Un nuevo libro sobre la serie de cataclismos financieros que tuvieron lugar en Wall Street a finales de los 80. El autor, Michael Lewis, era vendedor de bonos en la poderosa Salomon Brothers. La historia cuenta los comienzos de una época dorada para esta firma, que acaban con su decadencia y el auge de otra, el banco de inversión Drexel Burnham, que había creado un imperio de bonos basura (junk bonds), o bonos de alto riesgo. El libro está muy bien escrito. De nuevo, como me pasa siempre, siento una especial simpatía por el protagonista. A pesar de que era un tipo que ganó 90.000 dólares en su primer año y 225.000 en el segundo, le da a uno una especie de penita el ver cómo sufre los vaivenes que ocasionan las luchas intestinas de poder que toda empresa importante sufre.

El autor comienza contando el increíble proceso de casualidades que le llevaron a él, un licenciado en Historia del Arte, a entrar en los cursos de formación del banco Salomon Brothers, poseedor de un cuasimonopolio en el mercado de bonos norteamericano por aquellas fechas. Tras los avatares del curso de formación, nuestro protagonista es lanzado al mundo. Nos narra entonces cómo Salomon Brothers había llegado a ser lo que era, creando negocio donde no lo había. Especialmente interesante es la compleja historia de cómo un sólo hombre, Louie Ranieri, consiguió fabricar un bono sobre hipotecas que permitió transacciones de billones de dólares en varios años. Impresionante ejemplo de ingeniería financiera.

La parte final del libro narra los ocho días del crash financiero del 1987, y cómo afectaron a un banco que en aquél momento poseía el 31% de las acciones de British Petroleum, que se desplomó en bolsa. Cuenta también como Salomon Brothers dejó paso a Drexel Burnham, que había creado una rama de negocio llamada junk bonds, o bonos de alto riesgo, que era lo que estaba dando mucho dienero en aquel momento. Así, Salomon Brothers dejó su puesto a la cabeza de los bancos de inversión de Wall Street. Nuestro protagonista y narrador abandona la empresa en esos días, no porque le despidieran (hubo más de mil despidos sobre una fuerza laboral de 3500 personas) sino porque consideró que ya había visto lo suficiente.

Mi nota: Muy entretenido e interesante.

4.5 Stars

A thrilling account of investment banking. The bottom line is don't do it lmao.

This was my 7th book by the author and I have loved all his earlier books. Even I was surprised how much I disliked this one.
Unlike the other books, this was a memoir of the author's days from investment banking. Remember U.S. Investment bankers ? The guys who paid themselves fat bonuses after the govt bailout in 2008. The guys who broke every barrier of greed in their insane lust for profits. This is about how one of the biggest investment banking firms "Salomon Brothers" worked in the 1980s.
Somehow, it failed to interest me.

Love a book that reinforces my existing views

Very good book, and I would highly recommend it to anyone who is has any interest in stocks, investing, wall street, or just the impact of financial policy on the general economy.

Michael Lewis is a great writer, of unique background, who found himself in very exciting circumstances, during very peculiar times. It was written in a very novel way, that varied between first person and third person writing styles, and it still amazes me that everything is based on true historical events.

This book contains a very good historical account of exactly what happened at Salomon brothers in the late 70s and 80s. Lewis Ranieri’s rise and fall, along with mortgage bond market. The precedence of Junk Bonds. The crash of the late 80s. Relationships between a trader and his client, a trader and his rabbis, between members of the same company, or even different companies. This book was extremely educational while maintaining a great sense of excitement and intrigue throughout. There was definitely never a dull moment. I loved reading about the back and from row student’s in the training class as much as I did about John Gutfreund battle with Michael Milken.

Most importantly, this book was not simply a historical regurgitation of various events, nor was it just an individual’s recollection of their time in the company, it was an amalgamation of an insider’s opinion, experience and point of view as he takes you on a journey through one of the most exciting times on Wall Street. Filled with insider rumors and jokes, Michael Lewis is the only man who could’ve written this book, and he wrote it to perfection.

