For Wall Street, a Year of Hunting Bargains While Taking Refuge

Trading from kitchen tables. Chasing takeovers alone by mobile phone. Tracking down N-95 masks for the local hospital.

This was a singular year on Wall Street, an industry where flurries of buying and selling usually happen on tight clusters of desks -- not in isolation from homes -- and where deals are traditionally sealed with handshakes that now are taboo. For many, the challenges were unexpected and terrifying, but also a chance to prosper.

“I have a vivid memory of much less sleeping,” said Mark Spitznagel, whose main hedge fund strategy at Universa Investments surged more than 3,600% in March as he and colleagues reacted to round-the-clock market swings. He rode out the turmoil working from a wing of his house, and eventually found time to recharge at his Michigan goat farm.

Spitznagel is one of five finance executives interviewed by Bloomberg to piece together a tumultuous year punctuated by a pandemic and unprecedented economic stimulus, by protests and the most contentious presidential election in memory.