Market makers can have actual value by reducing bid&#x2F;buy spread.<p>However, I don&#x27;t think reality supports the idea that HFT are adding real signals to the market.  HFT software has little understanding of the &#x27;world&#x27; so they add noise which reduces signal.  Taking the markets further from reality.<p>See: flash crashes.  They don&#x27;t actually have anything to do with the wider economy just feedback loops devoid from reality.<p>PS: Some software is designed to automatically read and interpreted news, but they often get it wrong moving the market in the wrong direction.