Customer Reviews:
Entertaining & Easy Read.......2007-10-20
Hey Queen nice dogs you have there
Price of oit $12/barrel
Those who say don't know, and those who know don't say
The end of fixed stock brokerage commissions had come on May 1, 1975.
3 bond groups: government, corporate and mortgages
TED; difference between the LIBOR and interest rate on a 3-month treasury bill
John Gutfreund, appointed chairman by William Salomon, son of one of the firm's 3 founding fathers.
Lewis Raniere, utility bond trader to Mortgae king 1979
Paul Volcker October 6,1979 speech short term interest sky rockets
Meum dictum pactum: My word is my bond
Predator's ball - Trace the rise of Drexel's junk bond department
Corporate Raiders: Ronald Perelman, Boone Pickens, Carl Icahn, Irwin Jacobs, Sir James Goldsmith, Nelson Peltz, Samuel Heyman, Saul Steinberg and Asher Edelman.
Great book.......2007-09-30
The book is clearly satire, and definitely exaggerates a bit, but it still gives you a sense of the Wall Street culture, where people are extremely wealthy but also extremely unrefined (scarfing greasy cheeseburgers while making millions). Very funny. Also extremely informative on topics such as the rise of mortgage bonds and junk bonds as financial tools. The book gives a great portrayal of the genius of the people behind these financial innovations. In fact, its portrayal of people in general is very funny and memorable. One final upside: there are some books, where, if you don't read them for about a week, you have no clue what's going on anymore. This is not one of those. There are relatively few people to keep track of, and they are described so well that you can't forget them.
I would DEFINITELY recommend this book. Funny and informative, a window onto a strange culture known as Wall Street.
Mildly Amusing.......2007-08-28
Michael Lewis' inside look at the heady days of Salomon Brothers during the 1980s and the decay that followed is a mildly amusing, albeit disjointed narrative with little new information. It is funny in parts and some of the character sketches make you pause but overall a strictly average book.
Read "Moneyball" or "The Blind Side" Before This.......2007-07-25
Long before "Moneyball" and "The Blind Side," Michael Lewis wrote "Liar's Poker." It is a short, entertaining story about Salomon Brothers during the highs and lows of the 80's. Salomon created the mortgage bond market. And like many first movers, it exploited its advantage for years. Sellers and buyers barely understood the market. No one understood the bonds' valuations. The only sure thing was that Salomon was going to make money. But ungodly profits enticed competition, and competitors poached Salomon's best traders. Even worse, bond underwriters thought they were more clever each day and created more complicated trading vehicles. Eventually, the market crashed because of excessive supply, complexity, and hubris. In some ways, it parallels what we see with hedge funds today.
Although the book is a simple and entertaining story, it lacks much of the rigorous analytics and insights that are present in Lewis's more recent books. His younger rhetoric is less mature and prone to hyperbole. He desperately tries to hide his arrogance (something you don't see in his later writing). If you're looking for a quick read during a plane ride, then this is a decent story. If you've heard favorable things about Michael Lewis and you want to read one of his books, buy "Moneyball" or "The Blind Side" before "Liar's Poker."
Interesting but not exceptional.......2007-06-27
It provides a good picture of the Wall Street during the 80's but it is sometimes tiring when describing the personality of some characters.
Book Description
Jonathan A. Knee had a ringside seat during the go-go, boom-and-bust decade and into the 21st century, at the two most prestigious investment banks on Wall Street--Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley. In this candid and irreverent insider's account of an industry in free fall, Knee captures an exhilarating era of fabulous deal-making in a free-wheeling Internet economy--and the catastrophe that followed when the bubble burst. Populated with power players, back stabbers, celebrity bankers, and godzillionaires, here is a vivid account of the dramatic upheaval that took place in investment banking. Indeed, Knee entered an industry that was typified by the motto "first-class business in a first-class way" and saw it transformed in a decade to a free-for-all typified by the acronym IBG, YBG ("I'll be gone, you'll be gone"). Increasingly mercenary bankers signed off on weak deals, knowing they would leave them in the rear-view mirror. Once, investment bankers prospered largely on their success in serving the client, preserving the firm, and protecting the public interest. Now, in the "financial supermarket" era, bankers felt not only that each day might be their last, but that their worth was tied exclusively to how much revenue they generated for the firm on that day--regardless of the source. Today, most young executives feel no loyalty to their firms, and among their clients, Knee finds an unprecedented but understandable level of cynicism and distrust of investment banks. Brimming with insight into what investment bankers actually do, and told with biting humor and unflinching honesty, The Accidental Investment Banker offers a fascinating glimpse behind the scenes of the most powerful companies on Wall Street.
Customer Reviews:
Insightful Depiction of Investment Banking.......2007-10-07
Jonathan Knee has penned an insightful and detailed memoir of his investment banking career at Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, both leading Wall Street houses.
The Accidental Investment Banker is helpful in that Knee has rendered the considerable service of describing what investment bankers actually do on a daily basis. Knee also offers a lucid analysis of the economic forces that transformed an industry that prided itself on its long-term advisory relationships into an industry that frequently competes directly against its clients. The rise of transactional investment banking, and the unhappy outcomes that it is capable of creating, is the central theme of Knee's book. Altogether, Knee's memoir is more thoughtful and detailed than Liar's Poker and similar memoirs.
Criticisms: Knee's publisher has left many copy-editing errors in the final manuscript. This volume deserves better. For Knee's part, his narrative tends to extol the virtues of the top MBA institutions and the "white shoe" investment banks, while disparaging MBA education in general and the absurdities and excesses of investment banking in particular. A more generous and accurate view-- and I am surprised that "The Accidental Investment Banker" does not endorse it-- is that talented people and successful businesses are found in many venues, and that pedigree is no guarantee of success.
good book - wildly misleading cover blurb.......2007-09-22
The cover of this is so misleading that you wonder what the publisher was thinking. This book does not do for IB what Liar's Poker did for fixed income trading (no slobbish bond salesmen throw telephones around here - though on a couple of occasions people make inappropriate comments at parties and iritate clients, and towards the end, during the internet bubble, they decide to dress down on Fridays, then, when the bubble bursts, they stop doing it again). What it delivers is a critical assessment of the state of the IB business, framed in terms of the author's own experience and observations of life at Goldman and Morgan, together with an apologia pro vita sua.
