ART AND ARCHITECTURE (268)
BIOGRAPHY AND MEMOIRS (597)
BUSINESS AND INVESTING (221)
CHILDRENS BOOKS (6,533)
COMPUTER AND INTERNET (162)
COOKING FOOD AND WINE (1,590)
HEALTH MIND AND BODY (1,327)
HISTORY (92)
HOME AND GARDEN (643)
LAW (2)
LITERATURE AND FICTION (3,818)
PARENTING AND FAMILIES (275)
REFERENCE (119)
RELIGION (662)
ROMANCE (762)
SPORTS AND REC (155)
STUDY AND LEARNING (191)
TEXT (46)
TRADE (8,893)
TRAVEL AND NATURE (68)
Shop Now At Walmart
Most Popular Products
Top-Rated Products
Customer Reviews for The Speed Traders: An Insider's Look at New High-Frequency Phenomenon That Is Transforming the Investing World
The Speed Traders: An Insider's Look at New High-Frequency Phenomenon That Is Transforming the Investing World
Average Customer Rating:
4.8
out of 5
(12 Reviews) 12
Rating SnapshotOverall Rating Totals
Customer Recommendation100%12 out of 12reviewers would recommend this product to a friend.
Rating SnapshotOverall Rating Totals
Customer Reviews
Review 1 for The Speed Traders: An Insider's Look at New High-Frequency Phenomenon That Is Transforming the Investing World
Must read book
,06/30/2012
By zhiqing ,
Brooklyn
4
out of
5
As an accounting student, I thought that high-frequency trading, a topic in vogue in the financial world, would be difficult for me to understand. But after reading "The Speed Traders: An Insider’s Look at the New High-Frequency Phenomenon That Is Transforming the Investing World" (McGraw-Hill, 2011), authored by Edgar Perez, I was able to grasp the concepts behind it, since the book explain this technique in understandable words.
In this book, Edgar Perez illustrates what high-frequency trading is--- using computer programs based on the mathematic models to detect and trade millions of stocks in microseconds. Nowadays, people hold different concepts of high-frequency trading. Does that matter? Yes, because how we define high-frequency trading will determine what financial regulators will come up with in order to keep markets fair for all participants.
Besides the clear illustration of the concept, Edgar Perez introduces several practitioners who explain how high-frequency trading works in practice. As a foreign student in the U.S., knowing that high frequency trading is quite popular around the Western world and still on its beginning stages in China is pretty inspiring to explore this further. I do think now this is a MUST read book for those who are interested in the financial markets, trading and investing, especially for expert human traders who can make the most from these techniques.
Recommends this product? Yes
Age:18 - 24
Gender:Female
Ownership:2 - 7 weeks
Usage:Every few days
0points
Thank you! You have successfully submitted a comment for this review.
Review 2 for The Speed Traders: An Insider's Look at New High-Frequency Phenomenon That Is Transforming the Investing World
06/30/2012
By skysuspended ,
New Jersey
4
out of
5
The Speed Traders is a book written with the intention to educate. Whether you've only heard of High-Frequency Trading because you've heard how it could mess up the market, or you work for a High-Frequency Trading firm yourself, you will still gain important insights from this book.
I happened to belong to the first category, and if you are too--and I suspect that most of you reading this review-- are, you will be reading clear, detailed explanations of the phenomenon that the news and the media did not do a good enough job of explaining. On CNN two years ago, we heard about the speculation that Speed Traders were behind the Flash Crash and were imbued with fear of how technology could threaten the returns of our portfolios. What we didn't hear was the background story and more importantly, how the culprit of the Crash was ultimately judged to be a hedge fund that had nothing to do with Speed Traders. This book elucidates this event.
Reading this book, I felt that the picture that the media had painted of the "card counting" of the stock market had changed. Speed Trading is completely independent of "Buffetian" long term strategies. They operate on completely different time frames and have very little effect on the profits long term portfolios will yield. I became excited to learn about a stock market that exists in parallel, but virtually independent of the one we are used to hearing about.
Now, what if I was someone who worked in a Speed Trading firm? Well I'm not, but I think a key message of the book is that the future of High Frequency Trading is not simply just advancing the algorithms to continue gaining an advantage over your competitors--its also to spread awareness of what HFT really is-- to change the public opinion painted by the media. Working in HFT all day, you probably have a pretty good idea of how the algorithms cold be improved someday, but the second goal is much harder to achieve. For someone who is constantly immersed in the field, it could be refreshing to take a step back and be reminded what the industry as a whole is striving to achieve.
