Financial Markets Are at Risk of a ‘Big Data’ Crash

Regulators and investors are struggling to meet the challenges posed by high-frequency trading. This ultra-fast, computerized segment of finance now accounts for most trades. HFT also contributed to the “flash crash,” the sudden, vertiginous fall in the Dow Jones Industrial Average in May 2010, according to U.S. regulators. However, the HFT of today is very different to that of three years ago. This is because of “big data.”