GM IPO's Market Maker Is a Chicago-Based HFT Firm

To me, it somehow perfectly captures the state of the financial market today.

GM, aka Government Motors, will have its post-restructuring IPO on Thursday. US taxpayers were forced to pay for the rescue and restructure, and a Chinese auto company backed by the Chinese government is set to acquire a chunk of the new GM shares.

The designated market maker to ensure the IPO runs smoothly is a Chicago-based firm, Getco, one of the largest high-frequency trading firms in the US (and probably in the world).

Getco has been busy doing the "regulatory capture", hiring ex-SEC officials, ex-Federal Reserve officials, even the ex-SEC chairman.

As Zero Hedge's Tyler Durden says, the Obama government is doing its best to make sure that "the worst IPO in history, that of Government Motors of course, will not be DOA."

Who's more suited than the HFT firm for that purpose, to buy and sell and buy and sell about 5000 times per second to provide "liquidity"?

What a joke.

Tweet