"Flash Boys"

It is not often that I read a book with great interest and appreciation without really understanding it at all. “Flash Boys” by Michael Lewis has been greeted by smarter people than myself who rave about finally getting some understanding on the murky business of HFT (High FrequencyTrading).

Taking a step back, I held somewhat dated views of stock trading. I generally knew that one could go to a broker, e.g., Charles Schwab, with money to buy stock. Once a decision was made regarding the stock and the price that one would pay for the stock, the trade would be entered through a computer if the price was acceptable to buyer.

Over the last few years, I became aware of HFT which I understood as extraordinarily fast computers designed to trade stock based on algorithms coded by brainy people who would know when to buy a stock at the time of the buyer’s interest was initiated but before the deal was consummated. In short, the HFT trader would actually make money buying and selling the stock you want in the millisecond between your broker’s computer request and its completion due to the speed of the computer. While we are dealing with a penny being made per dollar of the transaction, it amounts to BILLIONS in any given year. And the gains are at the expense of the investor! The HFT business never loses because it knows what is going to happen before it is transacted!

And then, I heard of the “dark pools” whereby major investment banks would essentially buy and sell stocks without going through an exchange, e.g., New York Stock Exchange, and then report the transaction after the fact. Again, the gain would be at the expense of the investor who would be clueless of this transaction.

Michael Lewis articulates this complex world through the people who actually understood the process and wanted to change it by starting a separate exchange that would promise transparency and honesty to the investor.

I cannot say that this whole world of HFT and dark pools is clear to me. What is comforting is that the most of the people in the stock trading business do not understand it either. Apparently, the world of computer coders and the brokers is not shared. The coders only know the technical matters involved in the computer’s design without knowing much about the business of buying and selling stocks, and vice versa.

The heroes of this book become vibrant people whose interest in ensuring a more secure and trustworthy environment for stock exchanges motivated them to leave a world a relative security with high monetary rewards (though far, far less than the brokers) to start a brand new exchange (IEX) without any guarantees of success, though in fact, most successful.

We can hope that the more knowledge people have of this world of trading stocks, the more honest it will be.

"The Opposite of Loneliness"

Marina Keegan was an amazing young woman whose life was tragically abbreviated by an accident.  Her personal story is told eloquently by Kevin Roose in the New York Magazine. 

Her interest in writing was recognized by her professors at Yale. Expectation for a great future is now but a memory. Yet, thanks to her parents and one of her professors, her writings are now available in “The Opposite of Loneliness”. 

The book captures the breadth of her interests that include both fiction and non-fiction. Her writing belies her youth. One can only speculate what a great future would have produced.

She was a so-called, “unbeliever”, who was able to sense the wonder of life in all its vagaries. Whether she was experiencing the predicament of many college seniors trying to make sense of their first step into the world of self-reliance or simple pondering her history with celiac disease, she was able to find words to convey an unusual sensitivity to our human condition.

We are so fortunate that someone treasured her abilities enough to gather some of her work for others to appreciate.

"The Story of the Jews"

The five-part “Story of the Jews”, produced and narrated by Simon Schama has been a great experience, allowing me to consider so many aspects of my history with the Jews. My story is somewhat long, as probably many others would say about themselves.

Based on my early history, I was a victim of Christianity’s anti-Semitism. It was clearly articulated by the clergy as well as the interpretation of the Gospel narratives of the crucifixion that the “Jews killed Jesus”. My personal exposure to Jewish contemporaries was limited to high school friends whose focus was on meeting expectations and surviving. I admit that my religious bias intruded my thoughts when considering a Jew.

My seminary education did not correct prior interpretations of the crucifixion. The general focus was that the Jews were responsible for the fate of Jesus. Fortunately, Vatican II provided a major document, Nostra Aetate[1], which finally declared that the Jews were not responsible for Jesus’ death and were a chosen people without a need to become Christian. It was a most welcomed change in understanding and, in my case, enabled me easily to bond with the local Rabbi. I came to an understanding that I was, in fact, a Jew in the sense that I was a follower of a Jew, viz., Jesus. In fact, until the destruction of the Temple (~70 AD), those who followed Jesus considered themselves Jews and expected all Jews to join them. Only with the insight that most Jews were not going to join them in their alignment with Jesus did they turn on the brothers and considered them as the culprits of the crucifixion, as clearly portrayed in the Gospel of John.

