Trading with the Enemy: Seduction and Betrayal on Jim Cramer's Wall Street (Hardcover)

~ (Author) "HE'S BUSY," the Cramer & Company secretary said to me when I tried to contact Jim..." (more)
Key Phrases: Wall Street, Jim Cramer, Goldman Sachs (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

In January of 1994, Nicholas Maier hopped on a train that took him from Cambridge, Massachusetts, where he lived with his parents, to New York's Penn Station.With his wallet stuck in his sock, he headed down to the heart of the Wall Street district for a meeting with Jim Cramer that would change his life forever. For the next five years, Maier would work like a slave inside Jim Cramer's hedge fund, a limited partnership that included only the wealthiest investors, where rules were scarce and where, in his glory days, Jim Cramer managed almost a half a billion dollars, raking in phenomenal returns.

Entranced by the game, Maier quickly rose from the office assistant fetching sandwiches from the deli downstairs to a trader playing with a fifty-million-dollar portfolio. But under the pressure of Jim's constant war, Maier's adrenaline rush wore off, and the dark side of Wall Street was revealed: Maier had become exhausted and money driven -- at his worst moments swapping tranquilizers with his coworkers and passing out on a New York subway.

This is a true insider's story -- an honest, raw, page-turning account that takes us on a journey through the volatile, anything-goes world of hedge funds. From Cramer & Company to the brokerage houses and analysts to the reporters who cover the market action, we are shown a Wall Street where almost everyone is dirty -- a world where even the SEC fails to maintain order.

At the heart of this narrative is an incredible character study of Jim Cramer, one of Wall Street's brightest stars. Employing any means possible to make money, Cramer engaged in brilliant but questionable strategies that danced on the edge of ethics and legality. A typical day inside the fund would begin with Cramer's declaration, "I love the smell of money in the morning," followed by a boom-box serenade of Coolio's "Gangsta's Paradise." At the first sign of trouble, however, Cramer would turn paranoid and vicious, smashing phones and computer monitors and screaming insults that would leave even the toughest employees in tears.

In the tradition of Liar's Poker, this fascinating account of greed and excess on Wall Street will inevitably force the business world to reassess itself through the story of one young man who walked away from it all.

About the Author

Nicholas W. Maier began working for Jim Cramer of Cramer & Company in 1994. He spent the next five years with the hedge fund, during which time he started writing. He lives in New York City.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 208 pages
• Publisher: Collins (March 5, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060086513
• ISBN-13: 978-0060086510
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.7 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (74 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #218,558 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

47 of 51 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars "What profit a man...."?, July 12, 2002

By	Robert Morris (Dallas, Texas) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Each year, thousands of eager and ambitious young women and men arrive on Wall Street. What we have here is Maier's account of what happened to him after he relocated from Cambridge (MA) in 1994 and went to work for Cramer & Company, a hedge fund. He made a total commitment to advancing his career and eventually was entrusted with managing an investment fund of approximately $50-million. His is an insider's unique and compelling interpretation and evaluation, not only of his own experiences but also of Jim Cramer and the firm he founded and headed. As I began to read this book, I realized that its title lends itself to all manner of interpretation. For example, who is the "enemy"? Those with whom one competes for career advancement, obviously, but also those psychological forces which require trade-offs when ethics are in conflict with expediency. (Pogo once suggested that "we have met the enemy and he is us.") Maier and Cramer worked closely together and then, for various reasons which Maier explain in this book, he left the firm after five years. By then he and Cramer had become enemies and are now involved in litigation.