Both are pretty good and pretty useful. If you work in any branch of professional services, then there is a lot of interesting stuff here (pitch books are, alas, not unique to IB) and it is also readable. Knee's prose is a bit, um, prosaic, he is not Michael Lewis, but it goes by easily - there is a bit of New-Yorker-itis (people are introduced as 'slim, handsome and elegant', even 'elfin' a couple of times - does no-one read Leonard's rules for writers?), but nothing on the scale of Barbarians at the Gate, which, it if it were not so unreadably, incompetently badly written, would be the Liar's Poker of IB. And there are some definite gems, such as the description of the Goldman IBS team as resembling 'a German olympic swimming team' (which is even better than 'the Chets') which must have made some people wince.
In fact there is one possible reference to BatG here, where Knee describes the final negotiations in the sale of West, where he and his team successfully engineered that the 'right' bidder won an open auction, albeit at an extra cost of 50-100m (exhibit A in the 'apolgia'), to be compared and contrasted with the climax of BatG, where Felix Rohatyn efficiently extracted an extra 230 million dollars from KKR. Rohatyn would point out, in his defence, that there were no 'right' bidders for RJR, there were just different packs of predatory carnivores, and RJR was a public company, etc. True, but the parallel is still striking.
Neither Goldman nor Morgan come out of the book looking very good, but Goldman definitely comes out far ahead of Morgan.
What else? Knee crashed into the middle ranks, and moved up fast, so he does not say a lot about the endless diet of midnight pizza and the regular crashing under your desk in your suit which also go with the job, at least in my - very occasional - experience. There are also some interesting notes about Hank Paulson, which must have been written just before he left GS to be Treasury Secretary - Knee is, shall we say, not so impressed.
In conclusion: Definitely worth reading, but not for the jokes, or the madcap anecdotes - there aren't any. Knee comes across convincingly as an honorable, intelligent and likeable man and he delivers a lot of useful information and analysis. Finally, I can also reassure him that his somewhat self-conscious author's pic at the back is enough to guarantee that no-one will ever describe him as 'elfin'.
Great I-Banking Read.......2007-09-17
Though-provoking and pleasurable read that will be greatly appreciated by anyone who has/is working in the realm of high finance or wants to know more about it. A must read for any young, up-and-coming banker. While most i-banking books have their share of good vignettes and war stories, what separates this book apart is the thought-provoking analysis of internal politics with crucial underlying dictums.
Positives:
-Great description of the how the latest boom-and-bust period and other factors have (negatively) affected i-banking.
-Candid opinions and vignettes of people currently or recently active on the Street.
-Edifying/applicable i-banking politics analysis.
-Laugh-out-loud war stories.
Negatives:
-Knee's own importance is likely overstated in some parts, but cut him a break, he's an investment banker!
-Knee's joy in waxing poetic about the 'old days' of investment banking is undeniably in part a pitch for his newer role at Evercore, but again, you have to cut the author a little slack here.
-Some controversial political analyses - I don't have inside information to argue whether Knee's view is the 'true' view or not. At a minimum he is willing to put forth views on matters where, in this day and age, the vast majority of writers are too chicken to attempt.
The book ties together (1) Knee's career path, (2) Knee's most entertaining war stories, (3) Analyses of the rise-and-fall of several key figures on the Street and (4) Knee's main story: the changing roll of investment banks and the reasons for this change. While some have argued that certain parts are off topic, I would say that these stories and analyses are crucial to understanding the time and Knee's reasons for taking his particular view of i-banking. Moreover, we are all wiser and further entertained for its inclusion.
There's one point on which I take issue with Knee. He asserts that his primary reason for staying in investment banking is to influence decision making at the top ranks of corporations; however, if this is one's primary interest, I believe that this goal is better served by a career in private equity. I think this is a view that Knee, whether or not he agrees with it, should have addressed. That said, my zeal for this point is largely driven by my own career decisions, so I'd probably have a hard time claiming to be entirely without bias myself!
Learning: The fun way.......2007-09-04
This book is what banking professors want to recommend as Summer Reading for their students. This story educates people about all the processes and industry terms that are only available through experience or from a drab textbook.
You will learn about the author's education, how he got into banking, and how he has ended up where he ended up. Along the way, you will probably be startled to learn how much he and other top bankers make in a year. The new industry terms are fairly well defined so that people foreign to the industry are not left baffled.
The vocabulary is not too challenging. I would think that this book would be more entertaining than educational for an industry professional.
While not a world-mover, this book was terribly interesting and definitely educational. Although, that might just be my opinion.
On the Money.......2007-08-15
As far as I'm concerned, Jonathan Knee's book is the best of the "life on Wall St" books out there. It isn't the most shocking (Monkey Business), nor about the biggest deal (Barbarians). But it tells the true story of his climb up the ladder (and the trends shaping the industry) with engaging, self-deprecating humor. I worked at DLJ during the "monkey business" years and never encountered any of the unethical frat boy moments recounted in Troob's book (guess I wasn't invited to the cool parties; ha).
The Accidental Investment Banker doesn't dwell on the gutter moments of banking, nor does it glorify the industry. If you're considering a career in banking or just want to understand how the Street works (and laugh along the way), I highly recommend this book.
Vince Scafaria
CEO, DealMaven Inc.
Average customer rating:
- A Must Read for Investors
- A Classic "Must Read" Investment Book
- Just read the "Evaluation" part
- Worthless
- Not all its cracked up to be...
