Publication
Norton Paperback (2010), 320 p.
Original publication date
1987
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Description
Biography & Autobiography. Business. Finance. Nonfiction. HTML: The time was the 1980s. The place was Wall Street. The game was called Liar's Poker.Michael Lewis was fresh out of Princeton and the London School of Economics when he landed a job at Salomon Brothers, one of Wall Street's premier investment firms. During the next three years, Lewis rose from callow trainee to bond salesman, raking in millions for the firm and cashing in on a modern-day gold rush. Liar's Poker is the culmination of those heady, frenzied years�??a behind-the-scenes look at a unique and turbulent time in American business. From the frat-boy camaraderie of the forty-first-floor trading room to the killer instinct that made ambitious young men gamble everything on a high-stakes game of bluffing and deception, here is Michael Lewis's knowing and hilarious insider's account of an unprecedented era of greed, gluttony, and outrageous fortu… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member FKarr
Lewis's early career as a salesman w/Salomon Bros; details their collapse and the corruption of Wall St in the 80s bond market
LibraryThing member JBD1
The first book I read in flipback format was Michael Lewis' Liar's Poker (Hodder & Stoughton, 2011). Not the sort of thing I'd generally pick up, but I wanted to try out the format and the book proved well worth the reading. Funny, but also absolutely scary in the way it portrayed Wall Street
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culture of the late 1980s from the perspective of a bit-player in the drama (Lewis as a twenty-something employee of Salomon Brothers). Show Less
LibraryThing member addunn3
The book covers the short career of Michael Lewis as a Salomon Brothers trader during the 80's. Excellent incite into the financial workings of Wall Street. It is also a bit scary that this mentality is behind the financial structures of the world.
LibraryThing member reenum
Liars' Poker is the quintessential business novel. Everyone businessman I know has either read it or heard of it. So, I decided that I should check it out.
This book is an account of Michael Lewis' time at Salomon Smith Barney in the mid 80s, at the height of the junk bond craze. He perfectly
What came as a surprise to me is that Lewis describes the mortgage bond market, an obtuse and vague instrument, very clearly and in a way most non-business people could also understand. This explanation also serves to show why these junk bonds ultimately collapsed.
Then, of course, are his hilarious descriptions of his orientation, his bosses and coworkers. To read about these outlandish characters is worth the price of the book alone.
So, to close, this book is a classic for a reason. It is informative and well written, but manages to be hilarious at the same time, a feat few authors can achieve. Read this book at all costs.
This book is an account of Michael Lewis' time at Salomon Smith Barney in the mid 80s, at the height of the junk bond craze. He perfectly
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describes the atmosphere of competitiveness and the vast rewards everyone was reaping as a result of the boom.What came as a surprise to me is that Lewis describes the mortgage bond market, an obtuse and vague instrument, very clearly and in a way most non-business people could also understand. This explanation also serves to show why these junk bonds ultimately collapsed.
Then, of course, are his hilarious descriptions of his orientation, his bosses and coworkers. To read about these outlandish characters is worth the price of the book alone.
So, to close, this book is a classic for a reason. It is informative and well written, but manages to be hilarious at the same time, a feat few authors can achieve. Read this book at all costs.
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LibraryThing member jontseng
The closest thing to the definitive account of high finance yet. Although the fact it hasn't been bettered in the last fifteen years says a lot about the relative attractiveness for BSDs of making money vs. writing about making money...
LibraryThing member SeriousGrace
For some reason people can't bring up Liar's Poker without mentioning Bonfire of the Vanities as well. It's almost as if Liar's Poker is the nonfiction counterpart to the fictional Bonfire of the Vanities. Yes, they are both about the innards of life on Wall Street in the mid 80s, but one could
Michael Lewis retraces his beginnings with Salomon Brothers, first as a bright eyed trainee, then as a bond salesman. It is his knack for writing that makes Liar's Poker such a treat to read. It is bitingly funny, wicked and fun. My favorite part is about the new guy, so nervous about his first day on the job that he does nothing but ride the elevator up and down until he has the courage to finally get off, exit the building and disappear forever.