Michael Lewis' story of the debaucherous 1980's Investment Banking scene is fun and crazy and pretty funny. I'm not too sure why this book gets so much praise, but I am assuming that when the book came out, it shed light on a very mysterious scene that not many other forms of media had covered. Now we have the Wall Street world popularized by a ton of different outlets, and the events in this book seem less extraordinary.

The book provides several little finance gems here and there, and also gave a lot of background and some interesting thoughts on how the financial system worked (works?). Although bond trading is very different now, I feel like those hardcore salesmen have just moved into equities for the present time. Perhaps if we ever have floating rates again, bonds will resurface. It would be interesting to read something like this on the options and swap world of today.

The book is an easy and fun read, and although tells a relatively straightforward story of the main character's dive into the Finance world, remains engaging and fast paced.

I liked Moneyball, and The Big Short is one of my favorite books, but Liar's Poker was disappointing.

Since it is a story about life in an investment bank, I expected Wolf of Wall Street-style parties and debauchery, but none of that happened. In fact, nothing much at all happened in this book, which describes Lewis' brief tenure as a bond trader at Salomon Brothers in the 1980s.

A third of the book is about the training program, another third is about Lewis' year as a "geek" (a junior trader) and the remainder about his final year as a "big swinging d*ck" (a producing trader). The plot is episodic in nature, rather than a narrative with a plot. There are also lengthy sections about the history of the mortgage bond and junk bond markets. These sections were interesting - I didn't know that these markets essentially didn't exist until the 1980s - but they interrupt what little flow the main story has.

Unlike Moneyball, which focuses on Billy Beane, and the Big Short, which focuses on a handful of hedge fund managers, Liar's Poker does not develop any one character. We are introduced to a host of people, but there are no central figures in the story.

On the whole, Lewis provides an interesting look at the inside of an investment bank and some of the history of bond trading, but it paled in comparison to the other books Lewis has written.

Really fascinating, and I learned a lot!

While this is probably Michael Lewis's most famous book, it is not my favorite. Lewis is always an engaging writer, but maybe because this is a recounting of a period of his life, and not an investigation into an exciting mystery or a study of a socialogical phenomenon, it's just not as fascinating as his other works.

The book is interesting, as it follows Lewis's journey from college interviews to working at top investment firm Salomon Brothers. The whole investment banking world is incredibly cutthroat, not surprisingly. The money to be made was incredible, and unfortunately the “snakes” of the world benefited from this. People who could sell worthless stuff for large sums of money were the heroes. People who had the best interests of their customers at heart were the losers.

A problem with this book is that it is somewhat dated—again, because it is a “diary” of time in Lewis's life and not just about an event that exists on its own. Honestly, I probably would have scored this higher and enjoyed it more if Lewis's other books weren't so absolutely fantastic!! Moneyball in particular is one of my favorite books and has been reread until it's somewhat tattered. I've loved every other book by Lewis, so this one suffers in comparison. Still a good read, if you are interested in the “good ol' days” of finance!

Terrific robin. Mick Lewis has a way of bringing you along for the ride, providing great transparency into the world of bond trading in the 80s. Definitively 5 stars. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This is great book for someone who wants to get a taste of financial markets in the 70s/80s. The book glorifies the greediness of the traders. It gives great insight on the rise and the fall of Solomon Brothers, and Michael Lewis writes many behind the scenes incidents which helps adding some humor to the history!

"The belief in the meaning of making dollars crumbled; the proposition that the more money you earn, the better the life you are leading was refuted by too much hard evidence to the contrary."

A very well-written page-turner that tells the true story of the financial world with humble tone, many witty remarks and valuable inside observation. Michael Lewis is the evidence of why a combination of a financial brain and a writer soul is irresistible!!!