High-Speed Trading

There is an army on Wall Street of high frequency traders who know what you want to buy, and how much you want to buy, before your order to buy is filled. Their systems are faster by milli-seconds, just enough to buy the shares being offered for sale in Microsoft or Facebook, for example, before your order is executed, so that they can buy them ahead of you, drive the price up, and sell them back to you at a higher price in less than the blink of an eye. Read Michael Lewis’ new book, Flash Boys, for an in depth look at this phenomenon and how it could impact your investments.