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Street Fighters: The Last 72 Hours of Bear Stearns, the Toughest Firm on Wall Street
The acclaimed New York Times bestseller—an explosive, inside look at the demise of a Wall Street giant
The fall of Bear Stearns in March 2008 set off a wave of global financial turmoil that rippled around the world. How could one of the oldest, most resilient firms on Wall Street go so far astray that it had to be sold at a fire sale price? How could the street fighters who ran Bear so aggressively miscalculate so completely?
Expanding with fresh detail from her highly praised front-page series in The Wall Street Journal , reporter Kate Kelly captures every sight, sound, and smell of Bear’s three final days. She also shows how Bear’s top executives descended into civil war as the mortgage crisis began to brew. A breathtaking piece of US history, Street Fighters is essential reading for anyone looking to understand the 2008 financial crisis—and for understanding how the actions of one Wall Street firm have affected the world to this day.
The fall of Bear Stearns in March 2008 set off a wave of global financial turmoil that rippled around the world. How could one of the oldest, most resilient firms on Wall Street go so far astray that it had to be sold at a fire sale price? How could the street fighters who ran Bear so aggressively miscalculate so completely?
Expanding with fresh detail from her highly praised front-page series in The Wall Street Journal , reporter Kate Kelly captures every sight, sound, and smell of Bear’s three final days. She also shows how Bear’s top executives descended into civil war as the mortgage crisis began to brew. A breathtaking piece of US history, Street Fighters is essential reading for anyone looking to understand the 2008 financial crisis—and for understanding how the actions of one Wall Street firm have affected the world to this day.
256 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2009
46 people are currently reading
507 people want to read
About the author
Kate Kelly
3 books10 followersKate Kelly is a reporter for the New York Times who covers Wall Street. She is also an experienced television broadcaster and the author of Street Fighters, the bestselling account of the bank failure that touched off the financial crisis. Her reporting focuses on big banks, the worlds of trading and lending, and the crucial players setting financial policy both in business and in politics. Prior to the Times, she worked at the New York Observer, the Wall Street Journal, and CNBC. She attended the National Cathedral School in Washington and graduated from Columbia College in 1997.
source: Amazon
Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name.
Kelly, Kate, 1975- (from Library of Congress)
source: Amazon
Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name.
Kelly, Kate, 1975- (from Library of Congress)
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 57 reviews
May 28, 2009
Kind of a Cliff Notes version of William Cohan's book, House of Cards: A Tale of Hubris and Wretched Excess on Wall Street. But what I liked about it was that it was paced so fast that you are really able to get a sense of the urgency facing the main players at the doomed investment bank.
I think it was Joss Whedon that said about the The Civil War that the reason why we're so interested in The South is because they lost. No one cares about the victors in a struggle, it is the losers with whom we are most able to identify and as we see ourselves in them, we see that there is something fundamental in human nature that sometimes drives us to struggle in losing causes. Such is the case laid out in this book.
By chronicling the missteps that the major players in this story made, it becomes clear that despite their exorbitant lifestyles, outrageous salaries, and fundamental business culture of rough-and-tumble capitalism, the leaders at Bear Stears were all liable to making the same kind of mistakes that plague the tragic heroes of epic tales. And like the leaders of the South, they eventually have to stand aside while those who burned their cities come riding in to take over, impose their will and rebuild it all in a startlingly different manner.
I liked Cohan's book better because it got closer to the hearts and minds of the major players at the firm. By the time you finished reading it, you felt like you knew something about men like Jimmy Cayne, Warren Spector, Alan Schwartz, Ace Greenberg, etc. Whereas in this book, some of the characters pass by in a blur before you get to know them. But understanding that this book serves a different purpose. This is the book about the battle, not the back story of how they got to the battle. And Kate Kelly really gets the pace, the desperation and the ultimate capitulation of the losing side of the battle down in the pages.
I think it was Joss Whedon that said about the The Civil War that the reason why we're so interested in The South is because they lost. No one cares about the victors in a struggle, it is the losers with whom we are most able to identify and as we see ourselves in them, we see that there is something fundamental in human nature that sometimes drives us to struggle in losing causes. Such is the case laid out in this book.
By chronicling the missteps that the major players in this story made, it becomes clear that despite their exorbitant lifestyles, outrageous salaries, and fundamental business culture of rough-and-tumble capitalism, the leaders at Bear Stears were all liable to making the same kind of mistakes that plague the tragic heroes of epic tales. And like the leaders of the South, they eventually have to stand aside while those who burned their cities come riding in to take over, impose their will and rebuild it all in a startlingly different manner.
