At the end of the day how much position does a HFT firm hold? If nothing has gone wrong it is zero.
Just because they're stuck holding the bag on trades that end up being cancelled sometimes and have to wait for them to unload doesn't means they're making markets. If a market doesn't already exist the HFT firm is not going to create it.
They absolutely do increase the volume figures on markets, and that can be interpreted as making markets, but it's not an accurate representation of the big picture.
> At the end of the day how much position does a HFT firm hold? If nothing has gone wrong it is zero.
This is also incorrect. HFT firms routinely hold positions for days and weeks. It would be inefficient and strange to literally deplete all positions and begin fresh anew each day. Executing orders with extremely low latency is not equivalent to be perfectly symmetric in buy and sell orders.
I encourage you to learn more about the topic you're talking about, because what you're saying is substantially at odds with how the industry actually works. At this point I'm curious how you would define market making, because it's very ironic for me (and anyone else reading) to hear you say these things and talk about what is or is not "an accurate representation of the big picture."
Just because they're stuck holding the bag on trades that end up being cancelled sometimes and have to wait for them to unload doesn't means they're making markets. If a market doesn't already exist the HFT firm is not going to create it.
They absolutely do increase the volume figures on markets, and that can be interpreted as making markets, but it's not an accurate representation of the big picture.