All About High-Frequency Trading (All About Series) 1st Edition

I really enjoyed this book and how the author is a practitioner w/good insight to HFT but keeps the reader from getting overwhelmed on details. Other traders who want to learn the basics would also appreciate the book, even though the systems described are mostly for institutional funds like the one the author previously worked for. The writing style was informative and funny which makes it a breeze to read.Am I going to utilize what he describes, no because it takes immense resources, however I do understand what drives the markets better which is what the book is about.

The book is a good description of some of the issues involved in high frequency trading. It is a bit dry (you expected maybe Oliver Twist?) and is certainly not meant for a very sophisticated reader (the kind who would be reading, say, Empirical Market Microstructure: The Institutions, Economics, and Econometrics of Securities Trading (no judgement on the quality of the two books), but one has to start somewhere. The only way to REALLY learn the subject is to work at an HFT shop, since this is not the sort of thing that you can do on your laptop from the den, unless you have a lot of money to burn competing with Getco.

You will not be able to create your own strategies by reading this book but you will know the basics of HFT.

I have an MBA but I don't work in finance. This book provides a fantastic overview of high frequency trading, starting with a nice introduction of market structure. Some knowledge of trading and options will let you get more out of this book. Fortunately, I've been reading up on hedge funds lately. Just the section on trading strategies is worth the price, though please realize that those strategies are very difficult for individual investors to pursue.

As a long-time quant trader / software engineer myself, I have to warn that this is not a practitioner's book. Another choice might be "Algorithmic Trading & DMA" by Barry Johnson.

Fantastic book and a great, easy, simple introduction to HFT.Eagerly awaiting for next edition....

Durbin's work provides a great foundation to better understand the exciting and exotic world of high frequency trading (HFT). In addition, for you IT fans (like me), he provides an interesting description of the IT requirements to build a successful HFT platform. Finally, in the last section of the book, Durbin covers some of the commonly debated pros and cons of HFT and its affect on market quality.Durbin readily admits throughout the work that he isn't advertising the book as the 'secret sauce' to HFT. But that's ok: as an experienced industry player in the area of institutional trading on the 'buyside', you're getting a lot of bang for your buck and would offer that he is outlining the issues correctly and all the while keeping the reader engaged in the material. Did I need to read this book? Nope, this is part of my day job, but I like the topic and found little nuggets along the way that made it worth the read. Also, there is a whole section on IT that I have not been directly exposed to which I really enjoyed.Finally, Durbin's background at Citadel, among other places, makes him a very credible author and in better postion to write a book on this topic than others I've seen around.Bottom line? I think there is something in this book for everyone who is interested in the topic.

All about how us 'little guys' are getting screwed!