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real lucky,' he started. 'Yesterday I bring you the sweetest of trades. Today I get you out of a hole.'
    'And what hole is that?' I asked, slightly worried. I didn't realise we were in a hole. I ran through our various holdings in my mind, trying to think of what Cash could mean.
    'I've got a bid for your Gypsums,' Cash said, a note of triumph in his voice. 'I will bid 80 for all your bonds.'
    'Hold on,' I said. At first I wasn't sure what he meant. Then, riffling through the papers on my desk, I dug out one of our client portfolios. There amongst a group of odd lot holdings was 'Gypsum Company of America 9% 1995'. The purchase date was three years before, and the purchase price was 96 .
    Covering the mouthpiece with my hand, I leaned back, and shouted, 'Hey, Jeff!'
    Jeff looked up from his computer, slightly annoyed at being disturbed in his analysis. 'Yes?' he replied.
    'Do you know anything about half a million dollars of Gypsum of Americas? It looks like we bought them three years ago.'
    Jeff frowned for a moment. 'Yes, I think I know what you mean. Not one of Hamilton's best positions. I think he bought them close to par. Then the company got into trouble, and they were last seen trading in the sixties.'
    'I've got a bid here at 80,' I said.
    'Then take it.'
    I thought for a moment. If Cash was suddenly bidding 80 for a bond which had been trading at a price of 60, there must be something he knew that I didn't.
    'Is there anything I should know about Gypsum?' I asked Cash.
    'No, nothing I'm aware of. Hey, Hamilton was belly-aching at me all last year to come up with a good bid on this position. Well, I've finally got one. He'll be pleased when he hears.'
    This was the old tactic that salesmen used on junior portfolio managers when their bosses were away. Tell the junior what the boss would do in a similar situation, and make him think there is more risk in not doing a particular trade than in doing it. I had fallen for this once or twice in my first couple of months. Hamilton had given me a lecture about how I should always trust my own judgement, and never believe what others might say his views were.
    'Hmm,' I said. 'I am going to need some time to think about this. I'll call you back.'
    'Well, get back to me by this evening. The bid may not be there tomorrow,' Cash said.
    'OK. I'll talk to you this afternoon,' I said, and hung up.
    I needed to find out more about the Gypsum Company of America. I left my desk, and went through a door at the back of the trading room to the library.
    'Library' was probably too grand a name for the small, windowless room. There were hardly any books. The walls were stacked high with files, and there was a computer in the middle of the room, which was linked to a host of different information databases. Alison, the part-time librarian, was out, but I knew my way round most of the sources of information. Within twenty minutes I had extracted the prospectus for the Gypsum bond we held and reports from stockbrokers on the company. I also printed off the accounts for the last five years and press reports over the last year from the computer.
    I carried the armfuls of paper back to my desk.
    Debbie looked up from her Times. 'It's not that cold in here. No need to start a bonfire.'
    'I just want to see if there is anything going on with this company,' I said.
    'Typical Paul,' Debbie said. 'Anyone else would just have read the latest Valueline, and then sold the bonds.'
    I smiled. Debbie was probably right. But then, as she well knew, I wouldn't be satisfied until I had analysed the accounts going back five years, and read all the press and analytical comment on the company I could find.
    I spent the next three hours going over the material, stopping only for quarter of an hour to get a sandwich from the small shop over the road.
    As I read, I began to build up a picture of a company which had started off mediocre and over the last two years had become a basket case. It wasn't all the company's