Great read

Just as he did in Moneyball and The Blind Side, Michael Lewis has once again found a way to take a big idea and break it into pieces that are easily digestible and entertaining. While the Financial Crisis has been covered nearly ad nauseam, Lewis manages to find new angles for getting at his subject matter in The Big Short. He does this by tackling the jargon head-on and making Credit Default Swaps, LEAPs and Synthetic CDOs seem like simple concepts while at the same time providing a series of fascinating character studies of some of the lesser known players in the crisis. I would highly recommend this book to anyone interesting in getting a fresh perspective (one not offered in the news) on the Financial Crisis, especially as it comes gift wrapped in the easy to read prose of a summer page-turner.

Greed and Disgust

Finished Lewis'"The Big Short" and was really looking forward to this book. It's a thoroughly enjoyable read and definately a must if for any city worker in the modern-day rat race. There are some superb moments of both humour and descriptive sublimity to portray a mental potrait for the reader of the characters within Salomon Brothers' trading floor in the 1980s. It's a real elbow-to-elbow boiler room with plenty of horrible, greedy, egocentrics all clamouring to reach the next rung of the corporate ladder. Shockingly, dumping 'toxic stock' on unsuspecting investors was rife and commonly congratulated on the tannoy for this. All the more shocking now that we have seen the single biggest meltdown of the modern financial era (the focal point of the Big Short is a handful of clever firms/traders who bet AGAINST subprime when tier 1+2 banks held onto the 'mezzanine' , supposedly triple-A listed CDOs)<br /><br />I am almost finished LP now and I must say, having read The Big Short, this book isn't as intelligently written (which is perfectly understandable given that LP pre-dates it by some margin so it can be argues that Lewis' writing style has'nt yet matured). <br /><br />The story and characters are quite linear - it does'nt interweave stories like the brilliant Big Short but don't let that put you off an essential read for anyone within the financial world. This is harrowing, funny, shocking and very entertaining stuff.<br /><br />

Dits

Fantastic book. Good place to start as a trader. Would have been enhanced by a little more detail of charts, but nevertheless it gives you what you need.

Best Option

I debated which Investment book to buy - I found this book to be very comprehensive and useful. I had worried if it might be dated but it was in fact mostly current. It is written in a highly readable manner and uses examples of charts from the pages of the FT which I found especially useful.

Think and grow rich

I love it one of the best books I've ever got, going to get one for my sister<br />

Warren Buffett's investment strategy.

<br />In this book, you won't find any information with regards to getting rich quick. Instead, you'll find solid long-term advice on growing your portfolio in a conservative manner, and this involves a significant level of security and balance sheet analysis.<br /><br />Briefly, it means avoiding the tech sector and other areas of high risk, instead focusing on companies with low P/E ratios, solid and transparent balance sheets, and consistent results. Additionally is advised that if you don't have the time to do due diligence, investing in index-based funds can be an easy long-term strategy, as these often outperform even very good mutual fund managers.<br /><br />The classic book is coupled with a more modern commentary on the dot-com implosion. Although it's entertaining to re-live these vivid days, I'm not sure it adds all that much value to the overall book, and possibly could have been left entirely out.<br /><br />

Excellent book regardless of previous knowledge on the subject

I already had a good knowledge of the financial systems, but wanted a book that would provide me a complete insight into all areas of the financial world. I have read many academic style books over the years and this is by far the best. <br />The authors style is clear and very easy to read. He explains things in a very simple way to digest and understand without dumbing down content.<br />Overall a fantastic easy to read guide to the intricacies of the financial city and the types of people and businesses that operate within it.

Not a Swan, more a Turkey

What a philosopher ( and Taleb claims to be one) excludes from his work is often the most revealing. Taleb is allergic to Wittgenstein ( but loves Popper), principally because he wants to say an awfull lot about the ineffible and to it in a decontextualized stream of jibber centred on himself - there is nothing new here.<br /><br /><br />Personally I'm with Ludwig on this one : What we cannot say we must pass over in silence .<br /><br /><br />P.s annyone actually interested in Popper, Wittgenstein and the Induction Problem might be entertained by Wittgenstein's Poker<br /><br />Wittgenstein's Poker: The Story of a Ten Minute Argument Between Two Great Philosophers<br /><br />

