Big Bets Gone Bad

Big Bets Gone Bad

In December 1994, Orange County became the largest municipality in US history to go bankrupt. Under the supervision of an elected board of supervisors, the county's treasurer took leveraged positions in repos and other instruments. With panache, vigor and the support of major investment banks, he lost USD 1.7 billion. This book looks at the arrogance and incompetence that made it possible. It also offers a layman's introduction to leverage and derivative instruments.

Contents

1. Introduction

2. Robert Citron and His world

3. Bond Basics

4. Repos

5. Damned Derivatives?

6. Structured Notes

7. Rocket Scientists—It gets Technical

8. The Need for Capital

9. Going Bankrupt

10. Citron's Strategy (The Repo Man)

11. Suing Wall Street

12. The Bondholders

13. Placing Blame

14. Fallout in the Country

15. Lessons in Risk

16. Risk and Derivatives

17. Do We Need Regulation?

18. Conclusions

For related books, see sections:

History - Histories

History - Bubbles and Blow-Ups

History - Personal Accounts


Ads by Contingency Analysis.	Advertise on this site.
<![if lt IE 4]> <script src="http://servedbyadbutler.com/adserve/;ID=147917;size=300x250;setID=93136;type=js" type="text/javascript"> </script> <noscript> <a href="http://servedbyadbutler.com/go2/;ID=147917;size=300x250;setID=93136"> <img src="http://servedbyadbutler.com/adserve/;ID=147917;size=300x250;setID=93136;type=img" border="0" height="250" width="300" alt=""></a> </noscript><![endif]>