It's no more an update on the state of the economy than a gambler making a bet on a betting exchange is an update on who is going to win a football match. It's

It's no more an update on the state of the economy than a gambler making a bet on a betting exchange is an update on who is going to win a football match. It's simply another mechanism for gambling. HFT also rarely involves value investing (how much research can you do in a millisecond?). It usually uses low-to-zero-profit market-making strategies as cover for higher profit less than ethical trades.