Speed Traders Should Operate in Good Times and Bad, Study Says

Computerized market makers should be required to trade futures contracts in good times and bad in order to ease turbulence during a crisis, according to a study sponsored by the U.S. industry’s regulator.

High-frequency traders, firms capable of buying and selling in millionths of a second, are more likely than manual traders to leave markets in volatile times such as the 2008 financial crisis, according to the study. About 61 percent of all trading in U.S. futures markets is now done by these firms, according to Tabb Group, and the paper suggests their exit could leave markets without enough buyers and sellers to operate effectively.