I'm not going to delve any further into technical details of batch auctions. I never said anything about unfair advantages. You're the one who's ascribing fair

I'm not going to delve any further into technical details of batch auctions. I never said anything about unfair advantages. You're the one who's ascribing fairness to this whole thing. I just fail to see how hiring smart engineers (HFTs) is an unfair advantage whereas hiring smart former investment bankers and research analysts (hedge funds, mutual funds, other investors) is not. It just seems like yet another baseless attack on technical nerds. Also I hope I didn't give the impression that HFTs and investors are competing with each other. HFTs more naturally compete with banks and other market makers. It's just that the advantages that investors have are one of the reasons why HFTs don't expect to make half a spread every time they trade. You could argue that the work of HFTs is less important than work of investors and that they should make less than the investors do. I would agree with you, but this is already the case and it's not even close how much more money investors make.