I liked Cohan's book better because it got closer to the hearts and minds of the major players at the firm. By the time you finished reading it, you felt like you knew something about men like Jimmy Cayne, Warren Spector, Alan Schwartz, Ace Greenberg, etc. Whereas in this book, some of the characters pass by in a blur before you get to know them. But understanding that this book serves a different purpose. This is the book about the battle, not the back story of how they got to the battle. And Kate Kelly really gets the pace, the desperation and the ultimate capitulation of the losing side of the battle down in the pages.
May 23, 2013
I don't want to come off as a DB but I'm probably going to. I was shocked how little I enjoyed this book. I felt there were some technical errors and wasn't broad enough. The view the reader got was from the top, I feel the author was enthralled with the money and power within the executive floors and missed a huge part of the story. With a title like "Street Fighters" I expected to hear more about, and would have empathized a lot more with the guys in the trenches but cared little about a multi-millionaire who was sleep deprived and driven to eat cold pizza in his office. I mean who could care about a guy losing his job after earning 20 million for the previous 5 years. I actually sit next to a guy who worked at Bear and was set up to live a very comfortable life but lost everything in those 72 hours. And I hate to point this out but it KILLS me so I have to. There was a deal when Bear was going to do a REPO with JPM, Bear had to put up AAA securities such as treasuries, agencies, Fannie or Freddie CMOs and JPM would loan Bear cash against the value of those securities. The author wrote that Bear was upset because of the 20% haircut JPM had imposed on the REPO. Now a 20% haircut is egregious, typically on AAA securities the haircut is closer to 3% (a haircut simply means JPM would lend Bear cash of up to 80% of the value of those securities, think of it as the LTV for those of you with a mortgage) and the author stated this was an issue cause Bear didn't have the cash laying around to pay JPM the 20%, which is an incorrect statement. The point is made, and I imagine most reading this wouldn't catch that or even care, it just drove me crazy....
April 16, 2017
Rating - 9
Any book that you can read in one day has to be ranked at least a 9; Enthralling recap of the last seventy-two hours of Bear Stearns during the precipice of the financial crisis; Blog-like writing is a propos
Appreciate that the focus is on the deal/interactions & less about personality (the right amount of characterization); Faults are pointed out & supported but not dwelt upon - like the Breakfast Club rumour
Any book that you can read in one day has to be ranked at least a 9; Enthralling recap of the last seventy-two hours of Bear Stearns during the precipice of the financial crisis; Blog-like writing is a propos
Appreciate that the focus is on the deal/interactions & less about personality (the right amount of characterization); Faults are pointed out & supported but not dwelt upon - like the Breakfast Club rumour
March 22, 2018
A closer look at the fall of Bear Stearns in March 2008. It's an interesting story. The big take-away: many were in denial about their company until the last moment.
July 22, 2024
A GRIPPING, HOUR-BY-HOUR ACCOUNT OF THE LAST THREE DAYS OF BEAR STEARNS
Wall Street Journal reporter Kate Kelly said in the Preface to this 2009 book, "I selected the most dramatic three days of the Bear saga and examined them hour by hour... I wanted to take readers through that agonizing weekend as if they'd been inside 383 Madison Avenue themselves."
(NOTE: page references are to the 245-page paperback edition.)
She notes early on, "Bear was a dysfunctional family, driven by greed and a complex code of internal politics." (Pg. 6) Their sudden collapse resulted in a "crisis in confidence" among investors. One investment advisor said, "People realized that Bear Stearns just came out the other day saying everything was fine... So, two days later, why would they need this funding from the Fed and JP Morgan? If it's like that for them, what is it like for Merrill Lynch or for Thornburg Mortgage?" (Pg. 79)
Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson felt "The day had turned into a bloodbath... If anything, creditor confidence appeared to have sunk with the early-morning announcement... The situation was unthinkably bad." (Pg. 113-114) "Bear's once-scrappy employees knew their company was in peril, and the best they could do now was to edge it toward the best possible sale to another firm... It was better than losing jobs and stock holdings in a total wipeout." (Pg. 125)
After shareholders were to be offered only $2 a share for Bear's stock, for the CEO, "Visions of bankruptcy filled his head: padlocked offices, paychecks that would immediately cease to arrive. There was more at play here than just the shareholders' interests, he knew." (Pg. 210)
Including more detail than some might wish, this book is still a fascinating and exciting recounting of the collapse of a once-prominent investment bank.