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Lessons from the Legends of Wall Street : How Warren Buffett, Benjamin Graham, Phil Fisher, T. Rowe Price, and John Templeton Can Help You Grow Rich
Nikki Ross
Manufacturer: Kaplan Business
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 0793137152
Release Date: 2000-06-19 |
Book Description
Written for both the novice and experienced investor, this fascinating blend of biography and keen investment analysis has garnered acclaim in the world of high finance.
Nikki Ross has struck the mother lode about how to invest wisely in an increasingly uncertain world. The easy to follow investment insights she's gathered impart the various strategies of these ""superinvestors"" and explain how to integrate and implement them in today's markets. Five lifetimes of legendary Wall Street wisdom are distilled into three brilliantly simple steps. Readers will learn how best to gather the information and find investment leads; evaluate the data; and when to buy, hold and sell.
Customer Reviews:
A Must Read for Investors.......2004-05-14
This book has a refreshingly commonsense approach to investing. It contains a great deal of worthwhile advice and wisdom from some of the world's best investors. I am not an experienced investor, however I found it to be understandable and learned useful information from it. I would highly recommend it.
A Classic "Must Read" Investment Book.......2004-04-15
Nikki Ross has documented principal strategies and investing advice from the great Wall Street legends of our time. I have found the underlying principals of Buffet and his mentors as well as Price and Templeton to be very helpful. It is an easy to read enjoyable book. It may not be for day traders in general, but they could benefit from the list of questions asked by the masters before investing. I believe that had many investors read and applied this book prior to and during the recent crash, they might have saved a lot of money.
Blake Conant
Just read the "Evaluation" part.......2004-03-07
This book discusses on the techniques Warren Buffet (value/growth), Benjamin Graham (value), Phil Fisher (growth), T. Rowe Price (growth), and John Templeton (growth use or have used to make their fortunes.
The book is divided into 6 parts on one each of these legends and another on how to combine the knowledge of these experts. The sections are organized in an interesting way first off you learn what some of the stocks the well known investor has bought and why they met their purchasing criteria. There is also a nice 3 steps to how you can use their methods in your investments, this in turn is organized by:
1. Gathering information (this part it almost worthless in my opinion since it is very similar for each of the investors)
2. Evaluate (this is the best part of each of the areas in the book, you learn the questions these masters would ask a company and themselves. It's very good.)
3. Making decisions discusses how the masters decide when to buy and sell the stock.
This book and "The Money Masters" by John Train are interesting reads if you enjoy learning about the careers and wisdom these masters are willing to share.
I believe this book wouldn't be very useful for strict CAN SLIM investors or day traders but good for the buy and hold or long term growth and value investors it definitely shows you some of the possibilities.
Reed Floren
Worthless.......2004-02-26
This book is worthless. The true 'lessons' make up only a few pages of the book and these lessons are not detailed enough to make financially sound decisions. For example, a lesson such as "What is the PE Ratio?" is similar to what you would find in the book. OK, the PE ratio is 3. Is that good? Is that bad? How about 40? What is high? What is low? Do current interest rates effect PE ratio levels? What is an acceptable PE ratio for a growth stock? What is an acceptable PE ratio for a cyclical stock? You'll get no answers from this book.
The best "lessons" section (though still unacceptable) came from John Templeton. But these were a direct quote from an interview Templeton gave the Christian Science Monitor. The author must have spent a few weeks writing this book.
Most of the book is babble, reproduction of articles/reports, duplication of previous sections, and educational definitions for the newbie.
My lesson to you is to take the money you were going spend on this book and go buy a U.S. Savings bond. You will be richer and wiser in the end.
Not all its cracked up to be..........2004-02-23
...- I bought the book BUT Nikki Ross gives a basic three-step approach to investing, that is repeated throughout the book. 1. Collect info, 2. Analyse info, 3. Make a decision. And that's about as complex as the book gets.
Don't waste your money, unless you're after a very simplistic overview of investing. ALL OF THE FIVE STAR REVIEWS OVERRATE THIS BOOK - 1 Star (at best).
...
If you're after real value on practical management implementation tools that link strategy & financial numbers then YOU HAVE TO INVEST IN "Performance Measurement & Control Systems for Implementing Strategy" by Robert Simons.
Book Description
Capital Ideas traces the origins of modern Wall Street, from the pioneering work of early scholars and the development of new theories in risk, valuation, and investment returns, to the actual implementation of these theories in the real world of investment management. Bernstein brings to life a variety of brilliant academics who have contributed to modern investment theory over the years: Louis Bachelier, Harry Markowitz, William Sharpe, Fischer Black, Myron Scholes, Robert Merton, Franco Modigliani, and Merton Miller. Filled with in-depth insights and timeless advice, Capital Ideas reveals how the unique contributions of these talented individuals profoundly changed the practice of investment management as we know it today.
Customer Reviews:
Capital Ideas Evolving.......2007-09-19
This was not an easy read, but it was worth it. I received my MBA in 1976. Much of this book was an explanation of the effects of the Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM) on current investment practices. He assumes that the reader is well versed with the intricacies of CAPM. I had to go back to other sources to review CAPM, but once I did, the book was a great explanation of how CAPM and other academic innovations have had a practical effect on portfolio management. When I finished the book, I had to admit that I was not able to apply much to my personal portfolio management, but I have a much better understanding of what my pension plan administrator is thinking about as well as what certain mutual funds managers are doing. The book is more beneficial for the professional investor than the individual investor.
Ludicrous.......2007-08-21
Maybe this is a great intro to classic theory, but then there is something wrong with classical thinking.
My one-star rating is for his "forgiveness" of the Long Term Capital Management gang, since no one could have predicted what actually happened.
LTCM managers (inducing Merton and Sholes, subjects of chapters) had excessive confidence in models based on theories that have not been even come close to being validated.
It is ironic that Amazon pairs this book with "The Black Swan" in their "Buy Two" promotion since Bernstein has clearly been "fooled by randomness".
