In just the past few years, the equity markets have been transformed into a high-speed casino that’s a pure crapshoot: a white-knuckle rollercoaster ride that has left individual investors legitimately terrified of equities. The Flash Crash of May 6, 2010–when the DJIA plummeted 734 points in 17 minutes, and dozens of top companies traded as low as zero–was just a harbinger of disasters to come. In Crap Shoot Investing, Barron’s Washington Editor Jim McTague reveals the twin causes of this massive transformation: high-frequency traders using mathematical hocus pocus, and blundering regulators whose attempts to promote long-term investment have massively backfired. McTague takes you through the Flash Crash moment by moment, revealing what happened and how it happened. Next, he burrows “under the volcano” to uncover the titanic, uncontrolled forces now at work in equity markets, showing investors exactly what they’re jumping into when they buy and sell stock today. You’ll learn how new exchanges, desperate for cash, are attracting high-frequency traders at everyone else’s expense... how “dark pools” of hidden trades are tilting the playing field...how even small investors are promoting dangerous volatility. McTague explains why regulators continue to ignore the big picture as the markets accelerate towards chaos. Last but not least, he presents a rational strategy for investors who need to get ahead in markets that have become riskier than most casinos. "A valuable read for anyone considering investing in equity markets." Reprinted with permission from CHOICE http://www.cro2.org, copyright by the American Library Association.

This Element is an excerpt from Crapshoot Investing: How Tech Savvy Traders and Clueless Regulators Turned the Stock Market into a Casino (9780132599689) by Jim McTague. Available in print and digital formats. The revolutionary change in the stock markets that you didn’t notice–and the profound impact it will have on your investments. A revolution inexorably altered the American stock market beginning in 2007; but outside the industry, few realized it had occurred. As late as 2010, the average investor still believed that the stock market was dominated by two major exchanges: NYSE and NASDAQ. In fact, it had expanded to more than a dozen registered equity exchanges and more than 200 other stock-trading venues. . . .

This Element is an excerpt from Crapshoot Investing: How Tech Savvy Traders and Clueless Regulators Turned the Stock Market into a Casino (9780132599689) by Jim McTague. Available in print and digital formats. How the nerds took over Wall Street–and how their high-frequency, computer-driven trading impacts your portfolio. How did graduates from physics and math departments of top graduate schools end up swarming Wall Street? It was an unanticipated consequence of new SEC regulations intended to encourage electronic exchanges. The sudden fragmentation of the market resulted in unexpected complexity which, in turn, led to fleeting pricing discrepancies among trading venues. The nerds saw ways to exploit these inefficiencies.

In just the past few years, the equity markets have been transformed into a high-speed casino that's a pure crapshoot: a white-knuckle rollercoaster ride that has left individual investors legitimately terrified of equities. The Flash Crash of May 6, 2010-when the DJIA plummeted 734 points in 17 minutes, and dozens of top companies traded as low as zero-was just a harbinger of disasters to come. In Crap Shoot Investing, Barron's Washington Editor Jim McTague reveals the twin causes of this massive transformation: high-frequency traders using mathematical hocus pocus, and blundering regulators whose attempts to promote long-term investment have massively backfired. McTague takes you through the Flash Crash moment by moment, revealing what happened and how it happened. Next, he burrows "under the volcano" to uncover the titanic, uncontrolled forces now at work in equity markets, showing investors exactly what they're jumping into when they buy and sell stock today. You'll learn how new exchanges, desperate for cash, are attracting high-frequency traders at everyone else's expense... how "dark pools" of hidden trades are tilting the playing field...how even small investors are promoting dangerous volatility. McTague explains why regulators continue to ignore the big picture as the markets accelerate towards chaos. Last but not least, he presents a rational strategy for investors who need to get ahead in markets that have become riskier than most casinos. "A valuable read for anyone considering investing in equity markets." Reprinted with permission from CHOICEhttp://www.cro2.org, copyright by the American Library Association.

An innovative investment approach that takes the actions of the U.S. Congress into consideration Historical research indicates that, more often than not, when Congress is in session there is a negative effect on equities markets (the "Congressional Effect") due possibly to investor uncertainty surrounding government action or inaction as well as the unintended consequences of Congressional legislative initiatives on the stock market. Author Eric Singer, a financial professional with over twenty-five years of experience, is an expert on this phenomenon, and with this new book he shares his extensive insights with you. Trade the Congressional Effect skillfully details how you can profit from Congress's impact on the stock market. Along the way, it puts this approach in perspective and gives you all the tools you'll need to profitably incorporate it into your investing endeavors. Singer walks you through the process of trading the Congressional Effect and provides practical guidance regarding the possible pitfalls and opportunities you'll face each step of the way. Addresses why it is better to invest while Congress isn't in session Reveals exactly what the Congressional Effect encompasses and why it occurs Written by Eric Singer, one of the first people to publicly document the general effect of Congress on daily stock prices Supported by over forty-five years of real world data, the Congressional Effect has proven profitable to those who know how to use it. This timely guide will show you exactly what it takes to make this phenomenon work for you.

This is a story about an Atlanta dowager, Harriet Reddy, who decides to take personal control of her assets because other investors around her are doing so well in the financial markets while her funds are doing so poorly at a local brokerage. She hires-away a young financial analyst from her old-line commercial brokerage, a man named Charles Ridenour. Hattie's personal secretary, Julie Krause, Charles Ridenour, and Harriet Reddy form a financial team that blossoms and rises to fame and fortune in the Atlanta area. Overnight success brings its own set of problems and eventually the Reddy family must turn to Charley Ridenour to solve these problems. As time goes by they discover that there is a whole lot more substance to Charley than anyone ever dreamed of.

Addresses the power of oligopolistic corporations in contemporary society. The largest, wealthiest corporations have gained unprecedented power and influence in contemporary life. From cradle to grave the decisions made by these entities have an enormous impact on how we live and work, what we eat, our physical and psychological health, what we know or believe, whom we elect, and how we deal with one another and with the natural world around us. At the same time, government seems ever more subservient to the power of these oligopolies, providing numerous forms of corporate welfare—tax breaks, subsidies, guarantees, and bailouts—while neglecting the most basic needs of the population. In Corporate Power, Oligopolies, and the Crisis of the State, Luis Suarez-Villa employs a multidisciplinary perspective to provide unprecedented documentation of a growing crisis of governance, marked by a massive transfer of risk from the private sector to the state, skyrocketing debt, great inequality and economic insecurity, along with an alignment of the interests of politicians and a new, minuscule but immensely wealthy and influential corporate elite. Thanks to this dysfunctional environment, Suarez-Villa argues, stagnation and a vanishing public trust have become the hallmarks of our time. “This book makes a substantial contribution to the literature, particularly to the field of political economy. It is unique and much needed for the way it draws links between a wide and diverse range of social, economic, and political phenomena through a sophisticated and powerful theoretical analysis. Luis Suarez-Villa manages to paint the big picture while touching upon detailed developments in numerous fields—not unlike the great political economists of the nineteenth century.” — Joel Bakan, author of The Corporation: The Pathological Pursuit of Profit and Power