No way ... High-frequency trading retail products on the way?

Over at FierceFinanceIT, high-frequency trading is one of our favorite topics. The issue of course affects much of Wall Street and touches even retail investors. Some are speculating that high-frequency trading (HFT news), which accounts for much of the liquidity in the markets, will soon form the core of retail investment products.

One pundit at the Christian Science Monitor predicts--somewhat tongue in cheek--that we'll soon see the launch of an exchange-traded fund or closed-end mutual fund that aims to capture the industry. These two options would be "more likely than a traditional (or open-end) mutual fund because you'd probably need a finite number of shares."

What exactly such a vehicle would invest in remains uncertain. I'm not sure there are any public companies that offer a pure play on high-frequency trading. You might be able to extend a hedge fund-type product and market it as a high-frequency trading play, but I really don't see it. If it were to happen, it would surely mark a market top.

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