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(More customer reviews)When Dorothy Parker uttered her famous declamation "What Fresh Hell Is This" just a few miles from the epicenter of all Capitalism, Wall Street, few knew the gods of The Street were paying rapt attention. While the iconic Parker was not referring to the market, they knew a good line when they heard one, and have been busy ever since heaping "Fresh Hell" on the investing public.
In his brilliant new book, Crapshoot Investing, James Mctague, the Washington Editor of Barron's, chronicles the effects of High Frequency Trading (HFT) from the crash of October 1987 to the more recent Flash Crash. Despite it's eye catching name, this is a serious book about a serious subject by a serious author. McTague is gifted in being able to write in a clear, concise and easy to read manner that propels the reader forward to the end without losing any of the original enthusiasm.
Due to high technology of super heated computers, collocation, and amazing algorithmic programs, information can be gathered, stocks bought and then sold all in a matter of seconds to milliseconds resulting in profits of a tenth of a cent to a cent per share traded. This seems pretty tame until one realizes some nine billion shares are traded daily and the yearly take is between two and twenty billion dollars.
Dark Pools and other esoteric vehicles of trading are exposed and brought to light. Government regulators are not spared. Hamlet had it right. "Something is rotten in ...". Supply your own term.
So what's a po' boy (girl) to do? One could do nothing, soldier on and hope a Bill O'Reilly type is looking out for the folks. Then there is the mattresss strategy so favored by Granny. One could sell it all, spend it all and let the Devil take tomorrow. But the one that makes best sense is to read and reread the last chapter where the author offers his advice on how you can keep the playing field more level.
Run, do not walk to your nearest bookstore or go on line to pick up your copy. Better yet, take advantage of this superheated technology and download a copy on your IPad or Kindle or other device and begin to read it immediately.
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