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stand without the attachment of the other and still be entertaining.Michael Lewis retraces his beginnings with Salomon Brothers, first as a bright eyed trainee, then as a bond salesman. It is his knack for writing that makes Liar's Poker such a treat to read. It is bitingly funny, wicked and fun. My favorite part is about the new guy, so nervous about his first day on the job that he does nothing but ride the elevator up and down until he has the courage to finally get off, exit the building and disappear forever.
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LibraryThing member Davidmanheim
There is a central hubris that underlies much of financial advisory as a profession, and the book Liars Poker gets to the essence of this problem. Basically, there is an inherent uncertainty and complexity in financial markets, and the role that many financial advisers attempt to play is that
A scene that exemplifies the risk-taking, and bluffing of the scene in investment banking is where John Meriwether is challenged by John Guttfreund, the former trader viewed by disdain in the firm as no longer a real player, to a single game of liars poker for a million dollars: “One hand, one million dollars, no tears.” By this, he seemingly hoped to establish his credentials when Meriwether backed down, at a price that was low enough that he could afford it if he lost. The problem in such a challenge is that a single two person game of liar’s poker, irrespective of the skills of the players, is essentially a roll of the dice. The amount was enough that Meriwether could not afford to lose it, and his status was such that he couldn’t decline. Instead, knowing that Gottfreund was able to afford a one million dollar loss, he counter challenged; “I’d rather play for real money. Ten million dollars. No tears.” Merriwether quickly backed down, unable or unwilling to bet so substantial a percent of his fortune on a game at which he knew he was outmatched. (two thirds of his liquid capital, after his wife remodeled their new apartment, according to the author.)
This wasn’t only the game they played with their own fortunes, which could multiply or melt away with tremendous rapidity; it was the game they played for, or with, their clients. Of course, you could “blow up” a client or two when you were still learning (bankrupt them by advising a bad financial move,) and then once you had your legs, you would move up the ladder, earning money for the firm by maneuvering around either the market, the clients, or the other players in the market. At the end of the day, the profits taken out of the market are zero-sum, so in this context it’s all a big game of liar’s poker, with the additional benefit of giving the players a sense that they control the world, or at least the world’s financial fortunes.
The hubris, and of course the cocaine, hookers, and profligate spending habits of the traders are legendary, but Lewis does a wonderful job of portraying the traders, as it were, in their natural habitat with motives and scenery intact. It is a interesting perspective looking at the way the street works, especially given the short viewpoints of the traders and the asymmetric motives of traders and investors. In short, anyone interested in investing, and especially working on Wall Street, should see this perspective to more fully understand some of the problems that Wall Street has representing their clients, especially on the sell side.
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unfailing oracles in a sea of partially efficient markets-generated uncertainty. The central conceit of the novel is the game of Liar’s poker; basically, it is a bidding game using serial numbers from dollar bills. The players must know probability and have a keen grasp of the game, but the level at which the game is actually played is based on the bluffing skills of the players, and the willingness to take real risks with the money.A scene that exemplifies the risk-taking, and bluffing of the scene in investment banking is where John Meriwether is challenged by John Guttfreund, the former trader viewed by disdain in the firm as no longer a real player, to a single game of liars poker for a million dollars: “One hand, one million dollars, no tears.” By this, he seemingly hoped to establish his credentials when Meriwether backed down, at a price that was low enough that he could afford it if he lost. The problem in such a challenge is that a single two person game of liar’s poker, irrespective of the skills of the players, is essentially a roll of the dice. The amount was enough that Meriwether could not afford to lose it, and his status was such that he couldn’t decline. Instead, knowing that Gottfreund was able to afford a one million dollar loss, he counter challenged; “I’d rather play for real money. Ten million dollars. No tears.” Merriwether quickly backed down, unable or unwilling to bet so substantial a percent of his fortune on a game at which he knew he was outmatched. (two thirds of his liquid capital, after his wife remodeled their new apartment, according to the author.)
