Difference was that Ney characterized the specialists as anathema to the average investor whereas in reality, the specialists enjoyed these seemingly unconscionable advantages in return for an OBLIGATION to step in and take positions to narrow spreads and keep markets moving for the stocks in which they specialized. A similarly "unconscionable" advantage is granted Bond Market "Primary Dealers" by the FED. With the advent of electronic trading, these advantages are substantially less valuable while the occasions whence specialists are obligated to place themselves at risk occur far less frequently. When NYSE de-mutualized and went public, the entire system changed both fundamentally and morally (IMHO) to the point it's now all about order flow, volume of trading and maximizing shareholder value. Last year's "Flash Crash" and the predictable (but late to start) SRO investigations into the true value of computerized scalping is a direct assault on the "raison d' etre" of publicly-held exchanges at a time whence economic realities have made it painfully clear to some (myself included) that scalping redirects critically important capital away from "capital formation" (and new jobs creation) to the type of speculation which is not truly helpful to Government or Private Sector efforts to engineer recovery in pursuit of lower unemployment numbers.
Excuse the harangue, afraid I've strayed a bit from original intent but somebody has to start the debate lest it prove the downfall of us all. SPECIFIC apologies to my friends in the Hi-Freq trading genre (which encompasses most of them) but your (our) time will come again - it's just not now.....
Over to Cashin (who, I'll venture, agrees with me in private).
90 Seconds with Art Cashin: Concern For Greece is Great
Fri 10 Feb 12 | 11:40 AM ET
CNBC's Bob Pisani and Art Cashin, of UBS, discuss whether there will be much progress in a debt solution for Greece and whether the country will default, exit the euro zone, or both.
