If there are people making money off those HFT trades, then somebody else is losing money. It's a persistent tax on the entire market. Just because it's in the background where you can't see it doesn't mean it isn't affecting you.
Yes but the money losers are gaining hair style, cat pictures, and and food, not just intraday liquidity that they didn't know they were paying for and didn't want or need.
I'm confused - there is a bid/ask spread of $10.00/10.05. A person comes along and deliberately chooses to buy at $10.05, rather than placing a passive ALO buy order at $10.00 or $10.01.
Why do you think this person didn't want or need liquidity?
And why do you feel that it's worse for a machine to sell it to him at a low price than for a human to sell it to him at a high price?
