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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. Lewis states that analysts don't analyze anything; they are just _____ to corporate financiers.

2. Though he was rejected by Harvard, Gutfreund eventually graduated from ______.

3. Lewis observes that the cruelty that traders bestow on everyone in their wake is _____.

4. In 1986, forty percent of Yale's graduating class apply to which bank?

5. A _____ of personal popularity is how Lewis thinks trainees are chosen by managers.

Short Essay Questions

1. How does the author manage to get a connection into Salomon Brothers?

2. How does the equities department treat the trainees?

3. What does Lewis see as being the first inalienable right of the Salomon Brothers trainee?

4. Why does Gutfreund challenge Meriwether to Liar's Poker?

5. The author uses the analogy of two benevolent hands that "stuff the turkey" that Wall Street firms eat the stuffing from. What does he mean by this?

6. Why is Lewie Ranieri so loyal to Salomon Brothers?

7. How does Bob Dall react when he is replaced by Ranieri?

8. How does a chaired professor at the London School of Economics react when the author tells him the amount he has been offered to work at Salomon Brothers?

9. What is the hard part of Liar's Poker?

10. How does Meriwether beat Gutfreund before the game of Liar's Poker even starts?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What contributes to the rapid and complete deterioration of Ranieri and Co. at Salomon Brothers? What was the achievement that Ranieri had hoped for in creating the mortgage department? How did the market affect the imbalance between Ranieri and Co. and the rest of the bond trading world?

Essay Topic 2

Describe the deal that the author and Alexander create on the security they invent involving German interest rates. How does the "the opportunist" offer to help them? How does "the opportunist" try to take credit for their idea? How does the author retaliate and what is the final outcome of the situation?

Essay Topic 3

Describe the inherent contradictions in John Gutfreund's compensation system. What are the criteria for compensation at Salomon Brothers? Who does he lose as a result of his system? How does this snowball into a bigger problem? Who negotiates a better salary by threatening to leave the company? What reaction does this get from the rest of the company?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 935 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample