The Wall Street Skinny

Industry S2E8 | How Soros Broke the Bank of England & What It Has to Do with "Industry" (and the Trump Administration)

Kristen and Jen Season 3 Episode 38

Send us a text

In this episode, we break down the finance behind the Industry Season 2 finale—and without exaggerating, this might be our favorite episode yet. There was so much to dig into, starting with the trade that the whole season built toward: Jesse Bloom’s long Rican / short FastAid position.

Because the episode references the legendary trade where “Soros broke the Bank of England” in 1992, we also break down that wild real-life story—something anyone aspiring to work on Wall Street should know. That leads us into a deeper discussion on how hedge funds can move markets, the mechanics of currency pegs, central bank credibility, and how macro traders think about asymmetric risk. The real shocker is WHO the brains behind that trade were because it's someone that all us in the US are VERY familiar with these days... and no it's not Soros.

Finally, we look at how all of this plays out across the show's main characters: Harper’s decision leads to her firing, Yasmin is blindsided by Celeste, Gus gets caught in the fallout, and Rishi and DVD’s team pitch to Nomura doesn’t go as planned. We explore how team dynamics, sales credits, and firm reputation impact career progression on the sell side—and how optionality (or the lack of it) drives every character’s choices in the final moments of the season.

For a 14 day FREE Trial of Macabacus, click HERE

Our Investment Banking and Private Equity Foundations course is LIVE
now with our M&A course included!

Shop our LIBRARY of Self Paced Online Courses HERE
Join the Fixed Income Sales and Trading waitlist HERE

Our content is for informational purposes only. You should not construe any such information or other material as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.

People on this episode

Podcasts we love

Check out these other fine podcasts recommended by us, not an algorithm.

Pivot Artwork

Pivot

New York Magazine
Mo News Artwork

Mo News

@mosheh / tentwentytwo
Maintenance Phase Artwork

Maintenance Phase

Aubrey Gordon & Michael Hobbes
Capital Allocators – Inside the Institutional Investment Industry Artwork

Capital Allocators – Inside the Institutional Investment Industry

Ted Seides – Allocator and Asset Management Expert
Odd Lots Artwork

Odd Lots

Bloomberg