It is all about credit default swaps

It is all about credit default swaps<br /><br />It is difficult to make financial coups exciting particularly when you know the outcome. There has been an industry in recent years highlighting business and how to make money.<br /><br />No one had heard of John Paulson and the book does not show one photograph of him so we still don't know him by sight.<br /><br />I am always interested in how people make money particularly if it is an unusual way. What could be more unusual than betting against the general trend at the time that the housing market would get better and better and by making such a bet make billions of dollars.<br /><br />It is beyond the comprehension of mere mortals that such a system exists let alone that someone would think it was a good idea.<br /><br />This is the story of such a person<br /><br />The recession started because the smart financial brains had come up with a whole new slew of products that they claimed to understand that that in the end they did not understand and sold them off as triple A rated investments.<br /><br />It is really emperor's new clothes everyone wanted to believe it was true so anyone who tried to blow the whistle was poo poohed as being wrong. John Paulson was such a person.<br /><br />To fox both the wary and the unwary the first thing you do is create a whole new vocabulary to describe things<br /><br />Calling it a second mortgage that like hocking your house but call it equity access and it sound more innocent.<br />They created structures that allowed them to take piles of risky mortgages and created shiny AAA rated investments. They had created gold from dross. They securitized all these mortgages and no one knew what they were.<br /><br />The story is about Paulson and he was a lack lustre performer but he had a mission. He encouraged his employees to eat healthy and he said if I can stay alive longer I can compound my wealth longer ."" He was joking and yet he wasn't"<br /><br />When Paulson realised what was happening he went in search of an insurance product that would pay out if the market crashed. This was very unpopular as traders like to bet that the prices will go up not down. It was regarded as unpatriotic to bet against the economy doing well.<br /><br />These financial instruments had fooled everyone that everything was OK.<br /><br />When he did this he was pilloried as people told him that there were a lot of smart people on the boards of these companies and that they would have smelt a rat if there were one. The impressive thing about Paulson was that he stuck at it against so much contrary advice.<br /><br />It would have been easy to have caved in and gone with the herd.<br /><br />Once the sub prime mortgages started to fail he was making hand over fist. He made 1.25 billion in a single morning 250 million more that George Soros made betting against the pound sterling.<br /><br />Even when things started to go wrong AIG said they could not see us losing $1 on any of these transactions.<br /><br />Money drove John Paulson but he wished to be recognised as one of the investment wizards an objective that long eluded him over the years as he toiled in obscurity in 2007 George Soros rang him. Paulson had made 12 billion at that point, He gave Soros a tutorial .<br /><br />The facts are well set out the difficulty it to make the characters live off the page as they are essentially very ordinary dull people. Nothing much to distinguish them<br /><br />Not a thrill a minute but a worthy effort and an important story to tell and for people to read who are interested in how money works.

A very nice historical backgrounder on Hedge Funds

A very nice historical backgrounder on Hedge Funds with some interesting facts on the early days of Soros, Druckenmiller, Jones, etc.

good starting point for new comers in stock market

very good summary and overview of the stock market for the very very new comers with many good real example. easy to read and follow but sometimes it might be too basic in specific chapter. I suggest the author should start launching the continue version or more advanced version...<br /><br />overall is good value for money !

Fantastic & Inspiring

Great quick read, If this book does'ont inspire and motivate you to do something with of life. Nothing will!!!

Thorough Reference

This book will be more useful as a 'keep beside the PC Reference', than a read-through. Very thorough and authors explain very technical expertise in plain terms very well. One part they didn't explain in too much detail is the world of 'Short Selling',but that is probably because of the huge risk involved. A Great reference.

A great starter guide

A great book to get an understanding on how short-term trading works and how to maximise your returns.

Scary stuff!

If these really are the confessions of a true economic hitman, then the world is very much in danger!<br />The book itself is very well written, jumping in chronological order through Perkins' life as he enslaves countries into America's service using complex economic"solutions" to their energy deficit problems.<br />I found it was quite easy to read without beingover complicated, though one minor flaw I found was that Perkins never TRULY explained how it all worked....Maybe that was for the best, as I'm not sure my mind would have coped with all those sums.<br />Recommended read for anyone who's even a little interested in how the world is really run.

Excellent Insight Into The Hedge Fund World

Mr. Kroijer gives you the roller coaster ride of wanting to be entrepreneurial and then shows you how hard and emotionally and physically draining it is. I think at the end it leaves you undecided about embarking upon setting up a hedge fund (or any small business) but that if you do then the rewards are mostly non-economic. It's quite refreshing to hear that the hedge fund world isn't all about champagne, nightclubs and fast cars but rather beers at the local pub, working out of your flat in the early days and walking to work through the park while being singularly focused on producing returns that are uncorrelated with the broader markets. As a first time author he does an excellent job of capturing the ups and downs of his journey and you felt that you were next to him as he toiled through those early days and experienced the despair of giving money back (despite making money for his investors over 5 years). I enjoyed the examples of trades (ideally would have wanted more) and he does a great job of explaining the jargon that the industry seems to create to confuse us. Big thumbs up, loved it.

This book could become a classic

Crisis Economics - This book could become a classic <br /><br />This is an excellent book detailing the current economic crisis (2010). The combination of the authors' journalistic and economic experience has produced a book which is both accessible and authoritative. It tells a story that will make the reader in turn extremely interested, very angry and deeply depressed. <br /><br />The historical background on crises past is very useful. This is a topic ignored during any boom and re-discovered during any bust. The small print of financial sales literature often states that"Past performance is not a guide to future performance" but over the long term financial history does seem to repeat itself. <br /><br />This book has three broad sections: financial history, a description of the lead up to the recent bust and suggestions for a proper response to the crisis. The mistakes of President Hoover at the start of the Great Depression have not been repeated but the current crisis is far from over. In particular, the apparent containment of the current crisis may give a false sense of security, and the re-regulation may be inadequate. A new edition of this book will soon be required, with a section detailing how the current situation was handled. <br />

Fabulous and Entertaining

Terrific book which subverts perceptions of risk, reward and probability. The mathematics is scintillating, and it is nicely supported by wonderfully eccentric anecdotes, phrases and quips. At times the content is mind-blowing, and one has to put the book to one side for a moment to absorb its insights. <br /><br />Heartily recommended...<br />

Brilliant!

This book is absolutley brilliant. It makes accounting so simple to comprehend, and so pleasurable to read.

Lords of Finance

On the face of it, a book about central banks and the world financial order between the two world wars would not make the most rivetting reading, but Liaquat Ahamed has produced a book that is both informative and eminently readable. With plenty of facts and enough - but not too many - figures, he describes the leading players and the context in which their decisions about the gold standard, international lending and borrowing and wartime reparations were made. With comprehensive references and a bibliography to back up the main text, it serves both as a complete book in itself for the interested reader and as an introducion to further study for those who have a deeper interest in history and how financial considerations contributed to the causes of the second world war.