Gary Helms

Coming to Terms with Wall Street: an Insider's Guide to Investment Terminology Gary Helms

Coming to Terms with Wall Street is a spoof, a send-up of investment business and the foibles revealed in its peculiar language. It provides satirical definitions for phrases used by Wall Streeters and aspiring financial cognoscenti. Written by an insider for insiders, it is funny because even practitioners themselves know that the jargon is often both pompous and self-serving. It is funny because it is almost serious, and pulls out the rug only at the last minute, leaving the reader a little bit relieved that he wasnt missing the point after all. Like any good reference work, the dictionary is intended to encourage browsing. There is something for every taste, and something to offend (mildly) almost everyone. Most importantly, it is almost impossible for either the lay reader or the professional not to learn from the dictionary. Beneath the humor and irreverent attitude is the oft-repeated message that the buyer should beware, and that the all-knowing advisor may not know very much at all.