I heard the argument of front running but never see it in practice or even explained on how to do it. Can you explain how to front run exchange traded securities?
Hi,
HTF traders can screw up the traders/investors using various techniques. Here are the main three:
Latency arbitrage: By using their high-speed and sophisticated technology/algos, they can see information about trades a fraction of a second before they are actually completed and announced to the public. This allows them to buy the assets out right from under the initial buyer and then sell them at a profit a fraction of a second later.
Electronic front-running: the HFT firm simply races ahead of a large order on an exchange, scoops up all the shares that the different other exchanges are offering (let's assume it's a buy order) then it sells them to the trader/investor and pockets the difference, again in less than a fraction of a second.
Rebate arbitrage, when the HFT firm captures the liquidity rebates that the exchanges offer but without really contributing to liquidity.
Also note that the technology behind the HFT is so complex and their algos are so secret that even the pros or their own employees have a hard time understanding what is truly going on...