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|  | Author: Kate Kelly
Publisher: Portfolio Hardcover
List Price: $25.95
Buy New: $10.99
as of 11/23/2009 18:38 CST details
You Save: $14.96 (58%)
New (40) Used (23) Collectible (1) from $10.73
Seller: areadingfrenzy
Rating:  30 reviews
Sales Rank: 7807
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Unknown), English (Published)
Media: Hardcover
Pages: 256
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 9.1 x 6 x 1
ISBN: 1591842735
Dewey Decimal Number: 332.660973
EAN: 9781591842736
ASIN: 1591842735
Publication Date: May 12, 2009
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: Brand new books purchased from publisher! Ships Fast
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 16-20 of 30
 An excellent read June 19, 2009
Mark S. Backstrom (Redondo Beach, CA United States)
1 out of 3 found this review helpful
This book surpassed the high expectations I have for any book by a WSJ reporter about a major event in the financial markets. Not only is the subject fascinating, but the author does a GREAT job capturing the essence of working against the clock. Just a fascinating book that was hard to put down.
The Price of Greed & Hubris June 19, 2009
Larry Underwood (Scottsdale, AZ)
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
Kate Kelly has written a compelling inside account of the bad boys at Bear Sterns; and their last few days on Wall Street. In the process, the reader will discover that greed and hubris usually catches up to anyone doing bad things; and collectively, Bear Sterns did some bad, bad things.
Prior to their well-deserved downfall, this outfit seemed to be heading in the right direction. Their aggressive, "street fighting" mentality seemed perfect for surving the cut-throat environment of Wall Street. Their recruitment philosophy of bringing on board tough minded, money hungry and smart kids with blue collar backgrounds to crank out sales for the firm seemed laudable. They appeared to be likeable underdogs, just trying to make their way in the frequently ostentatious world of Wall Street, where most firms were filled with stuffy Ivy-Leaguers named Biff who had wives or girlfriends named Buffy.
Eventually, the firm's lack of integrity, along with their mistaken sense of invincibility caught up with them. They started making some bad decisions, becoming susceptible to the subprime mortgage crisis; the ironic ending came when they were forced to sell out at two bucks a share to the thugs from J.P. Morgan (aka "the Morgan Mafia"), of all people.
Somehow, with the nature of human folly, this strange conclusion to the Bear Sterns debacle almost seems appropriate---being gobbled up by the gang who came up with the brilliant idea of marketing a new and improved brand of derivatives, after an alcohol fueled meeting in Boca Roton, in June of '94. But that's another story ("Fool's Gold" by Gillian Tett).
The moral of this story: Behave yourself; don't get full of yourself. If you lose your integrity, you will usually pay a price. In this case, perhaps the price wasn't steep enough.
The innocent investors got whacked, though; it's going to take a while for most of us to have a great deal of faith in Wall Street going forward.
 Story short and weak June 14, 2009
Hal Grothjan (Southerrn California)
6 out of 12 found this review helpful
I read this book immediately after finishing the book "House of Cards" which was extremely well done, well researched and well documented.
"Street Fighters" was a shortened, brief and prejudiced version of the Bear Stearns downfall. I would recommend to anyone interested in this story to buy "House of Cards" .... which also contains an in-depth fascinating history of the culture and characters of Bear Stearns. I would also suggest not wasting your dollars on "Street Fighters."
An excellent narrative in the tradition of A Perfect Storm June 13, 2009
Thaddeus Glavin (Chicago, IL USA)
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
I have just finished Street Fighters, and perhaps the best praise I can give is that I immediately picked up A Perfect Storm for the hundredth time. While the topics are obviously as far apart as can be, the narrative power of both works are similar. Just as Junger immerses the reader in the people associated with the doomed Andrea Gail, so too does Kelly bring you right inside the chaos of the end of Bear Stearns. Kelly also does a nice job of explaining the complexities of Investment Banking for those of us on the outside. A wonderful and interesting read.
Fascinating June 11, 2009
OU Sooner
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
This is a fascinating account of Bear Stears and what went wrong. If you have the slightest interest in finance you will love this book.
Showing reviews 16-20 of 30
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