Riding the Bull

This is a Wall Street journey like no other. From Harvard's secretive Office of Career Services to interviews at investment giants Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs, to his life in Merrill's elite emerging markets group, Paul Stiles lays bare the inner workings of our growing "financial complex" while providing a firsthand account of the most tumultuous year in recent financial history. As Stiles scrapes his way up the ladder of a brutal trading desk - without any formal training - his readers live through the worst bond market since the Great Depression, hear the Mexican peso crash, and experience the Orange County debacle from the inside. The downfall of Kidder Peabody, the collapse of Barings, assassinations in Mexico, and Merrill's own shocking legal record dominate the news and the Street's trading screens. Meanwhile, we witness the savage decline of one of Wall Street's premier bond trading desks, and the turf wars, backstabbing politics, and frenzy for profits that dominate Merrill Lynch - a reality few investors get to see. Riding the Bull also details the personal impact of this "market madness" on one man's life. From the moment he lands in New York, the author finds his happiness, his marriage, and his sanity virtually dismantled by his environment, sparking a search for meaning in our high-tech, hypercompetitive age that will change his life forever. At all levels, Riding the Bull exposes the truth in today's fast-paced, winner-take-all society - and the danger of a world run by The Market.