View a FREE sample

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

Short Answer Questions

1. What are the bonds of one-time blue-chip companies called?

2. Steve Roth and Scott Brittenham make millions of dollars trading _____.

3. What type of communication do the author and Dash launch into at the beginning of the work day?

4. Salomon Brothers is a ______ from 1910 to 1981.

5. What is the biggest most expensive real estate project in Manhattan on which Salomon Brothers bails out at a $107 million loss?

Short Essay Questions

1. Do bosses at Salomon Brothers think badly of employees who are not at their telephones all the time? Why or why not?

2. What is happening in colleges in Britain by the end of 1986?

3. How does the role of researcher change at Salomon Brothers during the mortgage bond explosion?

4. Despite the upheaval in the mortgage market, what is the initial objection that remains valid as the mortgage market evolves?

5. How does Bear Stearns take the $250 million loss that Howie Rubin incurs at Merrill Lynch?

6. What are some of the bad habits mortgage traders have developed regarding the use of the Salomon Brothers expense account?

7. From the moment the Federal Reserve lifted interest rates in October 1979, what happens to the thrifts?

8. How does Lewie Ranieri feel about Michael Milken? How does this differ from John Gutfreund's opinion of him?

9. Why do costs at Salomon Brothers seem to suddenly matter in 1985?

10. When is the best time to sell short?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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 2

How and why do the requirements to work at Salomon Brothers evolve? Include the backgrounds of people like Lewie Ranieri versus those of new people like Matty Olivia. How was it handled when somebody quit their job and needed to be replaced in the 1970's versus the hiring process of the mid-1980's?

Essay Topic 3

What is the quickest way to be fired from Salomon Brothers? Why? How does Gutfreund act contrary to this unwritten rule? How does he get away with it?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 835 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample