SEC Charges Eleven in Stock Manipulation Ring

[MikeLeaff]

Clem Chambers is now a novelist. Maybe that's the reason he's keeping Matt around. Clem's going to use Matt as the hero in his next thriller.

http://www.amazon.com/Armageddon-Trade-Clem-Chambers/dp/1842432974

The Armageddon Trade (Hardcover)
by Clem Chambers (Author)

Product Description
Jim is the cockney boy wonder who can read stock charts like 50-foot road signs. His uncanny talent has taken him from tea boy to trading superstar. Is he a genius, or a fluke? He doesn't know. The mysterious Max Davas, emperor of trading, makes billions dealing U.S. Treasuries using more computing firepower than NASA—but now his models are telling him that something is about to go catastrophically wrong. The same trading system that has made him one of the richest and most powerful men in the world is telling him that in a year's time, gold will be at $0 an ounce, so will oil, so will Microsoft, and the dollar won't be trading at all. The Euro, the Pound, the Yen, sugar, wheat, coffee . . . all will fall down to zero. But are predictions fate? Or does the cockney kid hold the key to the Armageddon trade?

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars Could This Really Happen?, May 17, 2009
By Norman Goldman "Editor of Bookpleasures.com" (Montreal) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER) (REAL NAME)
Clem Chambers is the CEO of ADVFN, Europe's highly successful stocks and shares website. He has also contributed articles and investment columns for Wired Magazine, The Business, The Daily Telegraph and The Scotsman. The Armageddon Trade is Chambers first novel where he combines science fiction with his knowledge of the investment world.

The story revolves around a "hot shot" trader Jim (also known as Ken, short for Kenco), who has the uncanny ability of reading and analyzing all kinds of charts that predict the future. His colleagues refer to him as Moby, the billion-dollar whale, as he made billions of dollars for his company. The amazing part is that he is only in his early twenties and he was able to rise to prominence in his firm within a matter of a couple of years.

Jim's notoriety comes to the attention of a shady character, Max Dumas, emperor of trading, the Wizard of Oz, who earns billions of dollars dealing in US treasuries using an unbelievable amount of computing firepower. Dumas tells Jim that he is quite aware of his brilliance in bending his models and he also informs Jim that he has discovered from his computer read-outs that something very disturbing is about to happen. This may prove to be catastrophic wherein the entire world will come crashing down. The global capital system would come to a halt and the markets would be put out of action for weeks or months.

Presenting him with an offer he couldn't refuse amounting to a salary of fifty million dollars, Jim is persuaded to work with Dumas in helping him solve the mystery and prevent the catastrophe.

To be fair, Chambers has quite a vivid imagination and his plot is certainly unique as he crafts an audacious debut novel. However, it is not without faults for there were moments where I felt I was watching a B-movie as the plot seemed to meander and sway. In addition, I found that the overuse of financial "mumbo jumbo" and confusing dialogue turned out to be quite exhausting. Nonetheless, I was still left with the unpleasant thought, could this apocalypse really happen? And in light of what we have witnessed with our present economic melt down, what Chambers has provided is a story that may not be as far fetched as it seems.

Norm Goldman, Editor Bookpleasures