Wall Street Journal reporter Kate Kelly said in the Preface to this 2009 book, "I selected the most dramatic three days of the Bear saga and examined them hour by hour... I wanted to take readers through that agonizing weekend as if they'd been inside 383 Madison Avenue themselves."
(NOTE: page references are to the 245-page paperback edition.)
She notes early on, "Bear was a dysfunctional family, driven by greed and a complex code of internal politics." (Pg. 6) Their sudden collapse resulted in a "crisis in confidence" among investors. One investment advisor said, "People realized that Bear Stearns just came out the other day saying everything was fine... So, two days later, why would they need this funding from the Fed and JP Morgan? If it's like that for them, what is it like for Merrill Lynch or for Thornburg Mortgage?" (Pg. 79)
Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson felt "The day had turned into a bloodbath... If anything, creditor confidence appeared to have sunk with the early-morning announcement... The situation was unthinkably bad." (Pg. 113-114) "Bear's once-scrappy employees knew their company was in peril, and the best they could do now was to edge it toward the best possible sale to another firm... It was better than losing jobs and stock holdings in a total wipeout." (Pg. 125)
After shareholders were to be offered only $2 a share for Bear's stock, for the CEO, "Visions of bankruptcy filled his head: padlocked offices, paychecks that would immediately cease to arrive. There was more at play here than just the shareholders' interests, he knew." (Pg. 210)
Including more detail than some might wish, this book is still a fascinating and exciting recounting of the collapse of a once-prominent investment bank.
February 21, 2021
Solid book but it was clear there was a fair bit of information that wasn't made public and there was some behind the scenes maneuvering at the FRB and JPMorgan. Jimmy Cayne seems to have to criminally mismanaged Bearn Stearns into the ground and comes out looking terrible. Ace Greenberg on the other hand seems to be an honorable guy who was forced out. The key message was and remains the case today, that case is king.
September 15, 2023
It's accessible and readable, but frankly quite naive about the motivations of the players involved. And spent zero time talking about the 10,000+ Bear Stearns worker bees would had all their net worth tied up in its stock.
Just like The Big Short, it is not difficult to figure out who the author's sources were.
Just like The Big Short, it is not difficult to figure out who the author's sources were.
March 5, 2024
In 72 hours, how much pressure can be put on the senior management of giant financial intermediaries board as well as top management, it is laid down in this book, that when good friends become buyers and share prices fall sharply, no space to breathe, everything will be gone in stapes is not taken.
May 16, 2022
A short, readable blow-by-blow of the death throes of Bear Stearns and an interesting potential harbinger of what might be in store for some market participants that have indulged in excesses no less extreme than those in the 2008 residential mortgage explosion…
December 15, 2023
This gives a close look at what happened behind the scenes of Bear Stearns collapse. The author does a good job using footnotes to point out when someone has disagreed with the way something was stated or portrayed.
November 18, 2017
I don't know anything about finances but the author used such description that it felt like I was there. It was very well written.
March 23, 2019
Interesting read.
November 28, 2020
There’s not a single likable or even interesting character in this story.
January 1, 2021
Don't read it. Waste of TIME
March 12, 2021
NF - Last 72 hours of Bear Sterns
November 11, 2021
always amazing when an author can turn a fascinating subject into a slog of a read
January 17, 2023
This is an important text documenting the last few hours of a major investment firm. I believe the text will be useful for years to come.
October 14, 2024
Quick read into the collapse of Bear Sterns.
February 18, 2014
Kelly's account of the last few desperate days of Bear Stearns is a spectacle of investigative reporting. Her writing is terse, masterful in its pacing, and at times even eloquent and poignant. The descriptions of financial instruments and mechanisms are lucid without being encumbered by needless details such that even casual readers with little to no background in the subject would have little difficulty in understanding the events that unfold in the report. The surgical precision of Kelly's account, based on in-depth interviews and thorough research, creates an almost deeply intimate insider picture of Bear's dizzyingly swift collapse. The satisfaction is almost voyeuristic in nature.
