Flash Boys

I can't praise this book highly enough...

...Oh yes I can: this book does for High Frequency Trading what 'The Emperor of all Maladies' did for Cancer. It takes a complicated thing that you hear about every now and again in the news, puts it centre stage, explains it in delightful depth to an intelligent layperson, while delivering the excitement and suspense of a novel. As a bonus (again both books) they lay out the moral issues and moral dilemmas, so that the book is much more than a simple documentary of the phenomenon. And both books have more or less happy endings. By the end the good guys are winning. You could not ask for more from a book.

Narration - very professional. Had the impression that the reader understood the material - not always the case with a book like this. I found the ‘stopping points’ for the ipod well organised (by chapter) but rather spaced out. Each chunk was about 1 hour 30 mins, whereas I find 20 minute chunks more user-friendly.

26 of 27 people found this review helpful

How financial markets continue to screw us all

I didn't like Liar's Poker, it seemed too much like a name dropping session, but Flash Boys is an engaging and insightful piece of work. After the abuse of financial derivatives, the financial markets have decided to use high speed communication technology to rip us off.

If you listen to this audio book, you might feel depressed at the end, and I think that we all should. The stock market is exposed as an opportunity for human beings to steal from each other without using violence or starting an actual war. If you were a criminal it is much easier to steal from people using financial innovations than rob a bank, and you can do this with impunity and become a shining example for society.

The banks and corporations have and continue to "stitch-up" the public and they own politics (both in the USA, UK and round the world). Corruption has now been revealed to be a useless term since our systems have legalised and institutionalised it. As an aside, the film "Chasing Madoff" brings this clearly to the fore where despite the dedicated work of determined and rarely honest wall street individuals especially Harry Markopolos, the biggest crook in wall street could not be brought to justice until the credit crunch, where the house of cards that was the scheme fell down. Harry's work was only belatedly sighted when Madoff was prosecuted.

We live in a world that continues to be ravaged by the machinations of multinationals and banks, both have shown themselves to be corrupt beyond saving. At some point human beings have to take a good look and themselves and think about the kind of world they want to live in.

In the UK (and other western countries) a large part of the GDP is generated by the financial centres. These institutions have hoovered up a lot of intelligent people to engage in the act of ripping off others. As a country what needs are we actually meeting with our daily work? The number of hours people spend at work has gone through the roof but what are they actually achieving? Who really benefits from the work you do each day?

This is one of those books that brings human nature front and centre and sticks it in your face. So what are you going to do about it? Probably nothing.

7 of 8 people found this review helpful

The Thieves of Time

This is an excellent book. It ought to be required reading. What goes on within the murky world of high finance is one of the genuine scandals of our time. The surreal world of the markets that now dominate our very lives is a genuinely depressing place. This is a book with a seemingly fairly dry subject but it explains in patient detail the appalling behaviour that is rife within and around our most respected financial institutions. Bankers have almost become a pantomime villain in recent years but this book outlines how market de-regulation and the automation of the stock markets has allowed people to literally steal billions from our economies in the most cynical and yes fraudulent of ways.

A lot of the subject matter does concern the mechanics of how unscrupulous people used technology and other tactics to subvert the markets. It follows a small number of people who try to make a difference. The explanations while sometimes detailed give a lot of clarity and explained to me for the first time just how important a microsecond really can be. A blink of an eye and you miss it!

Dylan Baker strikes an excellent tone throughout being able to carry the descriptive parts as well as the character driven sections.

This is a fascinating book, it's a book that will likely make you angry, but it's one you'll be glad that you read all the same.

9 of 11 people found this review helpful

How to rob your client in a microsecond

The rise of the machines or how to rob your client in a microsecond; another chapter of Wall Street amoral procedures and shenanigans. It seems to me that this people with the most privileged in our societies are the most greedy and morally corrupt. The one percenters are never satisfied with any number they achieve, because nothing has any real value to them, but out of this culture of greed a few men took a technological stand to create a neutral market and even plain of trade, instead of the usual and against all odds made a go of something that in Wall Street appears Quixotical, to make profit by selling a product at a fair price, not a manipulated price.
Incredibly interesting and worrisome book, that reads like a thriller but is probably a horrible truth.

