HFTs don&#x27;t corner the market for a particular instrument. So what&#x27;s really happening is more like the market for limited- release sneakers. They rush to the store, they buy up a bunch of sneakers. Now they&#x27;re holding inventory. They only make money if they can sell that inventory off for more than they paid for it.<p>But there are thousands of other places where the same shoes are being sold. If the demand for the particular sneakers they bought climbs, they will make money. But it&#x27;s just as likely that the demand will fall (in fact, it&#x27;s <i>much</i> more likely that demand will fall in the instruments HFTs trade --- that&#x27;s what those instruments do! They take random walks!), in which case that inventory they bought is a liability.