What about other instruments? I used to work as an IT in a small investment bank, and the traders there were not doing any equity trading. They were dealing with bonds, swaps and stuff, and they were mostly doing arbitrage, IIRC. Also there was one guy on forex, but I vaguely remember that he was not supposed to speculate, rather he was supposed to trade whatever was necessary for the other guys to work.
Is the equity market really that significant that we seem to only talk about it?
> Is the equity market really that significant that we seem to only talk about it?
No, but most people only really understand equity markets. Few people know what it means to trade a swap or even bonds. But as most people have some experience with equities, it's easier to write about that. You won't find much automation in other areas, OTC trading can't be easily replaced by machines.
As I said above, for Cash fixed income (bonds) it's happening today, it's trending up for sure. Technology exists for liquid swaps also, that will be next.
Is the equity market really that significant that we seem to only talk about it?