[codeshaman]

All that you said is true.

But that which you control, controls you back with equal force.

While it is assumed that the state of the stock market reflects outside reality, it is in fact both ways - the state of the stock market affects and changes outside reality. And now it's a feedback loop, which involves software on one side and humans and "natural resources" on the other.

So now the married couple's daughter future is dependent on the outcome of this "game of trades" that HFT algorithms play day and night. And the people who write those algorithms do so to satisfy themselves, they don't know or care about the married couple.

Just like Google Maps - when there are few drivers using it, it's a handy little helper, if everyone uses Google Maps, it now defines the traffic pattern.