NASAA Announces Annual Conference to "Focus on Meeting Tomorrow's Challenges Today" (with Lofchie Comment)

The North American Securities Administrators Association ("NASAA") announced that it will host its annual conference in Indianapolis, Indiana, from September 14-16 to "identify and discuss the challenges facing investors."

The conference will explore diminished capacity, high-frequency trading and state efforts to help small businesses raise capital.

Lofchie Comment: One of the topics to be discussed is an "examination of the impact of high-frequency trading on investor confidence and market integrity." It is well documented that the cost to retail investors of trading securities is far lower than it has ever been, and the historical ability of dealers and specialists to take advantage of a large bid-quote spread has been eliminated with the advent of Regulation NMS and high-frequency trading. Thus, it would be interesting for regulators to ask how booksellers can make so much money selling the fear of high-frequency trading. Or put another way, how different is fear generated by high-frequency trading from that which is generated by the Mayan calendar or any other concept that can be sold? See also Sharknado.

See: Press Release.