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As buyside traders hit the send button, they can take comfort in the fact that their orders are flying out at the speed of light. But to where? To an exchange? A dark pool? How many venues does that order hit before it actually gets filled? And more importantly, who sees the order, and is there leakage of information that could negatively affect the price of the stock for the buyside?

In 2011, electronic trading and fragmentation drove the Canadian equities market into the 21st century-at least by U.S. standards. As a result, regulators will take center stage in the coming year to ensure the Great White North's markets stay accessible, secure and true to the Canadian spirit.

Despite a dreary outlook for jobs in equities, one firm is hiring in its quest to build a boutique research house. Wedge Partners is a tiny but steadily growing firm that is part of an elite group of only 165 broker-dealers that offer research and trading services.

Transaction-cost analysis is in the process of evolving into a set of powerful tools providing real-time information and decision support capabilities that are expected to give traders a leg up to find the most liquidity at the best price.

As 2011 nears its close, Europe, staying employed and Pipeline Trading were the most discussed topics this year, according to traders. For investors and equity traders, the end of July marked a watershed moment. That's when volatility kicked up and volumes skyrocketed after fears of a financial blowup emerged in Europe from the region's debt crisis.

The year began with low volume and little volatility, and then changed rapidly midyear, making 2011 a year of stark contrasts. Usually, the end of July and the month of August are the summer doldrums, when not much happens. This year, it was when everything changed.

Concerned about the future but still flush with cash, many companies sought to buy back their own stock in 2011. Although investments in plants and new hiring was noticeably absent, corporations poured billions back into their own stocks.

For the past several years, buyside traders have been consolidating their algorithms, paring back the number of tools on their desktops. During 2011, that process accelerated even further, with many firms deciding to cut back to just a handful of algos, often with each one tailored to specific needs.

Traditionally, single-stock traders have rarely gotten involved with exchange-traded funds. But this year, as ETFs began taking their place as a dominant part of the industry, all traders began looking to these instruments as a gateway to the brave new world of multi-asset trading.

With one exception, the year 2011 is proving a tough one for the nine bulge bracket equities shops. In the first nine months, only Morgan Stanley managed to excel. The other eight either saw their revenues decline from last year or grow only modestly.

Long a distant relative to its U.S. cousin, the Canadian equities market spread its wings and emerged this year as its own powerhouse marketplace-replete with multiple exchanges, dark pools, alternative trading systems and more algorithms. The country's rise from old-school trading to mainstream among modern global markets has been solidified by its commitment to a solid banking system, transparency and focus on the retail investor.

High-frequency traders. Can't live with 'em. Can't live without 'em. That was the message this year coming out of the bigger brokers as they took steps to both win HFT business and help their institutional clients thwart HFT trading.

With volume slumping for the second year in a row, the industry's major stock exchanges competed aggressively for brokers' business. That meant cutting prices.

The Securities and Exchange Commission and other regulators had a busy year, addressing market concerns about how to create a more stable trading environment and restore confidence rattled by last year's "flash crash."

Traders were shocked this year when Pipeline Trading Systems agreed to pay $1 million to settle charges brought by the Securities and Exchange Commission. Regulators alleged the company failed to disclose that, at times, more than 97 percent of the orders in its dark pool were filled by a trading operation affiliated with the firm.