Chaos Kings: Wall Street Traders (Uk)/T

Book Title: Chaos Kings: Wall Street Traders (Uk)/T
ISBN: 9781915590497
By Author(s):SCOTT PATTERSON
By Publisher:SCRIBE
Format:TPB

Written by a veteranWall Street Journalreporter, this is a fascinating and closely observed chronicle of the storm-chasing edgelords of finance and the critics with whom they clash (The New York Times)the billion-dollar traders and crisis predictors who strive to turn extreme events into financial windfalls.

Theres no doubt that our world has gotten more extreme. Pandemics, climate change, superpower rivalries, cyberattacks, political radicalizationvirtually, everywhere we look there is mayhem bearing down on us, putting trillions of assets at risk.

And at least two factions have formed around how to respond. InChaos Kings, Scott Patterson depicts how one faction, led by Nassim Nicholas Taleb, bestselling author ofThe Black Swan,believes humans can never see the big disaster coming. In their view, extreme eventsso-called Black Swanswhile inevitable, will always catch us by surprise. In 2007, Talebs longtime collaborator, Mark Spitznagel, launched the Universa hedge fund, which would go on to make billions protecting investors against unforeseen chaos in the market.

A second faction, which relies on complex formulas, believes looming chaoscanbe detected. Chief among these risk prognosticators is Didier Sornette, a colorful French mathematician who enjoys riding his motorcycle at speeds in excess of 170 miles per hour. When Sornette looks out from what he calls his Financial Crisis Observatory in Zurich, Switzerland, what he sees are Dragon Kingspunishing events that are unlikely to occur but have probabilities that can be predictedand defended against.

Which faction is right? All of our financial futures may depend on the answer. Detailed yet accessible, this will appeal to fans of Michael LewissThe Big Short (Publishers Weekly).