High-Frequency Trading of Stocks Is Two Critics' Target

But they are also making enemies.

Proponents of high-frequency trading call them embittered relics -- quixotic, old-school stockbrokers without the skills to compete in sophisticated, modern markets. And, in a sense, those critics are right: they are throwbacks. Both men say they wish Wall Street could go back to a calmer, simpler time, all the way back to, say, 2004 -- before the old exchange system splintered and murky private markets sprang up and computers could send the Dow into 1,000-point spasms...

They have proposed solutions that might seem simple to the uninitiated but look radical to H.F.T. insiders. For instance, the two want to require H.F.T. firms to honor the prices they offer for a stock for at least 50 milliseconds -- less than a wink of an eye, but eons in high-frequency time.