The Greatest Trade Ever

The Behind-the-Scenes Story of How John Paulson Defied Wall Street and Made Financial History

By: Gregory Zuckerman

Narrated by: Marc Cashman

In 2006, hedge fund manager John Paulson realized something few others suspected - that the housing market and the value of subprime mortgages were grossly inflated and headed for a major fall.

Paulson's background was in mergers and acquisitions, however, and he knew little about real estate or how to wager against housing.

He had spent a career as an also-ran on Wall Street. But Paulson was convinced this was his chance to make his mark. He just wasn't sure how to do it.

Colleagues at investment banks scoffed at him and investors dismissed him.

Even pros skeptical about housing shied away from the complicated derivative investments that Paulson was just learning about.

But Paulson and a handful of renegade investors such as Jeffrey Greene and Michael Burry began to bet heavily against risky mortgages and precarious financial companies. Timing is everything, though. Initially, Paulson and the others lost tens of millions of dollars as real estate and stocks continued to soar. Rather than back down, however, Paulson redoubled his bets, putting his hedge fund and his reputation on the line.

In the summer of 2007, the markets began to implode, bringing Paulson early profits, but also sparking efforts to rescue real estate and derail him. By year's end, though, John Paulson had pulled off the greatest trade in financial history, earning more than $15 billion for his firm - a figure that dwarfed George Soros's billion-dollar currency trade in 1992.

Paulson made billions more in 2008 by transforming his gutsy move.

Some of the underdog investors who attempted the daring trade also reaped fortunes. But others who got the timing wrong met devastating failure, discovering that being early and right wasn't nearly enough.

Written by the prizewinning reporter who broke the story in The Wall Street Journal, The Greatest Trade Ever is a superbly written, fast-paced, behind-the-scenes narrative of how a contrarian foresaw an escalating financial crisis - that outwitted Chuck Prince, Stanley O'Neal, Richard Fuld, and Wall Street's titans - to make financial history.

©2009 Gregory Zuckerman (P)2009 Random House

Critic reviews

"Greg Zuckerman's book is much, much more than a brilliant account of Paulson's trade of the century; it also provides a highly enjoyable and lucid journey through the analytical and emotional maze that constituted the financial markets on the eve of the Great Recession. The book is compulsory reading for those looking for exceptional insights on the complex forces that interconnect Wall Street, hedge funds and Main Street." (Mohamed El-Erian, Chief Executive Officer of Pacific Investment Management Co.)

The Greatest Trade Ever

Well thought out storyline without too much technical BS made it easy to follow for a layman.

Wow what a book! One of the best audio books!

Very well written. Easy to understand. Author made the complex trades done understandable. Highly recommended if you want to understand what happened with housing in the housing crash.

Great listen

If you like financial stuff you will like this book. It has a good list of characters and is very interesting.

Informative Read

Great read very informative and has great insight into all the players. worth a follow up now lol.

Absolutely amazing!

Would you consider the audio edition of The Greatest Trade Ever to be better than the print version?

I did not read this before I listened so I can't comment on if the audio version is better or not.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Had to be John Paulson. I liked everyone described, eve the "bad guys". Close to the best book I've listened to yet. On the edge of my seat the whole time. Even though we know how it ended, the uncertainty of the trade given the irrational exuberance of the hoards, keeps you wondering if they would persevere. Hats off!

Some may say this guy profited from an unfortunate circumstance but that is not the case at all. He saw the pendulum, calculated the motion and correctly made assumptions on it's movement. Absolutely Brilliant.

Have you listened to any of Marc Cashman’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

Marc was great.

What’s the most interesting tidbit you’ve picked up from this book?

Don't give up on your conviction. The delicate line between insanity and reality when holding a rigid line against the popular view is a difficult one to navigate. To do so and achieve a coup d'eta on the worlds most powerful financial market, words cannot describe.

Any additional comments?

Listen once, allow to steep. Repeat. This lesson is repeating itself again as I type. I wonder how short people's memory really is. I wonder what John thinks of this market today?

Good But If You’ve Read/Seen THE BIG SHORT …

… this COULD be repetitive.

But the narration is good and the story is still solid.

Excellent

It is an amazing true story narrated with a fair approach , an astute combination of technical details and personal notes . I am surprised that it does not fall in the easy criticism of the financial system. I recommended without any reservation.

Captivating

Recommended by The Mastor Investor Ian Dunalop!
The writer is a great story teller and the narrator sounded great!

Excellent Book

This book gives excellent background detail and provides a clear understanding of the complex world of hedge funds.

Now I know how to get rich this next cycle

So in the previous cycle it eas the financias l assets of mortgage bonds. And in this next cycle it will be the financial adsets of siveriegn debt anf then gold?.?.?. thank you!