William D. Cohan - The dirty little secret of what used to be known as Wall Street securities

The dirty little secret of what used to be known as Wall Street securities firms-Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Merrill Lynch, Lehman Brothers, and Bear Stearns-was that every one of them funded their business in this way to varying degress, and every one of them was always just twenty-four hours away from a funding crisis. The key to day-to-day survival was the skill with which Wall Street executives managed their firms' ongoing reputation in the marketplace.

- William D. Cohan

source: "House of Cards: A Tale of Hubris and Wretched Excess on Wall Street". Book by William D. Cohan, March 10, 2009.

topic: Brother, Wall, Dirty, Stanley, Goldman Sachs, Lehman Brothers