However, the greatest praise must be reserved for her characterization of the diverse cast of people and parties involved in the crisis. Kelly is superb at animating characters by painting rich backgrounds and illuminating their motivations to bestow context upon their actions. She sheds light on almost every different perspective in the debacle: from Bear's partners, rivals, and counterparties in the financial world, to the federal government, to Bear's junior and middle management ranks, and finally to Bear's senior executive management and board of directors at the heart of the storm. Her portraits of figures such as Alan Greenberg, Jimmy Cayne, and Alan Schwartz, though understandably brief, are remarkably pithy and essential to her construction of the fall of Bear Stearns.
Ultimately, Street Fighters stands as a testament to the risks and follies present in our highly complex and interdependent modern financial system. The "toughest firm on Wall Street" was toppled partly because of mismanagement and incompetency in its upper echelons but also because panicked markets acted disproportionately on fear and doubt. The possibility that predatory actors hoping to profit from shorting Bear stocks also contributed to its downfall is floated several times as well although it is never fully substantiated. There is a need to rethink our textbook conception of the efficiency of markets and to temper that narrow idealism by accepting that the market is essentially a human construct and therefore vulnerable to the same foibles as humanity.
However, the greatest praise must be reserved for her characterization of the diverse cast of people and parties involved in the crisis. Kelly is superb at animating characters by painting rich backgrounds and illuminating their motivations to bestow context upon their actions. She sheds light on almost every different perspective in the debacle: from Bear's partners, rivals, and counterparties in the financial world, to the federal government, to Bear's junior and middle management ranks, and finally to Bear's senior executive management and board of directors at the heart of the storm. Her portraits of figures such as Alan Greenberg, Jimmy Cayne, and Alan Schwartz, though understandably brief, are remarkably pithy and essential to her construction of the fall of Bear Stearns.
Ultimately, Street Fighters stands as a testament to the risks and follies present in our highly complex and interdependent modern financial system. The "toughest firm on Wall Street" was toppled partly because of mismanagement and incompetency in its upper echelons but also because panicked markets acted disproportionately on fear and doubt. The possibility that predatory actors hoping to profit from shorting Bear stocks also contributed to its downfall is floated several times as well although it is never fully substantiated. There is a need to rethink our textbook conception of the efficiency of markets and to temper that narrow idealism by accepting that the market is essentially a human construct and therefore vulnerable to the same foibles as humanity.
June 6, 2013
I read this after reading the big short. It was a great followup. This book covers only the last 72 hours of Bear Stearns. It was almost gripping even when you know how it will end. Will they figure out a way to stay afloat? Which deal will they take and why? And it offered such an insight into so many of the personalities at play. I thoroughly enjoyed it. I am still amazed at just how quickly and how easily it was for them to go bankrupt. And you wonder, over and over again "Who exactly is to blame?" Should you blame the mortgagee who took out loans for homes they cannot afford or loans that they didn't understand? Should you blame the mortgage loan companies for their predatory lending practices and failure to disclose in meaningful words the exact costs and variable costs of the loans? Should you blame the investment banks for buying the bad loans, bundling them into securities and reselling them as investments? Should you blame the banks for foolishly buying these securities? Should you blame AIGFP for insuring these securities through credit default swaps? Should you blame the investment banks for rebundling the securities into collateralized debt obligations and reselling them? Should you blame the federal reserve for not allowing investment banks to borrow directly from the discount window? Depending on who you talk to and what you read you can make a pretty good case for all of them.
Personally, I just have to go back to the individual home buyer. For being stupid enough to take out loans they didn't understand-- for buying more than they could afford b/c they were banking on prices continuing to rise. It is a classic "count your chickens before they hatch" problem that individuals should see coming. The sad part -- does every borrower who defaulted on a loan even realize that they are the root of the entire 2008 credit crisis? I don't think they have any idea the dominoes that started to topple based on their default.
But then again, what kind of company loans money they know they will not get back and then sells it to another company?
And so on -- the lack of brains in America is the really scary part!
Personally, I just have to go back to the individual home buyer. For being stupid enough to take out loans they didn't understand-- for buying more than they could afford b/c they were banking on prices continuing to rise. It is a classic "count your chickens before they hatch" problem that individuals should see coming. The sad part -- does every borrower who defaulted on a loan even realize that they are the root of the entire 2008 credit crisis? I don't think they have any idea the dominoes that started to topple based on their default.
But then again, what kind of company loans money they know they will not get back and then sells it to another company?
And so on -- the lack of brains in America is the really scary part!
