LTCM's basic strategy was "convergence" and "relative-value" arbitrage: the exploitation of price differences that must be temporary or that have a high probability of being temporary. Typical were its many trades involving "swaps." By the time of LTCM's crisis, its swap book consisted of some 10,000 swaps with a total notional value of $1.25 trillion.

Donald MacKenzie, An Engine, Not a Camera, loc. 978