For institutions whose ages are measured in centuries, the day-to-day inner workings of the stock exchanges are amazingly undocumented. I’ve asked numerous traders and others in the capital markets, and they all tell me they learned those details “on the job” from their peers.
Almost a year ago I found The Work of the Stock Exchange, which did document quite a bit of the workings of the New York Stock Exchange. In 1922. Quite a bit has changed since then.
After the Trade is Made, by David M Weiss provides some updates, as it was first published in 1986, with updates in 1993 and 2006. Modern enough that it mentions making trades through websites.
But at the same time, After the Trade is far more of an introductory level overview of the stock markets, options markets, futures markets, bond markets, forex markets, mortgage-backed securities, and electronically traded funds. The comparison between those markets is interesting, but I’d love more than a half page on market makers or a page on ETFs. The deepest of topics get only two or three pages of coverage.
If you no nothing about how trading in markets work, then this is a good primer.
The style of writing is clear and concise. It is straight and to the point, with no storytelling. Easier to read than a textbook, but closer to that style than the dry economics biographies I’ve often have to push through to finish.
If anyone has found a book that goes a level or two deeper, written since the capital markets went digital, please let me know. I’ll keep looking.
