Bear Trap, The Fall of Bear Stearns and the Panic of 2008 (HC)

Bamber says BEAR TRAP is not an exposé, not a tell-all tale. Instead, he says it’s a book about the human drama of watching a venerable global institution’s untimely collapse. Released on the day Lehman Brothers declared bankruptcy, BEAR TRAP rocketed to the near top of the bestseller lists as the country held its breath waiting for the Panic and “Great Recession” that followed.

“This (book) just tells the story from someone who’s there. It takes the reader and puts them into my seat. We all know how this ended, but (this book) is really all about the journey there.’”
—Anthony Cronin, Business Editor, The Day’s Business

Bear, Stearns & Co., a storied Wall Street firm with a maverick reputation had endured many crises in its 85-year history. Nothing however could have prepared the firm for the sudden death spiral that would lead to its takeover for a pittance. In a dramatic showdown with JP Morgan and the Fed, this is the tragic story of how fortunes were made and lost.

No one has the advantage of hindsight, but BEAR TRAP tells the story of what it was like in the trenches watching your world collapse around you. What can you do? Nothing? Get out if you can with your life savings? Wait and see? Or learn from Bill’s experience as he sees it in real time. The choice is up to you.

Bill Bamber was a senior executive with responsibility for one of Bear Stearns & Co. major derivatives groups in New York. He has been a derivatives practitioner for nearly two decades leading the development of new financial products on two continents and in both developed and emerging markets. He helped create some of the world’s most innovative structured financial products and is a chartered financial analyst. He holds an MBA and BA degrees.

Andrew Spencer is a writer living in Virginia.