House of Cards: A Tale of Hubris and Wretched Excess on Wall Street

Parts of it were fascinating; parts of it dragged.

A fascinating look at the history of the ill-fated bank Bear Stearns, with a focus on its waning weeks and days. Also dove-tails nicely with Andrew Ross Sorkin's "Too Big to Fail" which picks up exactly where House of Cards leaves off.

They are known on the street as the "bad boys" of Wall Street; in the same way that the Oakland A's are to baseball. This is just the beginning of the peek inside the collapse of the major brokerage house. It goes down hill from there, and so do our investments. Rich and well-documented, thoroughly researched, William Cohan names his sources. He doesn't leave us out, he...more

They are known on the street as the "bad boys" of Wall Street; in the same way that the Oakland A's are to baseball. This is just the beginning of the peek inside the collapse of the major brokerage house. It goes down hill from there, and so do our investments. Rich and well-documented, thoroughly researched, William Cohan names his sources. He doesn't leave us out, he captivates our interest with all the details, in his can't put it down book. The unauthorized trading, the disorderly liquidations, the broken security laws, the Security and Exchange Commission, (SEC) violations, the DA investigations, the out-of-control arbitrageurs, the crooked investment banking. It's no wonder this is a New York Times bestseller. Bear Sterns' reputation was that they could be uncouth, crude, and rude. In the end though, it was all brought down like a "House of Cards." This review brought to you by Shoshana Olga.   hide

"House of Cards" by William D. Cohan chronicles the in-depth, and intricate details of the rise and fall of the Wall Street stock brokerage firms. A sharp focus on Bear Stearns. Cohan gets it all in, down to the last cigar, and bridge club. Bear's facade was about to crack, publicly by 1997, and it's role as a "bucket shop", (brokerages considered shady),...more

"House of Cards" by William D. Cohan chronicles the in-depth, and intricate details of the rise and fall of the Wall Street stock brokerage firms. A sharp focus on Bear Stearns. Cohan gets it all in, down to the last cigar, and bridge club. Bear's facade was about to crack, publicly by 1997, and it's role as a "bucket shop", (brokerages considered shady), and, as using "boiler room", (aggressive telephone sales), tactics to sell securities the house owned, but wished to get rid of - that is - inferior investments, or so-called "penny stocks". All documented by the NY Times, Forbes, The Wall Street Journal, and Barrons. Bear Stearns reputation was tainted and the SEC did pursue fraud charges against the firm which included "facilitating unlawful late trading and deceptive market timing of mutual fund transactions for it's clients by it's brokers, 1999 to 2003. Common knowledge was that Bear provided technical advice and deceptive devices in order and to facilitate the avoidance of detection. Truly a disgrace to discover the truth behind the facade. Names are named, but for that you need to read the book. Published by Doubleday, 2009. Review by Malka Hanna.   hide