerically using a Euler scheme along with interpolation techniques, even for large portfolios. In order to illustrate our findings, numerical examples are provided.     

Does high-frequency trading actually improve market liquidity? A comparative study for selected models and measures

The increasing volume of messages sent to the exchange by algorithmic traders stimulates a fierce debate among academics and practitioners on the impacts of high-frequency trading (HFT) on capital markets. By comparing a variety of regression models that associate various measures of market liquidity with measures of high-frequency activity on the same dataset, we find that for some models the increase in high-frequency activity improves market liquidity, but for others, we get the opposite effect. We indicate that this ambiguity does not depend only on the stock market or the data period, but also on the used HFT measure: the increase of high-frequency orders leads to lower market liquidity whereas the increase in high-frequency trades improves liquidity. We hypothesize that the observed decrease in market liquidity associated with an increasing level of high-frequency orders is caused by a rise in quote volatility.     

High-frequency trading and stock liquidity: An intraday analysis

This paper studies the impact of high-frequency trading (HFT) on intraday liquidity of CAC40 stocks listed on Euronext. Spreads display an intraday L-shaped pattern, while quoted depth follows an inverse pattern: low at the open and increasing towards the end of the trading day. When liquidity demand is particularly high, there is a high rate of order cancellations attributable to high-frequency traders who use frequent order cancellations to strategically manage their limit orders and close positions near the market close. Using the generalized method of moments estimator, we generate strong evidence that greater intensity of HFT is associated with lower spreads and higher depth. The positive effect of HFT on liquidity is due mainly to decreased adverse selection costs arising from asymmetric information among market participants.     

Price impact and bursts in liquidity provision

This paper analyses brief episodes of high-intensity quote turnover and revision—‘bursts’ in quotes—in the US equity market. Such events occur very frequently, several hundred times a day for actively traded stocks. We find significant price impact associated with these market maker initiated events, about five times higher than during non-burst periods. Bursts in quotes are concurrent with short-lived structural breaks in the informational relationship between market makers and market takers. During bursts, market makers no longer passively impound information from order flow into quotes—a departure from the traditional market microstructure paradigm. Rather, market makers significantly impact prices during bursts in quotes. Further analysis shows that there is asymmetry in adverse selection between the bid and ask sides of the limit order book and only a sub-population of market makers enjoys an informational advantage during bursts. Market makers on the side opposite the burst suffer elevated adverse selection costs, while market makers on the side of the burst realize positive spread, irrespective of the order flow direction. Our results call attention to the need for a new microstructure perspective in understanding modern high-frequency limit order book markets and the quote manipulation strategies at the disposal of the fast market makers.     

上海证券市场质量评析

本文基于严谨的市场质量内涵,以上海证券市场整体为研究对象,在对上海证券市场质量进行系统分析的基础上,得出结论认为该市场具有较好的透明度和小额交易流动性,并已达到弱式有效,针对在市场波动性和大额交易流动性上存在的缺陷,建议引入基于竞争性做市商的混合驱动交易机制、做空交易机制,并完善现有大额交易制度来系统地提升市场整体质量水平。     

Low-latency trading

We define low-latency activity as strategies that respond to market events in the millisecond environment, the hallmark of proprietary trading by high-frequency traders though it could include other algorithmic activity as well. We propose a new measure of low-latency activity to investigate the impact of high-frequency trading on the market environment. Our measure is highly correlated with NASDAQ-constructed estimates of high-frequency trading, but it can be computed from widely-available message data. We use this measure to study how low-latency activity affects market quality both during normal market conditions and during a period of declining prices and heightened economic uncertainty. Our analysis suggests that increased low-latency activity improves traditional market quality measures—decreasing spreads, increasing displayed depth in the limit order book, and lowering short-term volatility. Our findings suggest that given the current market structure for U.S. equities, increased low-latency activity need not work to the detriment of long-term investors.     

国外高频交易的发展现状及启示

证券市场上的高频交易模式大体上分为四类:订单拆分策略、做市交易策略、定量化交易策略和其他策略。研究发现:(1)高频交易降低了买卖价差,提高了市场流动性,而并没有增加市场波动率,甚至反而可能降低了市场波动率;(2)没有发现高频交易者存在系统性抢单行为(并不排除有特定高频交易者存在此类行为);(3)学术研究认为高频交易有导致市场风险的可能性,但是事件调查大多认为高频交易不是引发市场风险的罪魁祸首。本文认为,对高频交易的监管应该注重抓住重点区别对待,以维护公平、透明、高效的市场秩序。     

The optimal bid-ask price strategies of high-frequency trading and the effect on market liquidity

We propose a model for determining the optimal bid-ask spread strategy by a high-frequency trader (HFT) who has an informational advantage and receives information about the true value of a security. We employ an information cost function that includes volatility and the volume of the asset. Subsequently, we characterize the optimal bid-ask price strategies and obtain a stable bid-ask spread. We assume that orders submitted by low-frequency traders (LFTs) and news events arrive at the market with Poisson processes. Additionally, our model supports the trading of the two-sided quote in one period. We find that more LFTs and a higher exchange latency both hurt market liquidity. The HFT prefers to choose a two-sided quote to gain more profits while cautiously chooses a one-sided quote during times of high volatility. The model generates some testable implications with supporting empirical evidence from the NASDAQ-OMX Nordic Market.     

