By a factor of 25, and it&#x27;s only not more because there&#x27;s a law against making them any smaller. And it&#x27;s very much because of computerization; whether you consider it to be HFT is a question of whether you count the early days when computerized firms competed on price or the later ones when the aforementioned law meant they could only compete on latency.<p>In any case, compete they have, pushing their profits pretty close to zero. Look at the graphs in <a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.zerohedge.com&#x2F;news&#x2F;2013-02-13&#x2F;how-getco-went-hft-trading-giant-dwarf-and-raked-over-50-million-te-expenses-along-w" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.zerohedge.com&#x2F;news&#x2F;2013-02-13&#x2F;how-getco-went-hft-...</a> (article is terrible, it was just the easiest place to find the graphs).