SCOTT PATTERSON: Investors trying to trade cost-effectively often find themselves standing in line behind the fleet-footed traders and are forced to wait to execute their trades, which in turn can cause poorer results, the report [by Pragma Securities LLC — a research and trading firm] says. The upshot: Investors are often paying more for many blue-chip stocks than they would have otherwise.
The results contradict a number of industry and academic studies that claim high-speed trading has cut costs for investors.
via Study: High-Speed Trading Hurts Long-Term Investors – WSJ.com.