In this timely and alarming account of the corruption and decadence that characterize the world of back-alley stockbrokers, a former broker exposes an ethically twisted, brutal, and cutthroat culture rife with fraud and deception. Detailed firsthand is a world in which fortunes are made and lost with the drop of a trading slip, silver-tongued salesmen conceal illicit schemes drawn up to hustle a trusting public, and victors' spoils include cash, booze, drugs, and sex. Vivid inhabitants of this world include Nick, a drug-fueled closer who snorts lines of cocaine off his desk while selling clients on the latest hot stock; Carlos, who rewards his top brokers with prostitutes; Nathan, a cunning dealmaker whose activities came under FBI scrutiny after the September 11 attacks; and Dave, who hires strippers as sales assistants. These real-life characters and tragic accounts of clients losing their life savings are relayed with the verisimilitude available only to an insider.