FIASCO is the shocking story of one man's education in thejungles of Wall Street. As a young derivatives salesman at MorganStanley, Frank Partnoy learned to buy and sell billions of dollarsworth of securities that were so complex many traders themselvesdidn't understand them. In his behind-the-scenes look at thetrading floor and the offices of one of the world's top investmentfirms, Partnoy recounts the macho attitudes and fiercelycompetitive ploys of his office mates. And he takes us to theannual drunken skeet-shooting competition, FIASCO, where he and hiscolleagues sharpen the killer instincts they are encouraged to useagainst their competitiors, their clients, and each other. FIASCO is the first book to take on the derivatves tradingindustry--the most highly charged and risky sector of the stockmarket. More importantly, it is a blistering indictment of thelargely unregulated market in derivatives and serves as a warningto unwary investors about real fiascos, which have cost billions ofdollars.
As soon as the financial crisis erupted, the finger-pointingbegan. Should the blame fall on greedy traders, lazy regulators, orclueless home buyers? According to Bethany McLean, author of thebestselling Enron book "The Smartest Guys in the Room", and JoeNocera, the star "New York Times" columnist, the real answer is allof the above. Many devils helped bring hell to the economy. Yetdespite all the analysis of the crash, no one has put all thepieces together and named those responsible. Until now.
Perino recounts in riveting detail the 1933 hearings that putWall Street on trial for the Great Crash. Never before in Americanhistory had so many financial titans been called to account beforethe public, and they had come within a few weeks of emergingunscathed.
From the jungles of the trading [loot to thecasinos of bas Vogas, The bia Short tells the outrageous story ofthe misfits, renegades and visionaries who saw tha.t the biggesteredit bubble of all time was about to burst, bet against thebanking system and made, a killing.
In 2006, hedge fund manager John Paulson realized something fewothers suspected--that the housing market and the value of subprimemortgages were grossly inflated and headed for a major fall. Paulson's background was in mergers and acquisitions, however, andhe knew little about real estate or how to wager againsthousing. He had spent a career as an also-ran on Wall Street.But Paulson was convinced this was his chance to make his mark. Hejust wasn't sure how to do it. Colleagues at investment banksscoffed at him and investors dismissed him. Even prosskeptical about housing shied away from the complicated derivativeinvestments that Paulson was just learning about. But Paulsonand a handful of renegade investors such as Jeffrey Greene andMichael Burry began to bet heavily against risky mortgages andprecarious financial companies. Timing is everything, though.Initially, Paulson and the others lost tens of millions of dollarsas real estate and stocks continued to soar. Rather than back down,however, Paulson red
The definitive guide to buying and selling … The Pocket Idiot’s Guide to Investing in Stocks coverseverything readers need to know to take advantage of the long- andshort-term opportunities in the equities market, including howstocks stack up against other forms of investing, a tour of themajor U.S. exchanges, choosing an investment style, and much more.In addition, the book covers the investment strategies andphilosophies of some of Wall Street’s most successful investors. Anappendix contains the contact information for all the majorfull-service and discount brokers.
