It's really a balance - you say the world needs "investors" and not "day traders". By this, I am assuming you mean those who purchase shares using a buy-and-hold strategy as opposed to those who seek to profit off of short term swings.
It's difficult to have one without the other. Day traders and speculators supply the liquidity that enables long-term investors to buy in when they choose to do so. This does improve the efficiency of the markets, as there has to be another side to every trade.
To take it to the extreme: If everyone was a buy-and-hold investor, what would happen? IPOs and infrequent sells from buy-and-holds existing would be the only supply of stock. Would this be efficient? (Note: I'm not asking this as rhetorical question as I actually don't know the answer)
I am not arguing for or against HFT, as I've read both sides (from "they provide liquidity and lower spreads" to "they are akin to parasitic front-runners") and am not sure of where the truth lies. Instead, I'm just arguing against this concept that "day trading" provides no value.
It's difficult to have one without the other. Day traders and speculators supply the liquidity that enables long-term investors to buy in when they choose to do so. This does improve the efficiency of the markets, as there has to be another side to every trade.
To take it to the extreme: If everyone was a buy-and-hold investor, what would happen? IPOs and infrequent sells from buy-and-holds existing would be the only supply of stock. Would this be efficient? (Note: I'm not asking this as rhetorical question as I actually don't know the answer)
I am not arguing for or against HFT, as I've read both sides (from "they provide liquidity and lower spreads" to "they are akin to parasitic front-runners") and am not sure of where the truth lies. Instead, I'm just arguing against this concept that "day trading" provides no value.