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The article presents the author's insights about the social condition in London, England, and mentions the resilience of Londoners against terrorism following the fire at Grenfell Tower building in West London.

LONDON -- James Konrad, a bookish 27-year-old with a polite manner, used to make a living at a sports betting company, weighing the odds of muddy terrain affecting the sure-footedness of racehorses. These days, he takes bets on the muddy terrain that is European politics. Mr. Konrad trades up to $:3 billion, or $4.7 billion, worth of euro zone bonds a day for Royal Bank of Scotland. The bets are just as uncertain in both fields, but the sums are vastly larger in his current job, amounts that seem to stagger even him. ''How do you make someone understand that you've traded a billion worth in bonds?'' Mr. Konrad said. ''A billion. It's easy to get lost in the zeros.'' [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

LONDON -- Amber Charles still remembers the wasteland behind Stratford station, the hooded youths lingering across the street by the McDonald's and her mother's instruction not to walk the dirt track leading to their housing development after dark. Today, a sparkling new Olympic stadium and state-of-the art shopping mall have replaced the once-bleak expanse and the hooded youths are nowhere to be seen. What was once a dirt track has become a paved street complete with a road sign. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]