The financial meltdown from the perspective of a number of players: Michael Burry, a bizarre autistic-like stock-picking genius, and the first to realize that the market's housing boom is based on a 'house of cards' sham; Mark Baum, self-loathing fictional character whose firm picks up insider trading information from a wrong number phone call; Jarred Vennet, a smart-aleck broker who confirms the ominous suspicion; and Charles Gellar and James Shipley, small-time players who hit it big.