What Is a High-Speed Data Feed?
Let me explain to you what a high-speed data feed is: it's a system that transmits data like price quotes and yields without any delays, and it's heavily used in high-frequency trading (HFT) for real-time data analysis.
These feeds get transmitted over fiber optic cables, microwave frequency broadcasts, or through co-location at exchange server sites. Since HFT profitability hinges on low latency, firms like these have poured billions into upgrading these high-speed data feeds.
Key Takeaways
You should know that high-speed data feeds are ultra low-latency connections delivering real-time information and executions for algorithmic and high-frequency traders. High-frequency traders invest heavily in the fastest networks and feeds to secure a competitive edge.
The main factor affecting latency is the distance the signal travels or the length of the physical cable, usually fiber-optic, carrying data from point to point. Since light in a vacuum moves at 186,000 miles per second, an HFT firm with servers co-located at an exchange has lower latency and a trading advantage over a rival even a few miles away.
How a High-Speed Data Feed Works
High-speed data feeds give computerized algorithmic traders faster, more reliable data. With HFT driven by quick data access, there's been a technological arms race as feeds and transactions near the speed of light. This has created natural monopolies in market data, which critics argue gives high-frequency traders an unfair edge over institutional and retail investors.
Advocates argue HFT benefits the market by deepening liquidity, pricing securities more efficiently than other intermediaries, and lowering trading costs for all by tightening spreads. To keep markets fair and orderly, the New York Stock Exchange introduced designated market makers in 2008 to aid price discovery and provide liquidity electronically, often through HFT.
The HFT industry has employed controversial predatory practices, like front running, where traders spot incoming orders and jump ahead before execution. Investors note that with so many HFTs, it cuts into long-run returns by taking a profit share.
In the 2000s, traders at banks and institutions started seeing HFT effects on large orders, noticing stocks racing higher right after buying began, forcing them to chase to fill orders. HFT firms would detect the demand, buy ahead, and sell back at higher prices. It took years for many to understand this, so they adapted to dealing with HFTs afterward.
Fast Fact
Consider examples like Bloomberg's B-PIPE data feed, Thomson Reuters’ Matching Binary Multicast Feed, and EBS Brokertec’s Ultra—these provide investors and vendors with market data at extremely low latency, meaning the time from signal send to receipt is minimal.
Special Considerations
The stock market today is a vast, fragmented network of interconnected automated trading systems. HFT, with its high speeds, ultra-short holding periods, and high order-to-trade ratios, makes up about 50% of U.S. equity trading volume—significant but down from over 60% in 2009. Smaller volumes, low volatility, and rising regulatory costs have squeezed HFT margins and driven industry consolidation.
To tackle exchange competition issues, regulators have added speed bumps that randomize entry times and introduce random delays. After the IEX exchange launched its system slowing orders by 350 microseconds to counter HFT advantages, the New York Stock Exchange did the same in 2017 for small and mid-cap companies.
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