[strongvigilance]

I don't think the actual order type was a secret, just that some HFT firms figured out a way to use it which gave them an advantage over other HFT firms. The firms who didn't understand it lost out.

[yummyfajitas]

OMFG, people with smarter strategies have an advantage in the marketplace! Call the SEC!

[jmcmichael]

The whole point is that these 'smarter strategies' are only smarter because they are exploiting arbitrary API conventions, not smarter because they improve the utility of markets to society in general. Which is a tragedy, because if all these geniuses were working in the fields they trained in - computer science, physics, or bioinformatics - they would be contributing to society on a more fundamental level.

[_mulder_]

I'm sure selling on Sub-Prime mortgages was a completely legal 'smarter strategy' at one stage too.