Liar's Poker (Michael Lewis)

Trader's Library #79 · Market history, crises and scandals. 1980s Wall Street culture from the inside, with the seeds of the 2008 crisis.

Author: Michael Lewis · Original: Liar's Poker · Year: 1989 · Usefulness for traders: ★★★★☆

What it's about

Michael Lewis's debut: a memoir of working at Salomon Brothers in the 1980s, during the mortgage bond boom and a trading culture where what counted was squeezing the client.

What it gives a trader

The book shows how sales and trading work at a big bank: the conflict of interest between bank and client, the pressure for results and the birth of the mortgage-backed bond market that led to the crisis 20 years later.

Lessons for traders

• the other side of the trade is often someone who knows more
• company culture shapes people's behaviour (conformity, Atlas of biases #33)
• financial innovation creates new risks

What to watch out for

A 1980s memoir, heavily satirical.

Discussion

The discussion takes place in Hetman Capital Club (in Polish). Join the discussion in the Club →

Navigation

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Educational content, not investment advice. The book description is my own summary and assessment, not quotations. Edition details were checked in catalogues and bookshops, and where there was doubt I said so plainly.