It is important to keep in mind that personal accounts such this are necessarily selective and subjective. (The same is true of Cramer's Confessions of a Street Addict.) There are specific reasons why this book's subtitle is "Seduction and Betrayal on Jim Cramer's Wall Street." Maier acknowledges that he was seduced by the opportunities he pursued while employed by Cramer & Company. Eventually, he felt betrayed by Cramer and explains why. That relationship reminds of the character Bud Fox played by Charlie Sheen in the film Wall Street. He is dazzled by the business success and lifestyle of Gordon Gecko, the character played by Michael Douglas. Much of what motivated Fox also motivated Meier. Moreover,when the film concludes as Fox and Gecko are headed for federal prison, Fox's opinion of Gecko is strikingly similar to Meier's opinion of Cramer when their five-year association ends in 1995.

It remains for each reader to decide to what extent Meier is responsible for what happened to him, and, to what extent Cramer should be blamed. My own opinion is that neither emerges as an especially sympathetic character by book's end. Both seem to be inevitable products of a materialistic society in which, if "greed is good," wealth and power are even better. But the question remains, "what profit a man...."?

29 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Congratulations, March 6, 2002

By A Customer

Congratulations to Nicholas Maier for casting as accurate a portrait as possible of everything that was wrong with the high-end of the financial world in the 90's and for having the courage to risk a stadium filled with newfound enemies. If you want a review of the actual content of the book, skip the next paragraph.

That many participants were willing to tolerate ridiculous antics and downright degradation for the sake of pure greed shows how little anyone learned in the 80's. The only difference this time around was the 90's players took note of the Achilles heel of their 80's corporate raider counterparts and didn't flaunt it. Most hedge fund managers are nothing like Jim Cramer as described by Maier, and in fact many are nice, honest, hard-working intelligent people; they don't put on hundreds of trades per day or ceaselessly berate their underlings and have chosen to pursue a career where risk-taking and actual skill can translate into deservedly stratospheric rewards. I know as I used to work for one that operated humanely. The fact remains that Cramers do exist and are not a complete aberration. Trading With The Enemy should be required reading for all undergraduate business majors and MBA's so they can have a taste of the Faustian bargain presented to them in modern day terms that they can relate to.

As a general read, the technical concepts in Trading might be a bit beyond the scope of the average reader. Although Maier goes to great lengths to explain tricks of the trade in layman's terms, I think a lot of the details will be lost on most, save those who have a sophisticated knowledge of the financial markets. Still, the average reader can read in easily understandable detail about the various "standard practices" of the hedge fund world. Beyond that, the colorful portrayal of the trading environment and employees of his firm may be enough to keep people chuckling and entertained through this fast read. At the same time, many non-Wall Streeters may be appalled by the utter depravity of the world described in this book.

61 of 70 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars So he's an ego maniac trader. Big deal. There's many., April 28, 2002

By	R. Spell "raspell" (Memphis, TN USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

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I'm a mortgage trader in a regional investment banking firm so I looked forward to this book about the business even though it deals with the stock side. But many things bother me about the book. The story is of an intelligent guy clearly not qualified for a Wall Street job who gets a job at Cramer's hedge fund referred through one of the large investors. Ok, that could happen. The book does a good job of relating the mundane tasks that beginning traders perform and in that respect, I think the book would be very good for beginning I-bankers. The tasks can be very mundane but no matter how smart you are, the only way you learn is through repetition of doing the tasks daily. The author seems to have a knack for the business and eventually develops to recommending his own stocks.

But the author just can't put up with the belligerent, tyranical Jim Cramer who runs the firm. Well, welcome to investment banking where egos are dominant. Yes, Cramer is the worst variety. And there are stories of illegal or at least unethical trading. But the author just doesn't appear to have the stomach for the business and can't sleep at night and can't put up with the abuse from Cramer so he eventually quits a job that started at less than $25,000 even though it quickly grew to a six figure income.

I don't follow Cramer on CNBC but clearly this book is written to play on his fame. Yes, it is a hatchet job and maybe deserved. But it is very thinly written and focuses on some very petty examples. But did I enjoy it? Yes. I happen to like books about investment banking and this book had those. But I would caution that if you are looking for earth shattering information about a stock icon, it's really not here.