I interviewed at a HFT once - and one of the things that stuck out to me was that one of the guys there said "its doesn't matter which direction the market moves, just that it moves."
HFT computers identify "direct arbitrage," and make a profit off of someone else's loss.
Actually a channeling market is better for arbitrage strategies, where you are basically earning the spread.
The only real practical application I've seen of channeled arbitrage is currency markets.