For Edgar Perez, Author, The Speed Traders, Increased Volumes and Volatility to Feed High-Frequency Trading on Monday

Posted on August 6, 2011. Filed under: Economy, Exchanges, Financial Crisis, Fixed Income, Securities | Tags: AAA, algorithmic trading, Asia, automated trading, Barak Obama, Blackrock, Capitalism, CBOE Volatility Index, CFA Singapore, CFTC, Chicago, China, CNBC, Commodities, Congress, David Beers, Derivatives, Dow Jones Industrial Average, Economy, Edgar Perez, Equity Markets, Europe, Exchange Rate, Fannie Mae, FCIC, Federal Farm Credit System Banks, Federal Home Loan Banks, Federal Reserve, Financial Crisis, financial markets, Fitch, Fixed Income Markets, Flash Crash, foreign exchange, Freddie Mac, Global Economy, Gold, Golden Networking, Great Depression, Hedge Funds, High-Frequency Trading, High-Frequency Trading Leaders Forum 2011, Hong Kong Securities Institute, Inflation, Moody’s, Nasdaq, Opinion, Oriel Morrison, Pimco, POTUS, recession, Regulation, S&P, S&P 500, Sao Paulo, Securities and Exchanges Comission, shares, sovereign-debt crisis, Standard and Poor's, Subprime mortgages, The Speed Traders, triple-A credit rating, U.S., U.S. Debt Tagged Financial Crisis, U.S. Federal Reserve, U.S. sovereign rating, U.S. Treasury, US Dollar, Value Investing, VIX, Washington, Yuan |

Mr. Edgar Perez, author of The Speed Traders, An Insider’s Look at the New High-Frequency Trading Phenomenon That is Transforming the Investing World (http://www.thespeedtraders.com), wrote on Modern Finance Report (http://www.modernfinancereport.com) that a short-term stock plunge (increase of volume) and a spike in volatility on Monday are reasonably expected given S&P’s downgrade of the U.S. debt rating; the U.S. stock market was coming off its worst week since the financial crisis. “So we have here two of the main requirements for high-frequency trading, volume and volatility. Therefore, it will be reasonable to expect Monday to be a busy day for speed traders, as they provide the liquidity long-term investors will need to survive the day.”
Mr. Perez indicated that he would not be inclined to kill the messenger and instead see S&P’s decision in a positive light as it should serve as an effective wake-up call to get Washington’s warring players to the negotiating table again. He gave the example of S&P’s past decision to put the UK’s AAA-rating on negative outlook in May 2009, which fueled a debate on the need for significant fiscal tightening, and tough decisions taken by the new coalition government, which were eventually rewarded by S&P with the UK’s outlook being revised back up to stable in October last year.

Mr. Perez wrote: “We cannot deny the significant psychological impact of S&P’s decision on the markets and the view of foreign governments and investors of the U.S. economy. However, I expect Monday’ stock plunge to be a short-term event that will lose steam quickly. In fact, investors can be tempted to use it as reason to snatch value plays, as there would have not been a fundamental change from where we were last Friday. At the end of the day, S&P’s main theme, that U.S. finances are in bad shape, is not news to investors and traders; for instance, Pimco, the world’s largest bond fund, had stepped away from US government debt back in March; in addition, savvy money managers had already positioned themselves for a potential rating downgrade.”

Finally, he summarized: “I agree with experts who sustain that the downgrade will not lead to sharp rises of lending rates to the corporate sector or households in the U.S., as Fitch and Moody’s still maintain their top rating for U.S. debt. Also, a sudden sell off of U.S. Treasury instruments looks unlikely, as there are still not many safe assets to replace them. Once the dust settles, attention will turn back to the economic fundamentals. Disregarding the S&P downgrade comes with high risk for the U.S. economy, particularly if Washington prioritizes electoral concerns over the long-term health of this great nation, the United States of America.”

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