This book was written to offer encouragement and basicinformation to the individual investor. Who knew it would gothrough thirty printings and sell more than one million copies? Asthis latest edition appears eleven years beyond the first, I'mconvinced that the same principles that helped me perform well atthe Fidelity Magellan Fund still apply to investing in stockstoday. It's been a remarkable stretch since One Up on Wall Street hit thebookstores in 1989. I left Magellan in May, 1990, and pundits saidit was a brilliant move. They congratulated me for getting out atthe right time -- just before the collapse of the great bullmarket. For the moment, the pessimists looked smart. The country'smajor banks flirted with insolvency, and a few went belly up. Byearly fall, war was brewing in Iraq. Stocks suffered one of theirworst declines in recent memory. But then the war was won, thebanking system survived, and stocks rebounded. Some rebound! The Dow is up more than fourfold since October, 1990,from the 2,400 lev
What Are You Waiting For? This book will change the way you think about investing-and theresults will prove it! "This is the simple hands-on, how-to and why book many readershave been looking for." -Scott Burns, syndicated columnist Daniel Solin cuts through the financial hype to show you exactlyhow to invest-with an easy-to-follow four-step plan that lets youcreate and monitor your investment portfolio in ninety minutes orless...and put your investment earnings in the top 5 percent of allprofessionally managed money. If you want to gamble, go to Las Vegas-or try stock picking andmarket timing. If you want to be a Smart Investor, follow thiseffortless and effective plan. "The Smartest Investment Book You'll Ever Read will provide theenlightenment and gumption to free yourself from the clutches ofthe investment industry and the wisdom and direction necessary toget yourself back on track." -William Bernstein, author of A Splendid Exchange and The FourPillars of Investing
Many investors, including some with substantial portfolios, have only the sketchiest idea of how the stock market works. The reason, say Lynch and Rothchild, is that the basics of investing -- the fundamentals of our economic system and what they have to do with the stock market -- aren't taught in school. At a time when individuals have to make important decisions about saving for college and 401(k) retirement funds, this failure to provide a basic education in investing can have tragic consequences. For those who know what to look for, investment opportunities are everywhere. The average high-school student is familiar with Nike, Reebok, McDonald's, the Gap, and the Body Shop. Nearly every teenager in America drinks Coke or Pepsi, but only a very few own shares in either company or even understand how to buy them. Every student studies American history, but few realize that our country was settled by European colonists financed by public companies in England and Holland -- and the basic principles behi
Like the sayings of the ancient Chinese philosopher Lao-tzu inthe Tao Te Ching, Warren Buffett's worldly wisdom is deceptivelysimple and enormously powerful in application. In The Tao of WarrenBuffett, Mary Buffett joins noted Buffetologist and internationallecturer David Clark to bring you Warren Buffett's smartest,funniest and most memorable sayings, with an eye towards revealingthe life philosophies and the investment strategies that have madehim the world's most successful investor -- and the world's richestman. From serious investors to chronic over-spenders, this book canteach everyone some secrets of success.
The international bestseller on the extent to which personalfreedom has been eroded by government regulations and agencieswhile personal prosperity has been undermined by governmentspending and economic controls. New Foreword by the Authors;Index.
Mutual-fund superstar Peter Lynch and author John Rothchildexplain the basic principles of investing and business in a primerthat will enlighten and entertain anyone who is high-school age orolder. Many investors, including some with substantial portfolios, haveonly the sketchiest idea of how the stock market works. The reason,say Lynch and Rothchild, is that the basics of investing -- thefundamentals of our economic system and what they have to do withthe stock market -- aren't taught in school. At a time whenindividuals have to make important decisions about saving forcollege and 401(k) retirement funds, this failure to provide abasic education in investing can have tragic consequences. For those who know what to look for, investment opportunities areeverywhere. The average high-school student is familiar with Nike,Reebok, McDonald's, the Gap, and the Body Shop. Nearly everyteenager in America drinks Coke or Pepsi, but only a very few ownshares in either company or even understand how to buy them. Everystu
Updated for paperback publication, Aftershock is a brilliantreading of the causes of our current economic crisis, with a planfor dealing with its challenging aftermath. When the nation’s economy foundered in 2008, blame was directedalmost universally at Wall Street bankers. But Robert B. Reich, oneof our most experienced and trusted voices on public policy,suggests another reason for the meltdown. Our real problem, heargues, lies in the increasing concentration of wealth in the handsof the richest Americans, while stagnant wages and rising costshave forced the middle class to go deep into debt. Reich’sthoughtful and detailed account of where we are headed over thenext decades—and how we can fix our economic system—is a practical,humane, and much-needed blueprint for restoring America’s economyand rebuilding our society.
Is your investment in that new Internet stock a sign of stockmarket savvy or an act of peculiarly American speculative folly?How has the psychology of investing changed--and not changed--overthe last five hundred years? Edward Chancellor examines the natureof speculation--from medieval Europe to the Tulip mania of the1630s to today's Internet stock craze. A contributing writer to The Financial Times and The Economist , Chancellorlooks at both the psychological and economic forces that drivepeople to "bet" their money in markets; how markets are made,unmade, and manipulated; and who wins when speculation runsrampant. Drawing colorfully on the words of such speculators as SirIsaac Newton, Daniel Defoe, Ivan Boesky, and Hillary RodhamClinton, Devil Take the Hindmost is part history, partsocial science, and purely illuminating: an erudite and hugelyentertaining book that is more timely today than ever before.