The intellectually curious side of me is enthralled by the magical, bordering-on-science-fictional influence that high-paced technology has had on the market. To be honest, if I was still a young finance major, Perez' book would inspire me to look into some of those grueling computer science courses just to see if I have the chops myself.
Product Attributes:
Value
5
out of
5
Meets Expectations
5
out of
5
Recommends this product? Yes
0points
Thank you! You have successfully submitted a comment for this review.
Review 3 for The Speed Traders: An Insider's Look at New High-Frequency Phenomenon That Is Transforming the Investing World
06/30/2012
By Brazilmarket ,
New York, NY
5
out of
5
I have read several books about trading but this one really stands out with its quality. An informative book that provides readers with thorough understanding of high-frequency trading, which will help not only new analysts but also experienced professionals to use sophisticated tools to trade more effectively.
Product Attributes:
Value
5
out of
5
Meets Expectations
5
out of
5
Recommends this product? Yes
Age:25 - 34
Gender:Male
Ownership:2 - 3 months
Usage:A few times per month
0points
Thank you! You have successfully submitted a comment for this review.
Review 4 for The Speed Traders: An Insider's Look at New High-Frequency Phenomenon That Is Transforming the Investing World
06/29/2012
By blueblueme521
4
out of
5
As a high technical trading strategy, high frequency trading has become more and more important. The Speed Traders by Edgar Perez is a great book focused on the topic at hand. After months of thinking and interviewing top high frequency traders, Edgar Perez delivers a volume that can entertain with its anecdotes and enlighten with its insights.
The Speed Traders provides readers with a view of the evolution of high frequency trading through its most important milestones. Edgar Perez interviewed six experienced practitioners and a number of experts in-depth on lots of topics including their educational background, their introduction to the financial world, their initial involvement with high-frequency trading, and how they are succeeding in today’s financial markets. Also, The Speed Traders points out how profitable high frequency trading relies on smart application of groundbreaking technologies and investment strategies; there is no other way it could have reached more than 50% share in equities trading in America.
High frequency trading is now very popular on the Western world. As a Chinese living in the U.S., I am pretty intrigued about the development of high-frequency trading in my own country. The Speed Traders gives me an outline of this mysterious world, and, as a finance background person, I would like to apply the concepts learned from The Speed Traders into my future work. Once thing is certain, this book will not disappoint all those interested in trading and investing.
Product Attributes:
Value
4
out of
5
Meets Expectations
4
out of
5
Recommends this product? Yes
Age:25 - 34
Gender:Male
Ownership:2 - 7 weeks
Usage:Once per week
+1point
Thank you! You have successfully submitted a comment for this review.
Review 5 for The Speed Traders: An Insider's Look at New High-Frequency Phenomenon That Is Transforming the Investing World
Enlightening. Best HFT book. Very distinctive
,06/28/2012
By Foargo ,
new York
5
out of
5
This is the 1st book I ever read about trading, and in particular high-frequency trading and I know that I was just lucky to have chosen the best book about HFT so far.
The book drew a big picture of high-frequency trading, and what particularly makes this book stand out were the interviews with chief executives, fund managers and other well-known professionals in this industry. These people told the inside stories that can not be found anywhere else, and their insights are definitely very useful to outsiders who want to know more about HFT.
I could not take my eyes off and I finished the book in less than 2 days!!! Normally, I can never read a nonfiction book that fast. It is very VERY easy to digest and it is very well-written. The author, Mr. Edgar Perez, had been interviews so many times in different television channels and he is definitely my favorite author. As a college student, I find it to be perfect to learn more about HFT. It is very enlightening, very distinctive and well conceived.
Product Attributes:
Value
5
out of
5
Meets Expectations
5
out of
5
Recommends this product? Yes
Age:18 - 24
Gender:Female
Ownership:1 week or less
+1point
Thank you! You have successfully submitted a comment for this review.
Review 6 for The Speed Traders: An Insider's Look at New High-Frequency Phenomenon That Is Transforming the Investing World
A class of it's own
,06/27/2012
By HFTinterest
5
out of
5
The Speed Trader’s, written by Edgar Perez, offers cutting-edge intelligence on the relatively concealed industry of High-Frequency-Trading. The substantial foundation of HFT is laid out and combined with thorough interviews to make sense of the complicated technicalities in HFT.
