You get what I call the natural progression, the three Is. The innovators, the imitators, and the idiots.

If AIG had tried to unwind their derivatives books. I don't know. It would have hit every institution in the world.

I knew a lot about what I did when I was 20. I had read a lot, and I aspired to learn everything I could about the subject.

To be successful, you should concentrate on the world of companies, not arcane accounting mathematics.

If you want to shoot rare, fast-moving elephants, you should always carry a loaded gun.

The approach and strategies are very similar in that you gather all the information you can and then keep adding to that base of information as things develop. You do whatever the probabilities indicated based on the knowledge that you have at that time, but you are always willing to modify your behaviour or your approach as you get new information. In bridge, you behave in a way that gets the best from your partner. And in business, you behave in the way that gets the best from your managers and your employees.

[The U.S. Treasury] can borrow basically unlimited amounts. They can stay there for years and years. These assets will be worth more money over time. So when Merrill Lynch sells a bunch of mortgage-related assets at 22 cents on the dollar like they did a month or so ago, the buyer goes - is going to make money, and he's going to make a lot more money if it happens to be an institution like the U.S. government which has very, very cheap borrowing costs.