流亡华尔街

    梅奥意识到，自己总是与周围的人格格不入，这种意识使得他的行为和思想可以自由地摆脱行业惯例的羁绊。这种情绪也是这本书的核心。通过此书，我们可以近距离地观察，不管是好还是坏，金融从业者不随波逐流究竟意味着什么。很少有分析师像梅奥这样，从不主动巴结他理应亲近的银行高管（明星分析师出席CEO主办的奢华酒会和私人晚宴，并非什么稀罕事）。他对银行业从业者享有的排场和高额薪酬很是不屑。

    《流亡华尔街》一书突出了这样一种观念：梅奥总是以一个局外人的眼光，凝视着陌生的银行家的世界。尽管这种视角有时或许稍显沉闷，但它从未给人以虚假之感，部分原因是，梅奥是一个怪胎，我们很难想象有哪一个世界属于他这样的人。比如，他会给自己计时，观察到底是乘坐公寓附近的地铁快，还是折回到最近的车站，乘坐特快列车快。他曾经用许多艾伦•格林斯潘的照片来点缀他的单身公寓。在备考特许金融分析师（CFA）期间，他时常让当时的女友（现在是他的太太）携带印有CFA课程内容的抽认卡，这种追求方式可谓别具一格。

    梅奥常常陶醉于他的闯入者身份，但如果说他从不在乎别人的看法，那就错了。他特别重视纠正别人的误解，有时似乎患上了被迫害情结症。他跟摩根大通（JPMorgan Chase）首席执行官杰米•戴蒙发生的一次公开争吵，就是一个例证。他与戴蒙的争执显然让梅奥一直如鲠在喉。当时，戴蒙的重点在于梅奥此前对第一银行（Bank One）和摩根大通所作的评级是否准确。在梅奥看来，戴蒙提出的两点意见（两者相隔了很多年）是专门针对他的蓄意攻击。但这很可能只是戴蒙随口说出的话罢了。此君一向以喜欢作秀言论大胆而著称，当时又刚刚被花旗集团（Citigroup）从CEO的宝座上赶下来，郁郁不得志。如果戴蒙想证明他的银行正在全力改善，难道还有比声称连华尔街最谨慎的分析家梅奥都被迫将其评级从售出改为买入更好的方式么？但对于梅奥来说，这些评论事关他个人的声誉。他在书中极其详尽，不厌其烦地论证了自己意见的正确性。

    《流亡华尔街》另一个过于累赘的地方在于，该书用了整整两个章节（差不多相当于全书五分之一的篇幅）讲述花旗集团的种种细节。虽然花旗集团无疑存在很多问题，而且跟许多同行一样，依然在苦苦挣扎，但把这家银行的完整历史硬塞入一本谈论梅奥职业生涯的著作，显得笨拙且不适宜。鉴于梅奥长久以来一直在跟花旗管理层打嘴仗，偏离主题，深挖花旗银行【《第一章：一个漫长而悲伤的传奇》（A Long, Sad Saga）；《第二章：令人作呕的阴谋》（Part II: The Plot Sickens）】的确让人觉得这是一种相当无趣的报复行为。

    但就大部分内容而言，梅奥这本书是一个很好的故事，为我们讲述了一个陌生而迷人的职业。《流亡华尔街》一书不仅文笔上乘，节奏明快，而且许多地方还非常有趣。它通过一个局外人的眼光，深入揭露了华尔街的种种内幕。

    译者：任文科

    Mayo's sense of always being different from everyone around him gives him freedom to act and think outside of the conventions of his industry. This sentiment is at the heart of his book, which is a close up look at what it means, for better or for worse, to not go with the flow when you work in finance. Mayo is the rare analyst who doesn't hobnob with the executives he's supposed to cover. (It's not unusual for star analysts to attend lavish parties and private dinners thrown by CEOs). And he scoffs at the pomp and perks that come with a job in banking.

    Exile on Wall Street plays up the idea that Mayo is always an outsider peering into the alien world of bankers. Sometimes this can get a little tedious, but it never seems false, in part because Mayo is such a weirdo that it's hard to imagine a world where he would fit right in. For example, he times himself to see whether it's faster to take the local subway stop near his apartment, or to backtrack to the nearest express train. He once decorated his bachelor pad with photos of Alan Greenspan. And while studying for his chartered financial analyst certification, he wooed his then-girlfriend (who is now his wife) by having her carry flashcards with CFA topics.

    Mayo often revels in his interloper status, but it would be wrong to say that he doesn't care about what other people think of him. He cares deeply about setting the record straight, and at times he seems to have a persecution complex. One example of this is in his account of a public row he had with Jamie Dimon, the chief executive of JPMorgan Chase (JPM). Clearly his dispute with Dimon -- which focused on whether or not Mayo had accurately rated Bank One and JPMorgan correctly -- took a psychological toll on Mayo. He perceives two comments made by Dimon, spread out over as many years, as a coordinated attack. In all likelihood, they were offhand remarks made by a CEO known for making audacious, showman-like statements, and who had a lot to prove after being fired from Citigroup (C). What better way for Dimon to show that his bank was firing on all cylinders than to say that the likes of Mike Mayo, the Street's most circumspect analyst, had been forced to change his rating from sell to buy? But the comments are personal for Mayo, and he describes in great detail his obsession with settling the score.

    Exile also gets bogged down in a two-chapter discussion of Citigroup, which comprises nearly a fifth of the book. While Citi has no doubt had many problems, and continues to struggle along with its peers, shoehorning a full history of the bank in a book about Mayo's career feels clunky and out of place. Given the fact that Mayo has been embroiled in a long-running fight with Citi management, the detour into Citi (Part I: A Long, Sad Saga; Part II: The Plot Sickens) also feels like a rather tedious act of vengeance.

    But for the most part, Mayo's book is a good story about a strange and fascinating career. It's well-written, fast-paced, and often very entertaining. It's a great inside look at Wall Street's inner sanctums through the eyes of an outsider.