Accessible explanation of the foundations of finance.......2007-08-02
In the early 1950s, graduate student Harry Markowitz presented his Ph.D. dissertation to the University of Chicago economics department. The response was less than encouraging. "This isn't a dissertation in economics," Milton Friedman told Markowitz. "It's not math, it's not economics, it's not even business administration." Whatever it was, Markowitz's heterodox theory of portfolio selection changed finance forever and earned a Nobel Prize. Financial historian and investment manager Peter L. Bernstein humanizes his saga of great shifts in financial theory by organizing it around eminent thinkers (Markowitz, Myron Scholes, Franco Modigliani, Robert Merton, Bill Sharpe and others, if you ever want to look up a finance guru). Deepening his analysis with insights from "behavioral finance," Bernstein describes how these innovators generated and extended the now-orthodox "capital ideas" of portfolio selection, capital structure, the Capital Asset Pricing Model, the efficient market hypothesis and the Black-Scholes-Merton theory of option pricing. Bernstein's erudition is dazzling, his explanations pellucid and his narrative filled with scintillating characters. getAbstract doesn't need to hedge: you'll find this overview of current finance theory and practice brilliant, even if you don't know your alpha from alfalfa.
Unique and sunsurpassed........2007-07-28
I have recommended this and his previous book for finance graduate students at the University of Maryland.
An excellent book.......2007-07-19
This book should be on your book shelf. I would critize the book in that although it recommends against portfolios of individual securities it does not warn the investor against professional portfolio managers.
By way of example:Piscaqua Research in a study covering the period 1987-96 found that only 10 out of 145 major pension funds, or just seven percent, out performed a portfolio consisting of a simple 60%/40% mix of the S&P 500 index and the Lehman Bond index respectively.
Or is it logical I ask for you to believe that you can predict which actively managed funds will out perform, or are you overconfident of your skills? If you are trying to find the great fund managers who will out perform in the future ask yourself: what am I going to do differently in terms of identifying the future winning fund managers, than did the pension plans and their advisors? And if you are not going to something different what logic is there in playing a game at which others with superior resources have consistently failed?
If you a really serious in finding an investment technique that will provide you with reasonable return with less risk I suggest the following little book. This is a little book that I have written and contains the essential of how to invest. Just click on the title to find the book. How to Make Money in the Stock Market-Buy 2,500 Different Stocks-Pay no Commission
Book Description
FIASCO is the shocking story of one man's education in the jungles of Wall Street. As a young derivatives salesman at Morgan Stanley, Frank Partnoy learned to buy and sell billions of dollars worth of securities that were so complex many traders themselves didn't understand them. In his behind-the-scenes look at the trading floor and the offices of one of the world's top investment firms, Partnoy recounts the macho attitudes and fiercely competitive ploys of his office mates. And he takes us to the annual drunken skeet-shooting competition, FIASCO, where he and his colleagues sharpen the killer instincts they are encouraged to use against their competitiors, their clients, and each other.
FIASCO is the first book to take on the derivatves trading industry--the most highly charged and risky sector of the stock market. More importantly, it is a blistering indictment of the largely unregulated market in derivatives and serves as a warning to unwary investors about real fiascos, which have cost billions of dollars.
Customer Reviews:
Great book indeed .......2007-10-19
Frank Partnoy knows the landscape from inside great writer; Fiasco is a very insightful book for anyone who is hungry and wants to know how the financial game is played. It tells you how the audience is duped by the staged drama that goes on in the financial world. Great book; must read for anyone who is taking up a career in Investment banking.
Super Read.......2007-09-15
Anyone one who invests in the stock market or debt instruments must read this. If you are planning a career in investment banking or any other job on Wall Street, this book is a must.
Worth the Used Book Price - Three and a Half Stars.......2007-05-30
I wouldn't buy it new. I really wanted to give it three and a half stars. The book is entertaining and does give one an insider's look into Wall Street and the derivatives market. However, the tangents the author takes the reader down often had no purpose. They were more the type of story the author and some of his cronies would enjoy laughing about over a cold beer, but they lost something in print. Overall I have a better understanding of the derivatives market and enjoyed hearing about Wall Street in the early 90's.
A failed attempt to be the new Liar's Poker.......2007-04-09
Though the book is entertaining, it's hard not to find stories about fresh undergrads making their name on Wall Street at least mildly interesting. This book attempts, rather tastelessly, to be the "new Liar's Poker" (the comment about munis is a rather pathetic attempt to coin a new version of the ubiquitous phrase "Equities in Dallas"). Alongside this, it paints a rather skewed, inaccurate and poor picture of derivatives trading desks by taking much of what goes on there out of context. Technically speaking, the book leaves out a lot of the particulars and over-simplifies many concepts, which is probably a good thing considering that most will find derivatives rather complex and boring. What bothers me is his nonchalant attitude about failing to understand some of the basic fundamentals of derivatives trading. For example, I doubt any interest rate derivatives trader lacked a solid understanding of the not so complicated topic of convexity. I guess you can't expect much from a derivatives salesman besides some smoke, mirrors and a lot of hot air.
Specifics aside, not nearly worth the $10 - $15 you can get it for, but if you're looking to waste an afternoon with a less entertaining version of Liar's Poker, give it a read. My market on the book is $0/$3.
An average Wall Street tale sensationalized by anecdotes .......2007-02-25
This book was an average tale of Wall Street with some very entertaining quotes. It provides a good explanation of several complex structured products but loses credibility when hammering clients for the positions they took and the banks for the role the play in the financial markets.
Book Description
A half-century of Wall Street history as seen through the lives of its most illustrious family
This compelling new narrative from bestselling author John Rothchild tells the story of three generations of the legendary Davis family, who rank among the most successful investors in the history of the Street. With a novelist's wit and eye for telling detail, Rothchild chronicles the financial escapades of this eccentric, pioneering clan, providing a vivid portrait of fifty years of Wall Street history along the way. Rothchild shadows the Davis family's holdings through two lengthy bull markets, two savage and seven mild bear markets, one crash, and twenty-five corrections and, in the process, reveals the strategies behind the family's uncanny ability to consistently beat the markets.
