Dark Pools

The Rise of the Machine Traders and the Rigging of the U.S. Stock Market

By: Scott Patterson

Narrated by: Byron Wagner

Length: 11 hrs and 36 mins

Publisher's summary

A news-breaking account of the global stock market's subterranean battles, Dark Pools portrays the rise of the "bots" - artificially intelligent systems that execute trades in milliseconds and use the cover of darkness to out-maneuver the humans who've created them.

In the beginning was Josh Levine, an idealistic programming genius who dreamed of wresting control of the market from the big exchanges that, again and again, gave the giant institutions an advantage over the little guy. Levine created a computerized trading hub named Island where small traders swapped stocks, and over time his invention morphed into a global electronic stock market that sent trillions in capital through a vast jungle of fiber-optic cables.

By then, the market that Levine had sought to fix had turned upside down, birthing secretive exchanges called dark pools and a new species of trading machines that could think and that seemed, ominously, to be slipping the control of their human masters.

Dark Pools is the fascinating story of how global markets have been hijacked by trading robots - many so self-directed that humans can't predict what they'll do next.

©2012 Scott Patterson (P)2012 Random House Audio

Surprisingly Interesting

Had to read for a college course. I was reluctant to read if because I thought I was going to be extremely dry and hard to stay focused. I was completely mistaken. I found myself wanting to read/listen and thinking about the story when I wasn't. It was the first book of the genre I have read.

book was realy good

Fastest book I ever finish kept my intrest whole time. I learned a lot about modern stock exchange.

Great book

This was one of the best books I've read in a long time filled with stunning revelations.

Perfect for Whispersync for voice

Audio is not the best format for this book - you will want the new Whispersync for voice that allows the use of the written text for referencing and reviewing.

Best book I’ve heard in years

The whole book is an intriguing storyline - not some boring lecture. To expand on the title, this book in mainly about the evolution of the stock market from human-controlled specialist system to an electronic market run by bots. Super job by the narrator - very easy and fun to listen to. 10/10 score.

Thrilling insight into the world of HFT's!!

Would you listen to Dark Pools again? Why?

I will absolutely listen again!! Loved the audio book.. Informative, descriptive, thrilling, and just an all around great read/listen!

What was one of the most memorable moments of Dark Pools?

Loved hearing about the creation of Island, ARCA, and the passion of the programmers that created them!

What about Byron Wagner’s performance did you like?

Byron was absolutely one of the best narrators that I have ever heard.. I wish the book I'm listening to now was done by him!

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

After listening to this book I want to go and create my own computer program.. I love trading and I am extremely passionate about the financial markets.. This book really got my wheels spinning!

Any additional comments?

Must read!

Contain less technical details than flash boy

Overall it is a very thoughtful book. Neural and comprehensive. Only dissatisfaction is that the author always put the machine at the opposite side of human being. But in the end, human being develop the algorithm and code the machine. Since there is no truly AI be ache curved so far, the high frequency trading is really just an intensive game between mortals.

These HFT Algorithms are Simply Market Parasites

Dark Pools: High-Speed Traders, A.I. Bandits, and the Threat to the Global Financial System is a "must listen" for anyone interested in AI, high frequency trading (HFT), complex event processing (CEP), cybersecurity, cyber SA, or electronic trading in general. Even though it's not directly discussed, Dark Pools does a very good job of explaining why big money goes into "offensive" profit-motivated research and development - AI, HFT stream processing algorithms, and machine learning - and why the big money does not go into "defensive" uses of the same technology such as cybersecurity and cyber situational awareness.

Before listening to Dark Pools, I was never been able to quite put my finger (definitively) on why all the big (and small) companies spend huge money on AI and machine learning because these technologies often do more harm than good, especially in the hands of those who are motivated by greed or political agendas. My career has always been focused on defending people and organizations against such greed and threats; but it is now very clear to me that cybersecurity-focused system engineers and "defensive" AI experts are fighting a losing battle against the "profit-motivated offensive tactics" to develop often hidden and secretive parasitic computing algorithms that have the sole purpose to make money off other people's trading and buying habits.

Everyone has heard of computer viruses, these HFT algorithms are high tech parasites.

A parasite is "an organism that lives in or on another organism (its host) and benefits by deriving nutrients at the host's expense." In many ways, HFT is like a kind of parasite because it lives inside of the world of trading systems and benefits only from other's trades, but in return to the "host", the HFT parasites provides liquidity to the market. However, there are a number of side effects of this parasitic liquidity, including greed, volatility and instability.

This is a very good book; but in all honesty, the ending was very disappointing and could have been much better. However, I understand the author and his desire to document the past, which he did very well, and not to speculate into the future, which has yet to be written.

Highly recommended. 5 Stars - 0.2 Stars for a poor ending - 4.8 Stars.

A must read for those wanting to understand where

What did you love best about Dark Pools?

Taught me an understanding of this little understood segment of our markets

What does Byron Wagner bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Emphasis & excitement

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes most definitely

Any additional comments?

Will listen additional times for items I missed with just one review

Well worth the read

Great book on how today’s market works with high speed traders. Additionally the story is well told and well read.