>The stock market is a zero sum game. If HFTs are making money then someone else's is losing it.
But who's that "someone else"? It's not the robinhood customer, because they're getting at least the best price on NMS[1]. So what's the issue? Would you rather pay $10/trade so your trade gets posted directly to the exchange and the profit goes to some random investment bank or daytrader rather than the HFT firm?
NMS regulations do not apply to "odd lots" (orders <100 shares). This likely constitutes 99.9999999999% of trades done on Robinhood (and most retail trading, to be fair).
But who's that "someone else"? It's not the robinhood customer, because they're getting at least the best price on NMS[1]. So what's the issue? Would you rather pay $10/trade so your trade gets posted directly to the exchange and the profit goes to some random investment bank or daytrader rather than the HFT firm?
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Payment_for_order_flow#Legalit...