F.I.A.S.C.O.: Blood in the Water on Wall Street
The game of Russian roulette is alive and well and living on Wall Street, where  it's known as the derivatives market. In his aptly named bookF.I.A.S.C.O., Frank  Partnoy, a former derivatives trader at Morgan Stanley, exposes the seamier side of high-stakes finance. Derivatives are securities whose worth is determined by the value of other  securities; according to Partnoy, however, the derivatives market is an elaborate illusion  performed with smoke and mirrors. In fascinating, frightening detail Partnoy describes  several of Morgan Stanley's slick deals that, in his eyes, are just this side of outright  fraud. More than just dishonest, the bait-and-switch tactics Wall Street traders employ to  rig the markets are downright dangerous, since the massive debt these deals conceal will  inevitably come back to haunt the dealmakers.F.I.A.S.C.O.could be subtitledPortrait of the Trader as a Young Man,  for Frank Partnoy is indeed young, and his short tenure on Wall Street left him sadly  disillusioned but much wiser. His book will leave you wiser, too--and probably very  worried.