Flash Boys : Not So Fast
by Peter Kovac · first published 2014
73% recommend12% neutral15% critical
Why HN recommends it
Point-by-point rebuttal of Lewis's Flash Boys from a high-frequency trading insider, giving the other side of the story; suits readers who want a more accurate, detailed view of how electronic trading works.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
Affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Mentions per year
What Hacker News says
Related books
2014–2026Flash Boys
Michael Lewis
Recommended by 76 · mentioned by 21076 recommend · 210 mention76 recommend · 21076 recommend
2012–2024Dark Pools
Scott Patterson
Recommended by 27 · mentioned by 4827 recommend · 48 mention27 recommend · 4827 recommend
2008–2025Trading and Exchanges
Larry Harris
Recommended by 50 · mentioned by 5950 recommend · 59 mention50 recommend · 5950 recommend
2011–2024Algorithmic trading & DMA
Barry Johnson
Recommended by 8 · mentioned by 118 recommend · 11 mention8 recommend · 118 recommend
2008–2024Margin of safety
Seth A. Klarman
Recommended by 12 · mentioned by 1512 recommend · 15 mention12 recommend · 1512 recommend
2010–2026Reminiscences of a stock operator
Edwin Lefèvre, Price Tim, Roger Lowenstein, Richard Richard Wyckoff
Recommended by 27 · mentioned by 3727 recommend · 37 mention27 recommend · 3727 recommend
2010–2026The big short
Michael Lewis, Francisco José Ramos Mena
Recommended by 99 · mentioned by 20299 recommend · 202 mention99 recommend · 20299 recommend
2007–2026Liar's Poker
Michael Lewis, Blanca Ribera de Madariaga
Recommended by 61 · mentioned by 13161 recommend · 131 mention61 recommend · 13161 recommend
FWIW: I used to work at the predecessor to Virtu Financial with Peter Kovac, who wrote an excellent counter argument book to flash boys. http://www.amazon.com/Flash-Boys-Insiders-Perspective-High-F... He's one of the most honest and intelligent people I've ever had the pleasure to work with in my entire career. He was at Madison Tyler…
on “Developing in Stockfighter with No Trading Experience” ↗This. For more details, read "Flash Boys: Not So Fast" by Peter Kovac (http://www.amazon.fr/Flash-Boys-Insiders-Perspective-High-Fr...). Alternatively, Chris Stucchio's blog posts (starting with https://www.chrisstucchio.com/blog/2012/hft_apology.html and…
on “A Response to Paul Graham’s Article on Income Inequality” ↗…case for Limits, except not all orders are limit orders. You're right mostly, for a certain type of strategy, but not all of them. Ironically I just looked up your profile and on the link you mention Flash Boys: Not So Fast. I used to work with Peter Kovac, that book's author, at Madison Tyler Technology / EWT LLC (which is now Virtu Financial). He's one of the smartest guys I've ever met and that was a pretty decent book.
on “Hedge Fund Wants to Use Atomic Clocks to Beat High-Speed Traders” ↗See Peter Kovac's book-length rebuttal to Flash Boys: https://www.amazon.com/Flash-Boys-Insiders-Perspective-High-... Lewis' book is not well-regarded. At the point where you've argued that using a Bloomberg terminal means you're front-running everyone…
on “Wall Street Is Sharpening Our Nanoseconds” ↗"Blood Meridian" by Cormac McCarthy "Flash Boys: Not So Fast: An Insider's Perspective on High-Frequency Trading" by Peter Kovac "Snow Crash" by Neal Stephenson
on “The Best Books I Read in 2015” ↗Flash Boys: Not So Fast is a rebuttal to Michael Lewis's book that basically explains why it is wrong, point by point. https://www.amazon.com/Flash-Boys-Insiders-Perspective-High-... It's quite good.
on “IEX Group Gains Approval for Stock Exchange” ↗...and then after that, do also read Flash Boys: Not So Fast by Peter Kovac. Not necessarily for Aleynikov's case in particular, but because it's healthy to see both sides of the greater narrative that Lewis unfolds.
on “Alphabet's Waymo Alleges Uber Stole Self-Driving Secrets” ↗This comment couldn't be further from the truth. You sound like you've read flash boys without reading the rebuttal that shows how it is entirely wrong. Here let me link it to you: https://www.amazon.com/Flash-Boys-Insiders-Perspective-High-... I used to work with Peter Kovac, the author…
on “Robinhood launches 3% checking account” ↗Additionally, I can personally vouch for Peter Kovac, the author of the rebuttal to Flash Boys: https://www.amazon.com/Flash-Boys-Insiders-Perspective-High-... I can vouch for Peter because I worked with him for close to 5 years at Madison Tyler Trading / EWT, LLC (which later merged with Virtu…
on “Trading bots are running wild on cryptocurrency exchanges” ↗…obvious that A: the author is fucking clueless, and B: I didn't know enough about how this system worked. The book called "Dark Pools" was a bit better (mainly as a light history of electronic trading). "Flash Boys: Not So Fast" was really fun, mainly because it systematically trashes the author of Flash Boys. It was interesting enough that I've picked up a few books on market microstructure, that really get into the details.…
on “Developing in Stockfighter with No Trading Experience” ↗Highly recommend reading Flash Boys: Not So Fast [1] and it explains how Flash Boys gets it almost entirely wrong. [1] https://www.amazon.com/Flash-Boys-Insiders-Perspective-High-...
on “Hedge Fund Wants to Use Atomic Clocks to Beat High-Speed Traders” ↗I would also recommend reading "Flash Boys: Not so Fast" (http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00P0QI2M2).
on “Online Algorithms in High-Frequency Trading” ↗Flash Boys is terrible (it's not even good as a book --- and I'm an avid fan of Michael Lewis's). It's embarrassingly bad on the technical details. I like "Flash Boys: Not So Fast" as a corrective. A much better book, from another HFT skeptic, is "Dark Pools". The example you provide (of basic, naive latency arbitrage) matters for trading desks at giant investment banks. They…
on “A Gazillion-Dollar Standoff over Two High-Frequency Trading Towers” ↗…Practitioners, An introduction to quantitative finance by Blyth. Avoid pop finance books that is light on numbers. If you want to understand the qualitative aspects/culture/history, books like Flash Boys or Flash Boys: Not so fast are more than sufficient. Stay away from "technical" books that are designed for layman and non-technical readers. They will handwave Black Scholes and economic math and you will simply be going through…
on “Ask HN: Introductory Books on the Stock Market?” ↗Since Flash Boys keeps coming up in these threads I want to provide an alternate reference for those curious. A recent rebuttal has been published called "Flash Boys Not So Fast". If you're interested in the topic, I highly suggest you pick it up. http://www.amazon.com/Flash-Boys-Insiders-Perspective-High-F...
on “Norway Wealth Fund Outsmarts Flash Boys as Algorithms Abandoned” ↗