ABSTRACT
To the uninitiated, Wall Street and the market might appear to be a big game, a carnival fling where the outcome is predetermined-the sucker (you) loses. It certainly has this character when we buy a con game from an anonymous voice in a boiler room selling us “a sure thing.” Wall Street has a gaudy past peopled by famous (and infamous) operators and traders, but today it is a well-regulated arena where trust and honesty are indispensable to conducting business. The normal amount of dishonesty and chicanery exist there, but in the main the business is extremely efficient and run by dedicated professionals. Millions of dollars change hands based on a nod or a hand signal or a terse phone call.