This wasn’t only the game they played with their own fortunes, which could multiply or melt away with tremendous rapidity; it was the game they played for, or with, their clients. Of course, you could “blow up” a client or two when you were still learning (bankrupt them by advising a bad financial move,) and then once you had your legs, you would move up the ladder, earning money for the firm by maneuvering around either the market, the clients, or the other players in the market. At the end of the day, the profits taken out of the market are zero-sum, so in this context it’s all a big game of liar’s poker, with the additional benefit of giving the players a sense that they control the world, or at least the world’s financial fortunes.
The hubris, and of course the cocaine, hookers, and profligate spending habits of the traders are legendary, but Lewis does a wonderful job of portraying the traders, as it were, in their natural habitat with motives and scenery intact. It is a interesting perspective looking at the way the street works, especially given the short viewpoints of the traders and the asymmetric motives of traders and investors. In short, anyone interested in investing, and especially working on Wall Street, should see this perspective to more fully understand some of the problems that Wall Street has representing their clients, especially on the sell side.
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LibraryThing member Becky444
A brilliantly written and closely observed dissection of the mentality of bond traders in the years before they nearly brought down the world's financial system. A must read.
LibraryThing member NativeRoses
Amusing memoir of attaining great wealth on Wall Street in the '80s.
LibraryThing member jrgoetziii
Not quite what I thought it would be but one has to give Lewis credit for great humor and an ability to make the arcane readable. His descriptions of high finance make complete sense, which is hard to do, while simultaneously carrying an implicit criticism of the inherent illogic behind them. While
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this is not of the caliber of Moneyball, The New New Thing, or The Big Short, it's still a very good book and well worth a few days of reading. (If Lewis is taking you longer than that then there's a problem.) Show Less
LibraryThing member ohernaes
Great storytelling. Finds oneself drawn into this world and wanting to be a Big Swinging Dick. At times during the story, at least. Lewis was lucky to have good mentors. His ability as a storyteller probably also contributed: “Most of the time when markets move, no one has any idea why. A man who
Good lesson: Worked as a journalist part time during his time at Salomon, something which made him keep the perspective of an outside world.
I always wonder about such accounts where some, here: the bankers, screws the customers, why is there not competition that drives this away? Not that I doubt that a lot of such things were done. Maybe part of the answer is in this quote: “The men on the trading floor may not have been to school, buth have Ph.D.’s in man’s ignorance. In any market, as in any poker game, there is a fool. The astute investor Warren Buffett is fond of saying that any player unaware of the fook in the market probably is the fool in the market.” But is this true? Isn’t there an equilibrium strategy in poker?
It seems strange that they reasoned around deals in such an anecdotal way, for example reasoning after the Chernobyl disaster that demand for other forms of energy than nuclear and for uncontaminated food crops would go up. Aren’t these sort of implications were automated? Maybe it was not like that in those days? But surely they are now?
*The quote continues: “Most of the time [...] people will believe. Heavy selling out of the Middle East was an old standby. Since no one ever had any clue what the Arabs were doing with their money or why, no story involving Arabs could ever be refuted. So if you didn’t know why the dollar was falling, you shouted out something about Arabs.”
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can tell a good story can make a good living as a broker. It was the job of people like me to make up reasons, to spin a plausible yarn. And it’s amazing what people will believe.”* Good lesson: Worked as a journalist part time during his time at Salomon, something which made him keep the perspective of an outside world.
I always wonder about such accounts where some, here: the bankers, screws the customers, why is there not competition that drives this away? Not that I doubt that a lot of such things were done. Maybe part of the answer is in this quote: “The men on the trading floor may not have been to school, buth have Ph.D.’s in man’s ignorance. In any market, as in any poker game, there is a fool. The astute investor Warren Buffett is fond of saying that any player unaware of the fook in the market probably is the fool in the market.” But is this true? Isn’t there an equilibrium strategy in poker?
It seems strange that they reasoned around deals in such an anecdotal way, for example reasoning after the Chernobyl disaster that demand for other forms of energy than nuclear and for uncontaminated food crops would go up. Aren’t these sort of implications were automated? Maybe it was not like that in those days? But surely they are now?
*The quote continues: “Most of the time [...] people will believe. Heavy selling out of the Middle East was an old standby. Since no one ever had any clue what the Arabs were doing with their money or why, no story involving Arabs could ever be refuted. So if you didn’t know why the dollar was falling, you shouted out something about Arabs.”