The Davis Dynasty begins in 1947, the year Shelby Davis quit his job as a state bureaucrat and, armed with $50,000 of his wife's money, took the plunge into stock investing. By the time he died in 1994, he had multiplied his wife's original stake 8,000 times! The story continues with his son, Shelby, who established one of the most successful funds of the past thirty years. The final characters in this enthralling family saga are grandsons Chris and Andrew. Both surrendered to the Davis family passion for investing and both went on to earn reputations as investment luminaries in their own right.
John Rothchild (Miami Beach, FL) co-wrote the blockbusters One Up on Wall Street, Beating the Street, and Learn to Earn with Peter Lynch. He is the author of Survive and Profit in Ferocious Markets (Wiley: 0-471-34882-1), A Fool and His Money (Wiley: 0-471-25138-0), and Going for Broke. He has written for Harper's, Rolling Stone, Esquire, and other leading magazines and he has appeared on the Today Show, the Nightly Business Report, and CNBC.
Customer Reviews:
Family history and market history in one.......2007-02-15
This is one of the better investment books on the history of post-WWII stock investing. While there are a number of absolute classic books on the 1920s and earlier periods (Lefevre's "Remininscenses of a Stock Operator", Galbraith's "The Great Crash", Brooks's "Once in Golconda", to name just a few), there aren't as many great books on recent history. This is one of them, however.
The Davis family, starting with Shelby Collum, is used by the author as a vehicle to traverse the history of the stock market from WWII through the late 1990s. Followers of mutual fund investing in the past 25-30 years are probably more familiar with Shelby Davis the younger, than with his father Shelby Collum. But it was the elder Shelby that made the family fortune. His is one of the great fortunes ever created strictly through long term investment and is a story of buying extreme value and holding for very long time periods. It's also about venturing into uncharted waters -- like being one of the first to invest in Japan.
This theme is carried forward to the story of his son, the well-known former portfolio manager of New York Venture Fund. Shelby the younger came of age in the go-go sixties and picked up some bad habits. The savage bear markets that followed chastened him and forced him to revert to a style of investing closer to his father's in the mid 1970s. The tensions between them created a sort of competition with the son posting a tremendous record with his mutual fund vehicle, New York Venture.
The relationship between father and son would be best described as "semi-estrangement." It took Shelby's sons, Andrew and, particularly, Chris to reconcile their father and grandfather's differences. The human story is interesting, and the elder Shelby was quite a character. I found the chapter on Chris's "apprenticeship" with his grandfather fascinating -- perhaps the best part of the book. In short, Shelby the elder is getting old and wants to retire and turn his portfolio over to a younger generation for management, but because of the bad feelings he doesn't know how to approach his son. And it's clear that he greatly admires the record his son has build with NY Venture. So he talks grandson Chris Davis (now the co-manager of NY Venture and Selected American Shares) into inventorying his portfolio. Chris then brings his father into the picture and the two of them work long hours reading through the 5 decades of trades and holdings. The portfolio at that time was close to $1 billion.
The story ends with the younger Shelby's semi-retirement and turning the reins over to sons Andrew and Chris, and Ken Feinberg, who continue with this style of investing. The mutual funds and separate accounts run by the Davises typically have portfolio turnover rates less than 20%, often less than 5%. This means they buy and hold, and hold, and hold. However, it's the price they pay for stocks that really juices their returns. The pigeonhole mentality at mutual fund rating agencies like Morningstar don't adequately describe Davis funds because of this. The Davises buy deep value, but after a stock recovers from whatever temporary trauma caused the bargain price, they continue to hold as long as the company meets their growth expectations. So Morningstar, for example, will call them a "blend" fund, which seems to say absolutely nothing about such a distinctive methodology as the one the Davises follow. This book is an elucidation of the emotional discipline and intellectual process behind this style of investment. Both the book and the investment style are highly recommended by this reader.
Combination biography and investment ideas.......2002-02-27
I personally don't care for dry investment books. I read for entertainment. This book provides a great combination as it is a biography of a family steeped in money management and also gives tips of how they were able to grow their fortune.
The book traces the investment history of Shelby Davis to his son to his grandsons. Shelby had family money through his wife and starts investing shortly after the crash in '29. Like many people, I assumed the market has been a somewhat continual climb with some setbacks. This books traces the history showing the many periods of lackluster stock value growth and how most Americans shunned the stock market for bonds. Quite a difference from today.
The original Shelby was a miserly value investor who never spent an extra dime. His investment hits were insurance stocks when no one liked that industry and some prudent investments in Japan, also mainly in the insurance industry. By leaving these investments to compound for years, Shelby built a great fortune. But the hidden engine behind this vast growth was the use of margin to leverage his returns. The original Shelby eventually grew his fortune to over a billion dollars in value.
Shelby's son Shelby did not work with his father until late in his life but eventually became a money manager of some renown also. His philosophy was similar but different and his large money winners tended to be from other industries. The book ends with the sons of Shelby Jr. taking over their father's money management firm and establishing their own identity.
Along this 70 year history, you will learn about the markets and the different stages of development over the years. A significant amount of time is spent in the 60s and 70s as both of the Shelby's were investing at that time. I strongly recommend this book if you have interest in the market and its history.
Highly Recommended!.......2002-01-30
John Rothchild has written a fascinating biography of one of Wall Street's most successful and least-known investors, Shelby Davis, who turned a $50,000 initial investment in 1947 into $900 million, almost exclusively by buying and selling insurance stocks. Part character study, part Wall Street history, Rothchild's book reads like a novel, with an accessible and witty narrative. Of special note is the concise summary of Davis' investment strategy, which rivals Buffettology in its simplicity and common sense. In Rothchild's hands, Davis' life becomes a fun read, no matter what your business interests, and we from (..)recommend this book to all curious readers.