March 22, 2010
I would have to give this book 5 stars for information. If you are like me, you are aware that everything kind of took a dive in 2008 when it came to the economy. However, the first big bond bank to go down was Bear Sterns. Followed shortly by Lehman brothers. This book is about Bear Sterns and the 72 hours it took to collapse.
72 HOURS!! That's it. At the beginning of 72 hours it had almost 20 billion dollars and shares were $57 each. At the end of 3 days it was completely broke and it was sold to J.P. Morgan for $2 a share.
The author does a great job of giving a little back history of each of the key players in the negotiation. As well as talking about what the Federal Government was doing to try to stave off the total collapse of all bond houses and an eventual recession.
The book was pure information from start to finish, but very intense. Even though you know the outcome, you still find yourself biting your nails wondering if someone will come in at the last minute to save them. Will there be a savior before the final buzzer? A "hail mary" pass received to win the game? You really hope there will be, but you know all along there was no one to save them.
As I was reading this, I couldn't help but think about the people who worked there. They left work on Thursday thinking everything was fine. Friday they got to work and there were some talks of low cash flow. (what they didn't know is that they almost didn't get to come into work that day, Thursday night the CEO's realized they didn't have enough money to pay their employees and by law they couldn't open for business. But someone helped them out temporarily). And then they spend a weekend away and come back to $2 a share. The whole time I was reading I thought about them, and what they had to be thinking while this was going on.
And in reality, the author dedicates this book to those 14,000 employees. Those who went away for a weekend and returned to total financial meltdown. It opened my eyes to how quickly things can change, even in the space of 72 hours.
72 HOURS!! That's it. At the beginning of 72 hours it had almost 20 billion dollars and shares were $57 each. At the end of 3 days it was completely broke and it was sold to J.P. Morgan for $2 a share.
The author does a great job of giving a little back history of each of the key players in the negotiation. As well as talking about what the Federal Government was doing to try to stave off the total collapse of all bond houses and an eventual recession.
The book was pure information from start to finish, but very intense. Even though you know the outcome, you still find yourself biting your nails wondering if someone will come in at the last minute to save them. Will there be a savior before the final buzzer? A "hail mary" pass received to win the game? You really hope there will be, but you know all along there was no one to save them.
As I was reading this, I couldn't help but think about the people who worked there. They left work on Thursday thinking everything was fine. Friday they got to work and there were some talks of low cash flow. (what they didn't know is that they almost didn't get to come into work that day, Thursday night the CEO's realized they didn't have enough money to pay their employees and by law they couldn't open for business. But someone helped them out temporarily). And then they spend a weekend away and come back to $2 a share. The whole time I was reading I thought about them, and what they had to be thinking while this was going on.
And in reality, the author dedicates this book to those 14,000 employees. Those who went away for a weekend and returned to total financial meltdown. It opened my eyes to how quickly things can change, even in the space of 72 hours.
December 17, 2011
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My Rating – 3/5
Summary –
“Street Fighters” gives a blow by blow account of the last 72 hours of Bear Sterns. The book is an extension of Kelly’s acclaimed series of articles written for The Wall Street Journal.
Review –
Continuing with my latest obsession, this is my fifth consecutive book on 2008 meltdown. Street Fighters recounts the mad scramble at Bear Sterns, considered as the brashest among the Wall Street investment banks to save it from going under. It captures the last 72 hours in the life of the firm and its management team before it was unceremoniously sold off to J. P. Morgan.
What startles you is the fact that the supposedly best among the Wall Street bankers and traders were caught off-guard by the risks taken by them. Add to it, a management structure that worked in silos and the Chairman who was more interested in “The Big Picture”, long weekends, golf at vacation home and Bridge tournaments for 10 days thrice a year. So when the lighting struck, Bear Sterns being the smallest and less diversified than its peers was the first to face the trouble due to its more cavalier stance.
The book is racy as it recounts the frantic scramble of Bear executives CEO Alan Schawartz, CFO Sam Molinaro and others to save their firm from ruin. The book is noteworthy for its portrayal of the chief players from both the sides of the table – Bear Sterns, J. P. Morgan and Government agencies – Fed & Treasury. We learn in a first-hand manner about the thought process of the parties involved that led to the subsequent sale. If you are interested in knowing what transpired during that fateful weekend in March 2008 – “The beginning of the End”, then this book should be on your “To Read” list.
