Alpha Century

Alpha Century
This post was published on the now-closed HuffPost Contributor platform. Contributors control their own work and posted freely to our site. If you need to flag this entry as abusive, send us an email.

That's what Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) wanted to know in a Senate Banking Committee hearing on Tuesday. Her query was sparked in part by revelations in Michael Lewis' recent book, Flash Boys, about how high-frequency stock trading rigs the markets.

Two witnesses answered Warren's question fairly easily, saying that increased transparency and a complete, open review of modern trading practices by the Securities and Exchange Commission would go a long way.

But for Thomas Wittman, executive vice president and global head of equities at the company that runs the NASDAQ and several international exchanges, it wasn't so simple. He wouldn't even agree that the data Warren cited on declining public trust and decreased investments were related.

Popular in the Community

Close

What's Hot