Quote from jonp:
ya it's hard to accept at first, you'll get used to it.
Why would I ever accept the rationalizations of someone who obviously has no relevant expertise?
I've forgotten more about HFT than you've ever known, and I'm telling you straight up your statements are naive.
99%+ of active algorithms do nothing new. They are just faster implementations of the same old stuff. Day traders never had a problem stepping in front of size, but when an automated system does it they go crying and hide in Mommy's apron. "Traders" think they're somehow doing something different when they buy a breakout or a moving average penetration--vs an algo that does the same thing, just much on a micro- time scale and with a layer of intelligent execution mechanics.
Trading is not different than it ever was. It's just getting more efficient: the less adaptive are perishing faster.