From the Inside Flap
The idea of using chaos theory as a predictive tool had
long intrigued the Chaos Cabal. They asked themselves, what
nearby phenomena look random but actually contain hidden
structure? the smoke curling up from an ashtray? the vortex
formed around a sugar cube dropped in a cup of coffee? the
stock data listed in the newspaper lying on the table?
In this deceptively simple question lay the roots of a
great adventure in the world of money, an antic, frantic
odyssey into a universe defined by the mystical convergence
of physics and finance.
It never dawned on Doyne Farmer and Norman Packard--not
when growing up together in the Southwest, not during their
hippie grad-school days, not even when applying their
collective genius in physics and mathematics to winning at
roulette in Las Vegas--that someday they would end up as
players, beating the Masters of the Universe from Morgan
Stanley and Goldman Sachs at their own game. But of course
it's only natural that these accomplished theorists, counted
among the founders of the new science of chaos, would
eventually turn their attention to what may be the most
uncontrolled and chaotic phenomena of all--the global
financial markets.
The Predictors is Thomas Bass's engrossing and often
hilarious chronicle of how these two scientists--along with
their team of T-shirted and ponytailed Ph.D.'s, and with the
help of some very savvy financial gurus-attempted to decode
and model the complex patterns underlying the apparently
random movements of commodities, currency, and equities
markets. On the dizzying ride from the Prediction Company's
dusty offices above a Santa Fe fortune-teller to the
glittering towers of Wall Street, Farmer and Packard find
themselves in the company of virtually every cowboy trader
and rogue millionaire who ever tackled the market. Bass
brilliantly spins a tale of genius and greed, power brokers
and rebels, all the while providing a brisk education in
chaos, complexity, and the world financial markets.
For anyone who has ever dreamed of finding a way to
outguess the wizards of Wall Street, The Predictors will be a
ride as thrilling as a big market surge.
