Raging Bulls: How Wall Street Got Addicted to Light-Speed Trading

One of the most interesting things about the catastrophe at Knight Capital Group—the trading firm that lost $440 million this week—is the speed of the collapse. News reports describe the bulk of the bad trades happening in less than an hour, a computer-driven descent that has the financial community once again asking if their pursuit of profit has lead to software agents that are fast, dumb, and out of control. We’re posting this story in advance of its publication in Wired’s September issue because it examines how Wall St. got to the point where flash failures come with increasing frequency, and how much farther traders seem willing to go in pursuit of ever-greater speed.