Traders, Guns and Money: Knowns and unknowns in the dazzling world of derivatives Revised edition (Financial Times Series) [Paperback]

Satyajit Das (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 17, 2010 | ISBN-10: 0273731963 | ISBN-13: 978-0273731962 | Edition: 1

Traders Guns and Money is a wickedly comic exposé of the culture, games and pure deceptions played out every day in trading rooms around the world. And played out with other people’s money.

A sensational insider’s view of the business of trading and marketing derivatives, this revised edition explains the frighteningly central role that derivatives and financial products played in the global financial crisis.

This worldwide bestseller reveals the truth about derivatives: those financial tools memorably described by Warren Buffett as ‘financial weapons of mass destruction’. Traders, Guns and Money will introduce you to the players and the practices and reveals how the real money is made and lost.

The global financial crisis took almost everyone by surprise and even now new problems keep appearing and solutions continue to be elusive. In the original version of Traders, Guns and Money, Satyajit Das provided a highly prescient insight into the structure and risk of the world financial system exposing the problems that are becoming readily apparent. In a 2006 speech – The Coming Credit Crash – Das argued that: "an informed analysis … shows that risk is not better spread but more leveraged and (arguably) more concentrated…. This does not improve the overall stability and security of the financial system but exposes it to increased risk of a "crash".

Editorial Reviews

Review

EXTREME MONEY: THE MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE AND THE CULT OF RISK, the new title from bestselling author Satyajit Das, is now available to pre-order on Amazon.

"Funny, readable and peppered with one-liners from Groucho Marx, "Traders, Guns & Money" offers an ideal primer for anyone tempted to take a walk on the derivative side."
James Pressley, Bloomberg.com

 ‘……a distinctly timely book ....Traders, Guns and Money, tries to reach out to the mathematically challenged to explain how the world of derivatives “really” works.’
Gillian Tett, Financial Times

‘The sexier side of finance ... at last ... a convincing picture of what life is like in today's modern financial industry.’
Corporate Financier

‘...a fascinating and compelling insight into the world of derivatives... a page turning quality more reminiscent of a John Grisham novel than a dissertation on derivatives.’
FINASIA

‘....more riveting than the Da Vinci Code...in the mould of Liars' Poker...an insider’s account of how derivatives markets work...’ 
Goola Warden, The Edge

‘this is possibly the best insider account of a career in investments since Michael Lewis's book Liar's Poker….I can't recommend this book strongly enough.'
www. dna.bloggingstocks.com

‘... a beginner's guide to the often unsavoury and murky world of trading...a surprisingly gripping account ....’
Money Week   

‘A worthwhile read for anyone with connection to the financial world.’
WorldFinance.com

‘…. must read for all CEOs, CFOs, bankers and anyone who cares about what banks are doing with their money.’
Lara Wozniak, www.financeasia.com

‘…an amusing, down-to-earth look behind the scenes of the derivatives market….There were several times I laughed out loud….’
www.runningofthebools.typepad.com

‘... a scalpel of a book’
Financial Engineering News

“Das’ audacity is commendable as he does not hesitate to challenge the greatest intellectuals of quantitative finance like Myron Scholes and Fischer Black….Overall, he does a splendid job of portraying the obsessive mentality of the traders that anything can be traded.”
Medill Money Mavens, August 2010

From the Back Cover

‘…a distinctly timely book ... Traders, Guns & Money tries to reach out to the mathematically challenged to explain how the world of derivatives “really” works.’

Gillian Tett, Financial Times

 

‘...a scalpel of a book that pulls back the skin on the derivatives and risk management industry to expose the blood, guts and circulatory system underneath…’

Nina Mehta, Financial Engineering News

 

 ‘... a beginner's guide to the often unsavoury and murky world of trading ... a surprisingly gripping account ...’

Money Week   

 

‘ ... more rivetting than The Da Vinci Code...in the mould of Liar's Poker...an insider's account of how derivatives markets work...’

Goola Warden, The Edge, Singapore

 

‘The sexier side of finance ... at last ... a convincing picture of what life is like in today's modern financial industry.’

Corporate Financier

 

‘…a page-turning quality more reminiscent of a John Grisham novel.’

JASSA, Finsia

 

 

Traders Guns & Money is a wickedly comic exposé of the culture, games and pure deceptions played out every day in trading rooms around the world. And played out with other people’s money.

 

A sensational insider’s view of the business of trading and marketing derivatives, this revised edition explains the frighteningly central role that derivatives and financial products played in the global financial crisis.

 

 

 

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: FT Press; 1 edition (July 17, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0273731963
• ISBN-13: 978-0273731962
• Product Dimensions: 5.3 x 0.8 x 8.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (95 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #161,989 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #28 in Books > Business & Investing > Investing > Futures
  • #53 in Books > Business & Investing > Investing > Options

More About the Author

Satyajit Das is an internationally respected expert in finance, with over 30 years' experience. He worked for the "sell side" (banks such as Citicorp Investment Bank and Merrill Lynch), the "buy side" (Treasurer of the TNT Group) and acted as a consultant advising banks, investors, corporations and central banks throughout the world. He has been within touching distance of many of the pivotal events in finance during his long career.

