Liquidity rebates on U.S. exchanges offer black box traders an incentive to use their computers for millisecond trading, often at a tiny loss, in order to benefit from rebates of 20 cents per 100 shares. Thats the key, the process, not the stock as an investment that makes it a business. Sometimes the best ideas in the investment game arent about using stocks as investments but understanding how to use the platform, or rather, to build one. The Island trading platform was developed by a young guy from Brooklyn, NY in the mid-1990s, and that trading engine he created made him rich when Instinet bought it. When someone writes a book on investing they usually miss the concept of wealth being generated in the platform, rather than in an investment. Bats Exchange is another winner, only three years competing in the market and the company handles approximately 12% of U.S. volume, including 12% of the trading in Nasdaq-listed shares. 7% of trades are happening in dark pools. Someone is benefiting the provider of the platform, right? Stock rebates are like gold shavings. I dont blame those for setting up systems to capture them.