Flash Boys
by Michael Lewis · first published 2014
36% recommend41% neutral24% critical
Why HN recommends it
Story-driven account of high-frequency trading, front-running and the race for speed in market networks. A fun, accessible read for newcomers wanting to see how the stock market actually works.
Common criticism: Some say it is one-sided, reading like an advertisement for IEX, and gets market details wrong
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
Argues that post-crisis Wall Street continues to be controlled by large banks and explains how a small, diverse group of Wall Street men have banded together to reform the financial markets.
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Mentions per year
What Hacker News says
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If you want to know how HFT works I recommend the book Flash Boys by Michael Lews or the first 15 minutes of this talk by Brad Katsuyama (the book protagonist) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N9hoqFpDjVs. In short, when you send an order from your computer to buy say…
on “A Gazillion-Dollar Standoff over Two High-Frequency Trading Towers” ↗…links to exchanges B, C to execute my own buy orders there before the rest of the market reacts. It's not illegal, but it is still front-running the rest of the market due to latency arbitrage. Check out Flash Boys by Michael Lewis for more on the topic.
on “A Gazillion-Dollar Standoff over Two High-Frequency Trading Towers” ↗Highly recommend Flash Boys by Michael Lewis (author of The Big Short which was also a great film adaptation). It follows the trail of High Frequency Trading to uncover how this was used to front load orders and along with other…
on “Books to read to understand financial crime” ↗"Flash Boys" by Michael Lewis It's about High Frequency Trading (algorithmic trading) and how the market reacted; and what a few individuals did to solve the problem. It's a seriously addicting book.
on “Ask HN: What book are you reading right now?” ↗I just finished reading Flash Boys by Michael Lewis, it was an incredibly enlightening read. To answer your questions: 1) I think it's 350mcs across the board except in the case of firms which conduct suspect activity (canceling orders…
on “Plan for New Stock Exchange Stirs Debate” ↗…stupid you get the fill you want. Hence not rigged or stolen, just that naive execution is a poor choice: same as in unfragmented markets, same as before HFT. A good reference is http://www.amazon.com/Flash-Boys-Insiders-Perspective-High-F....
on “A detailed data-centric exposé on how the market is rigged (2014)” ↗…to dev code by sitting in front of a computer and banging on a keyboard till it compile. I always felt like my code was shit because I was praying to the computer gods for it to just work. Then I read "Flash Boys" by Michael Lewis. In the book there was a god tier programmer that was a legend among his peers. He describe his way of coding was first writing the entire program using paper and pencil. Then he would…
on “Ask HN: What's the one thing that let you grow the most as a developer?” ↗Yes HFT is dying, just check out how many HFT firms either closed down or sold themselves in recent year. You might want to read book "Flash Boys" by Michael Lewis.
on “The accidental HFT firm” ↗What you write applies to regular investors, funds, investment banks, portfolio managers, etc. Speculators in general. But you should really read up on what HFT is. I recommend the book Flash Boys by Michael Lewis. HFT traders do not "trade" in the market in the usual sense. They don't optimize markets, they don't bet on anything, they don't take any risk. Every other investor takes risks (calculated),…
on “Coinbase acquires decentralized cryptocurrency trading platform Paradex” ↗…running" [1], but because a) this happens privately and in small quantities, and b) it is not necessarily privileged information, it's considered legal by the SEC. But it is highly questionable for sure. "Flash Boys", by Michael Lewis [2] is a great read, and goes into detail on the world of high frequency traders, and how they operate. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Front_running [2] https://www.amazon.com/Flash-Boys-Wall-Street-Revolt/dp/0393...
on “Robinhood Making Millions Selling Out Their Millennial Customers to HFTs” ↗…were much higher and because they were much more price sensitive, and they saw a much larger swing in their price from which they were closing transactions. This was all detailed in Michael Lewis' book "Flash Boys". So if you liked "The Big Short", this one is a must read as well. So in this case they are giving from the poor to the rich, but it's really a small imperceptible amount and because of the vagueness…
on “Robinhood raises $323M at a $7.6B valuation” ↗…concur w/ positive comments here about high-quality retail customer service, eg for relatively "normal" investors / account holders (ie, 6 figures AUM, not 7+). But. It's worth reading Michael Lewis's "Flash Boys: A Wall Street Revolt" [for several reasons] before nurturing too many warm-n-fuzzies for Schwab or Fidelity or any other mainstream big bank. Maybe you fellow HN readers are more aware than I was, but…
on “Schwab Removes U.S. Stock, ETF and Options Commissions” ↗Anyone who thinks this is a good thing should read Flash Boys by Michael Lewis, and look into front-running and HFT.
on “The stockmarket is now run by computers, algorithms and passive managers” ↗This article explains what the stock market pretends to be. This book explains what the stock market actually is: https://www.amazon.com/Flash-Boys-Wall-Street-Revolt/dp/0393... It's much less friendly than it seems and only "efficient" for a select few.
on “What to know about the stock market (2007)” ↗Micheal Lewis explains dark pools and HFT's quite well in his new book Flash Boys [1]. [1] http://www.amazon.com/Flash-Boys-Wall-Street-Revolt/dp/03932...
on “The Dark Pool Iceberg” ↗