Global Manhunt Trading Savant: A Flash Crash Solution

tradernith: I’ve read Flash Boys and Liar’s Poker and loved them. This book is my new favorite and captures the life of a day trader who is also a genius. The author has captured the prop trading world perfectly and the lead up to the finale is perfect.

United States on Jul 23, 2022

Mandrake: Nav Sarao is a genius savant but is on the spectrum. This is the story of how he gamed the system. Actually he was just really smart and did smart things. Its the system that's gamed and Nav was brainy enough to figure how it worked and made millions (and he didn't care about the money!). This is a light easy read about him. The book also explains complex trading systems in a simple way.

Do read it.

India on Dec 26, 2021

SEA WARRIOR: I enjoyed this and the book passed my Beach Read Test. The author didn't quite hit the very high standard set by Gapper in 'All That Glitters' but this is a thorough piece of work, drawing on official reports while maintaining its readability. Whereas Gapper's book only adumbrates the post-offence legal aspects, this one gives very thorough attention to the prosecution process, so it will be of particular interest to lawyers and law students. And also to anyone tempted by the allure of 'alternative investments' - for there is a mighty twist in this tale!

United Kingdom on May 15, 2021

Uday Reddy: The book is great for several reasons, some of them are –
• Racy narration which feels like a thriller.
• Well-rounded research.
• Great details as to the fundamentals of the crash.
• No extra information or filler pages.
• Brief and to the point.
One thing, this book can be a bit difficult to read for those who are not well versed in financial theory as the story revolves around just that. Apart from a few chapters where you begin scratching your heads, the rest can be enjoyed by anyone.

The long version-
The book "Flash Crash", is about a real-life stock market crash which occurred on 6th May, 2010 which phenomenally or surprisingly was caused by one person. Conveniently he's Indian, perhaps we should be proud.
The lone trader's name is Navinder Singh Sarao, also called as “The Hounslow Hound”. The book is a biographical account about him, the man behind the crash. The book explains about the crash itself and the events leading to it.
The book does go into the technical aspects of futures trading and the market mechanics. But, not knowing them will not hinder your progress, but be aware, you may get lost in the details.
The...

India on Jan 02, 2021

Ryan C: Flash Crash tells the real-life story of a day-trader like few others, operating out of his parents house and making millions trading against the financial elite. From the eyes of Nav, trading financial futures is like a game, one he was determined to win at almost any cost. Ultimately his tactics fall foul of the regulators in large part due to his role in the Flash Crash, a half hour during which trillions of dollars was wiped off the value of the US stock market and securities were exchanged at prices completely divorced from any reasonable estimation of their fair market value.

Flash Crash gives a good historical context of day-trading and the spoofing and layering practices practiced by Nav and at its heart tells as good a cat-and-mouse story between Nav and the regulators as you will find in many other crime thrillers. It leaves a lot of space for the reader to make up their own mind about Nav's actions - is it really fair to make an example of a lone trader using very similar tactics that have existed in various forms for about as long as markets themselves have existed? Did he deserve to lose much of his fortune after attempting to defraud the UK exchequer of a...

United Kingdom on Aug 15, 2020

Trini Critic: I found the book technically well researched and sequentially accurate. I am an ex emini trader (licensed) and I also lived in Switzerland and understand how banking and securities law works in the UK, the US and Switzerland. I found the backstory on the advisors to Nav highly accurate and definitely filled with a pond full of sharks. The fact he did this with all the HFT competition is incredible. The author has an understanding of how trading actually occurs which is divergent to say Michael Lewis in Flash Boys. While Flash Boys is accurate and entertaining, Flash Crash is technically accurate. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this over two days and I thought the interviews in YouTube were well discussed. A good work of non-fiction. It proves that the laws have not caught up with technology and that it was a stretch at most to blame Nav for the Flash Crash.

United States on Jul 05, 2020

RobRob: This is a great read, if you're interested in stock trading or just financial crime, made more interesting that Nav is an extraordinary individual of which only a certain % of population has his ability (although it makes you wonder if you played Fifa for hours on end then maybe you can play the market like him!) Confirms your suspicions of what really goes on in the market, but just one area of many causes of volatility, on short time frames. Has some good technical insights of how he did it, and it's interesting to know that a human can still make money on these timeframes, which are extremely short day trading, up against the algos. Basically the book reveals the tactics of the big firms around that time, 2010, found by Nav during his time trying to get an edge. The book is really well written, i was addicted and finished it in a few days, thanks Liam!

United States on Jun 28, 2020

Edsopinion.com: I read and listened to Liam Vaughan’s account of Navinder Singh Sarao (Nav) journey as a trader to becoming a felon. Once on my Kindle the second time on Audible. It is a fascinating story with ominous over tones. It is well written and is well worth reading.
Nav, whose parents are Sikh immigrants to Great Britain lived in Hounslow a working class neighborhood located under the flight pattern or Heathrow airport. There he lived out his life in a second floor bed room in his parents’ house. He attended a local college and completed a bachelor‘s degree in computer science.
He had been a gamer in his younger years and was an avid follower of the soccer leagues. After school he applied and was hired, after proficiency testing, by IDT a company that taught candidates the principles of trading in the futures markets in exchange for a share of their profits and charges for desk rent and trade fees.
Nav worked there for a few years until he became a top trader. Dissatisfied with the financial arrangements he decided to trade from his home computer situated in his bedroom. He led a monkish life and never indulged himself in the substantial profits pf his trading.
He was a...

United States on Jun 22, 2020

Delta D.: Joe Public both has and needs little knowledge of how financial markets markets operate these days. The author tells a good story, but is willing to sacrifice detail for the sake of the narrative. The idea that an autistic young person could (a) make vast sums of money for himself and (b) trigger a global financial crisis is a story which begs to be told.

Nav's circumstances - socially awkward and living at home in humble circumstances with his parents - add to the Wow! factor.

However, the account of how Nav traded and was able to make so many millions defies examination. The story is clearly pitched at the lay reader. The expert (in which camp I place myself) wants answers to a boatload of questions which the author simply (and simply is the right word) ducks.

In any event, it makes for a good read and the lay reader will emerge wiser from it, although it should, perhaps, have carried that famous warning "Don't try this at home."

United States on Jun 15, 2020

J. Kleinsteuber: Sure this is a great story about a single guy taking advantage of a flawed system only to be arrested and temporarily incarcerated but the author paints a rounded picture with plenty of background creating a book which is a definite page turner and rip roaring ride. But it's more than just a story about one guy, it's about the wider stock and futures market too and an intriguing one at that.
Liam, the author, isn't Ben Mezrich for sure with his movie-script-like books but he keeps to the facts rather than creating an imagined world. And does it in a very fluent, easy to read style.
It's a great shame Nav, the protagonist, was treated the way he was as he did nothing worse than the banking insiders do everyday, even today, every day.
If you're in any way interested in trading this is a must read book that I can highly recommend.

United Kingdom on May 15, 2020