Microstructure Noise in High-Frequency Trading: Why Retail Traders Lose at Ultra-Short Horizons Introduction: The Illusion of Speed In modern electronic markets, speed is often mistaken for edge. Retail traders believe that lower timeframes automatically translate into higher opportunity. In reality, the opposite is often true. At ultra-short horizons—milliseconds to seconds—microstructure noise overwhelms directional signal. Competing … Continue reading Microstructure Noise in High-Frequency Trading: Why Retail Traders Lose at Ultra-Short Horizons