Dark Pools: The Rise of the Machine Traders and the Rigging of the U.S. Stock Market by Scott Patterson

PART I: MACHINE V. MACHINE

CHAPTER ONE
TRADING MACHINES
A RISING WINTER sun cast pale golden light into the otherwise dark and
quiet office in downtown Stamford, Connecticut. Haim Bodek, the founder
of Trading Machines
1 LLC, squinted at the light through bloodshot eyes and
returned his gaze to a stack of five flat-screens on his desk. The only sound
in the room was the low hum of dozens of Dell computer towers and several
Alienware Area-51 gaming computers.
The sound of the Machine.
It was December 2009. Bodek hadn’t been up all night swilling fine
wines and schmoozing with deep-pocketed clients at four-star restaurants in
Manhattan. He didn’t need to. His firm traded for its own account, and
Bodek answered only to himself and to a few wealthy partners who’d
bankrolled the firm.
He wouldn’t have it any other way. No twitchy investors pulling cash
every time the market dipped. And no prying questions about the state-of-

the-art Machine he’d created

Dark Pools: The Rise of the Machine Traders and the Rigging of the U.S. Stock Market by Scott Patterson