players

“Volker killed the bond market,” said the CIO, calmly, definitively, high in his glass corner, as storm clouds rolled across NY harbor. “A year ago Wall Street banks held $275bln in treasuries, today it’s more like $50bln.” Plus, foreign banks now have to capitalize their US subsidiaries, amplifying the contraction in risk-taking. “In any given day, we own $15bln of bonds,” he continued, and let out a little laugh. “

Hope all goes well. “NY, Kansas, Chicago, LA – you know what I hear from all our biggest clients?” he asked. And I sipped my VT, three limes, muddled, imagining the infinite possibilities. You see my pal ran mountains of money, hosts TV, and Vice Chairs nearly $2trln. So I gave it a guess: Can you lower my commissions? “They’ve woken up to the fact that their savings are being destroyed.” Which we agreed seems

I got a thing for flags. The more colors the better. Naturally, I love diversity. Stars and stripes. Red, white, blue. I despise solids flags. They’re so definite. Black in particular. Yeah, that’s the color of the tall dude on dialysis. Solid red sucks. It’s bloody soul destroying. Saudi Royalty pumps and prophets, chanting green is great, so naturally, their flag is solid emerald. Anyhow, hundreds of thousands stor

“Wasabi Abe?” asked Ben, answering his bat phone, in a groggy growl, at 2 AM. “I’ll tell you wasabi,” slurred Japan’s Prime Minister from his smoky situation room, hysterical. “Nikkei down 7.3%, that’s wasabi!” screamed Abe into his mobile, waking Mrs Bernanke. “Gimme the phone,” ordered Anna, taking charge. “So wasabi Abe?” she asked, annoyed by the Prime Minister’s incessant late-night booty calls. “Ah, konnichiwa

Hope all goes well. Swung through NYC. Without a moment to myself. The Big Apple’s booming. Cranes are swinging. Clubs thumping. And of all the stories that swirled, the one that made the biggest impression, was the one I never heard. You see it’s May. And not a single person told me that they sold. And went away. With their prodigious piles of paper profits. To play. Overall: “Wasabi Abe?” asked Ben, answering his b

Grabbed all four. The dog too. Packed up, headed to the water. Real early. And as my clowns spilled out, tumbling across the sand, a smile slipped. You see, like most everyone, I want the best for our little ones. Especially my own. And here in Cali, they got it good. But I spent my early years in NYC, getting schooled at PS 158. And later, worked on the Street. Trained to look over my shoulder. To avoid the madness

Holy Smokes! Even Pope Francis is getting in on the action. Which I guess makes sense, after all, he’s Argentinian, schooled in inflation. Plus he’s in Italy, and Romans been shaving coins since Caesar. Of course, Draghi was born in Rome too. And loves a close shave. Anyhow, with a swipe of the pen, Francis consecrated 800 Christian martyrs as Saints. Roughly 10,000 Saints had been recognized since 450AD. Each requir

Hope all goes well. “Please tell me you’ve stayed long,” I said to the CIO. A brilliant, humble fella, who made a fortune on Wall Street, left the past behind, and moved West. “You can’t talk about something like this as much as I have and not be long,” he replied. You see, we discuss science, technology, robotics, the looming transformation, the coming revolution, winners, losers – and he’s loved this stock fo

Hope all goes well. “I really don’t know how a rational person can make this much money,” said one of Greenwich’s biggest managers, hung-over. You see he’s been long Nikkei and short Yen all year, uninterrupted. In monster size. Balancing the fight-or-flight instinct, with a trader’s need-for-greed. “I think the only way to do this is to have enough in the bank that you don’t care anymore — and you need to drin