The Quants: How a Small Band of Maths Wizards Took Over Wall Street and Nearly Destroyed it

Howwouldyoufeelifyououtperformedthemarket,yearafteryear?Wouldyoubecomeconvincedthatthegoodtimeswereheretostay,thatnothingcouldpossiblygowrong?Andhowwouldyouthenfeelifeverythingsuddenlycollapsedaroundyou?Quants-quantitativeanalysts-werethemathsgeniusesletlooseinWallStreet'scandystore,andthisgrippingnarrativeoftalentandambitionfollowstheirdizzyingrisefromthebottomoftheStreet'speckingordertoitspinnacle.Theirascentwaspredicatedonthebeliefthattheyhadinvented-andwerefine-tuning-brilliantandimpregnablecomputerprogramsthatwouldalwaysbeatthemarket.Unfortunately,astheeventsof2007and2008showedalltooclearly,theseprogramsturnedouttobetickingtimebombs.Thestoryactuallybeginsintheearly1960s,whenasuccessfulmaths-professor-turned-gamblernamedEdThorprealisedthatskillslearnedattheVegastablescouldalsobeappliedtothefinancialmarkets.Hesoonacquiredfollowersandimitatorswho,overthenextfewdecades,assumedpositionsofever-greaterpowerandinfluence.Clever,eccentric,oftenlargerthanlife,theyachievedextraordinarysuccessandmassivewealth."TheQuants"followsthemfromobscuritytoboomandthentobust,explainingwhytheyweresoself-confident,andhowtheygotitsodisastrouslywrong.