HFT happens on millisecond scale. That is what they mean by "short term" now. If you are going to hold a stock for weeks it will probably not affect you at all

HFT happens on millisecond scale. That is what they mean by "short term" now. If you are going to hold a stock for weeks it will probably not affect you at all. Even if your holding period is several hours you are not really competing with HFT.