"We metal traders are jugglers without arms. . . .But it is essential that you never believe everything you hear from a metal trader because he will only tell you what it suits his current inventory to tell you." (Chapter 1, page 18)

"Depending on a trader's position in the metal markets that day, the death of Ronald Reagan was either a macabre way to lose money or a ghoulish plot to reap some quick profits." (Chapter 2, page 32)

"'When you want something from a person, think first what you can give in return. Let him think that it's he who is coming off best. But all the time make sure that it is you in the end' - Sir Ernest Oppenheimer." (Chapter 4, page 51)

"It was into this burgeoning corporate empire that Marc Rich, then thirty-three years old, was privately designated dauphin to Ludwig Jesselson. The possibilities whirled through his mind like a...