More Than a Dynasty.......2001-10-28
While this is not a "how to" book it certainly is "why to" book. It's a look at remarkable family that gives anyone who has never invested in the stock market a perfectly good reason why they should! Patience and long term results are a philosophy that has worked well for them over the years. It's a look at a concept and philosophy handed down by the patriarch of the family that wealth should not be handed down, but earned. Spanning 4 generations, Rothchild gives the reader a remarkable insight into a family that works hard and plays hard. Even with this success the family has given back through many philanthropic endeavers including millions to the United World College. The college, with 10 campus' world-wide endeavers to bring students of different cultures and backgrounds together to foster understanding of each other in a world that desperately needs it.
Book Description
The Transformation of Wall Street offers an in-depth look at the history of the SEC's origins, accomplishments, and failings since its creation in 1934. Each chapter in the book takes historical look at the tenure of the various SEC chairmen. The first edition, published in 1977, covered the SEC through the Nixon-Ford presidential administration. A revised edition was published in 1995, updating the book through 1992. Now, the third edition continues the history until 2001, the end of Arthur Levitt's Chairmanship, with a treatment of auditing issues through the enactment of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (July 2002). In this revised edition, author Joel Seligman draws on unpublished SEC files and extensive personal interviews to provide a comprehensive examination of the origins, accomplishments, and failings of the SEC and its leaders, from the creation of the SEC in 1934 to the present The new material, among other things, will address: • The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act, which has had a significant impact on private securities litigation after its passage in 1995; • The structure of the securities markets (which are in an important transition because of Electronic Communications Networks; decimalization; international competition; and the continuing evolution to greater institutionalization of our markets as well as the growth of several new products, most recently security futures products); • Municipal securities markets (which were largely ignored before the recently resigned Arthur Levitt); • Several issues with respect to the accounting profession (most notably auditor independence and the independence of accounting standard-setting boards). In addition, the work will focus on Chairman Levitt, whom the author believes was one of the most accomplished of the post World War II chairs, and had the challenge of being a Chair appointed by a Democratic party president during a period when Republicans controlled both houses of Congress as well as a period of extraordinary ferment in the securities market.
This book offers a rare perspective into the work of corporate finance and capital markets through the eyes of one of the most respected and prominent members. His unique involvement with Louis Loss and the history, theories and legislation and regulations of this complex area offers the reader great insight.
Amazon.com
It's not often--or maybe ever--that a book steeped in emerging-market economic theory reads like a thriller. But And the Money Kept Rolling In (and Out) has cliffhangers and plot twists equal to a detective's tale, as Paul Blustein chronicles the spectacular rise and fall of Argentina's economy at the turn of the 21st century. The book has its flaws, of course, including the author's insistence on using goofy metaphors from the overripe Andrew Lloyd Webber musical Evita (from which the book takes its awkward title). But by and large, Blustein, a staff writer at the Washington Post, tells a cynic's tale of greed run amok on a massive scale.
While policy wonks at the International Monetary Fund had much to do with Argentina's implosion, Blustein also holds the country's own government responsible. Conventional wisdom says that the influence of the world's investors keeps everyone in line--a key tenet of the pro-globalization argument--but in practice, Blustein writes, "foreign funds numbed Argentine policymakers into minimizing the perils of their policies. The effect was similar to a dose of steroids, giving the economy a short-term boost while insidiously increasing the risk of a breakdown in the long run." From that point on, only devastation lay ahead for many average Argentineans, who could no longer remove savings from their banks, and for international investors, who saw their returns vanish in a flash. Blustein effectively makes the case that Argentina wasn't a rare example or a perfect storm of problems, but--bearing "striking parallels" to Enron and other financial scandals of the era--a preview of more meltdowns to come. It's a compelling cautionary tale well worth telling. --Jennifer Buckendorff
Book Description
The dramatic, definitive account of the most spectacular economic meltdown of modern times exposes the dangerous flaws of our global financial system.
In the 1990s, few countries were more lionized than Argentina for its efforts to join the club of wealthy nations. Argentina's policies drew enthusiastic applause from the IMF, the World Bank and Wall Street. But the club has a disturbing propensity to turn its back on arrivistes and cast them out. That was what happened in 2001, when Argentina suffered one of the most spectacular crashes in modern history. With it came appalling social and political chaos, a collapse of the peso, and a wrenching downturn that threw millions into poverty and left nearly one quarter of the workforce unemployed.
Paul Blustein, whose book about the IMF, The Chastening, was called "gripping, often frightening" by The Economist and lauded by the Wall Street Journal as "a superbly reported and skillfully woven story," now gets right inside Argentina's rise and fall in a dramatic account based on hundreds of interviews with top policymakers and financial market players as well as reams of internal documents. He shows how the IMF turned a blind eye to the vulnerabilities of its star pupil, and exposes the conduct of global financial market players in Argentina as redolent of the scandals-like those at Enron, WorldCom and Global Crossing- that rocked Wall Street in recent years. By going behind the scenes of Argentina's debacle, Blustein shows with unmistakable clarity how sadly elusive the path of hope and progress remains to the great bulk of humanity still mired in poverty and underdevelopment.
Customer Reviews:
Superb book - reads like a fiction, hits like reality!.......2007-10-10
This is a short book, easy to read and boy, does it deliver! An account of Argentina during it's economy's heyday and the fall, this book is a fascinating read. It starts off with a brief review of Argentina during the late 1800s and early 1900s but jumps right on the main topic after that. The author explains in extremely lucid prose (no finance knowledge required whatsoever) how the economy was fueled by international funds and how it went bust. Excellent examples, and written like a thriller ... 5 stars all the way!
