And to think it was only yesterday when the WSJ unleashed this epic puff piece about HFT shop Hudson Trading with the following bullsh*t:
In their minds, they are making the markets more efficient through their trading… Critics of high-frequency trading are not likely to be easily won over, however. It’s going to take a lot of frank discussions between firms like Hudson River Trading and the market commentators who see them as parasites.
Sadly, what makes it complicated is that they are parasites, the only question if they are law-abiding parasites or criminal parasites. Enter the daily exhibit of yet another HFT firm busted for rigging everything it touches.
Today’s culprit: Athena Capital, which did what every other algorithmic, HFT firm does – rig the market of course, but at least it had a sense of humor about it: Athena called the market-rigging algorithm that “manipulated the closing prices of tens of thousands of stocks during the final seconds of almost every trading day during the Relevant Period” by the very amusing name “Gravy.” But remember: HFTs are really your friend – they just provide liquidity and stuff.
From the filing:
