Enterprising Investor Forum

Wall Street Meat: A. Kessler Friday, November 21, 2008

We already reviewed ‘Running Money’ by Andy Kessler (here) but should have read ‘Wall Street Meat’ first!

This is another great read and as Michael Lewis states, we finished it in a gulp! The book talks about how Kessler got into Wall Street and his experience / learnings as an analyst and why he ultimately gave up his position in order to run his own hedge fund. It did remind us of Liar’s Poker… you get the larger-than-life Wall Street characters, the deals, the money, lavish expenses and so on BUT with the reminder that it can and does end in a second if things aren’t built on solid fundamentals; if you ruin your reputation.

Apart from describing life on Wall Street and the inside dynamics of the industry, Kessler talks about the tech/.com bubble, how it came about and how it blew up! It’s quite interesting to read about the early stages of this cycle and all the companies that where involved – some still here but many no longer with us.

If you want to have good fun, you should definitely read about Andy Kessler and his narrow escape from the stock marker grinder.

Enjoy!