Markets are Rigged and the Media Acts Like That’s News

Michael Lewis’ new book Flash Boys is causing a bit of a ruckus, and he’s being paraded out onto mainstream media stages everywhere as if the book’s message is nothing short of a brilliant revelation. The premise – that High Frequency Traders’ exploitation of deficiencies in electronic trading systems constitutes a rigged market – is neither revelatory nor relevant, in the big picture. Its funny, but the sound bite that is the summary of the book’s content – “Markets are rigged” stands more as a general rule of thumb for anything that constitutes a market in this day and age.

We know beyond doubt that mortgage markets are rigged. We have zero doubt that precious metals markets are rigged. Interest rate trading is now proven to be rigged. Commodities, equities, debt, currencies,…the only question really is “What market isn’t rigged”?

Treating Michael Lewis’ treatise as if its a novel line of thinking demonstrates 1.) Whoever his agent is, please call me. You are worth your weight in gold. 2.) The mainstream media a la Bloomberg, 60 Minutes, the Wall Street Journal, etc. has no journalistic integrity whatsoever, nor editorial integrity, nor apparently anyone at the helm to point out how vapid is sounds to the audience to proclaim that markets are rigged.

Who is surprised by this so-called intelligence?