Hello and Welcome!

I will be posting books that are widely read and appreciated

I may not be able to post often, but it will be my endeavour to post as much as I can,  so keep visiting......

Please send your comments/suggestions/feedback to
ngnm4ever@gmail.com.I will get back to you as soon as I can

Cheers!!!

I am looking for latest issues of GQ British/US edition. Please email me if you know where I can download it. Thanks!!!



Saturday, August 7, 2010

The Quants by Scott Patterson

The Quants: How a New Breed of Math Whizzes Conquered Wall Street and Nearly Destroyed It by Scott Patterson



Crown Business | ISBN : 0307453375 | PDF | 286 pages | 2.67 MB

Review

In a fast-moving narrative, Wall Street Journal reporter Patterson explores the coterie of mathematicians behind the Wall Street crash of 2008. The story's stars are "an unusual breed of investors" called quants, who "used brain-twisting math and super-powered computers to pluck billions in fleeting dollars out of the market." Following the first quant, Beat the Market author Ed Thorp, from his graduate school days in 1955, and introducing others like Peter Muller and Ken Griffin as they established funds at major investment firms, Patterson spins a fascinating story of riches amassed for a few and, inevitably, lost for many: a collapsing hedge fund, "imploding under the weight of toxic subprime assets," took down the system "like a massive avalanche started by a single loose boulder." Though his narrative is interesting and easy to follow, Patterson's explanations of investment terms are not for novices; a glossary would have helped. As he puts the excesses and failures of Wall Street into perspective, however, Patterson also offers evidence that Wall Street hasn't learned its lesson: as of spring 2009, "several banks reported stronger earnings numbers... in part due to clever accounting tricks... and other potentially dangerous quant gadgets being forged in the dark smithies of Wall Street."

Download from Rapidshare.com

Password: ngnm