Customer Reviews

The Greatest Trade Ever: The Behind-the-Scenes Story of How John Paulson Defied Wall Street and Made Financial History

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A great story about the men who made billions on the crash of the sub prime market and the foolish investment banks who misread the market risks they were taking. A great insiders look at the presures of running a hedge fund and playing against the market's prevalent assumptions. A recounting of the re-occuring theme that outsiders often have a better perception of reality than the insiders. A very similar book in content to Michael Lewis' "The Big Short" - i.e. most of the characters are in both books. This account is more in a journalistic style (the auther is a Wall Street Journal writer) than Lewis'character-based stories.

But thank you for fast shipping. After I bought it I put it on my low priority to read. I do not spect I to add too much value.

As a former Wall Street trader, I remember the days that Paulson was in the same firm as I was and bringing all of his cronies to life in this book, was a trip down memory lane for me. More important is the way Gregory wove the story from one exciting moment to another and how the cast of characters all fitted into the story in the big picture, and then on their own as he portrayed each one of them individually and what they went through to create or duplicate the same trade as John Paulson's "Greatest Trade Ever". Those who trade will find this one very exciting read, and those who don't will get a chance to see how the power of the trade gives those who push the envelope, one gigantic adrenaline rush.

A very interesting and well told story about the financial crisis and subsequent collapse and the few people who saw the problem and got on the right side of the market. While a good story of a very interesting person it is also very educational and informative. If you want the details on the exotic financial instruments involved this book is also very good. It is a little dense at times, especially for the non-financial types like myself, it is well worth the effort.
Two other books on the financial crisis worth reading are Scott Patterson's "The Quants" and Michael Lewis' "The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine".