I often wonder, why the need for speed. If stock markets updated once a day, would that really cause a problem?<p>The whole aspect of making updates faster, transactions faster will always lead to those who can afford it looking for an edge in speed and in most cases - getting it, aided or unaided.<p>But with such dysnimic speed any misdirection in price rise or fall can and has been in the past exhausebated and when you look at the impact again, wonder why so fast.<p>I can appreciete the fater exchanges operate the mroe transacitons and brokers just love commision, more transactions more commision and it was and always is a crux in any fiscal market.<p>Indeed the Llyods crash was due to many brokers factoring (watering down the pools of money in effect) risks (groups of insurance poiceys) so many times that when there was a big claim (asbestos) then the whole thing crashed as the pools of money to cover the insurance were eaten away so much by all this over factoring of the risks about with brokers taking a slice everytime it got passed about and reinsurance became a rererererereinsurance style affair that with so much commision taken out it was a financial timebomb awaiting to happen. Again can look more recently at mortgages and how companies polled those together as they do with insurance and reinsurance in much the same way. Though more case of hiding potentual asbestos risks in with less risker mortgages and the rest we all remember.<p>So can see why I do question the need for faster and faster stock markets when, too me daily would work and indeed even hourly. Would eliminate HFT and indeed make the whole market more stable and focused upon the companies and not what todays market become based upon somebody famous doing or saying something on twitter more then actual results.