Perez gives the whole picture by critically defining HFT, charting its inconspicuous emanation into the securities market, breaking down the flash crash of 2010, forecasting the indisputable role that HFT will play in the financial world, and perhaps most importantly, walking the reader through 6 different evaluations with actual high frequency traders. The interviews were the most valuable asset in making this industry understandable. The first person narrative is key because it’s easy to comprehend and relatively scarce in current literature for many reasons, two of which are that traders are reluctant to disclose strategies on generating alpha and the barriers of entry to the HFT industry are so high that there is only a limited amount of traders that actually know what they are talking about.
Readers searching for break-through information on HFT have met their match because The Speed Trader is in a class of its own. Its exceptionally designed equilibrium between fleshed-out mentorship and historical HFT knowledge delivers core comprehension of a challenging topic.
Product Attributes:
Value
5
out of
5
Meets Expectations
5
out of
5
Recommends this product? Yes
+1point
Thank you! You have successfully submitted a comment for this review.
Review 7 for The Speed Traders: An Insider's Look at New High-Frequency Phenomenon That Is Transforming the Investing World
An informative and enjoyable read
,06/27/2012
By JYales ,
New York, NY
5
out of
5
The Speed Traders is a great introduction to the high-frequency trading industry. I first opened the book with a vague understanding of what HFT truly entailed. What I acquired after reading The Speed Traders was much more than I initially anticipated. Through a series of interviews with HFT gurus and expert commentary from the author, this book reveals the very essence of speed trading in a beguiling approach by covering key market events, throughout its development in the global financial industry. One definitely gains a proper understanding of high-frequency trading, and the correlation of information and importance of every millisecond to have economies of scale over the trading process. The Speed Traders is a great investment in enhancing one’s knowledge in the financial technology industry in a simplified and enjoyable manner.
Product Attributes:
Value
5
out of
5
Meets Expectations
5
out of
5
Recommends this product? Yes
Age:18 - 24
Gender:Female
Ownership:2 - 3 months
Usage:Once per year
+1point
Thank you! You have successfully submitted a comment for this review.
Review 8 for The Speed Traders: An Insider's Look at New High-Frequency Phenomenon That Is Transforming the Investing World
This book can be a perfect tour guide of HFT
,06/26/2012
By QuantMonk ,
New Jersey
5
out of
5
I gladly read this book in my leisure time. It was so interesting that I could grab it before I hit to pillows, and also when I was using public transportation. I sometimes followed the original order of chapters, but I also skipped to topics that I really wanted to read. For readers, it depends on what you are looking for. No matter which way, there is a lot for everybody to learn by reading The Speed Traders.
I think this book can be quite useful for students and outsiders who want to know what is happening in the high frequency trading world. Many thoughtful remarks from practitioners were quoted in this book. Those timely quotes work towards predicting the future of high frequency trading (HFT). So if you want to work in this industry or do some business with HFT, this book can be a perfect tour guide, showing you the current landscape of HFT.
The best part of this book is the great amount of information about HFT coming directly from fund managers, chief executives, quants and academics. They all have unique views about HFT that are insightful for outsiders. They are indeed working with these new technologies and creating financial magic to maximize their P&Ls. When you read what they are saying, it feels like you are directly talking to them. For people that are usually dealing with computers and numbers, that is an easy way to know the world beyond their cubicles.
The Speed Traders is a great value for the money you will spend. So worthwhile that The Speed Traders went beyond my expectations. I hope this review helps you in picking this title, arguably the best book on the topic out there.
I think this book can be quite useful for students and outsiders who want to know what is happening in the high frequency trading world. Many thoughtful remarks from practitioners were quoted in this book. Those timely quotes work towards predicting the future of high frequency trading (HFT). So if you want to work in this industry or do some business with HFT, this book can be a perfect tour guide, showing you the current landscape of HFT.
The best part of this book is the great amount of information about HFT coming directly from fund managers, chief executives, quants and academics. They all have unique views about HFT that are insightful for outsiders. They are indeed working with these new technologies and creating financial magic to maximize their P&Ls. When you read what they are saying, it feels like you are directly talking to them. For people that are usually dealing with computers and numbers, that is an easy way to know the world beyond their cubicles.
The Speed Traders is a great value for the money you will spend. So worthwhile that The Speed Traders went beyond my expectations. I hope this review helps you in picking this title, arguably the best book on the topic out there.