论离岸金融市场准入监管法制

离岸金融市场准入是指市场所在国金融监管当局依照法律规定的标准,审核并决定是否允许有关金融机构获得入本国市场从事离岸金融业务的从业资格,这通常涉及监管原则、准入主体范围、准入主体形式以及准入许可方式等几个方面。在构建中国离岸金融市场准入监管法制时,本文认为应当在离岸金融市场上实行国民待遇原则,并在必要时实施过渡安排和审慎例外的措施;应当允许银行和非银行金融机构进入离岸市场;应当要求离岸银行采取分行的组织形式;应当主要采取牌照许可方式并辅之以传统的审批方式。     

论A股市场“泡沫”

经济"泡沫"是一个与投资机会成本相联系的范畴,其主要特征表现为股价在短时间内迅猛上涨、各类人员非理性入市、股市剧烈波动。对于中国A股市场的"泡沫",不仅可以界定其内涵,也可以通过将股市的真正收益率与全社会资金平均收益率的比较衡量其"泡沫"程度。今后几年内,中国股市的"泡沫"还将继续增加,要防止股市"泡沫"破灭带来的危害,尤其是要防止国际游资对中国A股市场的冲击。     

我国银行业市场约束对监管有效性的影响分析

巴塞尔新协议中．市场约束与最低资本要求、监督检查并列为三大支柱。市场约束可实时、连续地对银行产生影响,可以弥补创新监管和突发性风险处置滞后的缺憾,可大幅降低监管的成本、抑制银行的道德风险,对提高监管有效性具有积极意义。本文主要研究了当前我国银行业的市场约束力,分析其对监管有效性的影响．并提出相关政策建议。     

NYSE execution quality subsequent to migration to hybrid

In October 2006, the NYSE began rolling-out phase three of a four-phase plan initiate its new Hybrid trading mechanism. The results show that this new trading platform introduced a much larger proportion of electronic transactions relative to floor auction transactions. This migration to electronic transactions is further evidenced by a mirror shift in price discovery from floor trades to trades marked for automatic electronic execution. In addition, the move to Hybrid trading introduced a significant decrease in inventory control costs, as well as a noticeable increase in trade persistence. Finally, the new trading platform has increased the speed with which orders are met, and has also decreased the proportion of executed shares which receive price improvement.

我国银行次级债市场的衍生功能与改革方向

本文研究了银行次级债的债项特征设计对其市场约束功能和附属资本功能的影响．在此工作的基础上,再结合我国银行次级债市场的实际情况和具体特征,对其衍生功能进行了中外对比式的逻辑推理,并从次级债的债项特征、市场建设、法定监管等视角讨论了在满足附属资本功能的同时．如何尽可能地激发其市场约束功能,为我国银行次级债市场的改革提供了有意义的启示。     

后危机时代信用衍生市场的发展方向

信用衍生市场能够促进信用风险的定价、分散和转移,并有助于金融稳定。遗憾的是,此次金融危机的发生,导致各方对信用衍生品产生很多误解。本文试图对此作一澄清,通过分析后危机时代信用衍生市场的新特点和改革路径,找出其未来的发展方向,并对发展中国的信用衍生市场提出建议。     

证券市场风险监管发展取向研究

证券市场风险的最大特点是强烈的外部性,这种外部性主要是由系统性风险决定的。风险的外部性要求加强证券监管,但风险监管中存在的俘虏、寻租、时滞等原因,降低了证券市场的效率。文章分析了证券市场风险监管的目标、取向和模式等,认为应充分发挥自律组织在风险防范中的一线缓冲作用,避免证监会承受过大的社会压力,逐步向“以自律为基础,政府监管为主”的监管体系过渡。     

When spread bites fast – Volatility and wide bid-ask spread in a mixed high-frequency and low-frequency environment

This research focuses on the impact High-Frequency Trading has on price volatility when bid-ask spread is wide. The theoretical part introduces a set of equations and presents an Agent Based Model implemented via a computer-based simulation. The wide spread leads to the appearance of unusual phenomena caused by the relative speed difference between the fast and slow traders. The latter agents tend to quote limit orders that look irrational, as they are distant more than one tick from the top-of-book. The same relative speed difference causes slow traders to post market orders that execute at price worse than originally intended. Both these abnormal orders tend to increase local volatility. Other results found by the simulation are an increase in global volatility (computed both as the difference of maximum less minimum price and as standard deviation of price distribution) and in volatility at sub-second timescales. These occurrences penalise slower traders and affect market stability. All the results are consistent both under quiet and stressed market conditions. The results found are then compared with audit trail data to verify the soundness of theory against practice.     

Insider trading with correlation between liquidity trading and a public signal

We analyse a Kyle-type continuous-time market model in which liquidity trading is correlated with a noisy public signal that is released continuously. We show that, in contrast to the previous literature, Kyle's λ, the price sensitivity to the order flow, can even be non-monotonic, depending on the correlation structure. We also show that the introduction of an additional public signal does not necessarily improve the informational efficiency of the market, depending on the correlation.     

The Effectiveness of Regulation Fair Disclosure: Evidence from an Emerging Market

The effect of corporate disclosure in emerging markets is not clearly predictable because of the prevalent information leakage prior to disclosure. We empirically examine the effectiveness of Regulation Fair Disclosure (Reg FD) in reducing information asymmetry among equity traders in an emerging market. Specifically, we test whether fair disclosure activity is negatively related to the probability of informed trading (PIN). Multivariate tests on a sample of listed companies in Korea subject to Reg FD reveal the following: (1) more frequent disclosure under Reg FD is related to lower information asymmetry, and (2) this relation differs across the types of disclosure, with the effect of qualitative disclosures on the PIN being weaker than that of quantitative disclosures. Evidence also indicates that the negative association between fair disclosure activities and information asymmetry is more (less) pronounced for firms with poorer (better) information environments where selective information leakage is more (less) likely. The results are robust to sensitivity tests. Our findings have implications for disclosure regulations in emerging markets, given that the existing literature casts doubt on the effectiveness of corporate disclosure in such markets.