I'd say it's more like Kinko's discovering you want to make some copies...and quickly erecting a store right outside your house so you stop there instead of Staples.
I think you still got it wrong. It is more like Kinkos discovering you need to make some copies and then buying up ALL the paper and ink at staples, and then setting up shop right outside your house, with a higher price :).
I don't see anything wrong with this, it simply forces the market (theoretically) to hold on to valuable securities longer, which in theory would make it impossible for HFT firms to do this. In practice, everything is irrational, but it sure beats the pants off overregulation.
Yes, because that key word...discovering...implies that our rhetorical Kinko's has somehow gleaned advance knowledge that you're about to leave home to purchase some copies.
I don't think HFT in general is ruining things. I think the ability of HFT firms to quickly enter orders and quickly widthdraw those same orders millions of times a minute enables them to gain some insight into the trading market that the market was never designed for. And I believe that is a perversion of the original open-call trading that the stock market was built upon. All buyers should be able to see the ask at the exact same time.
I don't see anything wrong with this, it simply forces the market (theoretically) to hold on to valuable securities longer, which in theory would make it impossible for HFT firms to do this. In practice, everything is irrational, but it sure beats the pants off overregulation.