My Rating – 3/5
Summary –
“Street Fighters” gives a blow by blow account of the last 72 hours of Bear Sterns. The book is an extension of Kelly’s acclaimed series of articles written for The Wall Street Journal.
Review –
Continuing with my latest obsession, this is my fifth consecutive book on 2008 meltdown. Street Fighters recounts the mad scramble at Bear Sterns, considered as the brashest among the Wall Street investment banks to save it from going under. It captures the last 72 hours in the life of the firm and its management team before it was unceremoniously sold off to J. P. Morgan.
What startles you is the fact that the supposedly best among the Wall Street bankers and traders were caught off-guard by the risks taken by them. Add to it, a management structure that worked in silos and the Chairman who was more interested in “The Big Picture”, long weekends, golf at vacation home and Bridge tournaments for 10 days thrice a year. So when the lighting struck, Bear Sterns being the smallest and less diversified than its peers was the first to face the trouble due to its more cavalier stance.
The book is racy as it recounts the frantic scramble of Bear executives CEO Alan Schawartz, CFO Sam Molinaro and others to save their firm from ruin. The book is noteworthy for its portrayal of the chief players from both the sides of the table – Bear Sterns, J. P. Morgan and Government agencies – Fed & Treasury. We learn in a first-hand manner about the thought process of the parties involved that led to the subsequent sale. If you are interested in knowing what transpired during that fateful weekend in March 2008 – “The beginning of the End”, then this book should be on your “To Read” list.
April 19, 2014
...a story of one of the financial firms that failed during the Great Recession. The book focuses mostly on the last hours of Bear Stearns, from Thursday, March 13, 2008 to Sunday March 16, 2008. The fall of Bear Stearns was extremely fast - the issue became critical on late Thursday afternoon, and a hastily arranged shotgun marriage with JP Morgan Chase occurred over the weekend. The book, while it at times reads like a newspaper article, still captures the tension and the personalities during the crisis. It is written of actual events, of the actual players involved, and is very dramatic.
Financial knowledge isn't required for reading the book, although it helps. For myself, I still don't have a firm grasp on fixed-income vs. equities. However, what I did find of help was at least a basic background of the Great Recession, some familiarity with the subprime mortgages, mortgages in general, so-called CDOs, and the general structure of the financial system, including the Federal Reserve and other institutions. The author also does define some of the more esoteric terms for the benefit of the general public that might be reading the book.
Lastly, although the events in the book took place over a few years ago, I think it helps to remember the details of one moment during the financial crisis. There has been lots of debates over the role of government, in regards to the bailouts of AIG, and other the nationalization efforts during that time. If nothing else, "Street Fighters", in addition to a view within a Wall Street firm, also presents the extraordinary circumstances at that time and reinforces my own view that the actions by the Federal government were justified.
Financial knowledge isn't required for reading the book, although it helps. For myself, I still don't have a firm grasp on fixed-income vs. equities. However, what I did find of help was at least a basic background of the Great Recession, some familiarity with the subprime mortgages, mortgages in general, so-called CDOs, and the general structure of the financial system, including the Federal Reserve and other institutions. The author also does define some of the more esoteric terms for the benefit of the general public that might be reading the book.
Lastly, although the events in the book took place over a few years ago, I think it helps to remember the details of one moment during the financial crisis. There has been lots of debates over the role of government, in regards to the bailouts of AIG, and other the nationalization efforts during that time. If nothing else, "Street Fighters", in addition to a view within a Wall Street firm, also presents the extraordinary circumstances at that time and reinforces my own view that the actions by the Federal government were justified.
July 31, 2011
A book written about the last 72 hours before Bear Sterns failed - by Kate Kelly who was The Wall Street Journal's beat journalist covering the events as they were happening in March of 2008. She has captured the culture of the place (Bear known for having PSDs as employees: Poor, smart and having Desire to be rich! unlike other 'lvy league only' kind of street firms), motivations of the cast of characters and stakeholders (Bearn's own employees, FED, Treasury, JP Morgan and other trading counterparties of Bears) and increasing panic as the employees work through their problems. Kate has produced a well researched book based on the series of articles she did on this topic for the WSJ written in an hour by hour breakdown of actvities for those crucial last hours before JPM finally made an offer to buy Bear at USD 2 per share (at peak Bear's share was at USD 187/share). The story involves the reader in the scenes as if 'we were there' feeling - while the employees, potential buyers, consultants, deal lawyers, bankruptcy lawyers were at Bear's office, trying to see whether Bear will be able to open its 'shop' the next working day. Having gone through this kind of experience at ABN-RBS issues in 2008, I could relate to a lot of the tension, feelings and turmoil...I would recommend this book even for those who are not very familiar with banking industry but would want to read an easy read on the crisis...the events described in the Book during March 2008 were among the first ones which finally played out during the fall of '08 with Lehman's failure and full tsunami of financial crisis.
