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  • Flash Crash

  • A Trading Savant, a Global Manhunt, and the Most Mysterious Market Crash in History
  • Written by: Liam Vaughan
  • Narrated by: Liam Vaughan
  • Length: 7 hrs and 47 mins
  • 4.8 out of 5 stars (30 ratings)

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Flash Crash cover art

Flash Crash

Written by: Liam Vaughan
Narrated by: Liam Vaughan
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Publisher's Summary

"[An] extraordinary tale." (Wall Street Journal)

"Compelling [and] engaging." (Financial Times)

"Magnificently detailed yet pacy.... Think Trading Places meets Wall Street." (Sunday Times, UK)

The riveting story of a trading prodigy who amassed $70 million from his childhood bedroom — until the US government accused him of helping trigger an unprecedented market collapse.

On May 6, 2010, financial markets around the world tumbled simultaneously and without warning. In the span of five minutes, a trillion dollars of valuation was lost. The Flash Crash, as it became known, represented what was then the fastest drop in market history. When share values rebounded less than half an hour later, experts around the globe were left perplexed. What had they just witnessed?

Navinder Singh Sarao hardly seemed like a man who would shake the world's financial markets to their core. Raised in a working-class neighborhood in West London, Nav was a preternaturally gifted trader who played the markets like a computer game. By the age of 30, he had left behind London's "trading arcades", working instead out of his childhood home. For years, the money poured in. But when lightning-fast electronic traders infiltrated markets and started eating into his profits, Nav built a system of his own to fight back. It worked - until 2015, when the FBI arrived at his door. Depending on whom you ask, Sarao was a scourge, a symbol of a financial system run horribly amok, or a folk hero who took on the tyranny of Wall Street and the high-frequency traders. 

A real-life financial thriller, Flash Crash uncovers the remarkable, behind-the-scenes narrative of a mystifying market crash, a globe-spanning investigation into international fraud, and a man at the center of them both.

©2020 Liam Vaughan (P)2020 Random House Audio

What the critics say

"Until now, the Flash Crash of 2010, where a trillion dollars seemingly vaporized in the span of just five minutes, was one of Wall Street's biggest mysteries. Liam Vaughan's fast-paced, richly detailed financial thriller tells the real story of how it happened, who was at the center of it, and what it all means. You'll want to read it in one sitting." (Bethany McLean, coauthor of The Smartest Guys in the Room)

"An elegant and fast-paced narrative about one of the more obscure and mysterious financial anomalies. Through meticulous reporting and a gripping story, Vaughan has filled in many of the missing pieces. You won’t be able to put it down." (William D. Cohan, author of Four Friends and House of Cards)

"A fascinating journey through the heart of the financial markets and the battle between man and machine in the search for trading profits." (Bradley Hope, coauthor of Billion Dollar Whale)

What listeners say about Flash Crash

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Intriguing

Really enjoyed this audiobook (and the author narrated his own work well). Engaging as a story about stock trading scams could possibly be. And yes, there is someone still living with their parents doing what no one can imagine online… Interesting outcome!

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Gripping

This story was very interesting and kept me engaged throughout. What a story!

The descriptions of the market related technical things were made as user friendly as possible.

I really enjoyed this and will relisten to this one.

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Listen to this book if you've ever bought a stock!

Incredible story! There needs to be a movie about Nav right now. This is one of those stories you can't believe is true.

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