Product Attributes:
Value
5
out of
5
Meets Expectations
5
out of
5
Recommends this product? Yes
+1point
Thank you! You have successfully submitted a comment for this review.
Review 9 for The Speed Traders: An Insider's Look at New High-Frequency Phenomenon That Is Transforming the Investing World
Exceptional Book!
,06/25/2012
By aj91 ,
New York, NY
5
out of
5
The Speed Traders, by Edgar Perez, touches up on many aspects of high frequency trading. There are obviously various different books that touch upon high frequency trading but The Speed Traders provides the most efficient information on HFT. The entire book solely discusses HFT and does not stray from the topic. Mr. Perez seems to have an abundant knowledge on high frequency trading and it clearly shows throughout his book.
High frequency trading is a difficult concept to grasp and a difficult concept to put in a book. Mr. Perez utilized numerous real situations through interviews with industry experts. The Speed Traders has many timelines of key markets and also discusses how HFT was introduced. Mainly the interviews were what grasped many readers. Mr. Perez’s book provides so much insight on HFT. With this book readers will not only gain more knowledge of high frequency trading but opens up a new perspective to the business world.
The Speed Traders will definitely be a book worth reading for those interested in high frequency trading. This book will bring about terrific knowledge combining with actual events to gain a broader perspective on high frequency trading.
Product Attributes:
Value
5
out of
5
Meets Expectations
5
out of
5
Recommends this product? Yes
Age:18 - 24
Gender:Male
Ownership:2 - 3 months
Usage:A few times per month
+1point
Thank you! You have successfully submitted a comment for this review.
Review 10 for The Speed Traders: An Insider's Look at New High-Frequency Phenomenon That Is Transforming the Investing World
A high frequency read!
,06/24/2012
By Speedtrader11 ,
New York, NY
5
out of
5
One of the least explained areas of finance is high frequency trading and Edgar Perez’s book, The Speed Traders, gives an extensive overview of this topic. The insightful descriptions of the daily activities of the market and their role in the lives of securities dealers allow it to reveal the methods that traders use. The book utilizes interviews with recognized industry professionals and a timeline of the evolution of speed trading to provide the reader with a great idea on what speed trading is and how to use it. One of the major focusing points of the book are the modern applications of speed trading. These applications are not only explained through examples and interviews but also in a clear way that excludes confusing industry jargon and paints a clear picture of the topic at hand.
The Speed Traders by Edgar Perez, a global speaker on the topic, is a clear and informative read that can be useful to both seasoned industry professionals and those who are only exploring the financial industry.
The Speed Traders by Edgar Perez, a global speaker on the topic, is a clear and informative read that can be useful to both seasoned industry professionals and those who are only exploring the financial industry.
Product Attributes:
Value
5
out of
5
Meets Expectations
5
out of
5
Recommends this product? Yes
Age:14 - 18
Gender:Male
Ownership:2 - 7 weeks
Usage:Every few days
+1point
Thank you! You have successfully submitted a comment for this review.
Review 11 for The Speed Traders: An Insider's Look at New High-Frequency Phenomenon That Is Transforming the Investing World
Great Book!
,06/19/2012
By InterestedInHFT ,
New York, NY
5
out of
5
The Speed Traders, by Edgar Perez, is an enlightening work on high frequency trading. Although there are many high frequency trading books available on the market today, The Speed Traders is distinctive in that it does not stray from its discussion of HFT into other areas of finance. Perez’s work has a laser-like focus on the high frequency trading industry and the structure of the book is well conceived.
The true challenge of discussing high frequency trading is to engage the reader without losing him/her in a glut of technical jargon. By providing HFT information in the form of interviews with industry experts, Perez has mastered this challenge. The Speed Traders introduces the reader to high frequency trading by discussing its evolution, including a timeline of key market events that have helped to shape the landscape of today’s global financial markets. The true strength of The Speed Traders lies in the interview content. Perez’s access to HFT practitioners is truly unique and provides for a candid look at the high frequency trading industry. By introducing the reader to members of the high frequency trading community, The Speed Traders succeeds not only in providing valuable insight, but also injects a human element that is easily overlooked in discussions about HFT.
Those looking for a substantive, entertaining book about high frequency trading will not be disappointed by The Speed Traders. The book’s balance of technical knowledge and practitioner anecdotes combine to make it a truly worthwhile read.
