Vanguard invests almost purely passively, and does not generally take directional views. I agree HFT benefits Vanguard but that doesn't contradict my point at all.
Let's not get into a semantic argument. The point is that Vanguard doesn't do fundamentals research or participate in capital allocation (in a meaningful sense; Vanguard does allocate capital but in proportion to existing allocation); they just invest passively and hope to earn the return of the overall market.
Its not semantics. You simply don't know much about the asset management business. Vanguard has numerous actively managed offerings. For example Windsor (http://performance.morningstar.com/fund/performance-return.a...). But there are others like the Admiral funds.