July 10, 2012
In the course of 3 days in March 2008, the investment firm Bear Stearns went from the fifth largest investment firm on Wall Street to the brink of bankruptcy. How could a company of such prestige fall so hard in so little time? Kate Kelly, a Wall Street journalist chronicles and explores this event in detail, helping readers understand. In short, Bear Stearns ironically fell due to failures in risk management, a supposed strength of the former investing house. Where banks like Goldman Sachs keep huge pools of money in the case of financial "armageddon", Bear Stearns had absolutely nothing. Much of their problems seem to have stemmed from the failures of two hedge funds they were running that crashed about half a year before. Failures in properly managing that crisis, never bothering to diversify their services, and dependence on day to day "repo loans" left them in a tight bind in the March of 2008. Though it seems dark rumors were the last straw for the bank, it was their management's failure to think about long-term risk that had weakened them so much in the first place. As a book, "Street Fighters" was often clunky in explaining financial jargon, and would probably have been better if it had a larger scope past the 72 hour window, and had started from the August 2007 hedge fund failure. However the book is well-researched, and provides a great front seat to financial destruction. Ultimately, "Street Fighters" is Wall Street's version of a Greek tragedy that reminds us how failure to think long-term and about contingencies can bring ruin.
July 13, 2009
A good little snapshot of the beginning of the 2008 fall of Wall Street. It highlights the personal panic/relief that many employees felt in the last hours of Bear Stearns more so than the greater market machinations. What it really conveys is how absolutely terrifying and crushing it must have felt to have worked at Lehman just prior to its bankruptcy months later (unlike Bear, Lehman didn't get the last minute deal to avoid bankruptcy). Along the same lines, it shows that Paulson, Bernake, and Geithner were aware of the ripples that would emanate from a bankruptcy like Lehman's far before it actually came about.
I would not recommend this to someone who has not kept up at least marginally with recent-ish market happenings. On a side note, I found a few interesting intersections with random articles written by Vanity Fair in the past year and a half.
I would not recommend this to someone who has not kept up at least marginally with recent-ish market happenings. On a side note, I found a few interesting intersections with random articles written by Vanity Fair in the past year and a half.
July 16, 2009
If you want to learn how a cash crunch in 2008 destroyed Bear Stearns, this book will be the text book on the history of it. The author was a wall street journal reporter that documented all of the events of the final 72 hours of Bear Sterns as they were forced into bankruptcy due to a cash crunch as fearful investors pulled cash out of the bank and forced the fire sale to JP Morgan. Great read if you're a finance WONK like me. The book was especially interesting since it got into the personalities of the managers in the bank and how they allowed the bank to spiral into such a unstable financial entity.
April 1, 2010
Kate Kelly is a writer for The Wall Street Journal. The book grew from a three part series Kelly did for The Wall Street Journal. She details the final, frenzied last three days of Bear Stearns in March 2008. Bear Stearns was the 5th largest investment bank in the country and management was arrogant and greedy. They paid themselves excessive salaries and at times "didn't play nice." I wanted to better understand why the financial crisis happened and this book gave me a better understanding of the players on Wall Street. Good reading for someone interested in finance and business but may be difficult reading for some folks.
July 7, 2011
I do not have any background in finance or investing. However, the author has compiled a very accessible walk-through of the events that lead to the collapse of Bear Sterns. This is no dry time line of economic phenomena. Kate Kelly has taken great pains to show the human side of the people involved (from interrupted birthday celebrations to pot-smoking bridge players). The end of this investment bank is shown to be story of people and personalities and not just evil greedy bankers.
June 8, 2015
I've always been fascinated by the world of high finance-probably because it has always been enshrouded with mystery. I've never fully understood this boys' club, and while a lot of this went way over my head, Kelly's account of the last 72 hours of Bear Stearns was equally thrilling and informative. I knew the ending, but I read enraptured by the fast paced environment, and think I better understand the bailouts, the declines, the crises.
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