Skip to Main Content

Noise: Living and Trading in Electronic Finance

Online ISBN:
9780226427515
Print ISBN:
9780226427348
Publisher:
University of Chicago Press
Book

Noise: Living and Trading in Electronic Finance

Alex Preda
Alex Preda
King's College London
Find on
Published:
1 March 2017
Online ISBN:
9780226427515
Print ISBN:
9780226427348
Publisher:
University of Chicago Press

Abstract

This book examines the institutional and cultural underpinnings of a financial puzzle: given that the overwhelming majority of retail traders lose money in financial transactions, why do we see ordinary people continuing to engage in trading? This phenomenon is analyzed by means of an ethnographic investigation of how electronic financial markets work. The book takes the perspective of the relationships among retail traders, institutional traders, and brokers. “Noise” investigates the social institutions that recruit ordinary people and support their participation into financial trading. Contrary to widespread assumptions, the book shows that professional and retail traders are not two completely separated categories. It analyzes how transitions are made between them, as intrinsic to reproducing the financial workforce. Based on direct observations and interviews with traders and brokers in the US and the UK, the book takes a close up look at the practical actions of trading, and at how these relate to the brokers’ actions. Using extensive interviews with traders, “Noise” sheds light on the rationales for taking up trading and continuing with it even if little or no gains are made. It shows how traders make sense of their financial actions and decisions in relationship to their social lives, challenging a utilitarian view about profit as the ultimate motive in trading.

Contents
Close
This Feature Is Available To Subscribers Only

Sign In or Create an Account

Close

This PDF is available to Subscribers Only

View Article Abstract & Purchase Options

For full access to this pdf, sign in to an existing account, or purchase an annual subscription.

Close