Das presciently anticipated many aspects of the Global Financial Crisis in his 2006 book Traders, Guns & Money: Knowns and Unknowns in the Dazzling World of Derivatives In a speech that year - The Coming Credit Crash - he argued that: "an informed analysis of the structured credit markets shows that risk is not better spread but more leveraged and (arguably) more concentrated amongst hedge funds and a small group of dealers. This does not improve the overall stability and security of the financial system but exposes it to increased risk of a "crash" during a credit downturn." He has continued to be a respected commentator on developments in the crisis, accurately anticipating many subsequent phases.

He was featured in Charles Ferguson's 2010 Oscar winning documentary Inside Job and a 2009 BBC TV documentary - Tricks with Risk.

Das is the author of many highly regarded books on derivatives and risk management, which are regarded as standard reference works for professional traders. In 2006, he published the international best seller Traders, Guns & Money, a satirical insider's account of derivatives trading. The Financial Times described it as explaining "not only the high-minded theory behind the business and its various products but the sometimes sordid reality of the industry".

His latest book is Extreme Money: The Masters of the Universe and the Cult of Risk (2011) described by Nouriel Roubini as: "A true insider's devastating analysis of the financial alchemy of the last 30 years and its destructive consequences. With his intimate first-hand knowledge, Das takes a knife to global finance and financiers to reveal its inner workings without fear or favor."

He appears regularly in the media in the US, Canada, UK, Australian, New Zealand, India and South Africa. His opinion pieces appear in prestigious publications throughout the world including the Financial Times. His blogs can be found on a number of on-line financial sites, including www.wilmott.com, www.roubini.com, www.minyanville.com, www.eurointelligence.com, www.nakedcapitalism.com and www.prudentbear.com.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

62 of 63 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Required reading for finance majors November 17, 2006

By Joe Kolman

Format:Paperback

This is not another journalist musing on the financial world. This is not an academic explanation of how financial instruments work. It's something else entirely -- a rare inside glimpse into the world of derivatives by a literate professional who's been a handshake away (or closer) from the major events in the market. Das leavens a series of technical discussions about particular strategies with more entertaining glimpses into the culture the drives the deals. Although I have bones to pick with the book's episodic structure, I can't think of a better way to get a crash course in how the capital markets really work.

88 of 93 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars The starting point to the world of derivatives September 22, 2007

By Chris Jaronsky TOP 500 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

"Knowns and unknowns in the dazzling world of derivatives" great subtitle and the author really delivers. I love books on finance. Possibly stemming from being dropped on my head as a child. Some are pretty brutal to read but this one is as entertaining as it is educational.

I was familiar with some derivatives like futures contracts and options, before reading this book. Now derivatives like CDO (Collateralized Debt Obligations), CCO (Commodity Collateralized Obligations), currency swaps, interest rate swaps, or even inverse floaters make sense to me. Obviously I am far from being an expert on any of these, but after reading this book I can now understand why Warren Buffet called derivatives "Financial Weapons of Mass Destruction".

The author does a great job educating you in story-like fashion. The book told of numerous investors that ended up getting screwed by some pretty good salespeople at different dealer firms. Buyer beware comes to mind time and time again as I read these episodes. The treasurer of Orange County California got in way over his head because he was making a ton of money. Which he attributed to his financial wisdom. Then when interest rates went against him and his county lost 1.5 billion dollars he changed his tune saying he had some kind of brain defect and could not understand numbers. That would have been handy for the voters of Orange County to know BEFORE they elected him to office.

I guess there are many reasons to use derivatives like avoiding taxes, moving risk from highly regulated areas to less regulated areas, using loans as collateral for even bigger loans, or repackaging bad credit in a way that transfers the risk to someone else. The more I learn, the more I am amazed that supposedly very intelligent people see these as a great way to make money. It just goes to show that most people invest in things they do not understand.

I read an article by the author, Satyajit Das today. In the article he mentioned that "1 dollar supports 20-30 dollars worth of loans" and that the derivatives market at the moment is valued at 485 trillion dollars, or to make that a little more understandable, 8 times the global gross domestic product. 8 times the GDP of the entire planet. Wow.

This book is a great introduction to the world of derivatives and I highly recommend it.

66 of 74 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars A double agent's account of his life as a spy January 9, 2007

By Valeri Pushnya

Format:Paperback

As a derivatives trader I've seen many of my colleagues who just enter the field paying hundreds of dollars for thousands of pages of Mr. Das highly unreadable and stupefying compendiums on the subject of structured products. It is impossible to imagine a more serious and devote approach to derivatives than that exuding from his technical volumes. In comparison this new book feels like a gush of fresh air and while demystifying and ridiculing what used to be his bread and butter Mr. Das may look a bit cynical it is an honest book full of interesting and plausible examples and stories. For novices it can be very educational and for experts quite entertaining. It is like a memoir of a spy who turned out to be a double agent on his lifetime in secret services. When a guy knows so much who cares what side he was serving on?