Our firm was founded 40 years ago on the belief that all Americans should have the opportunity to invest in the stock market with the same advantages available to institutions and the big guys. But looking at our capital markets today, we should all be concerned. It's becoming increasingly difficult for individual investors to compete on a level playing field. The system seems rigged against them. And they are responding by walking away.

嘉信理财集团(Charles Schwab Corporation)是40年前基于这样一个信念创立的，即所有美国人在投资股市时都应该有机会与机构和大投资者享有同等优势。但如今我们的资本市场状况应该引起所有人的关注。散户投资者要想展开公平竞争，难度是越来越大了。市场体系似乎在某种力量的操纵下变得对散户投资者不利，而他们的反应是转身离去。

A Gallup survey conducted in April found that just 52% of Americans were invested in 'an individual stock, a stock mutual fund, or in a self-directed 401(k) or IRA.' This is the broadest ownership of capital in the world, but it is down from a Gallup-survey high of 67% in June 2002. That's not good for individuals, and it's not good for the country.

盖洛普(Gallup) 4月份展开的一项调查发现，仅有52%的美国人投资了“个股、股票型共同基金或自主型401(k)计划及个人退休金账户(IRA)”。这一比例是全球最高水平，但低于2002年6月盖洛普调查中67%的高值。这种现象既不利于个人，也不利于国家。

Investors are the lifeblood of the economy. They provide the capital that spurs job creation, innovation and entrepreneurship. No one will benefit if individual investors stop participating in the markets. But that is what's happening at a troubling rate. Here are some reasons for that trend─and our recommendations for restoring balance:

投资者是经济的命脉。他们提供创造就业岗位、推动创新和创业所需的资本。假如散户投资者不再参与市场，则对任何人都没有好处。但散户投资者的流失速度之快委实令人感到不安。我们将在下文谈及这一趋势产生的几个原因──我们还将提出促使市场恢复平衡的建议：

• High-frequency traders are gaming the system. Using sophisticated algorithms, high-frequency traders can trade stocks in an instant. Some flood the market with orders, then cancel 90% or more once they've glimpsed the state of the market and gleaned an advantage. Almost all 'co-locate' their computer servers as physically close as possible to those of the exchanges to cut down the travel time of information by microseconds and then trade on that tiny speed advantage.

•高频交易员在利用系统进行投机。高频交易员使用复杂的算法，能够在瞬间交易股票。有些交易员向市场发出海量指令，一旦觉察到市场状况并获得优势，就会取消90%或更多指令。几乎所有高频交易员都把自己的电脑服务器“共置”(co-locate)在距交易所服务器尽可能近的地方，以使信息传递时间减少哪怕几微秒，获得微小的速度优势。

Acknowledging this new, high-speed environment, last September the Securities and Exchange Commission levied a $5 million fine on the New York Stock Exchange─the first ever against a U.S. exchange by the regulator─for providing stock-price quotes and other data to certain firms just moments ahead of the public. As Robert Khuzami, then director of the SEC's Division of Enforcement, said at the time: 'Improper early access to market data, even measured in milliseconds, can in today's markets be a real and substantial advantage that disproportionately disadvantages retail and long-term investors.'

美国证券交易委员会(Securities and Exchange Commission, 简称SEC)承认这种新的高速交易环境的存在，去年9月份对纽约证交所(New York Stock Exchange)处以500万美元罚金（这是监管机构首次对一家美国证交所处以罚金），因纽约证交所向某些机构提供股票报价和其他数据的时间要略早于向公众提供信息的时间。时任SEC执法部(Division of Enforcement)负责人的罗伯特•库萨米(Robert Khuzami)当时表示：“违规提前获取市场数据（即使只提前几毫秒）在当今市场上可以成为一种真正的、巨大的优势，会让散户及长线投资者面临极大劣势。”

It was a watershed moment, but regulators need to do more to ensure that all professional traders are playing by the same rules as the rest of us. A penalty on excessive cancellations, rigorous enforcement of rules regarding information access, and a top-to-bottom study of the NYSE's 40-year-old Market Data System would be good places to start.

这是一个具有划时代意义的事件，但监管机构还应采取更多措施，以确保所有专业投资者与普通人的游戏规则相同。监管机构应该对取消过多交易指令的行为进行处罚，严格执行与获取信息相关的法规，对纽约证交所运行40年之久的市场数据系统(Market Data System)进行自上而下的研究。这些措施都是好的开始。

• Glitches and errors plague the markets. From the 'flash crash' of 2010 to the glitch-riddled Facebook IPO in 2012 to the market-wide shutdown when Hurricane Sandy hit New York, individuals are losing confidence in the integrity of the system. In April, a Twitter hoax claiming President Obama had been injured in an explosion at the White House sent the market spiraling downward in seconds, with computer-driven trades flooding the market the instant the false news hit the wires.

