Respectfully, I never claimed to be an expert of any sort, and I said so earlier. A large part of why I participate in these kinds of discussions is so I can learn.

I still get the feeling that you think I'm attacking HFT. It's not "upsetting" to me. The only questions for me are whether there's more value in HFT than cost, and whether the same value could be had with lower cost. It's good to know that my Alice scenario is invalid, though. That means HFT isn't breaking what I thought was a useful scenario for sellers.

Thanks for the book recommendation. I've added it to my list.