Michael Lewis’ “Flash Boys” soared to No. 1 on Amazon Tuesday, the day the much-anticipated book by the best-selling author went on sale.
Lewis’ book argues that the markets have become rigged, as a small group of high-frequency traders are getting better prices on trades than other investors by front-running their trades.
In typical Lewis fashion, it makes the argument by finding a hero to tell the tale — in this case a Royal Bank of Canada trader, Brad Katsuyama, who set out to reform the financial markets by creating a new exchange, IEX, after regulators turned a deaf ear to the equity share-pricing problems he saw.
Lewis, the author of former Wall Street best-sellers “Liar’s Poker” and “The Big Short,” also appeared in a “60 Minutes” segment on Sunday night.