If I understand you, you are basically saying that the main effect of HFT is that the people who bought Broadcom paid more to the people who sold Broadcom, with

If I understand you, you are basically saying that the main effect of HFT is that the people who bought Broadcom paid more to the people who sold Broadcom, with a small percentage going to the HFT middlemen? Thus, HFT decreases the advantage of people who have more knowledge of the market (the buyers in this case) over those with less knowledge (sellers). Correct? > They've also made the market more efficient, so most people don't get screwed by some slime taking them for a quarter to a dollar per share doing arbitrage against another market, mismarking the trade, or maybe the worst, an order his friend is holding in their pocket. If someone is a "slime" to do arbitrage against another market, how come it is suddenly okay when HFT does it?