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LibraryThing member suzemo
I write this review with the caveat that I am neither a financial-bonds-market type of person, nor am I interested in reading dry non-fiction.
I have heard this book described of as "funny" and "entertaining", but to be honest, I never found it to be either in any way.
The author was a bond salesman
I have heard this book described of as "funny" and "entertaining", but to be honest, I never found it to be either in any way.
The author was a bond salesman
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for Salomon Brothers, and gave great insights into how the bond markets work, what happened in the 80s and, most interestingly, into the culture at Salomon Brothers. While the culture of the company was most interesting to me, I still had a very hard time finishing this book, and at no point did I find anything amusing or entertaining about the book. I'm sure it was more interesting to people more familiar with the financial sector. Show Less
LibraryThing member browner56
In his great novel “Bonfire of the Vanities,” Tom Wolfe lays bare the hubris and deceit that defined Wall Street in the 1980s. Of course, that was fiction, which at least raises the possibility that all of the actions described were just a figment of the imagination. In “Liar’s Poker,”
More than 20 years after its publication, the events and personalities that Lewis writes about are no longer shocking. However, they are still entertaining and occasionally very funny. If nothing else, he provides great insight into the inner workings of one of the most influential institutions operating during a historically significant time in the financial markets. While Lewis has gone on to write a number of other interesting books on various topics (e.g., “The New New Thing,” “Moneyball,” “The Blind Side”), this one is still my favorite.
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Michael Lewis tells much the same tale with the difference being that this time the story is true. Before he became a celebrated journalist and author, Lewis worked as a bond salesman at Salomon Brothers and this volume chronicles what he observed and experienced on that job.More than 20 years after its publication, the events and personalities that Lewis writes about are no longer shocking. However, they are still entertaining and occasionally very funny. If nothing else, he provides great insight into the inner workings of one of the most influential institutions operating during a historically significant time in the financial markets. While Lewis has gone on to write a number of other interesting books on various topics (e.g., “The New New Thing,” “Moneyball,” “The Blind Side”), this one is still my favorite.
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LibraryThing member jpsnow
This was published in1989, but the story seems so relevant to 2009 that I wonder if we've learned anything. Lewis was at Salomon Brothers during the mid-80's, a time when the firm's astute traders created opportunities with clients and found even bigger opportunities through the federal
The tale would be depressing if it weren't for the hopeful ending. Lewis was self-aware throughout his experience, and he ultimately walked away at the peak of his earnings. The bond market corrected its own inefficiencies as competitors turned big spreads into small ones, and the imprudent risk takers eventually found themselves on the wrong side of the market. No matter what he contributed to his clients' portfolios, Lewis has definitely contributed to our understanding of business and the ugly circumstances that occur when motivation is unchecked by character.
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subsidization of mortgage bond risk. Starting as a very atypical trainee, he succeeded and within a few years became the top performer of his class. Along the way, he observed the breakdown in corporate character (and the complete abandonment of decorum) that would eventually lead to the demise of Solomon Brothers as an independent entity. The few admirable characters Lewis knew were lost in a crowd of opportunists, some of whom only worshiped money (a god whose name they would not speak), and others who seem to have worshiped money, food, and condescension in equal portions.The tale would be depressing if it weren't for the hopeful ending. Lewis was self-aware throughout his experience, and he ultimately walked away at the peak of his earnings. The bond market corrected its own inefficiencies as competitors turned big spreads into small ones, and the imprudent risk takers eventually found themselves on the wrong side of the market. No matter what he contributed to his clients' portfolios, Lewis has definitely contributed to our understanding of business and the ugly circumstances that occur when motivation is unchecked by character.
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LibraryThing member brysoncrichton
great book. lewis is a good writer. this holds up.
LibraryThing member standon
Excellent read for anyone interested in Trading
LibraryThing member NocturnalBlue
Reading it, I was thought it was a brilliant, funny encapsulation of the "greed is good" 80's ethos. Then I realized that once you adjusted the numbers for inflation, this book could have been written in 2008. That put a damper on things to say the least.
