It's really binary events that they should throttle execution and do batch orders.

The bad part of HFT is paying the smartest young minds this country has to offer to figure out how the parse GDP data as fast as computationally possible so they can send in an order before other players can. That's a dumb game that doesn't provide much benefit (besides speed in sparse critical moments adding a few % to the funds ROI).

They can arbitrage all day, but don't let them buy every Taylor Swift concert ticket the moment it goes on sale because they have a co-located office with a direct fiber line, ASIC filled servers, and API access.