Sunday, October 21, 2012

"I'll take Manhattan, the Bronx and Staten Island too."

Douglas Brunt delivers an expose of the activities that were taking place at Bear Stearns prior to that firm being prominent in the mortgage collapse that caused bank failures.

Nick Farmer is a successful trader and as an income in the millions. We witness his lifestyle and those around him and his company refuses to accept the reality of bundled mortgages.

His work includes keeping the people he supervises happy and willing to work their fingers to the bone for Bear Stearns. Their lives are made up of their work and after duty celebrations that include alcohol, strip joints, cocaine and prostitutes. Eventually  this takes its toll on Nick's marriage. His wife wants the old Nick back, the Nick that wasn't corrupted by money and drugs. Eventually, Nick sees that he wants that too.

Fred Cook is a nerdy risk market analyst who predicts doom for Bear Stern's high mortgage backed securities  He is one of the few honest people in the story.

When Nick adds support to Fred's theories, no one listens.

The author has stated that the characters are a conglomeration of people he knew. His view of what was going on at his company paints a dismal picture of the live the employees experienced.

From the point of view of showing what was happening at Bear Stearns, this is a well done work and one with an important message.

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