Lynch is the master stock picker who led Magellan (until May 1990) to its position as America's biggest mutual fund. In One Up on Wall Street (Simon & Schuster, 1989), also written with Rothchild, he described his winning methods. Here, he provides a few more elaborations and 21 "Peter's principles." Some are overly clever, e.g., being first in line is a great idea except on the edge of a cliff. Lynch takes three chapters to explain how he "done it good" at Magellan. One valuable chapter details methods for picking a mutual fund from the thousands available, but most of the book is devoted to demonstrating his research into picking the 21 stocks he recommended in the January 1992 Barron's roundtable. Still, since the average investor will not get to talk to the CEO or visit the company in person, maybe we should all just buy Lynch's recommendations each year. A tossup. Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 11/1/92. - Alex Wenner, Indiana Univ. Libs., Bloomington
THE ESSENTIAL GALBRAITH includes key selections from the mostimportant works of John Kenneth Galbraith, one of the mostdistinguished writers of our time - from THE AFFLUENT SOCIETY, thegroundbreaking book in which he conined the tern "conventionalwisdom," to THE GREAT CRASH, an unsurpassed account of the eventsthat triggered America's worst economic crisis. Galbraith's newintroductions place the works in their historical moment and makeclear their enduring relevance for the new century. THE ESSENTIALGALBRAITH will delight old admirers and introduce one of our mostbeloved writers to a new generation of readers. It is also anindispensable resource for scholars and students of economics,history, and politics, offering unparalleled access to the seminalwritings of an extraordinary thinker.
Over the past quarter century, Understanding Wall Street has helped everyone from rookie investors to Wall Street veterans understand exactly how the market works and how to determine which stocks to buy ... and which to avoid. The fourth edition of this top-selling guide--still as easy-to-read, practical, and comprehensive as the first three--has been completely updated to help investors prosper in today's new, no-limits marketplace.
Moneyball is a quest for the secret of success in baseball.Following the low-budget Oakland Athletics, their larger-than-lifegeneral manger, Billy Beane, and the strange brotherhood of amateurbaseball enthusiasts, Michael Lewis has written not only "thesingle most influential baseball book ever" (Rob Neyer, Slate) butalso what "may be the best book ever written on business" (WeeklyStandard). I wrote this book because I fell in love with a story.The story concerned a small group of undervalued professionalbaseball players and executives, many of whom had been rejected asunfit for the big leagues, who had turned themselves into one ofthe most successful franchises in Major League Baseball. But theidea for the book came well before I had good reason to writeit-before I had a story to fall in love with. It began, really,with an innocent question: how did one of the poorest teams inbaseball, the Oakland Athletics, win so many games? With thesewords Michael Lewis launches us into the funniest, smartest, andm
For anyone interested in the world behind the business-pageheadlines, this is the book to read. --Publishers Weekly With the same breadth of vision and narrative élan he brought tohis monumental biographies of the great financiers, Ron Chernowexamines the forces that made dynasties like the Morgans, theWarburgs, and the Rothschilds the financial arbiters of the earlytwentieth century and then rendered them virtually obsolete by thecentury's end. As he traces the shifting balance of power among investors,borrowers, and bankers, Chernow evokes both the grand theater ofcapital and the personal dramas of its most fascinatingprotagonists. Here is Siegmund Warburg, who dropped a client in theheat of a takeover deal because the man wore monogrammed shirtcuffs, as well as the imperious J. P. Morgan, who, when faced witha federal antitrust suit, admonished Theodore Roosevelt to "sendyour man to my man and they can fix it up." And here are the menwho usurped their power, from the go-getters of the 1
For investors at all levels. Completely updated, this practical guide has the informationinvestors need to keep up in the complex, fast-paced, and highlyprofitable world of options and futures, where everything is inplay—from oil to diamonds, poultry to vaccines, franchises tocoffee. ? Provides cutting edge information on energy futures andoptions ? Tools for creating flexible strategies that can move with thetimes ? New information on the solid standbys like livestock, preciousmetals, and equities ? Keyed to the new realities of the global economy, making thisbook vital for investors at all levels ? Highly respected expert author
