Financial planning puts a great many people into a tizzy, and hedge funds are certainly no exception. But Barton Biggs, a former Morgan Stanley strategist, is here to save the day for the seriously frazzled -- and his new book is winning people over:

"The pressure of living so intimately, so intensely with his portfolio (and dying a little on the bad days) has become intolerable," Mr. Biggs writes in "Hedge Hogging," (Wiley), which will be published on Jan. 6.

Another trader was stung by losses after moving into a Greenwich estate with $20,000 trees, a two-story screening room and a wine cellar that could hold 5,000 bottles.

"The straws were mounting on the camel's back even as dark clouds were gathering," Mr. Biggs writes. With losses approaching 30 percent, the manager had a breakdown and would not get out of bed, so his wife abruptly closed the fund.

But then, the whole investment banking world isn't one for the weak, which is why it's also rife for satire someday...