Knowing next to nothing about the stock market I read this having loved Michael Lewis' other books, he seems to be able to turn any subject into a good tale, in Flashboys he explores the reasons why the key players got involved in high frequency trading and humanises them along the way. There is nothing dry here, whenever I seemed to get a bit lost amongst share prices and data speeds he manages to summarise in a way that at least gives me the impression that I understand. It's an admirable piece of writing in that he's explaining what plenty of bankers and traders didn't understand for years. Flashboys feels like an important book as it exposes the corruption then ineptitude of bankers and traders as computers gave them the feeling of having no idea what they were doing.

Michael Lewis is a master of accessible and thought-provoking economics journalism and his latest book is no exception. Flash Boys uncovers the secretive world of High Frequency Trading and Dark Pools, where the stock market and small trading companies operate away from public scrutiny, relying on the fastest computers and best programmers to make millions of dollars. Reading at times like a fast paced thriller, Lewis pulls us in with the creation of a mysterious fibre optic line which nobody building it knows the true purpose of, and layers on the intrigue before revealing the truth behind the new Wall Street and the story of those out to expose it. Overall, Flash Boys is a fascinating book which has opened up a lot of debate (and lawsuits) in the financial community and Lewis does a good job of making quite complex terms and concepts fairly understandable to the layman.

Just when I was, okay naively, thinking that the banks were busy cleaning up their act, along comes Michael Lewis and his expose of High Frequency Trading and share dealing. This is a brilliant book for those of us who know little or nothing about how share trading works, as it explains the whole process in very simple terms. Shockingly for me, the institutions involved are not all based solely in the States, British institutions were involved and, even more scarily, the US model was exported globally. I admit at first I was a little confused about why the laying of super fast cable across the USA was so important but that soon became apparent as Lewis makes the reader realise that even a split second lead can produce huge profits for traders. The hero of the book is Brad Katsuyama, a Canadian banker, and the group of experts he gathered around him to help discover what was actually happening within the stock market. What they found was frightening, high speed cables were allowing some traders to intercept trades a split second earlier than the norm and then sell the shrares at a slightly higher prices. Okay 1 cent a share might not sound like much but if one multiplies this by the number of shares being purchased and the number of trades taking place, one realises what a massive amount of money was being taken from investors. Katsuyama tried talking to the CEOs of many top trading companies; frighteningly they did not seem to understand what was happening but then of course they did not really want to hear about anything that would reduce their profits or even more importantly, their bonuses! Brad and his group began a new trading floor which would operate honestly but for a long time they were ostracised, abused and cheated by the establish trading companies. The book ends on an optimistic tone but then I wonder what ever is coming next?

Thought provoking read! Will appeal to many professionals!

This book might not be to everyone's taste but it is certainly an eye-opener. Even if you have to gloss over some of the technical jargon the facts will hit home. If you thought that the financial markets were run to fixed rules and laws, think again. With high frequency traders and dark pools, even the biggest, so-called 'trustworthy' banks, had hidden pockets where orders were re-routed to make the greatest profit, not for the investor but for the bank. Gone are the frantic images of shouting matches and arm waving in the trading pits, computers rule the roost. Follow the work and investigative processes of a small band of experts, in either the money markets or IT, as they set out to challenge and rectify this corrupt system. The reader soon realises how financial crashes can occur purely as a result of dubious financial manoeuvrings by these hidden forces. This is a gripping, if somewhat unnerving, book. A real eye-opener. It may make some investors very afraid!