In the late 1980’s, Michael Lewis left his job as a bond trader at Salomon Bros. and wrote ‘Liar’s Poker.’  The book was an eye-opening description of fast-paced life at one of the world-renown Wall Street firms.  Included was a portrayal of John Meriwether’s fabled ‘arb group’ which eventually spun off to form Long Term Capital Management.

The End (Portfolio; Nov. 11, 2008) is Lewis’s lucid and scary description of the subprime mortgage and CDO market debacle. The article is long but is well-worth your time. Lewis is a marvelous story-teller.