Customer Quote by Michael Lewis
““The orders resting on BATS were typically just the 100-share minimum required for an order to be at the front of any price queue, as their only purpose was to tease information out of investors. The HFT firms posted these tiny orders on BATS—orders to buy or sell 100 shares of basically every stock traded in the U.S. market—not because they actually wanted to buy and sell the stocks but because they wanted to find out what investors wanted to buy and sell before they did it. BATS, unsurprisingly, had been created by high-frequency traders.””
About This Quote
Source Book: Flash Boys, 2014
High‑frequency traders used tiny orders on BATS to probe market intent, exploiting information asymmetry for profit.
In simple terms: Tiny orders reveal investor intentions.
Key Takeaway
Regulate manipulative order practices.
Themes
finance
high‑frequency trading
market microstructure
information asymmetry
manipulation
Mood
analytical
critical
Type
financial
journalistic
When to use this quote
- trading strategy
- market surveillance
- policy making
Key Concepts
game theory
regulatory economics
technology ethics
Questions to Reflect On
- How to distinguish probing from manipulation?
- What safeguards protect investors?
A Different Perspective
May hinder legitimate liquidity provision.
![“Crucial decisions are made, today as thousands of years ago, in terms of the intuitive guesses and preferences of a few men in positions of authority...[it is] quite likely that the fate of entire societies may be sealed by a series of avoidable mistakes committed by their leaders.” quote by Michael Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/a59/michael-lewis-705_decision-making_crucial-decisions-are-made-today-as-thou_16888.jpg)
