In December 1968, Pasquale "Pat" Scida, age 24, secured an entry level position on Wall Street. His memoir, "Walworth Street to Wall Street" Back Office Clerk to Investment Banker, tracks his journey from clerk to VP and Unit Investment Trust Syndicate Manager, underwriting more than $3 Billion of Fixed Income Securities annually.
"Walworth Street to Wall Street" is the story of a young man from one of Brooklyn's Italian American ghettos who battled through real and imagined obstacles to success on Wall Street. Natural talent, good mentoring, and hard work ultimately land him at the epicenter of a massive movement of capital from the nation's banks to its brokerage firms, resulting from the runaway inflation and historically high interest rates of the late seventies-early eighties.
More than Mr. Scida's personal story "Walworth Street (where the author lived in Brooklyn) to Wall Street" is a series of essays and reflections on the day to day Wall Street experience. From the back office where dozens of menial tasks keep firms running smoothly to the trading floors and the executive suite, we experience Wall Street at its ground floor working level; the day to day mountain of work, the break neck pace and endless decision making, the takeovers, mergers and ruthless politics are all brought forth in the authors engaging style.
Throughout the work the author deciphers Wall Street puzzles. Pricing in the New Issue and Secondary Bond Markets, interest rate determination, brokerage firm profitability and product development among others are rendered in plain language.
If you like Wall Street you're going to love "Walworth Street to Wall Street."
Mr. Scida was SVP and Director of Municipal Bond Marketing and Sales at Morgan Stanley Dean Witter when he retired in 2001.