I've seen at least widespread subpennying on the options. When I put in an order in the middle of the spread it is instantly insulated by many orders. Wait a second, do it again... same thing. The only way I get in is by accepting temporary loss and I get out when it goes even higher after. In that regard they blatantly cheat like a mofo. Come to think of it if my broker has hft why is that happening?
It isn't widespread as hft costs more than 30k a month... as I said. There are not any billionaires making the marke in slowmode. Some dude in his undies putting in a limit to buy for 5000 worth of stock isn't going to prevent them from price fixing. They make the market and perform breakup large orders for people.
