[ConfuciusSay]

My interpretation of his "insert" comment, was that of 1). My response to that was to preempt the common refrain of HFT defenders who universally trot out the "liquidity" defense.

As for the criticisms focusing on volatility vs liquidity, to me they are linked, because in those instances of flash crashes that are the target of the recent criticisms, the issue has been that volatity increases due to HFT algorithms withdrawing from the market (i.e. reducing liquidity).

Also, there are other criticisms of HFT's beyond those three, including the "coincidence" that HFT firms seem to be responsible for most of the major order spoofing. Regulators have been VERY slow and uneven about enforcing HFT spoofing, but are finally catching on, albeit with slaps on the wrist (excluding Citadel being banned in China).

[kasey_junk]

Is that an argument against HFT though? That the regulators aren't doing a good job was true in the previous regime.

I'm some what receptive to the argument that HFT makes the laws harder to enforce, given that the laws rely on "intent" which is murky with algos, but how do we square that in the face of any innovation?