''The Greatest Trade Ever: The Behind-the-Scenes Story of How John Paulson Defied Wall Street and Made Financial History'' is a debut non-fiction book by American journalist
Gregory Zuckerman
Gregory S. Zuckerman (born September 7, 1966) is a special writer at ''The Wall Street Journal'' and a non-fiction author.
Education and family
Gregory Zuckerman grew up in Rhode Island and was graduated from Brandeis University, magna cum laude ...
. The book was released on November 3, 2009 by
Crown Business
The Crown Publishing Group is a subsidiary of Penguin Random House that publishes across several fiction and non-fiction categories. Originally founded in 1933 as a remaindered books wholesaler called Outlet Book Company, the firm expanded into ...
. The book investigates the reasons and consequences of the
subprime mortgage crisis
The United States subprime mortgage crisis was a multinational financial crisis that occurred between 2007 and 2010 that contributed to the Financial crisis of 2007–2008, 2007–2008 global financial crisis. It was triggered by a large decline ...
and the role that hedge fund manager
John Paulson
John Alfred Paulson (born December 14, 1955) is an American billionaire hedge fund manager. He leads Paulson & Co., a New York-based investment management firm he founded in 1994. He has been called "one of the most prominent names in high fina ...
played in those events.
Overview
In 2006, John Paulson organized Paulson Credit Opportunity Fund that bet against bonds backed by subprime mortgages using
credit default swap
A credit default swap (CDS) is a financial swap agreement that the seller of the CDS will compensate the buyer in the event of a debt default (by the debtor) or other credit event. That is, the seller of the CDS insures the buyer against som ...
s.
Paulson "shot to fame and fortune" when his investment strategies paid off during the subprime housing market crash. His bet against the
subprime mortgage bubble has been called "the greatest trade ever" by Gregory Zuckerman.
Paulson's involvement in the
Abacus-2007AC1
Goldman Sachs () is an American multinational investment bank and financial services company. Founded in 1869, Goldman Sachs is headquartered at 200 West Street in Lower Manhattan, with regional headquarters in London, Warsaw, Bangalore, Hong ...
deals resulted in Goldman Sachs paying a $550 million penalty, the largest ever paid by a Wall Street firm.
Recognition
''The Greatest Trade Ever'' became a ''
New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'' and ''
Wall Street Journal
''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...
'' best-seller and has since been translated into nine languages.
Reception
Heather Stewart of ''
The Observer
''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the w ...
'' commented "Some of the best books about Wall Street – Michael Lewis's ''
Liar's Poker
''Liar's Poker'' is a non-fiction, semi-autobiographical book by Michael Lewis describing the author's experiences as a bond salesman on Wall Street during the late 1980s. First published in 1989, it is considered one of the books that defined ...
'', and
Roger Lowenstein
Roger Lowenstein (born 1954) is an American financial journalist and writer. He graduated from Cornell University and reported for ''The Wall Street Journal'' for more than a decade, including two years writing its '' Heard on the Street'' column, ...
's ''
When Genius Failed
''When Genius Failed: The Rise and Fall of Long-Term Capital Management'' is a book by Roger Lowenstein published by Random House on October 9, 2000. The book puts on an unauthorized account of the creation, early success, abrupt collapse, and ...
'', for example – are packed with larger-than-life characters whom we end up either rooting for or loathing. Admittedly, Zuckerman's subjects offer him scant material, but the less-than-thrilling personal tales he recounts make this book better as a telling exposition of one aspect of the financial crisis than a gripping general read." Ben Higgins of ''
The Independent
''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...
'' stated "The book mentions the moral question hanging over these deals a few times, but that's not really what Zuckerman, a Wall Street Journal staffer, is interested in. He's enthralled by the magnitude of markets, financial wizardy, and the personalities who did their homework and held their nerve."
See also
*''
The Big Short
''The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine'' is a nonfiction book by Michael Lewis about the build-up of the United States housing bubble during the 2000s. It was released on March 15, 2010, by W. W. Norton & Company. It spent 28 weeks on '' ...
'', a 2010 book by
Michael Lewis
Michael Monroe Lewis (born October 15, 1960) Gale Biography In Context. is an American author and financial journalist. He has also been a contributing editor to '' Vanity Fair'' since 2009, writing mostly on business, finance, and economics. H ...
*
Credit-default swap
*
Collateralised debt obligation
*
CDO-Squared CDO-Squared is a collateralized debt obligations backed primarily by the tranches issued by other CDOs. These instruments became popular before the financial crisis of 2007–08. There were 36 CDO-Squared deals made in 2005, 48 in 2006 and 41 in 200 ...
*
Synthetic CDO A synthetic CDO (collateralized debt obligation) is a variation of a CDO that generally uses credit default swaps and other derivatives to obtain its investment goals.Lemke, Lins and Picard, ''Mortgage-Backed Securities'', §5:16 (Thomson West, 2017 ...
References
External links
Profile on Google Books*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Greatest Trade Ever
Works about the subprime mortgage crisis
2009 non-fiction books
Books about companies
Books about traders
Finance books