The Buyside: A Monkey's Review

”Please, Turney! Let me trade for you! I’ll do anything!” – young broker

“Anything?...stand on your desk and sing ‘Milkshake.’ And put yourself on speaker while you do it so I can hear you!” – Turney Duff, “author of “The Buyside

Like a more fiendish, coked-up companion to Jared Dillian’s “Street Freak,” “The Buyside” presents the craziness of the high times on Wall Street in all of its seedy haze. As the subtitle of the book reads, @"Turney Duff" is out to show us all just how hard he and his trading breathren used to party. That isn’t the book’s ONLY purpose, but you definitely read more from the viewpoint of the drunken Turney than the sober Turney!

And it’s drunk Turney who tells about all the parties he used to throw at a place appropriately called “The White House.” About the waitresses and bartenders he chased, and the exclusive clubs he could fill just by a few words. About the lines he could skip by saying, “I don’t wait in lines, I snort them.”

Sober Turney has his wits about him enough to discuss his rise from humble Kennebunk, Maine, to become head healthcare trader for Argus Partners (for a time one of the definitive healthcare-focused hedge funds on the Street). How he got the attention of senior people (at the bar, by introducing them to the lovely girls he worked with in the back office). How he developed a killer instinct that enables him to turn the tables on some of those with unsavory tactics on the other side.

One very gripping story is against a clearing broker who’s trying to front-run his trades by giving out a taste to her other clients, knowing they would take positions ahead of a size trader like him. Duff manages to turn in a shrewd trading victory on New Year’s Eve when this takes place, which he promptly celebrates by going out to guzzle some more tequila and snort some more coke.

He also discusses the brutal work environment at Galleon Group under Raj Rajaratnam, as well as the impact of the infamous and controversial “Netscape trade” at the height of the tech bubble.

These things all eventually catch up to him, of course, and Turney is to be commended for displaying the consequences of his actions as well. It’s not all fun and games after all, and as the combo of too much money, drugs, and office politicking starts to take a toll on his relationships (especially with his estranged wife), Turney’s sadness becomes more apparent.

He lays it on a little thick towards the end, but suffice to say he eventually realizes what is truly important to him.

This is not a technical book’ it is definitely story-driven. There are better books out there for learning how trading and markets work, but few that document the crazy times as well as this one.

And who knows? Maybe one day the high times may return…

Read up, monkeys!

Monkey’s Review 1: Barbarians At the Gate
Monkey’s Review 2: The Financier
Monkey’s Review 3: Decision Points
Monkey’s Review 4: Debunkery
Monkey’s Review 5: When Genius Failed
Monkey’s Review 6: Monkey Business
Monkey’s Review 7: Death Of The Banker
Monkey’s Review 8: A Journey
Monkey’s Review 9: Damn It Feels Good To Be A Banker
Monkey’s Review 10: The Quants
Monkey’s Review 11: All About Hedge Funds
Monkey’s Review 12: The Unlikely Disciple
Monkey’s Review 13: Adventure Capitalist
Monkey’s Review 14: The Hedge Fund Book
Monkey’s Review 15: Investing In Hedge Fund of Funds
Monkey’s Review 16: Hilarity Ensues
Monkey’s Review 17: The Prince
Monkey’s Review 18: Markets Never Forget (But People Do)
Monkey’s Review 19: The Money Culture
Monkey's Review 20: An Empire of Wealth
Monkey's Review 21: The New Tycoons
Monkey's Review 22: A Bold, Fresh Piece of Humanity
Monkey's Review 23: Ahead of the Curve (2 Years At HBS)
Monkey's Review 24: How To Be A Gentleman
Monkey's Review 25: Ten Roads to Riches
Monkey's Review 26: The Best of Braverman
Monkey's Review 27: Street Freak
Monkey's Review 28: Kitchen Confidential

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Recently read this book, good illustration of what an addiction can look like. Sad to see it take control of his life, but glad he is able to share his experience. I searched for some of his speaches since he mentioned he had moved on to public speaking and seminars and found this sad video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=opHVeMnPuGw

The error of confirmation: we confirm our knowledge and scorn our ignorance.
 

Agree with Yekrut, it seems that this book is more about addiction than the buyside. Don't get me wrong, there was finance in there too. I particularly liked his strategy on how he ensured everyone on the Street saw his orders coming through using chunks of 69. Definitely cool to hear about how life was under Raj Rajaratnam. But by the end, I couldn't help thinking that it was just a bit too pathetic. (SPOILER) I mean, he was going to hotel rooms to masturbate and spending $100k on home theatres just when everything was going down the shitter.

I finished the book, but the second half was too mopey for my taste. Solid review, and thanks for all the links to other books!

Maximum effort.
 

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Maximum effort.

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