About the Author
School, originally named College of New Jersey, attended by Michael Lewis as an undergraduate
What is Princeton University?
Floor that housed Salomon Brothers principal trading floor in their New York office
What is the 41st floor?
Salomon Brothers chairman
Who is John Gutfreund?
Bond feature that moves inversely, in lockstep, to interest rates
What are prices?
Head of mortgage trading at Salomon Brothers
Who is Lewie Ranieri?
School Michael Lewis attended to pursue a masters in economics?
What is the London School of Economics?
Salomon Brothers trader known as the "King of the Game" and thought by many to be the best bond trader on Wall Street
Who is John Meriwether?
Chairman of the Federal Reserve said to have set interest rates "free"
Who is Paul Volcker?
The three major bond issuance types
What are government, corporate, and mortgages?
Agencies collectively known as the Government Sponsored Enterprises or GSEs
What are Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac?
Michael Lewis' major as an undergraduate?
What is art history?
Counteroffer made when one player is challenged to a "One hand, one million dollars, no tears" game of Liar's Poker
What is ten million dollars?
Trading lingo meaning "buy" and "sell"
What are "bid" and "ask"?
Bonds issued by corporations deemed by the credit-rating agencies to be unlikely to repay their debts
What are junk bonds?
Federal government corporation that guarantees the timely payment of principal and interest on mortgage-backed securities (MBSs) issued by the FHA and VA
What is Ginnie Mae?
Wall Street firm that rejected Lewis' application for an investment banking analyst position when he was a senior in college (at least it wasn't September, 2008)
What is Lehman Brothers?
Year Ronald Perelman made a failed attempt to takeover Salomon Brothers
What is 1987?
**************** DAILY DOUBLE! **************
According to Lewis, this investment strategy consisting of using debt rather than equity in the purchase of assets, was the most distinctive feature of the 80s financial era
What is leverage?
Wall Street firm, and bitter rival of Salomon Brothers, specializing in trading junk bonds in the 80s
What is Drexel Burnham?
1983 innovation that made home mortgages look more like other bonds. That is, it allowed to estimate (with a certain degree of certainty) the maturity of the tranches that composed the mortgage bond pool
What is a Collateralized Mortgage Obligation (CMO)?
Place where Michael Lewis was first asked to join Salomon Brothers by the wife of a senior managing director
What is St. James's Palace?
Card game similar to the Liar's Poker game described in the book?
What is "I doubt it"?
According to Lewis, this "Breakfast of Champions" author nicely summarized the good fortune of bond traders by comparing them to toll takers (although he was originally referring to lawyers)
Who is Kurt Vonnegut?
Difference between the LIBOR rate and the interest rate on three-month U.S. treasury bills
What is the TED spread?
Main reason why mortgages are acknowledged to be the most mathematically complex securities in the market place
What is loan prepayment option?