A wonderful look at how an economy collapsed.......2007-07-09
This book seeks to understand how and why Argentina sank into financial chaos in the early 2000's. The book looks at the role of the IMF, US treasury, private markets, and the Argentinean government in the overall downfall of the country. The author writes very well about his subject and has a good understanding of international economics. The IMF is not completely vilified as it is in many of the current financial crisis's and although it shares a large amount of the blame the book hands it out equally. There is quite a bit of conspiracy theory and engaging in theories behind the IMF and Wall Street as well as the Bush administration. The author acknowledges in most cases that these are conspiracies but they did not really need to be discussed. The most interesting part of the story has to do with the role that the markets played in Argentina. It is an interesting foreshadow for the future of emerging markets and looking at the self fulfilling prophecies of debt and equity. This book deserves its credit for focusing on real issues without engaging in much ideology or theory. If you want to understand how financial markets are impacting areas overseas this is a great book to start with.
Objective chronicle of a nation's collapse.......2007-06-10
This book examines the economic history of Argentina from the early 20th century to 2004, with an emphasis on the time period from 1989 to 2002. The focus is on the financial sector of the economy, and how actions by the government and international financial institutions first ballooned Argentina's economy over a decade, and then collapsed it in just under 2 years. The point of view is from the top, as the book follows multiple important figures throughout this time, including officials at the IMF, officials in Argentina's government, and financial bigwigs in the US and Europe, both public and private.
The author is quite objective and impartial, and lays blame all around. The IMF gets some blame for not being more forceful in getting Argentina to change its ways. International banks and lenders get blame for contributing willingly to the financial bubble of the country. And the Argentinan government gets blame for refusing to consider floating its currency, devaluing it, or restructuring its debt before it was too late. Unfortunately, it was the citizens, mainly poor and middle class, of Argentina who took it in the pocketbooks. All in all a great book, with equal emphasis on economics, public policy, and historical analysis. I highly recommend this book.
Another Winner from Blustein.......2006-10-15
Paul Blustein may have have created a new genre: the real-life financial crisis thriller. Having dissected the Asian financial crisis in "The Chastening," he now turns to Argentina in "And the Money Kept Rolling in (and Out)." The book tells the fascinating story of how Argentina, after being lionized as the poster child of free market reform in the early 1990s, became hooked on foreign debt that ballooned far faster than its ability to service it. The outcome was default and financial ruin in 2001-02, with vast economic hardship for the Argentine population.
As in "The Chasterning," Blustein's narrative is clearly-written and based on in-depth interviews with decision-makers in government, the IMF, and the financial community. He takes aim at perverse institutional incentives and herd-behavior among investors who poured money into Argentina long after it was clear that the country couldn't pay its bills. This profligacy encouraged an attitude of policy-complacency in Buenos Aires that made the final reckoning all the more painful for foreign bond-holders and Argentines alike. Highly recommended.
Economics of Debt.......2006-09-18
This was a very interesting book about the IMF and its dealing with Argentina. Argentina has had a colorful past of financial blunders including one in 1890 which almost brought down Barings Bank when it defaulted on its bond payments. So it was not surprising when Argentina bankrupted again.
Not only does this book have the inner workings of the IMF with regard to Argentina but it also contains some short stories of average people and the catastrophies that befell them because of Argentina's currency devaluation. I found it interesting that because Argentina guaranteed an exchange rate between its currency and the dollar that a lot of people had taken out loans in dollars which proved to be disasterous when the peso was devalued.
All the information about the behind the scenes action of the IMF was very insightful as to the inner workings of global financing of emerging nations. The author did a good job bringing home the facts and helping the reader get to know the players in both the IMF and the Argentine government. In summary this was a good lesson on the economics of what debt can do to a country.
Book Description
When Washington Shut Down Wall Street unfolds like a mystery story. It traces Treasury Secretary William Gibbs McAdoo's triumph over a monetary crisis at the outbreak of World War I that threatened the United States with financial disaster. The biggest gold outflow in a generation imperiled America's ability to repay its debts abroad. Fear that the United States would abandon the gold standard sent the dollar plummeting on world markets. Without a central bank in the summer of 1914, the United States resembled a headless financial giant.
William McAdoo stepped in with courageous action, we read in Silber's gripping account. He shut the New York Stock Exchange for more than four months to prevent Europeans from selling their American securities and demanding gold in return. He smothered the country with emergency currency to prevent a replay of the bank runs that swept America in 1907. And he launched the United States as a world monetary power by honoring America's commitment to the gold standard. His actions provide a blueprint for crisis control that merits attention today. McAdoo's recipe emphasizes an exit strategy that allows policymakers to throttle a crisis while minimizing collateral damage.
When Washington Shut Down Wall Street recreates the drama of America's battle for financial credibility. McAdoo's accomplishments place him alongside Paul Volcker and Alan Greenspan as great American financial leaders. McAdoo, in fact, nursed the Federal Reserve into existence as the 1914 crisis waned and served as the first chairman of the Federal Reserve Board.
Customer Reviews:
Great read.......2007-08-30
This book is a great read. The topic is fascinating (to me, at least). Some of the material is a bit intricate, but the author does a great job of explaining it. He liberally uses footnotes to explain details which to an economist might be pedestrian but to a lay person such as myself are not obvious. (One ongoing topic is the exchange rate between pounds sterling and dollars, and how that relates to the price of gold and the cost of shipping gold between the UK and the US. He does a great job of walking the reader through the process and the arithmetic.) I highly recommend this book, and particularly recommend it to anyone who wonders what the Federal Reserve Board really does.
Fascinating history of how the U.S. became the world's financial leader.......2007-03-30
In Kazuo Ishiguro's novel The Remains of the Day, a blue-blood guest unmercifully grills James Stevens, the head butler at an English estate. The pompous guest is trying to demonstrate that uneducated people should not have the vote. "My good man," he asks, "do you suppose the debt situation regarding America is a significant factor in the present low levels of trade? Or...is the abandonment of the gold standard...at the root of the matter?" Stevens, aware that the question is meant only to baffle him, replies that he has no idea. Poor Stevens! Anyone without a degree in international finance would have an equally difficult time answering such an abstruse question. That's why this intriguing business history book by William L. Silber is so worthwhile: He brings global finance to life by spotlighting America's 1914 money crisis and by explaining how then-U.S. Treasury Secretary William McAdoo used this portentous episode to establish the nation's financial supremacy. We suggest you read this illuminating work of economic history to understand the seminal events that established U.S. monetary policy.