Product Attributes:
Value
5
out of
5
Meets Expectations
5
out of
5
Recommends this product? Yes
Age:25 - 34
Gender:Male
Ownership:1 week or less
Usage:Every few days
+1point
Thank you! You have successfully submitted a comment for this review.
Review 12 for The Speed Traders: An Insider's Look at New High-Frequency Phenomenon That Is Transforming the Investing World
"An Enlightening Book",Book Review by Brenda Jubin
,04/24/2012
By JPetrova ,
New York, NY
5
out of
5
Book Review: 'The Speed Traders' by Brenda Jubin
High-frequency trading has mesmerized people in search of easy money, has challenged regulators, and has been an easy target for the press. In "The Speed Traders: An Insider’s Look at the New High-Frequency Phenomenon That Is Transforming the Investing World" (McGraw-Hill, 2011) Edgar Perez tries to set the record straight. Alternating between an annotated timeline of the development of high-frequency trading and interviews with top high-frequency traders, Perez illuminates the world of speed.
We normally think of high-frequency trading as super-fast order processing, measured in microseconds. And, yes, it is. But a trader’s data feed (whether market quotes or news feed) also has to be lightning fast, as does his database management system. Adam Afshar, one of the interviewees, explained this in the starkest of terms: “High-speed database management, in my opinion, is the linchpin of any computational or robotic trading system. … To put this into perspective, a test done in Microsoft Excel that takes about five months takes five days in SQL … and less than one second in a database management system that is specifically designed for stock market and numerical analysis. … Of course, having low-latency data is important; having an analytics system, be it a genetic algorithm, neural network, or basic network, these are all things you cannot do without, but none of these things makes any sense or has any value, monetizable value at least, if you do not have a very sophisticated high-speed database.” (p. 133)
Reading this, I felt—at least for one wrenching moment—that I had been consigned to the dustbin of history. Somehow neither Zeno (Achilles and the tortoise) nor Aesop (the tortoise and the hare) provided consolation.
But speed does not automatically translate into profit. Manoj Narang, the founder of Tradeworx, speaks to this point. “Profitability,” he explains, “can have two distinct meanings in the realm of high frequency, and these meanings are almost mutually exclusive. When applied to high-frequency trading, profitability usually refers to the consistency of profits, because consistency is what makes high-frequency trading so appealing. … However, to most people profitability means something entirely different, which is the overall amount of profit generated. In this regard, the highest-turnover strategies are at a decided disadvantage.” A typical trade will return only about 0.1 cent per share. “And that only includes trading costs, not the costs of running such an expensive and technology-intensive business to begin with!” (p. 197)
Moreover, he continues, assume that high-frequency traders account for the entire market volume, which has averaged 8 billion shares per day, and that they make 0.1 cent per share of profit. The yearly profit would come to $2 billion. “This might sound like a lot of money, but let’s keep in mind that this is the total amount for an entire industry. There are many other corners of the financial industry, such as derivatives trading or hedge funds, that generate hundreds of times this amount of profit in one year.” (p. 197)
Admittedly, not all shops run incredibly high turnover strategies. At the slower end of the scale, high-frequency trading more closely approximates automated day trading where positions can be held for minutes or even hours. Consistency suffers, but overall profitability can increase (or, of course, decrease).
Perez explores the charges that have been brought against high-frequency trading and for the most part, with the help of his interviewees, tries to dispel them. Did high-frequency trading cause the Flash Crash? No. As David Cummings, chairman of Tradebot Systems, wrote: “Who puts in a $4.1 billion order without a limit price? The trader at Waddell & Reed showed historic incompetence.” (p. 155)
Some traders also point the finger at the practice of busting trades, which can punish liquidity providers. The Speed Traders offers a sympathetic portrait of an industry that is often demonized. By tracing its roots (going back to Instinet, which began operating under an unwieldy name in 1970), Perez demonstrates it to be a logical development of technological change in the financial markets. By separating out some controversial practices, such as flash orders, from high-frequency trading, Perez makes it more defensible. All in all, an enlightening book.
Click an image to enlarge it.
Product Attributes:
Value
5
out of
5
Meets Expectations
5
out of
5
Recommends this product? Yes
Age:25 - 34
Gender:Female
Ownership:11 - 12 months
Usage:Every day
+1point
Thank you! You have successfully submitted a comment for this review.