"The Sword of Constantine" by James Carroll was most helpful in finding out that the "cross" associated with the crucifixion was never an object of Christian thought until Constantine's power to consolidate the Catholic bureaucracy to further his secular goals. He used the "cross" as a sign of solidarity that ultimately was used against the Jews in various ways, from violence to the establishment of ghettos. Until the 4th century, Christians were primarily oriented to the Risen Lord than the Crucified Savior.

Virtually everyone must be aware of the horrendous history of Jews being isolated and persecuted.  One is left speechless in the face of the constancy of the onslaught against a people. What “The Story of the Jews” brings to the forefront is the fantastic strength of a people to remain true to its identity, in spite of the constancy of the opposition. It is easy to understand why the nation of Israel is somewhat paranoid about its survival, seeing any attempt to solve real problems, e.g., Palestinians, as a potential wedge into its fragile hold onto its identity. Given its long history of persecution and the ultimate disaster of the Holocaust, it would be hard to ever criticize Jews for their sensitivities.

While understanding their fears, I admit that their inability to get beyond their misgivings in order to find a way to live peaceably with the Palestinians will not work. Being caught in a quagmire of uncertainties must be horrible. Yet, without a two-state peace plan, I cannot foresee their living with a sense of security.

The Jewish-Palestinian situation is only one of many ethnic rivalries that tend to dominate the news due to the violence. While I am personally bewildered by the tensions, often battles, among various ethnic groups, I choose to hope that better economics will allow people to rise above the bitter hatreds and misgivings. I admit that it does seem to be a Pollyannaish aspiration given the history of hatred separating ethnic groups. Based on recent history, it does not appear that the transition from autocratic rule to democracy solves ethnic and religious bigotry.

In a sense, in the long history of evolution, humanity is still quite young. If we don’t destroy Planet Earth, maybe with another few thousand years, humans will begin to understand that we are all brothers and sisters.

While the United States continues to have problems in accepting all groups equally, we are challenged by our constitution to do better. We have the support of so many advocating for racial and ethnic harmony.  We are privileged to live in such a nation.

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[1] http://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_decl_19651028_nostra-aetate_en.html

More on "Cosmos"

8.3 billion is a very large number, admittedly much less than the national debt of $21 trillion, but still a very large number. In our personal experience, 100 years is a long time, noted by the relatively few who live that long. In terms of our species, Homo Erectus dates to approximately 200,000 years ago. It would require 405,000 times the 200,000 to reach 8.3billion, the approximate age of the universe.

It is such an awesome number that is fundamentally incomprehensible to me. To think that I am a part of this history essentially staggers my imagination. As referenced in a recent blog, I appreciate Neil deGraase Tyson’s “Cosmos” series even though the realities captured by astronomy is beyond my grasp.

With what is known, it is as spiritual an event, as I can experience, to think that I am a part of this ongoing story of our universe.

I had my first insight into evolution when I read the books by Pierre Theilhard de Chardin, a Jesuit paleontologist, some 55 years ago. I was both intellectual excited and emotionally moved. I could experience my oneness with the universe which he envisioned as all alive, i.e., inanimate objects, e.g., stones, were “living”, as he defined it. Everything was sacred. I understood and absorbed his understanding.

In more recent years, others have contributed to my understanding of evolution, e.g., Dairmuid O’Murcho.  At this point, I am experiencing Tyson’s “Cosmos” as a spiritual event since I am unable to understand in any real sense how we are part of a universe that (1) started 8.3 billion years, (2) evolved over the eons of time so that eventually Mother Earth was formed (4.5 billion years ago) and (3) evolved during the next billion years to the point where any life could be sustained. Homo Erectus (before Homo Sapiens) would not appear until another 4.5 billion years. 

The physics and astronomy of the Cosmos may exceed my intelligence, but I am conscious of being involved in a fantastic experience that continues to evolve. It is as spiritual an experience that I will ever have and it is sufficient to give me peace.