>You can replace the letters "HFT" in your comment with "any market maker" and come to exactly the same conclusion.
You may even be able to replace the letters HTF with "any for-profit profession" and come to exactly the same conclusion.
I think it's fair to assume the HFT traders are rapacious capitalists (as someone who is pro-free market, this doesn't exactly offend me). But motivations don't matter here. It reminds me of the Adam Smith quote, which may only make sense if you've read the linked Scott Locklin essay first:
http://www.econlib.org/library/Enc/bios/Smith.html
"It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker, that we can expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own interest..."
You may even be able to replace the letters HTF with "any for-profit profession" and come to exactly the same conclusion.
I think it's fair to assume the HFT traders are rapacious capitalists (as someone who is pro-free market, this doesn't exactly offend me). But motivations don't matter here. It reminds me of the Adam Smith quote, which may only make sense if you've read the linked Scott Locklin essay first:
http://www.econlib.org/library/Enc/bios/Smith.html "It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker, that we can expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own interest..."