It has been said that Wall Street guys are the smartest guys in the room. The recent $2Billion+ trading loss at J P Morgan Chase is another example that shows just how tenuous is the thread that binds them to that description. When the cards are stacked, the rules are broken, the cost of funds is negligible and profits are pocketed while risks are covered, it is hard to fathom why they are not smarter than they are. They cannot even manage the instruments they create.
This brings me to the reason that the Wizards of Wall Street have always been held in such high estimation. It is the proprietary language that is used in all the areas that make up finance. Trading, analysis, real estate, M & A, IPO'S, derivatives .. they all use a proprietary language that separates them from the investing public.
Edison once said, "success is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration". This may well be true for inventors or people engaged in a solitary endeavor, but for people working in one of the many occupations, whether it's science, or finance or politics, or any other occupation, each discipline has at it's core a language. Unique to itself and never completely understood by people outside of that occupation.
Success is achieved by having a good knowledge of the language and having an ability to utilize it in a given situation. Usually the more complicated the language the higher the opportunity for great rewards. Engineers, computer programmers and stock market traders have their own languages. Brilliance is not necessary in achieving a high level of success. Rather an academic or practical background that brings you in touch with a working knowledge of the language specific to the occupation you are pursuing.