The Quants: How a New Breed of Math Whizzes Conquered Wall Street and Nearly Destroyed It
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | 4.85 (590 Votes) |
| Asin | : | 0307453383 |
| Format Type | : | paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 352 Pages |
| Publish Date | : | 2015-02-21 |
| Language | : | English |
DESCRIPTION:
They were preparing to compete in a poker tournament with million-dollar stakes, but those numbers meant nothing to them. They were accustomed to risking billions. On that night in 2006, these four men and their cohorts were the new kings of Wall Street. The quants helped create a digitized money-trading machine that could shift billions around the globe with the click of a mouse. Over the prior twenty years, this species of math whiz--technocrats who make billions not with gut calls or fundamental analysis but with formulas and high-speed computers--had usurped the testosterone-fueled, kill-or-be-killed risk-takers who’d long been the alpha males the world’s largest casino. Muller, Griffin, Asness, and Weinstein were among the best and brightest of a new breed, the quants. In March of 2006, four of the world’s richest men sipped champagne in an opulent New York hotel. Few realized that night, though, that in creating this unprecedented machine, men like Muller, Griffin, Asness and Weinstein had sowed the seeds for his
From Publishers Weekly 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
"Highly entertaining but not much else" according to Money Honey. "The Quants" is a highly entertaining read that seems to have been written under the guise of non-fiction. Scott Patterson seeks to link the actions of those highly mysterious Wall Street types called "Quants" to the credit crisis of 2008, linking their riches and egos to the demise of the market, the problem is it's simply not true. The problem with the book is that it seems to want to place blame on the quants so much that it narrowly focuses on specific events and character flaws that would support the argument. Did quants play a part in the meltdow. Interesting look at Hedge Funds An interesting look inside and the some of the key individuals involved with hedge funds over the past 20-30 years. Very interesting examination of the foundation for their work.. a. d. kyles said Square roots. Straight forward read. Provides insight about the role of some leaders in the hedge fund world and the market crash of "Square roots" according to a. d. kyles. Straight forward read. Provides insight about the role of some leaders in the hedge fund world and the market crash of 2008.. 008.