Table of Contents
Acknowledgments xi
Prologue: "On the Verge" 1
Chapter 1 Bubble to Bubble 11
Greenspan's Shock and Awe 13
Houses Built on Cow Dung 19
Chapter 2 Home Sweet Home 23
Opening Doors 24
An Industry Is Born 27
Subprime Returns 29
Chapter 3 The Subprime Machine 33
From Delivering Pizza to Delivering Mortgages 41
Living the Dream 44
Diving into Deep Trouble 45
Chapter 4 Eyes Wide Shut 49
A Warning Unheeded 50
A Dream No More 55
Chapter 5 The Great Enabler 57
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Hit the Scene 61
Fannie and Freddie Get a Timeout 63
Wall Street Takes Over 66
A Tsunami of Mortgages 71
From Ownit to Out of It 74
Back from the Grave 77
Chapter 6 Complicity 81
Moody's the Money Maker 85
Repeat Customers 88
Chapter 7 The Securitization from Hell 95
The Making of a CDO 96
Tough to Kill 98
Turning "Crap into Triple-A" 101
From CDS to CDO 103
Insanity Sets In 106
Chapter 8 Narvik and Me 111
CDOs: An American Export 113
The Truth Revealed-But Does It Matter? 118
Chapter 9 Mortgaging Merrill's Future 121
Climbing Out of Poverty 122
A Strong Start 124
The Secret Weapon 125
Raking It In 127
Taking Big Risks 130
Chapter 10 A House of Cards 135
Digging for God 136
Building a Case 139
The Investment of a Lifetime 147
Chapter 11 And Then the Roof Caved In 155
The Wheels Coming Off 157
The Call 159
A Crisis Begins 161
The CDO Blues 165
Lights Out 167
Epilogue 171
A Note on Sources 181
Resources from CNBC 183
Index 187