This was supposed to be a narrative of how algorithmic trading led to the crisis of 2008. But it's not even a narrative, let alone one supported by evidence. It's just a collage of factoids. It might have worked as entertainment if it were engaging and well-written, but it fails at that too. And it's just so incredibly cringey. Some of the passages could have been written by a 20-year old intern at BuzzFeed. Look at this:

"It wasn't the trio of cut-glass chandeliers hung from a gilt-laden ceiling that caught his attention, nor the pair of antique floor-to-ceiling mirrors to his left, nor the guests' svelt Armani suits and gem-studded dresses. Something else in the air made him smile: the smell of money. And the sweet perfume of something he loved even more: pure, unbridled testosterone-fueled competition."

Ten thousand years of human literature. I could have read some Flaubert or Nabokov or some good junk sci-fi. But instead I wasted my time on this garbage.

If you want to get a glimpse into algorithmic trading - its core ideas, its history, its protagonists - go with Gregory Zuckerman's "The Man Who Solved the Market" instead. ( )

Este libro explica un montón de cosas sobre la crisis de 2008, entrando tras un montón de puertas que yo creía que siempre habían estado cerradas. Es una lectura muy interesanet y muy bien llevada sobre cómo afectó el crack a los hedge funds, fondos de inversión sin reglas escritas sobre cómo invertir el dinero. Fondos de inversión discrecionales, podríamos llamarlos. En ellos, los más afamados traders se llevan cada año el 2% de lo que gestionan y el 20% de lo que ganan, operando en mercados guiados por alta matemática que busca pequeñas discrepancias en los mercados o bien tendencias que nadie más ha visto para obtener beneficios.
El libro comienza narrando las vidas de los principales managers de hedge funds, cómo se conocieron y formaron, cómo lanzarosn sus fondos, y cómo todos se pegaron la gran galleta en 2007, 2008, 2009 y subsiguientes.
El libro destroza la hipótesis de Fama de los mercados eficientes y cuenta un montón de cosas interesantes. Tiene algunos fallos de bulto, como cuando describe el carry trade (estás largo de yenes, no corto, cenutrio) y alguna otra, pero en general se lee muy bien. ( )

Arrived Lausanne

I got through about 140 pages of this 312 page book. It has an interesting premise: super-smart math geeks figure out how make a killing on Wall Street. Reporter Scott Patterson tells us how these computer math wizards came to Wall Street in the 1970s and with their math models out performed all the old school Wall Street experts. Unfortunately, there were so many of these guys I had a hard time keeping them all straight. He introduces a character; we follow him for awhile as he graduates with a Master's degree, gets a job with a financial company, and develops a computer program that allows him to bet with the odds in his favor. Just we get interested this character, Patterson introduces us to another character who is almost identical, and then another character, and another. After 140 pages, I didn't care any more, I have too many more books to read.

I think what Patterson had here was a very good magazine article that just didn't quite cut it in book form. I don't recommend this book. ( )

Seemed very well researched and thorough. These were the major players who took the sophisticated world of financial trading and made it vastly more complicated. Products under trade and market models required teams of PhD's in math, physics, engineering, etc. After years of success they eventually grew too confident to recognize the massive risks they were buried in. When the market stumbled, the house of cards collapsed.

Not many of these characters were sympathetic. They enjoyed their absurd wealth and took great pleasure in macho competition and juvenile indulgence. They were a younger generation that took over the world of good old boys by following the lessons they learned in academia. The story follows early pioneers like Ed Thorpe in the 1960s, to the age of Quant hedge funds, all the way through the 2007-08 financial collapse.

My only complaints: There were a lot of players in the story and I didn't always remember who was who. And the explanations could get a bit technical, not being a financial person myself. But I understand this is a complicated marketplace and some things can't be boiled down beyond a certain point. ( )