Amazon.com
This must have been an extremely difficult book to write. Its subject, Alfred Loomis, never gave interviews during his lifetime and destroyed all his papers before his death. "Few men of Loomis' prominence and achievement have gone to greater lengths to foil history," writes author Jennet Conant. Had he not done these things, his name would be better known--and this probably wouldn't be the first biography about him. So who was Alfred Loomis? "He was too complex to categorize--financier, philanthropist, society figure, physicist, inventor, amateur, dilettante--a contradiction in terms," writes Conant. Loomis established a private laboratory in New York and hired scientists whose work in the 1930s wound up making possible both the radar and the atomic bomb. These developments were essential to Allied victory in the Second World War. Conant is perhaps the only person who could have pierced Loomis's obsessive secrecy and written this book; she grew up with Loomis's children and other members of his family. Her grandfather, Harvard president James Bryant Conant, was one of Loomis's scientists. Tuxedo Park is an important book about the development of military technology in the United States; admirers of The Making of the Atomic Bomb by Richard Rhodes and similar titles won't want to miss it. --John Miller
Book Description
The Untold Story of the American Entrepreneur Who Helped Build the Atomic Bomb and Defeat the Nazis.
Legendary financier, philanthropist, and society figure Alfred Lee Loomis gathered the most visionary scientific minds of the twentieth century -- Albert Einstein, Werner Heisenberg, Niels Bohr, Enrico Fermi, and others -- at his state-of-the-art laboratory in Tuxedo Park, New York, in the late 1930s. He established a top-secret defense laboratory at MIT and personally bankrolled pioneering research into new, high-powered radar detection systems that helped defeat the German Air Force and U-boats. With Ernest Lawrence, the Nobel Prize-winning physicist, he pushed Franklin Delano Roosevelt to fund research in nuclear fission, which led to the development of the atomic bomb.
Jennet Conant, the granddaughter of James Bryant Conant, one of the leading scientific advisers of World War II, enjoyed unprecedented access to Loomis' papers, as well as to people intimately involved in his life and work. She pierces through Loomis' obsessive secrecy and illuminates his role in assuring the Allied victory.
Customer Reviews:
What an amazing book.......2007-07-01
Being a very big history buff, I was shocked to find out about the little-known contribution of a single patriotic individual that totally changed the progress of the war. This book is a must read for all! Extremely well written to entice the reader and present the facts; personal as well as historical.
Achievement with a Capital "A"?.......2007-06-03
Having been a Radarman in the Vietnam War, I found the gensis of radar and the man responsible for it and many other things in life. Albert Loomis was a giant in the first half of the 20th Century and under the radar. He may have been bigger in the first half of the century than Bill Gates was in the second half. But, you won't know why until you read the book and understand the magnitude of his impact on America and the World then and now.
One of the most important men in US history.......2006-12-14
Chances are you have never heard of Alfred Loomis before this book but you will not forget him once you have read it. This man is truly one of the most influential people in US history. A modern day renaissance man who made millions in the stock market before 1929 and was a genius scientist who developed modern radar technology. He established a lab at Tuxedo Park where he hosted scientists who would work on a variety of projects. While he was not directly connected to the Manhattan project many of the things worked on at his lab were eventually essential for the project. He worked closely with Vannavear Bush to bring over radar technology that would be invaluable for both sub hunting and eventually air defense in World War 2. This scientist even left his mark in World War 1 helping to develop new ways to fire artillery. If you want an interesting story this is the book for you.
Have we lost the spark?.......2006-12-05
Alfred Loomis was a bona fide "Wall Street tycoon" who made his fortune in the 1920s by helping to organize the financing for the electrification of America and had the foresight to sell out before the stock market crash in 1929. Thereafter, he became an amateur scientist who cultivated the best and the brightest in the scientific world and maintained a laboratory complex in an enclave of the wealthy named Tuxedo Park.
As the Second World War approached our shores, this activity became increasingly urgent - no longer the indulgence of a rich and brilliant man's fancy, but a matter of great national importance. The die was cast when Loomis's older cousin and long-time mentor, Henry Stimson, was appointed by President Roosevelt as Secretary of War.
Loomis assumed responsibility for a newly created laboratory at MIT that developed sophisticated new radar systems (building on work that had been done in England) at breakneck speed that played a vital role in winning the war. He also supported the atomic bomb program, in this case acting as a collaborator with and expediter for the people directly responsible.
It would be hard to imagine a more vivid account of the key people in this saga, the challenges they faced (including getting around bureaucratic budget rules and overcoming irrational objections), and their inestimable contribution to our country's victory. They weren't perfect human beings, and their accomplishments would leave the world with many new problems. Still, we can and should be proud and inspired by the things that they accomplished.
Do our leaders today have the same knack for figuring out the things that need to be done and going after them? One wonders, given the long-term gridlock that has developed around many key technical issues such as building new refineries in the United States, developing untapped oil and gas reserves in Alaska and offshore areas, and even getting clearance to deepen the shipping channel in the Delaware River from 40 to 45 feet.
Why are U.S., firms racing to "outsource" their manufacturing operations to China, India, etc.? The answer is not hard to figure out, and the long-term consequences will not be to our liking.
Excellent book on WWII, RADAR and MIT Rad Lab.......2006-11-09
A friend gave me this book because he knew I grew up in Boston and thought I would like it. As it turns out it is an amazing story about Alfred Loomis and his contributions to Radar in WWII and the starting of the MIT Rad Lab that was the predecessor of MIT Lincoln Labs. As it turns out my father worked on radar and other projects at MIT Lincoln Labs and it was great to read how that all came about.
This is a fascinating book.
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