Steve Blitz of ITG, a broker, notes that whereas business investment remains depressed as a share of GDP, net cashflow is near a record high.

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Accordingly, China Ting Group has entered into a license agreement with ITG to develop "Burlington House Retail" as a freestanding home furnishings store concept in China.

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Perceiving a need for affordable furniture, ITG also entered into a license agreement with China Ting Group to develop a home furnishings store concept in China.

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Jones uses eight years of data from ITG to show how this dropped significantly with the introduction of automation, spiked during the crisis of 2008, and either because of, or in spite of, the rise of HFT, has dropped by 2011 to near the pre-crisis lows.

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