question on bot trading, page-5

morning,

"How can you tell if a Bot is buying or selling?"


Maybe I have the wrong idea here but it seems a lot of people think that the major role of a bot is to either buy or sell.

My understanding is that it has nothing to do with that at all. (at least most of the hft activity ie.)

I thought the role of bot trading (primarily)was to run programs that enabled price discovery - and then execute trades - both buying and selling and skimming of the small difference in the middle. This is of course done at very fast speed and in many many trades.

I have heard that they can be used for accumulation and/or distribution - but - I am unsure if that is the case in practice much and as far as I have read that is not what they were invented for.

If my understanding is incorrect - can someone please enlighten me.

have a great day

Pinto