Joulie

Will 'Dark Pools' Be the Capital Markets' Next Black Holes?

Thank you for this article, I've been waiting for this issue to come on the national radar. Isn't this illegal gaming? Or at a minimum, event-contract based transactions? I just don't get it: why are these legal? Isn't anyone concerned about the anticompetitive and anti-free market effect?

If I post a web site that says, "Gambling here! Bet that General Electric Stock will go down!" the Feds and the state and the Native American tribes would be all over that for illegal gambling. But aren't dark pools the same thing?

Or, at a minimum, illegal boycotts? Aren't the dark pools refusing to deal in an anticompetitive way?

We need some sunshine on these "dark pools", they defeat the purpose of the securities laws by totally hiding the major risks involved with investing -- which is the exact opposite of what the securities laws were supposed to do. The laws are to let people kick the tires, slam the doors and figure out if the stock is worth the price based on information available to everyone. If the major, market-moving information is secret -- the liquidity (volume of shares) traded -- then isn't that just admitting that the SEC is a farce, and basically the stock markets aren't based on free market, but rather based on collusion of the economically powerful private entities?

Am I overly paranoid? To me this is so obvious -- am I the only one?

Regulators? Business leaders? Hello?