Wall Street’s Risky Business

Wall Street has always been about taking risk. But never has the “R” word been such an obsession for the men and women who rule the nation’s biggest investment banks. Never have they had to reconcile so many bets made on so many fronts. Ripe conditions have allowed a new type of firm to flourish, one that acts primarily as a trader and only secondarily as a traditional investment bank, underwriting securities and advising on mergers.