And the institutional users were very specific - farmers looking to hedge, currency dealers looking to hedge their foreign currency exposure. Banks looking to hedge their interest rate futures. They have been very niche oriented. What the PC and the Internet have done is show that there is a wholecommunityof people out there who are willing to speculate with their own capital. Why futures markets work - is there is a universe of people willing to speculate on the market movement.
Institutional traders come in with bids or orders and throw the market out of equilibrium.
Speculators come in and try to take advantage of those market movements. They try to move in and out, which we call scalping. These trading systems you talk about sound complicated and involved. The first thing is that day traders need to understand that they are not fundamental traders. They are technical Traders.