There you go again with &quot;insertion.&quot; HFT market-makers don&#x27;t thrust themselves between two people who are about to transact. Their orders were already in the market, and you came to them.<p>The &quot;Flash Boys&quot; case is a funny one. The HFTs did see the orders--but so did EVERYONE else, and in basically the same instant, because all transactions are publicly disseminated. Your point is right in a very narrow sense and very wrong on every axis that actually matters.<p>I&#x27;m mystified as to why Flash Boys didn&#x27;t valorize high-frequency trading. It&#x27;s a Moneyball story where the scrappy nerds use computers and math to out-compete the dinosaurs. Oh well.