Synopsis: On March 5, 2008, at 10:15 A.M., a hedge fund manager in Florida wrote a post on his investing advice Web site that included a startling statement about Bear Stearns & Co., the nation’s fifth-largest investment bank: “In my book, they are insolvent.”

This seemed a bold and risky statement. Bear Stearns was about to announce profits of $115 million for the first quarter of 2008, had $17.3 billion in cash on hand, and, as the company incessantly boasted, had been a colossally profitable enterprise in the eighty-five years since its founding.

Ten days later, Bear Stearns no longer existed, and the calamitous financial meltdown of 2008 had begun.

How this happened – and why – is the subject of William D. Cohan’s superb and shocking narrative that chronicles the fall of Bear Stearns and the end of the Second Gilded Age on Wall Street…

Please click here to view the video.

What is interesting about the interview is that, as opposed to a classical book review, Cohan talks through his views and comments freely on the whole situation adding some interesting perspectives and additional context.

For those of you who are intereted in our review of his previous book on Lazard, please click here.

This book is really interesting and fascinating, not only for the actual financial explanations but because it is a bit of a hybrid between a text-book, novel and memoir – all thanks to over 25 years experience in the financial markets.

The book offers a cynical and comical explanation of the culture, games and deceptions played out in trading rooms around the world – usually with other people’s money… The author takes the reader through a detailed account of how derivatives where born, how they evolved and especially, how they were/are used to fool investors  – usually due to their complex nature.

This is a true insider’s account that will prove interesting and insightful to anyone and  not only to people directly involved in the financial markets.

Enjoy!

Not really and investment book or guide  but still a great read!

Gary Weiss recounts the story of Louis Pasciuto who went from just being a kid on the street to a million dollar earning ‘not-so-legit’ broker connected to the Mafia in just a couple of years.

The tale has it all: the money, the power, the strippers, celebrities, mafia beatings, wise guys, etc.. and as usually happens, Louis ended up being just another bright but shooting star, finally having to become an FBI informant to safe his own life…

The book offers a different look into Wall Street and what role the Mafia played in chop shops (basically, fake brokerages pumping/selling penny stocks), bucket shops and in the overall scheme of things. In certain ways it is similar to the tales of the real Wall Street from the 80s but the main difference here is that it shows you the other side of the Street, the one controlled but the Mafia but in a strange kind of way (apart from the beatings and other obviously violent/illegal activities), there are quite a few similarities.

Definitely worth reading – Enjoy!

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!

Most of the reviews written on this book tackle Boone’s spot-on analysis of the current situation, how he has been incredibly successful due to his understanding of the energy business and the impact he had on the oil business. Whilst all of this is true and the book does a great job of introducing everyone to not only the overall commodity business but also futures trading, we would like to talk about the human side of his story.

We think that Boone’s story is very inspiring and highlights how honest principles, discipline and hard work ultimately pay. Throughout his career, he has always fought for what he believed in, was never afraid to stick his neck out to follow his convictions and never gave up! Seeing him now with the success and fortune he has gathered may fool people into underestimating him and that is precisely the position he likes to be in…

Again, not only a great book on oil and overall energy but a great story of entrepreneurship and guiding principles for life and ultimately, success. All-in-all, a great American story.

Enjoy!

Don’t let the subtitle “Top Hedge Fund Traders on Profiting in the Global Markets” fool you into thinking that this book is simply about trading and hedge funds – it’s about understanding how extremely successful macro investors go about their daily business.

What do we mean by macro investors or global macro as Drobny discusses in his book? The classical definition:

• a discretionary investment style that leverages long and short positions in any asset class, in any instrument, in any market around the world with the goal of profiting from macroeconomic trends.

This book should really be required reading for any investor… especially value investors as it help you get into the minds of great traders that are moving incredibly large  amounts of money and that will ultimately influence the speed at which market trends develop. Some might think that these traders are simply speculators but through these interviews, you quickly realize that they are extremely intelligent individuals that constantly study worldwide dynamics and try to invest in order to profit from their educated view of how trends will develop.

We cannot stress how extremely interesting and thought provoking this book is… trust us, you will not be disappointed!

Enjoy!

This is a really interesting book. Not only does it provide the excitement and insight of the hedge fund industry but it actually has lessons for the long-term value investor. Furthermore, readers should note that Kessler was a long only and value driven hedge fund manager and that he really focused on discovering hidden gems and not speculative buys. Once you pick up this book, you will most likely get through it in one or two reading sessions. To give you a better idea, it is like “Liar’s Poker”.

As the books states, “Running Money is an insider’s tale. Through witty and wacky stories, Kessler takes the reader on a tour of big-stakes investing, a bizarre trail of startup companies, anonymous investors and the occasional Elvis impersonator.” Running Money, also gives the reader much more. It highlights the need to follow the money flows and to work hard at trying to understand what the next trends will be and who holds the real competitive advantage… usually things are more complicated than they seem and you have to dig deep to get a hold on what is really going on. Moreover, Kessler finally details: “Why it’s imperative to drive a beemer, tote a toshiba laptop and watch a bigg-ass sony tv” – don’t worry, you” get it when you read the book…

Enjoy!

The theme for this book is quite controversial due to the fact that people are often oblivious to the very existence of randomness and are used to attributing outcomes to merit. However, things are more complex than they appear…

Basically, the three broad concepts he focuses on are (i) peoples misunderstanding of “the rare event”, (ii) the survivorship bias – the fact that we tend to have a distorted view of things because we base our assumptions on winning examples and therefore have a distorted view of overall odds and (iii) filtering through the ‘noise’ and identifying the true meaning in events.

The book is extremely thought-provoking and a definite must on all bookshelfs.

Enjoy!

The book follows Jesse (Larry Livingston) from his early start helping out in “bucket shops”, to him starting to trade, to market speculator, to market manipulator, to market maker.. all the way to market legend. Throughout this whole incredible journey, the readers get a detailed account of what happened, how he made and lost millions of dollars and all of his words of wisdom.

This book takes place in the early twentieth century but it ‘practically’ reads as if it where written today. Naturally, there are differences but the psychology remains the same. Actually, readers will find out where a lot of the commonly used investment phrases/concepts originated. For example:

• following the ‘path of least resistance” = the trend is your friend
• do not buy a stock that is going down, if nothing is supporting it = don’t try and catch a falling knife
• the crowds do not profit from tips, think for yourself = tips are for waiters
• No stock is too high to buy or too low to sell
• and so on….

This is a really great read and has probably been the foundation for most of the other investment books out there. Remember that despite being published in 1923, this is the most read and recommended investment book ever! Do yourself a favor and pick up a copy…

Enjoy!

As Adam Smith states in the first sentence of the book; “The world is not the way the tell you it is”, and he goes on to try and give readers a behind the scenes view of Wall Street and of ‘The Money Game’ … why the markets are so addictive and how it can be a zero-sum game.

He talks about the characters involved, the psychology, the systems and the obsession with being in the markets… “The irony is that this is a money game and money is the way we keep score. But the real object of the Game is not the money, it is the playing of the Game itself”.

Definitely a strong recommendation from our part.

Enjoy!