The markets are more competitive than they were 20 years ago. Back then, there were no HFT firms front running everything. There was more paper flow, human market makers made many more mistakes than HFT bots do now. Even the medium frequency time frame was a lot less competitive. The markets would take a longer time adjusting price to new information and size order flow. Now, all the HFTs and black box programs are hyenas with a keen sense of where the kill is, scavenging away any bits…