Traders, Guns & Money: Knowns and Unknowns in the Dazzling World of Derivatives - Softcover

Satyajit Das

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0273704745 ISBN 13: 9780273704744

Publisher: Financial Times/ Prentice Hall, 2006

Synopsis

“I had been in derivatives for over 25 years. Many traders hadn't been born when I stumbled accidentally into the arcane world of derivatives trading. The Indonesians were at the fag end of that career. How did I get there? I had followed the money. I had ridden the tide and currents of financial markets. I had not known very much then. Even now I only knew the many unknowns. How did I get here? It was a very long story. Send Traders, Guns and Money is that story.....”

Warren Buffet once labelled derivatives “financial weapons of mass destruction”. Unlike the military kind, financial WMD are not hard to find.  Many great companies use them.  These businesses use derivatives to make money or protect them from risk. It’s a simple case of greed or fear.  Or is it?

In derivatives, whoever you are, there are things that you don’t know that you don’t know. These are the real risks of derivatives. They’re generally left to the client to discover.   So, if you’re entering the dazzling world of derivatives, ask yourself this: What do I know? What do I need to know? What don’t I know? What am I doing?

You can find the answers in Traders, Guns & Money, a sensational and controversial first-person account of the business of derivatives trading and the financial products industry in the spirit of Liar’s Poker.  It is a true insider’s view of the business of trading and marketing derivatives for a living.  It details the nature of the business, the players, how money is made and lost, and the deceptions that underlie the entire process.

Funny and poignant, and written in a wry and wickedly comic style, the book provides the ordinary reader with an insight into the seeming madness that underlies financial markets and the out-of-control process that is trading in complex financial products that few understand.

Traders, Guns & Money  throws light on the culture, games, and pure deceptions played out every day in trading rooms around the world, and played out with other people’s money.  It describes the processes by which a small group of gifted, if avaricious, individuals parlay their knowledge of the arcane world of financial products into wealth, leaving shareholders, clients, regulators, and the tax paying ordinary public to bear most of the risk.

This is the story of how one set of clients discovered the perils of unknowns in a derivatives deal.  This tale will leave you amazed, and this book will make it all clear.In the sometimes dazzling world of derivatives, Traders Guns & Money shows you how we got here and tells it how it is. Go on, follow the money.

An accessible companion and a wise counsel, Traders, Guns & Money weaves together three core themes:

Known unkowns: if you’re entering the dazzling world of derivatives, ask yourself this:  What do I know? What do I need to know? What don’t I know? What am I doing? This book will make it all clear.

Follow the money: an insider’s, expert witness account of the rise and rules of the world of derivatives.  This book will show you how we got here and tell it how it is

Send traders guns & money:  the story of how one set of clients discovered the perils of unknowns in a derivatives deal .  This tale will leave you amazed, but wiser.

"Ever since Warren Buffett memorably described derivatives as "financial weapons of mass destruction" there has been a thriller waiting to be written about them.  Derivatives have frightened otherwise right-thinking people for some time. In part this reflects a natural tendency to fear what we do not understand."  Financial Times

About this title

Review

The sexier side of finance ... at last ... a convincing picture of what life is like in today's modern financial industry. Traders Guns and Money by Satyajit Das not only has a catchy title, it actually manages to entertain, educate and inform."  Corporate Financier, July 2006

"A must read for all CEOs, CFOs, Bankers and anyone who cares about what banks are doing with their money." - Finance Asia, May 2006

"... revealing insider's account"  - Director, April 2006

"... true rarity: a derivatives book that keeps your attention all the way through. " FOW April 2006

"... a welcome addition to the literature."  - The Sheet, April 2006

"... a scalpel of a book" - Financial Engineering News, July 2006

"A distincly timely book... This makes fascinating reading.... A good crib sheet for how the whole derivatives game works. " - Financial Times, May 2006

"Forewarned is forearmed." - Money Week, May 2006

"Das is especially good on structured products and on the recently fashionable world of structured credit... a diverting read" - Financial World, July 2006

"a worthwhile read for anyone with connection to the financial world" - World Finance, July 2006

"The murky and complex world of finances and derivatives is scrupulously and frantically told in this brilliant narrative. ... This is a collection and recollection of exquisite financial tales well worth your time.' Convergence, September 2006

"...a fascinating and compelling insight into the world of derivatives... [TGM has] a page turning quality more reminiscent of a John Grisham novel than a dissertation on derivatives." - FINASIA, October 2006

"An absorbing accessible primer... scoots along at a blistering pace" - Wilmott Magazine, December 2006

Author featured as expert in Asia Risk, Bloomberg, Financial Times all in December 2006

"one of the most entertaining investment books I've read in a long time... I can't recommend this book strongly enough" - Blogginstocks Jan 07

"part thriller, part expose... will be useful for anyone with connection to finance...will tell you some of the truth of what really does go on." Society of Business Economists Book Review - Jan 07

 

From the Back Cover

Warren Buffet once memorably described derivatives as “financial weapons of mass destruction”. Read this sensational and controversial account of the often dazzling business of derivatives trading, and see if you agree.

 

No money is ever really made in financial markets. Markets merely transfer wealth. As to how to make money? Well, it is basically theft, misrepresentation, lies, cheating, deception or force. It is impossible to make the staggering amounts made in derivatives in good years honestly.

Traders, Guns & Money is a wry and wickedly comic exposé of the culture, games, and pure deceptions played out every day in trading rooms around the world, usually with other people’s money. Whether you move in the financial world yourself, know people who do, or have money invested in stocks, shares or derivatives, this is a fascinating read guaranteed to make you think.

About this edition

• Publisher: Financial Times/ Prentice Hall
• Publication date: 2006
• ISBN 10: 0273704745
• ISBN 13: 9780273704744
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 352