•故障和错误困扰市场。从2010年的“闪电崩盘”到2012年故障百出的Facebook首次公开募股(IPO)，再到飓风“桑迪”(Hurricane Sandy)袭击纽约导致的全面休市，散户对系统健全性的信心开始动摇了。4月份推特(Twitter)上一则号称美国总统奥巴马(Obama)在白宫爆炸中受伤的虚假消息让市场在几秒钟内急速下跌，在虚假消息上线的一瞬间，电脑驱动的自动交易指令就如洪水般涌入市场。

Markets have always been affected by misinformation, but the speed with which high-frequency traders react to false stories is alarming. In this age of technological innovation and rapid-fire information dissemination, investors need to be confident that markets can keep up.

市场一直会受虚假信息影响，但高频交易员对虚假信息的反应速度之快令人警觉。在当今这个科技创新和信息飞速传播的时代，我们要让投资者对市场跟上信息传播步伐的能力抱有信心。

Regulators have been slow to respond to the epidemic of market glitches large and small. Stronger steps─such as imposing 'kill switches' to stop trading in a stock when a problem occurs─need to be taken to ensure that systems can detect and isolate a problem before it spreads across the market.

监管机构没能及时应对席卷市场的大大小小的故障。应该采取更加有力的措施（比如施行“切断开关”机制，在出现问题时中断股票交易），以确保系统能够在问题扩散到整个市场之前发现并隔离问题。

• Tax policies here and abroad discourage investors. In the U.S., tax rates on capital gains and dividends went up for some investors in 2013, compounding a new surtax on investment income for wealthier taxpayers that went into effect this year as part of the new health-care law. While we support the goal of increasing health-care coverage for all Americans, doing so on the backs of investors seems shortsighted.

•美国国内及海外的税收政策打击了投资者的热情。在美国，针对部分投资者的资本利得和股息税率2013年有所上升，此外还对富有纳税人征收了新的投资收益附加税（作为新医疗法规的一部分，这项税收政策于今年生效）。我们支持提高全体美国人医保覆盖范围的目标，但靠牺牲投资者利益来实现这一目标似乎有些短视。

Overseas, a financial transaction tax is under consideration in several European countries. It's another tax on investors. Thus far, the Obama administration, to its credit, has been steadfast in its opposition to such a tax in the United States. But some in Congress see a tax on investors as a potential boon to the Treasury. As lawmakers debate tax reform, they should encourage investing, which boosts savings, rewards the good ideas of entrepreneurs and stimulates the economy.

从海外来看，有几个欧洲国家在考虑征收金融交易税。这是对投资者征收的另一税项。到目前为止，奥巴马政府坚决反对在美国征收金融交易税，这一点是值得肯定的。但美国国会一些议员认为对投资者征税有助于充实国库。就税改进行辩论的议员们应该鼓励投资，因为投资能够带动储蓄，让创业者的出色构想取得回报，并刺激经济。

• The retirement savings system is under attack.Private savings for retirement has played a critical role in supplementing safety-net programs by helping millions of Americans prepare for their futures. But instead of being celebrated, the laws that better enable people to take care of themselves are facing criticism and calls for drastic change.

•现行的退休储蓄体系受到攻击。私人退休储蓄在补充社会安全网方面发挥了至关重要的作用，帮助了数百万美国人为将来做好准备。但这些能让人更好地照顾自己的法律不仅没有得到赞扬，而且备受诟病，人们还呼吁对其进行彻底改革。

President Obama's recent budget would set an arbitrary cap on the total amount of retirement savings an individual can accumulate in tax-advantaged retirement accounts. Reducing contribution limits to employer-sponsored 401(k) plans and individual retirement accounts is openly discussed on Capitol Hill. Some are even calling for the entire system to be replaced with one run by the government.

奥巴马总统近期的预算案为个人能在税收优惠退休金账户中存入的退休储蓄总额横加设置上限。国会在公开讨论下调雇主资助的401(k)计划及个人退休金账户缴纳限额。一些人甚至呼吁用政府运行的项目取代整个体系。

The system we have is not perfect. But instead of hindering it or scrapping it altogether we should be enacting policies that make it easier for employers of all sizes to offer employees a savings plan, encouraging market-based innovation, and making a concerted national effort to educate America's workers on how to maximize retirement plans, particularly with low-cost investment choices.

现行的体系确实是不完美的。但我们不应该阻止现行体系的运行，也不应该彻底取消这一体系，我们应该制定一些政策，让雇主不分大小，都能更容易地向雇员提供储蓄计划，我们还应该鼓励基于市场的创新，并在全国范围内做出协调一致的努力，教育美国雇员如何使退休计划价值最大化，尤其是通过低成本投资方案来实现这一目标。

If policy makers in Washington embrace these goals, individual investors will regain the confidence that someone is fighting for them. Confidence and participation in the markets will rise, and the economy and average individual investors will benefit.

如果华盛顿的决策者们能够接纳这些目标，散户投资者会重新相信有人在捍卫他们的利益。这样一来，散户投资者的信心会增强，市场参与度会提高，整体经济和普通散户投资者都将受益。