--- description: Michael Lewis's new book has caused law enforcement to pay more attention to high-frequency trading firms on Wall Street. title: VIDEO: High-Frequency Trading Investigated by FBI image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltec622ab5ecb2db6f/6986886b810bbb370ac90cc1/trading-1280x720-jpg.jpeg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # FBI Investigating High-Frequency Trading by [TIME Video](/author/time-video/) ## TIME Video Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 1, 2014 9:53 PM CUT  Spencer Platt—Getty Images by [TIME Video](/author/time-video/) ## TIME Video Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 1, 2014 9:53 PM CUT The FBI is investigating whether high-frequency trading firms on Wall Street are manipulating the market and putting the average investor at even more of disadvantage when investing. The probe was sparked by new claims and interviews in Michael Lewis’s new book _Flash Boys._ High-frequency trading is nothing new, but the computer algorithms used in the process have gotten more complex. These algorithms allow the firms to essentially see what other investors plan to do and jump in front of them to get ahead of trends. The big firms say that Lewis’s book is misleading, arguing algorithms are innovative and positive for the economy. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/45984/fbi-high-frequency-trading/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/45984/fbi-high-frequency-trading/"},"headline":"FBI Investigating High-Frequency Trading","datePublished":"2014-04-01T21:53:35.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T07:04:56.740Z","description":"The Federal Bureau of Investigation is looking into whether some Wall Street firms are manipulating the market to their advantage after Michael Lewis' new book raised questions about the practice of algorithm-based high-speed trading","url":"https://time.com/45984/fbi-high-frequency-trading/","keywords":["wall street","stock market"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltec622ab5ecb2db6f/6986886b810bbb370ac90cc1/trading-1280x720-jpg.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Video","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-video/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltec622ab5ecb2db6f/6986886b810bbb370ac90cc1/trading-1280x720-jpg.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"High-Frequency Trading","caption":"High-Frequency Trading","creditText":"Spencer Platt—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/45984/fbi-high-frequency-trading/","name":"FBI Investigating High-Frequency Trading"}}]}] ```