FIASCO: Blood in the Water on Wall Street

Great book well written, I work in municipals which frank abuses throughout the book but it doesn’t change the fact the book is great

One again, the author exposes the basic human wiring of dreams, hope, fear, vulnerabilities, traits, animal spirit and more....our eternal chase of wants beyond need, all played with increasing deferral to conscious; our failure to listen to, architect and enjoy a life of serene joy assisted by the wisdom of conscious and unsullied soul. It might help to realise that, so long as we are alive, we will have to deal with our memories...despite the respite of death in the long run as Keynes famously said.

Good exposure of the total amorality and ruthless exploitation of their customers as practised in "investment banks". A good antidote to anyone thinking of having business dealings with these monsters.A very easy and entertaining read but leaves you feeling soiled at the end. Just from being exposed to the way these people think: <he punched his fist into air> "I just ripped my customer's face off". (ie ripped someone off and preferably destroyed them).Recommended by Charlie Munger by the way.

See the title. Hate these review formats! Loved the book.Go read Frank Partnoy wherever you can find his outstanding books!

Got boring about half way through - did not finish. Talks about activities on a derivatives/structured products desk. Michael Lewis and Scott Skyrm write better. Won't discount my rating on it too much because there is a real lack of good books on this kind of subject

Charlie Munger advised this impressive book covering swaps, cdos and derivatives for everybody : how the financial industry became a monster !

Peaks the reader's curiosity. This book by Partnoy is also an excellent source for term papers analyzing the markets and market dysfunction.

Read the updated version...was disappointed there was no mention of the Japanese institution's corrupt trade

Frank Partnoy, nowadays a much respected academic, Director of The University of San Diego's Center for Corporate & Securities Law, writes of his days working in the Derivatives Product Group (DPG) at Morgan Stanley.Michael Lewis, author of Liars Poker and The Big Short says that one should think of derivatives trading as a bloodsport, with the unsuspecting consumer as prey. Professor Partnoy's chronicled experiences at Morgan Stanley certainly confirm the 'hunter' and 'prey' relationship that existed and was the systemic mindset of all those involved in DPG. The 'victim' may well have been a Municipality, and similar investing billions of dollars of public money (our money) Insurance and Pension Funds, Healthcare Trusts and Investment Companies (again our money) as well as Hedge Funds and 'out-and-out' Speculators.Few of the buyers of the various 'exotic' derivative concoctions that were cobbled together by DPG, were capable of understanding and evaluating these complex financial 'time-bombs'. The Author also suggests that many of the Senior Management at Morgan Stanley together with the Rating Agencies that were paid to financially rate the products, did not understand them either.Also it is not certain whether many readers of F.I.A.S.C.O will fully grasp the full workings and risks involved, although the Author tries really hard to keep the readers up to speed with the complexities of each product, but that does not detract from being able to enjoy the read. Enjoy is, perhaps the wrong word in this context because this account is extremely alarming and shatters the illusory 'comfort blanket' that many have about placing their trust in the old established leading financial institutions such as Morgan Stanley. Whether the Morgan Stanley founders in 1935, Henry Morgan and Harold Stanley, would have approved of the seeming lack of concern for their customers financial well-being, cannot of course be known. However, one might imagine that their bodies would be 'spinning' in their graves at a speed in excess of that achieved by the 'Hadron Collider High-Energy Particle Accelerator'.This fascinating insight into the inner workings of one of our leading financial titans is disturbing, but nevertheless, compulsive reading and a must to all those interested in the causes of the recent global financial mayhem.

This book is about "derivatives", which are the financial products which recently brought the entire world economy to the brink of collapse. What is especially fascinating about the book is that it was written in 1997, over ten years ago. In other words, the crisis that we are now suffering WAS FORESEEABLE. The author, Frank Partnoy, foresaw it, and warned the policymakers and regulators.His first warnings to the world lie in the pages of this superb recounting of his experiences during the early 1990's as an investment banker at Morgan Stanley. There he learned about "derivatives" and how they were ruthlessly used to create vast wealth for the Bank, often at the expense of its clients. In 1995, having decided that he could no longer stomach the duplicity involved in derivative sales, he retired from banking and worked as a corporate lawyer. Following the publication of this book in 1997 he became a strong proponent for the control and regulation of derivate trading both through articles for various publications and through speeches before various bodies. He also appeared, as an expert witness on the dangers of unregulated derivate trading, before the United States Senate and The House of Representatives. Needless to say, nobody in authority followed any of his advice.For those of us who have little or no understanding of what "derivatives" actually are, this book explains the basics in a very readable and understandable way - so don't be put off by an feeling that all this is going to be too complex to understand. The reader will come away from the book with a real knowledge of the basics of derivatives and how they were (and still are) misused in incredibly cynical ways, driven by the greed of Investment Bankers. The chapter on California's Orange County bankruptcy and the chapter on the MX derivative trade with a Japanese client (from which Morgan Stanley made over 76 million dollars) are simply breathtaking. How can such things happen? - How can they be allowed to happen??? It is truly unbelievable. Those of us who thought we were living in a world controlled by our politicians on our behalf must think again.There is an epilogue of 25 pages (written in 2009 and added to this edition of the book) which reflects on the current financial disaster we are experiencing and how unregulated derivative trading created it. It makes particularly interesting reading in light of the warnings highlighted in the 1997 edition. Frank Partnoy can't resist finishing this supplement with that well known phrase - "I told you so". And he did tell us so.The world's most successful and respected investor, Warren Buffet, and his second-in-command, Charlie Munger, put this book on their recommended-reading list. Charlie Munger is quoted as saying that "FIASCO will turn your stomach". And indeed it will. But it is absolutely essential reading. Highly recommended.

a brilliant account of frank's career in high finance. this, like liars poker, gives a great review of what it was like to work for one of the largest banks in the early to mid 90's. what i really enjoyed about this book was the way the author describes how incompetent the managers were and how corrupt this industry is (it's basically like working in any other industry - readers, these 'bankers' don't deserve the squillions they earn in bonuses!!!) - sadly nothing has changed. i write this review after yet another scandal has taken place - some guy losing 2billion quid from 'betting' on dodgy derivatives at ubs. when are the 'banks' going to learn? and again, why should we, the tax payer, have to fix this? aside from my ranting this is a truly great book and should, quite rightly, be required reading for any business related degree...fact!

In interesting book, covering very technical subject matter. Partnoy goes to some lengths to explain the instruments he was trading, but one gets the impression he is really trying to convey how complex they are more than impart understanding.Much of the book is delivered in the style of a bemused rant by the author, clearly shocked and frustrated by the conduct he saw around him and by the ease with which he abandoned principles and joined in.Partnoy has become a hate figure within his industry which [...] suggests his home-truths are not well received by some.I can't help wondering if, at one point in the book, he is describing the planting of seeds which may have helped precipitate the collapse of the Argentinian banking system a few days ago ...Read it and see what you think.

Good enough personal story and he does eventually get around to offering descriptions of some Derivatives trades. I would have preferred more details.In the first part Mr. Partnoy offers a very clumsy attempt to describe Discounted Cash Flow that made no sense at all. This was his personal story and included a lot office politics discussion that I did not find interesting.