A friend of mine was recounting his experience at a cocktail party hosted by Morgan Stanley (or was it Goldman? Merrill? does it matter?). A former investment banker who had spent time at Goldman in New York, he was in demand by the hosts. Methodically working his way around the room, he comes across a banker in one corner who obviously didn't want to be there, and wanted nothing to do with the recruitment/mating ritual in progress.
After thirty seconds of niceties, the banker asks, "You have an offer to purchase French Telecom bonds at 70 cents. Do you take it?"
You can see what happens even before I tell you. Twenty questions flash across my friend's mind. Original price of the bonds? Discount rate? Repayment schedule? Bond rating? Type of bond? Coupon info? The banker wouldn't give up anything, and our protagonist gives up. "I suppose I would need more information to answer your question..."
The bankers says "OK, sure, whatever," and walks off. My friend grabs him and says, "What? At least tell me the answer!"
"Buy them. French Telecom bonds won't default; the government will always bail them out."
Needless to say, my friend didn't get a callback. Chalk it up as a learning experience.
7:27:03 PM 
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