Looking for Love too? I guess $21 billion Is Not Enough?

This morning the WSJ has an article about HFT http://blogs.wsj.com/marketbeat/2009/09/17/looking-for-love/ that states, “High-frequency traders have kept relatively quiet amid the criticism, at least publicly, even amid heightened scrutiny.”  You would think that in the past month, article after article has been flooding the media with anti – high frequency trading propoganda, while high frequency trading firm CEO’s were building homes for the poor with Jimmy Carter.

I don’t even know where to start? I guess I’ll just point to a few articles  defending HFT in the last month alone, and let them speak for themselves.

This one is from Arthur Levitt Jr., who sits on boards of firms engaging in HFT:


This one is about Getco, the High Frequency King, and details how Getco is a liquidity-providing gift to the market, especially during the 2008 sell off:
This one criticizes Senator Schumer as being wrong about being against Flash Trading, and was written the day before yesterday, when the SEC decided to propose banning the practice. Good luck following the logic in this editorial :
Each day we read numerous pro HFT articles all making the same defenses (liquidity, technology anyone can buy, and “market making evolved”), and written by HFT stakeholders (HFT practitioners, consulting firms providing HFT  their services, and Exchanges that court their business).
If this is HFT remaining quiet, I wonder what HFT being vocal sounds like? I imagine I’ll know when 70% of the articles in the entire media are pro-HFT.  I guess the same image management firm that must be hired to defend HFT has decided on painting HFT as a quiet and demur victim.
Good luck with that!