My time in the upper echelons of finance yielded me a wealth of fascinating true stories: some funny, some terrifying, and some a mixture of both.
This original nursery rhyme is inspired by a true story and should serve as a reminder that there are NO guarantees in life, no matter how smart or accomplished you are.
Enjoy!
NOTE TO READERS: My video performance of this original nursey rhyme is available on my YouTube Channel. 
A WALL STREET NURSERY RHYME
Hear Ye Lords and Ladies
And all in your retinue
A story I know very well
That I will now graciously share with you
This tale is for all ages
It is a treatise about pride
Its intent is for the good of us
Not for those with black hearts inside
Your wait is finally over
And the present is the time
For my very own creation
"A Wall Street Nursery Rhyme"
**********************************
There once was a firm
On a place called Wall Street
Where the bulls and bears roamed
Amidst the pulsing New York heartbeat
There were financial wizards
And geniuses galore
Located in a pristine skyscraper
Nestled on the top floor
Their degrees were from Oxford
And Harvard and Yale
Their names were Astor,
Rockefeller and Hale.
These titans of finance
These sultans of stocks
Came from the finest white shoe firms
Not the School of Hard Knocks
Their hubris was large
Almost as big as their brains
Pride blinded them to the fact
That it would all go down the drain
****************************************************
But let us go back
To the earliest days
When hope was still alive
And our yearning hearts were ablaze
On the hedge fund floor
Mathematics was king
If you were a PhD
Then you were allowed in the ring
Many simulations were run
By men and women with might
On giant supercomputers
That ran through the night
Data was crunched
Fancy graphs were prepared
Conference calls were conducted
And no expense was spared.
Meanwhile upstairs
In the main investment bank
We held our heads high
Because of our rank
We dined on free lunches
Flew first class flights
And graced five star hotels
Where I spent many a night
The startup sought clients
And made a big splash
But the one big difference
Was the firm made NO CASH!
*******************************************************
One year went by
And then became two
Yet still the executives
Had nary a clue
One day, the CEO
Got an idea in his head
"Pay us what you wish
No more and no less," he said
We were stunned when we heard
This incredible plan
For clients to pay
Whatever they can
"What if they pay us nothing?"
We immediately said
Even the famous Wall Street paper
Was scratching its head
When clients caught wind
Of this ridiculous plot
They said “no thank you,
We think we would rather not."
The free food then vanished
Serious faces ensued
And all the the work anyone did
Was sit there and brood
The leadership met
In their fancy Board Room
And determined to continue onwards
And decreed publicly: "NO MORE GLOOM"
Determined not to fail
And still move ahead
They embarked on a new strategy
And here’s what they said:
"If we hire more
And more and more
Then surely by next quarter
We will have money in store"
For this was the logic
That had led them astray
Throwing good funds after bad
NEVER ENDS UP OK
For a moment, they survived
But then came a Black Swan
And finally in the end
$77 million was gone
So don’t be too smart
Or big for your britches
As there’s no guarantee
You’ll earn endless riches
THE END
Be sure to check out the illustrations of my original Wall Street stories in Fabien Toulme's new global opus about Work and Life "Et Travailler Et Vivre."
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