Hedgehogging
by Barton Biggs · first published 2006
7mentions
1recommended by
5HN commenters
2010–2020first – last mentioned
20% recommend80% neutral
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Inside job is a bit sensationalistic. That said, you can probably learn a decent amount by reading a book called "Hedgehogging.". It goes into some of the cultural aspects of finance. Just keep in mind that "trading" is all about having a better eye for value than the other guy. In every respect. If you're bad, you'll get fleeced.…
on “A Secretive Banking Elite Rules Trading in Derivatives” ↗…couldn't. When everyone found out that AIG couldn't absorb that risk (defaults on mortgage-backed securities), they ran for the hills (refused to lend money with mortgage-backed securities as collateral). Hedgehogging will give you a good idea of the people/mentality that drives traders and how managing big money works. It's a complicated business and quite different from your regular mom-and-pop investor. One of…
on “A Secretive Banking Elite Rules Trading in Derivatives” ↗Google page 179 "Hedgehogging" by Barton Biggs. There's one whole chapter in that book that's an indictment of Meeker, Blodget, Quattrone, Glassman ( the Dow 36000 guy ) and the rest of the folks who supplied the oxygen for the previous…
on “Mary Meeker’s eye-popping annual Internet Trends report hits the web” ↗Is there a good book of history on this? I read a bit about it on the Barton Biggs' book Hedgehogging, but there were only two chapters. I feel like Process Driven Trading Partners must have some great stories that can fill multiple books.
on “D.E. Shaw and how computer geeks and English majors transformed Wall St. (2018)” ↗…graduation ceremony and it made a lasting impact on me. Ofcourse the speaker was very charismatic & way more dramatic than I am :) But the phrase keeps popping up in several places. For instance, in Hedgehogging, Barton Biggs goes to a pre-2000 tech conference where they famously declare that technology innovations will propel the Dow to 20,000 in 1 year! Biggs calls bullshit & points out that genuine innovation…
on “America Lacks Meaningful Innovation” ↗Here's a bit from Barton Biggs' Hedgehogging that might be insightful: Gerson Bleichroder was a nineteen-century German Jew who had a life filled with immense financial triumph, persecution, and personal sadness. Otto Von Bismarck represented the…
on “Ask HN: Ideas on Unusual Inflation Hedges” ↗…happened in the dotcom bust or some of the characters like Meeker and Blodget. I was really surprised to see was hired by a big VC firm. I still remember reading about her in this book (http://www.amazon.com/Hedgehogging-Barton-Biggs/dp/047006773...) where Biggs alludes to her here and there. When a segment is flush with money the standards and ethics are lowered due to the amount of noise. We are seeing this now in the…
on “Mary Meeker's misinformation has influence” ↗