In The USA: the Next Revolution

[bourbon]

I think Dayuhan's point about the market determining a fair price for services and goods is the ideal state, but in many cases is no longer true. Computer based trading frequently has nothing to do with the true value of company, but rather is driven by an equation that tells the computer when to buy and sell resulting in billions of dollars moving rapidly from stock to stock driving prices up and down in an irrational manner.

Yup, it is part of a broader problem involving the clearing and settlement systems in our economy.

I used to make a lot of money in stock market at one time, even when the overall market wasn't doing so well. I can't make sense of it now. Could be I just lost my magic touch, but I think there are forces influencing it now that have made the old rules obsolete.

High Frequency Trading accounts for around 70% of trade volume; retail investors are chum.