LibraryThing member stefano
Extremely engaging (and witty) account of two years at Solomon Brothers on the eve of their downfall in 1987. To me the most surprising thing about reading in 2010 this 1989 book was how much of the 2008 financial crisis could be understood in terms of the dynamics clearly described 20 years
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earlier (i.e. that crises are essentially inevitable when operators move faster and have much clearer incentives than regulators). Also interesting the ethnic analysis of various trading tribes at Solomon and the constant (dishonest) appeals to firm loyalty by those most likely to betray it. Show Less
LibraryThing member karenzukor
Well written description of bond trading madness.
LibraryThing member Wubsy
Liar's Poker is a clever autobiography / biography of life at Solomon Brothers. The characters that populate the book are mad and brilliantly rendered by Lewis. At times it is laugh out loud funny, and Lewis obviously had mixed feelings about his time at the firm. He talks about the power of money
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with real knowledge, and the technical parts of the book are easy to follow but not dumbed down. Lewis expects the reader to understand which is refreshing. The echoes of the recent economic downfall of Wall Street are all too evident, and reading it now gives the book a funny sadness. It told me that life is more often about luck than judgement, and that luck is never ever permanent. Show Less
LibraryThing member SteveRambach
What is it like to be a trader on Wall Street? What is the difference between Wall Street and Main Street? Well, this is the book to read. Michael Lewis takes one through step by step on how he got hired, how he was trained, and then what was it like working for Salomon Brothers. Oh yes, I need to
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mention the background was the downturn of the market in the 80's. An excellent book. Show Less
LibraryThing member flobmac
fairly interesting view of life for a city trader
LibraryThing member EricCostello
A classic of financial history, and a minor classic of humour. Lewis in part tells a history of the bond market in the 1970s and 1980s, and in part, a personal history of his time selling bonds in London for Salomon Brothers, one of the leading bond firms of its era. Lewis is quite sharp in showing
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how Salomon, through mistakes in management and culture, lost its leading position in the bond markets (more or less, blowing through its intellectual capital). There's also a great deal of hilarity in the caveman culture of Salomon of the era (well, it'll be hilarious to you if you're not a Bernie Bro). Lewis' style is very engaging, and he doesn't spare himself in a few just areas. The title is inspired, in that you can read it literally, in the game that Lewis describes, or in general, as to the way Salomon operated. Definitely recommended for students of financial history, and in general recommended. Show Less
LibraryThing member ehines
This is a really interesting snapshot of Wall Street in the Reagan era. The Street is now, decidedly, no longer the province of the old-money-wannabes. Now we have the many more ethnic names and much more of a fraternity atmosphere. The white shoes have been largely displaced by the "big swinging
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dicks." If you look on Wall Street firms as serious businesses applying arcane knowledge to the market in order to reap profits, you will be sadly disappointed by most of what you see in this book. The essence of Wall Street is a bluff game, like Liar's Poker, and it isn't insight into the market that gets you ahead so much as a gift for theatrics and a keen judgment of other people's weaknesses. There are hints of what was to come--Lewis Ranieri features pretty heavily in the book. He is the man who invented the mortgage bond, and he hired a number of PhDs to figure out was of managing and manipulating the risks in such bonds. At the time Lewis is writing, the mortgage-backed security (MBS) was known primarily as an instrument through which home ownership could be democratized. And it was: there were far more people who *could* carry a low-rate mortgage than would get one offered to them. By making the risk on such loans more predictable (by bundling them) MBSs made those loans possible. But the risk manipulation Ranieri used for good would soon be employed by people who a) didn't understand the math well; and b) had significant incentive (commissions) little disincentive (prospective personal losses) to creating bad deals. Deals where risk was masked, not managed. These PhDs (quants) would be the definitive figures in the next generation on Wall Street, and in its next series of disasters. Show Less
LibraryThing member mynameisvinn
classic read for anyone who's thinking about finance. does a good job explaining financial concepts (such as MBS). very entertaining.
Media reviews
It doesn't hurt that Lewis is a fantastic writer with a particular talent for explaining the minutae of investment banking without making you want to gouge your own eyes out.
Language
Original language
English
ISBN
9780393338690
UPC
352795056169
Physical description
320 p.; 5.5 inches
Pages
320