PENGUIN The Greatest Trade Ever: How One Man Bet Against the Markets and Made $20 Billion

Gregory Zuckerman beschreibt in verständlichen Worten wie aus der Gier und Rücksichtslosigkeit, mit der Subprime-Hypotheken vergeben, gebündelt und "verkauft" wurden, die Gelegenheit zum erfolgreichsten Börsenhandel in der Geschichte entstanden ist. Eine wenige verstanden ist, nüchtern zu bleiben und zu erkennen, dass dieses fragile Kartenhaus früher oder später zusammenbrechen musste. Dies bedeute dann das Ende für Bear Stearns, Merrill Lynch und letztlich Lehman Brothers. Für John Paulson und Michael Berry bedeute es den Trade ihres Lebens.Profunde Darstellungen des Marktgeschehens wechseln mit interessanten psychologischen Portraits der Hauptakteure ab. Eine absolute Empfehlung für alle, die verstehen wollen, wie es zur Finanz- und Wirtschaftskrise 2008-2009 kam.

Why this book is great –1. Deals with the 2008 financial crisis and explains it in lucid terms.2. Delves into the history of various traders and how they became what they are today.3. Explains various credit instruments with ease, but it can still be a tad-bit difficult for newbies.4. Has a great flow.5. Offers a fresh perspective on the 2008 financial Crisis.6. Acts as a great compliment to ‘The Big Short’.The long version -I was quite intrigued about this book when I read a review about it. I’m a finance buff and I’m always interested in the 2008 financial crisis and how it changed the world. The book held great promises and I must admit, it fulfilled all of them. The book is about John Paulson and a few other traders who noticed the shortcomings of the housing market and made a bet against the entire economy. The book recalls all the scorn they encountered and how they persevered against all odds and made billions while the entire world economy crumbled to its knees. The book delves a bit on the life and history of the traders and how they ended up in the hedge fund industry. The trades were described very well. The book mainly focuses two credit instruments: mainly, Credit Default Swaps (CDS) and Collateralized Debt obligations (CDO). If you understand the fundamentals of these two credit instruments, the book can be a breeze for you. However, if you are from a NON- Finance background, I suggest familiarizing yourself about these instruments from Wikipedia or Youtube. If you do not about them, the book can be a bit hard to follow. The author does try to make a thorough explanation about these instruments, but it could be vague for some.The narration was very fluid. I thought this book would be like ‘The Big Short’, but it offers another fresh perspective on the Global Financial Crisis. It acts as a good compliment to ‘The Big Short’. If you want to know about the 2008 Financial Meltdown, this book would be a great choice.

Un gran libro, muy bien escrito donde redacta la historia de John Paulson y cómo jugo sus cartas muy bien para aprovechar la crisis subprime de 2008.Introduce al personaje desde el punto de vista personal y de su carrera profesional y luego lo pone en el contexto de la primera década del siglo XXI.Describe un evento histórico del siglo XXI de una manera muy amena.

Zuckerman describes with great talent one of the most amazing financial plays in the history of financial markets. While "The big short" by Michael Lewis (another great book by the way) focuses on a bunch of outsiders that have profited from the housing market collapse, this books narrates the story of an insider (John Paulson) who was able to make a killing by engaging in a similar behavior but at a much larger scale (the trade netted circa $20 billion, among which $15 billion for Paulson himself). The common ground with the characters appearing in "The big short" is that Paulson, while being part of Wall Street's investment community was no real estate specialist (his expertise lies within the field of merger arbitrage). Just like Michael Burry, Paulson basically bet on the collapse of the housing market because "he had to". He hasn't been so successful in his calls recently, but his huge bet on gold could pay off big time in the next few years. Future will tell. Rating: Five stars.

Entertaining and a great read