Hacker News Reader

Comment by jackgavigan | Hacker News Reader

If you're interested in reading some more about the collapse of LTCM, I recommend When Genius Failed by Roger Lowenstein (for a fuller appreciation, read Liar's Poker by Michael Lewis first).

If you're interested in reading an excellent account of a startup HFT/hedge fund, it's worth ordering a secondhand copy of The Predictors by Thomas Bass (for a fuller appreciation, read Chaos by James Gleick first).

View on HN

_When Genius Failed_ is a freaking fantastic book; even after the 2008 crisis, still one of the all-time best pieces of financial narrative journalism ever.

I'm not sure _Liar's Poker_ sets it up that well. Go ahead and read Lowenstein first. In fact, it might even work better the other way around, because Lewis' narrative is really fragmented and Lowenstein's isn't.

Agreed on "Liar's Poker". I read it after "The Big Short", and I was surprised at how disjointed it was. It was Lewis' first book after leaving finance, and it showed. But I just added "When Genius Failed" to my wish list, based on your all's recommendation.

Liar's Poker includes an anecdote about how John Gutfreund (CEO of Salomon Bros) challenged a bond trader called John Meriwether to a high-stakes game of Liar's Poker: "One hand. One Millions dollars. No tears."

John Meriwether went on to found LTCM. Liar's Poker provides some of the background and context for the story Lowenstein tells in When Genius Failed.

Sure, I know that, but my point is that the LTCM story is actually easier to follow than Liar's Poker, and knowing who the characters are coming in to LP makes it easier to follow. There's really nothing in Lewis' book that explains anything about LTCM, but there's stuff in WGF that shines a light on some minor characters in LP.

Read When Genius Failed first.

I'm not talking about just the characters. I'm talking about background and context.

You clearly disagree, which you're perfectly entitled to do.

For everyone else: I've worked in the financial markets for over a decade, I'm an ex-trader who used to deal with hedge funds like (and including) George Soros's Quantum Fund. My advice is to read Liar's Poker first.

You have me curious now. What's some of the background and context from Liar's Poker that's valuable for reading When Genius Failed?

Another Lewis book, The Big Short, is also a good introduction to the events leading up to the 2008 crash.

This one is also great - mostly because it was written right before the collapse, and it nails everything (at least as far as causes go - his solutions are debatable). Very smart book.

http://www.amazon.com/The-Trillion-Dollar-Meltdown-Rollers/d...

Edit: also, this version, updated in early 2009:

http://www.amazon.com/The-Two-Trillion-Dollar-Meltdown/dp/15...

Sebastian Mallory's More Money than God is another book worth looking into for a broad overview of the history of hedge funds.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com