9 of 11 people found this review helpful

****ing bankers

Just when you thought it wasn't possible to get any more angry about the people who run the stock market along comes Michael Lewis with another tale of abominable behaviour amongst the elite of Wall Street and the City if London. His schtick; for those who haven't read his other excellent offerings; is to take the complexity of modern financial markets and render them comprehensible by following a few good men and women as they try to do the right thing in a wicked world while making a relatively fair profit. In Flash Boys he pokes around in High Frequency Trading and highlights a racket in which IT experts and huge merchant banks fleece anyone who has shares or a pension scheme through the deployment of sophisticated IT and telecoms based trading strategies. The self-serving behaviours on show are so brazen and such a betrayal of any sort of professional ethics that they make me want to dig up Tony Benn and apologise to him in person for leaving the socialist workers party. Audible's moderators will no doubt not allow this review onto the website due to the thinly failed swearing and Trot sentiments. C'mon guys - fight the power.

9 of 11 people found this review helpful

Interesting

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

Yes very much so. That said I wouldn't recommend it to all my friends. Some of the content people may find boring....

Would you recommend Flash Boys to your friends? Why or why not?

To some not all.

Did the narration match the pace of the story?

Yes the narration was excellent

Do you think Flash Boys needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?

No probably not. My opinion is not driven by the content of this book. Its primarily due to the number of books in the market that cover the same thing.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Get them out of there!

What made the experience of listening to Flash Boys the most enjoyable?

Complex story, simply told, great voice

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

Anger, not from the actions of a single person, but from the collective intent to mislead from globally 'reputable' organisations. Capitalism is in the grip of untrustworthy cowboys who reap billions, whilst undermining their own existence and rip of citizens who do not realise their money is being managed against their own interests. Couldn't make this stuff up

Any additional comments?

Thank goodness there are people prepared to say no and take risks, for the common good, or at least because it doesn't smell right

5 of 6 people found this review helpful

A rare insight into greed and incompetance

Would you listen to Flash Boys again? Why?

This book is a real horror story of how our financial systems are managed (or rather, mismanaged). Very illuminating and very well read.

What other book might you compare Flash Boys to, and why?

The Big Short by Michael Lewis is of a similar vein but relating to the mortgage industry rather than stocks and shares. Also very well read.

Any additional comments?

I thought the profanity was excessive but other than that, a very, very enjoyable book.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

The secrets of high speed trading revealed

Where does Flash Boys rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Michael Lewis never disappoints. I read his first - Liar's Poker - but listened to his second - The Big Short. He's an ideal writer for audio, given a good narrator, because his books are packed with characters and the stories, although not by any means fiction, always grip the reader or listener. Comparatively to recent audio, I 'd give it 8 out of ten

What did you like best about this story?

The ability to capture atmosphere - whether it's a construction gang laying a cable across the country, or a meeting of Wall Street big shots - you feel as though you are there. The cast of characters are equally vivid. And all the while you know you are listening to somehow important - in this case about high frequency traders and their impact on stock markets - learning something about the weird world of high finance.

What does Dylan Baker bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you had only read the book?

He brings both the characters and the story to life. Some of the financial and software stuff might be a little tedious to read if you were tired. Listened to on audio it keeps your attention.

Did you have an emotional reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

To be honest - no. My strongest emotion was -'wow how did Michael Lewis get the idea, master all this complex detail, and turn it into a story as gripping as a thriller'..

5 of 6 people found this review helpful

Great great great

Fantastic story and equally fantastic reading from Dylan baker. Kept me so very intrigued. And as for the boys in Goldman Sachs, well do unto others ....

4 of 5 people found this review helpful