The Wrong Answer Faster: The Inside Story of Making the Machine that Trades Trillions

Table of Contents:
Prologue 1 Chapter 1 High School Hustler 9 Older Doesn't Mean Smarter, and Bigger Doesn't Mean Better 10 My First Bank Account 15 Working in the Off-Season 16 The Bill Collector 20 Sundays on Maxwell Street 24 Birth of a Banker 26 Graduation Day 31 Chapter 2 The Late Bloomer 35 Harvard on the Rocks 39 Home for the Holidays 41 The Rat Practical 43 Developing a New Perspective 45 Politics Is Politics 50 Moving to the Downstate Campus 54 Leaving on a Jet Plane 58 Chapter 3 Leading a Double Life 75 In the Mayor's Office 79 The Best of the Worst 82 Preparing for the Worst 86 Becoming a New Yorker 89 Chapter 4 A Big Idea 91 Still Daydreaming after All These Years 95 The Wrong Answer Faster 97 Mispriced Merchandise 100 Chapter 5 Chasing Venture Capital 109 Shelly Likes the Horse 112 The Problem Is with the Jockey 120 Shelly Takes a Flyer 121 The Guy without the Money 123 Negotiating My Terms 125 Chapter 6 Banking the Venture Capital 127 A Phone with a View 128 Recruiting Shelton 132 Meeting an Investor 141 Quitting Time 143 Hiring Lawyers and Accountants 145 Money by a Nose 147 Miles to Go 153 Chapter 7 Stepping Out in the World 157 Recruiting the Brain Trust 163 I Can't Even Give It Away 172 Worth More Dead than Alive 174 Chapter 8 Making the Impossible 177 One Door Closes and Another Door Opens 178 Turning Luck into a Craft 182 Changing Jockeys in Midstream 185 Conducting a Symphony Orchestra 186 Person-to-Person Call for Dr. Shelton 187 Turning on the Lights 189 Targeting the Wrong Market 191 Chapter 9 If I Were a Rich Man 195 Rich People Play Backgammon 201 Entering a Parallel Universe 203 The New York Circuit 204 Stretching Rubber Bands 206 The King and I 208 Looking in All the Wrong Places 211 Fishing in Seattle 217 The Best Execution in the Business 220 Chapter 10 Too Good to Be True 223 Snagging an Invitation to London 225 An American Capitalist in Sir Sigmund's Court 229 The Swiss Connection 233 Closing the Deal 237 Creating a Competitive Bid 244 Graduation Ceremony 248 The Year of Transition 249 Chapter 11 Breaking Away 251 Backgammon and Business 253 Not the Man I Used to Be 259 Chapter 12 Does God Play with Loaded Dice? 269 Back to the Futures 271 Accessing the World of Master Physicists 272 Examining the Dice 277 Chapter 13 Making Physics into a Business 283 Home Alone 289 Seed Money 292 The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming 296 A Made Man 300 If You Build It They Will Come 301 Running on Empty 306 Entering the Big Leagues 311 Everything Is Connected 312 Time to Get Out of the Way 315 Epilogue 317 Acknowledgments 319 Index 321

About the Author :
Michael Goodkin, a successful gambler, failed investor, and mediocre student, was advised by his high school guidance counselor to become a plumber. Eight years later, in 1968 he combined his knack for gambling and lessons learned as a failed investor with the expertise of future Nobel laureate economists to found the company that introduced computerized trading to Wall Street. After seeing the world as a professional backgammon player, in 1996 he founded the software company that pioneered the application of computational physics to financial derivatives. A lecturer at forums including the University of Chicago and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, Goodkin holds a JD from Northwestern University and an MBA from Columbia University. The author of Paper Gold, a bestselling novel of financial intrigue, he lives in Chicago.

Review :
"A fascinating book that chronicles the life of this man who had the foresight to understand the potential of harnessing the power of the computer and who has thereby revolutionised the trading basis of the financial markets in his lifetime."-FT Advisor, 28th June 2012 "Even after the 2008 crisis proved that many of the banks' computer-based models were flawed, computers and "rocket scientists" still play a major role on Wall Street. They have pioneers like 70-year-old Michael Goodkin to thank. On paper, Goodkin was an unlikely revolutionary... he was one of the first to spot that computers could be used to automate trading. Goodwin made millions, but he received little public credit. . There are no trading tips or secret formulae in the book. Instead, it's what Jordan Simm in Canadian Business calls a 'traditional coming-of-age tale'. But, as Simm points out, 'the story is anything but conventional', providing a window into a time when Wall Street was a very different place. Goodkin's blunt style makes him an engaging writer, while few others have gone from street hustler to high finance via such an interesting path."-MoneyWeek "A Bildungsroman, one jacket blurb calls this book-and sure, it's a traditional coming-of-age tale. But the story itself is anything but conventional. The pleasures of the book lie in the story of their bumpy path to success."-Canadian Business "Michael Goodkin brought the first computer to Wall Street sparking a financial revolution - proving it isn't what you know, but how fast you know it. Here's how his story began..."-Hedge Magazine "In this rags-to-riches tale, Goodkin recounts the story of how he created a computerised trading system that revolutionised Wall Street in the late 1960s. It is an inspiring story of how a young man with no money or career assembles a group of smart economists and investors and creates a new business that transforms a whole industry. Here, bold ambition triumphs over mediocrity..." -The Irish Times