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Rigged: The True Story of an Ivy League Kid Who Changed the World of Oil, from Wall Street to Dubai

 Rating 2
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40% Recommended by our customers.
Publisher: William Morrow
Catalog: Book
Release date: 2007-10-23
Media: Hardcover
Number of pages: 304
Ean: 9780061252723
Book Isbn: 0061252727
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Author:
Ben Mezrichsee more Books by Ben Mezrich

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Professional Review:

From the author who brought you the massive New York Times bestseller Bringing Down the House, this is the startling rags-to-riches story of an Italian-American kid from the streets of Brooklyn who claws his way into the wild, frenetic world of the oil exchange.

After conquering the hallowed halls of Harvard Business School, he enters the testosterone-laced warrens of the Merc Exchange, the asylumlike oil exchange located in lower Manhattan. A place where billions of dollars trade hands every week, the Merc is like a casino on crack, where former garbagemen become millionaires overnight and where fistfights break out on the trading floor.

This ordinary kid has traded Brooklyn for the gold-lined hotel palaces of Dubai. He keeps company on the decks of private yachts in Monte Carlo—teeming with half-naked girls flown in by Saudi sheiks—and makes deals in the dangerous back alleys of Beijing.

But the Merc is just a starting place. Taken under the wing of another young gun and partnering with a mysterious young Muslim, the kid embarks on a dangerous adventure to revolutionize the oil trading industry—and, along with it, the world.

Rigged is the explicit, exclusive, true story behind the headlines that dominate the world stage.


User Reviews:
 Rating 1   Written on June 15, 2008
   Summary: Entertaining, but ultimately not informative
Mezrich's skill as a writer is limited. His characters are shallow caricatures and his plot jumps from action packed scene to scene. At best, this is a screenplay for a fictional story about starting a new exchange.

Skip Mezrich, look for something by Michael Lewis instead.


 Rating 3   Written on June 5, 2008
   Summary: Skippable, but okay for light reading....
Okay for light reading, but this is not as good as Mezrich's other works. He gets over his breast fetish in this one.

The setting is back and forth between New York and Dubai, with stops in playgrounds for the very very very rich in Europe.

The premise of the book is how two young men with a foot in each culture (Broklyn Italian-American and Ivy League kid counter-partied with a European-educated Wahhabist-Muslim Saudi) through luck, perseverance, and connections were able to persuade reluctant partnerships into a groundbreaking earth shattering development: an open-outcry/electronic trading oil exchange in the Middle East!!!

Errrrrrrhhhh aahhhhhh...

Forex has been trading in the Middle-East in Bahrain on an organized exchange for decades.

So the whole "innovation" and "revolution" GEE-WHIZ factor of the incessant theme of "The True Story Of An Ivy League Kid Who Changed The World Of Oil From Wall Street to Dubai" is lost on those of us who actually know something about international markets. These two kids aren't innovators, they simply extended an already established and proven successful model.

For traders and those with pit experience or financial experience there are both some funny characters that will be instantly recognizable, some "boys with toyz" hi-jinks that is becoming standard for the genre, and some jaw-dropping whoppers of mistakes that reinforce that this is more "truish" than truth.

But if you want to skip one of Mezrich's books, this is the one.


 Rating 4   Written on May 26, 2008
   Summary: Rigged
This is a worst book than Ben's two other recent nonfiction books but it is still great and definatly worth reading.

 Rating 1   Written on May 23, 2008
   Summary: Boring
I got to the end of the book and nothing. The story is boring. I learnt nothing about oil, traders, etc etc. The charachters are boring and shallow. The entire james bond espionage storyline was sheer nonsense. Good thing, I got this book from the library.

 Rating 4   Written on May 4, 2008
   Summary: NYMEX Floor character study spot on
I'm surprised to see so many negative reviews of this book, it's like either people don't understand, can't believe the story, or are just put off by the whole oil trading thing... People talking about electronic trading... let me tell you that this book sheds some accurate light on the guys down there, it's crazy. The futures pits have since gone electronic but the options pits are still active, and the guys that are floor brokers are a mixed bunch: you have phd's, you have brooklyn thugs, and you really have to gain the respect of the pack to do business - brokers have to take out clients and shell out thousands on liquor, booze, women, crazy excursions to get business from the ibank and hedge fund desks because its a frenzy down there... The drinking factor is a serious force to be reckoned with, these guys respect big drinking, tough talk, and it's barely documented anywhere, this book deserves credit to at least shed light on what it's like to be down there...

Reviewers from people at home day trading, or buying and selling oil futures/options, are downplaying the role oil brokers play. The nymex is a jungle, and these people who execute the trades, it is not easy. Talk about taking people out all week, drinking, drugs, it's all true. Half the guys have phd's/masters/education, the other half are street smart salesmen that could have been on the sopranos, no joke, the day is spent insulting, testing people's nerve, pissing people off, betting, and trying to make that dollar. believe it, nobody knows an inkling what it's like, that's why i like this book, because at least it talks about the messed up world of oil trading on the nymex floor - in reality though it has to be seen to be believed. Headbutting fights, pranks, and even the hierarchy structure: everyone has a spot to stand that they earned, the higher up you are, the more respected. And getting client's business is no easier, you have to take them out, shell out thousands on bottle service, and maybe they'll throw you some business....

For what it's worth, get an inside look into what these people are like, don't listen to these reviews that talk about day trading at home or the oil markets... in reality the floor/paper brokers is one of the most intersting arenas of finance (also not very much respected) because of its brutality, toughness, and outright "king of the hill" mentality.

In my opinion, the most intersting area of finance, because not only do you have to handle the pack, but alos be able to handle these brooklyn/bronx/staten island types that will bust you in two (they are huge)

Comparison map
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Our price$17.13$10.20$11.20$11.86$5.99$18.45
List price$25.95$15.00$14.00$13.95$24.95$27.95
Lowest used price$2.40$0.01$7.84$2.36$3.23$6.93
Lowest new price$2.42$2.25$8.49$6.97$4.99$14.96
Collectible price$25.95$15.00--$25.00-
CatalogBookBookBookBookBookBook
Release date2007-10-232003-09-092008-08-262005-04-262005-10-012007-11-01
MediaHardcoverPaperbackPaperbackPaperbackHardcoverHardcover
Format----Bargain Price-
Number of pages304272528288304206
Ean9780061252723978074324999797805533847729780060575014-9781576602454
Book Isbn0061252727074324999205533847750060575018-1576602451
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