The Trading Game

A Confession

De: Gary Stevenson

Narrado por: Gary Stevenson

#1 SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER • “The Best Wall Street Book of 2024”—Bloomberg

A “vivid” (Financial Times) rags-to-riches memoir that takes listeners inside the high-stakes drama and hubris of the trading floor, a “darkly funny” (Guardian) tale of Citibank’s one-time most profitable trader, and why he gave it all up

“Darker than [Liar’s Poker], but if anything even more of a rollicking read . . . the clearest account I've ever read of how trading desks really work.”—Felix Salmon, Axios

In development as a limited series

• Longlisted for the FT and Schroders Business Book of the Year

If you were gonna rob a bank and you saw the vault door there, left open, what would you do? Would you wait around?

Ever since he was a kid, kicking broken soccer balls on the run-down streets of East London, Gary Stevenson dreamed of something bigger. As luck would have it, he was good at numbers.

At the London School of Economics, wearing tracksuits and sneakers, Stevenson shocked his posh classmates by winning a competition called “The Trading Game.” The prize? A golden ticket to a new life, as the youngest trader at Citibank. A place where you could make more money than you’d ever imagined. Where your colleagues are dysfunctional geniuses and insecure bullies yet start to feel like family. Where against the odds you become the bank’s most profitable trader, closing deals worth nearly a trillion dollars. A day.

Soon you are dreaming of numbers in your sleep—and then you stop sleeping at all. But what happens when winning starts to feel like losing? You’re making a killing betting on millions of people becoming poorer—like the very people you grew up with. The economy is slipping off a precipice, and your own sanity starts slipping with it. You want to stop, but you can’t. Because nobody ever leaves.

Would you stick, or quit? Even if it meant risking everything?

The Trading Game is an outrageous, unvarnished, white-knuckle journey to the dark heart of an intoxicating world—the trading floor—from someone who survived the game and then blew it all wide open.

©2024 Gary Stevenson (P)2024 Random House Audio

Reseñas de la Crítica

“Hilarious, shocking and deeply sad—often in the same sentence.”—The Times

“A well written and often darkly funny book that makes a convincing case that high finance is as toxic, reckless and deeply cynical as ever.”—The Guardian

“Stevenson is a fine wordsmith. . . . His portrayal as an unlikely hero, brimming with wit and a low tolerance for nonsense, makes for an engaging read.”—Turney Duff, The Telegraph

More of an autobiography than anything else

Gary's book is a collection of somewhat random stories from the early part of his career. If you are looking for a book that gives you insight into trading then this is not the one. I did learn a thing or two about trading from the perspective of a market insider, but the majority of the book just goes through Gary's learning experiences as he developed his character rather than his trading skills. I would say that it is still worth reading or listening to, but don't think of this as a book about trading. The book is entertaining.

Great story telling

Appreciate the authentic voice of the author, his attention to detail and the creative tension.

great job Gary

I loved it, beginning to end. thanks gary for your efforts for us all. cheers

Important, but entertaining, too

This book is great, just read it. I appreciate that Gary narrated it himself. It’s always better that way. Thanks for writing such a great book, Gary.

A Banger!

A funny and entertaining story occurring within the world of big bank trading. Not so much a book on trading itself.

Vivid picture of Wall Street

An honest look at how the best investment strategy is betting on inequality to get worse until our economic system collapses

An Interesting personal history by an enormously talented and successful FX trader.

An interesting and well read tale about an enormously talented FX trader who ended up battling his employer and winning. That said it was too long for my taste. It could have used some additional editing to eliminate parts that weren’t integral to the story of the author’s career as a trader.

Great story telling

What happened to wizard ????? Why, just why? Great book. Hope there is part II when he comes back to the game

Good storyline

A good storyline and you root for the author throughout the book. It also provides some details as to how the corporate machine works against the individual to force conformity.

Worth a listen

The origin story of a economist / advocate for economic reform in the guise of a working class young man who stumbles into a job as a currency trader for Citibank, and then his slow descent into mental illness. The pressure of his job and the guilt he feels knowing that his ‘winning’ is society’s loss leads him to confront his role as a billion dollar ‘trader’ and what meaning the financial collapse of 2008 has for society. A heartfelt retrospective of a man that is a little scattered and ultimately a bit shallow but none the less compelling. His subsequent work to redress economic inequality and opportunity is also worth looking into on YouTube.