The Game

Stockbrokers (or ‘equity salesmen’ or ‘brokers’) sell investment advice to professional investors (‘fund managers’ or ‘clients’) in return for commission.

Don’t pick up the phone. You’ve got nothing useful to say. Do something else

What might appear to be a remote but corrupt oasis of privilege is in fact a giant oak tree that towers over the global economy, affecting each and every one of us.

Analysts don’t always believe what they write (and vice versa).

More often than not British Telecom didn’t get a bid approach on Monday. You were just passing on the same worthless rumour someone had told you in an attempt to appear well informed. Whatever the reality a client would often thank you for it – some people love a bit of intrigue.

In his capacity as Bursar for King’s College, Cambridge, Keynes wrote in 1938 that ‘a speculator is one who runs risks of which he is aware and an investor is one who runs risks of which he is unaware’.

c) Call or email the client and tell him something relevant (ie about a stock/issue he has been following

Bluffing requires the least effort and is hence the most common response. The world of finance is built on bluff and counter-bluff.

there’s no better proof of credit worthiness than a Bloomberg account

‘I’m now convinced that the worst thing a man can do with a telephone, without breaking the law, is to call someone he doesn’t know and try to sell that person something he doesn’t want.’
— MICHAEL LEWIS, Liar’s Poker