Great simplification of the perils of Wall Street
355910
Wall Street is not a bad place but it should not be the only place to help you reach your financial objectives. Clearly high cash value strategies work.
301973
Roger Lowenstein does a fine job of reporting the changes in the culture of investment that ended in the evaporation of seven trillion dollars investment valuation.  Much of that was real money invested by ordinary folks trying to make money available for their needs later in life.  (Not all of it was real money because when on person buys one share of Cisco for $100 then ALL the shares are valued at $100 even if you had purchased yours at $20 - so the $80 added to your invested funds may or may not be available when you try to sell your shares.  If they are not you didn't realize a gain, but you didn't lose your investment until the price drops below $20.)
I think that anyone who is invested in or is thinking about investing in equities ought to read this book.  It is written concisely and with a pretty good sense of what the responsibilities of a proper corporate management is.  That way you can look for good companies with good management and not be blinded by the hype machines in the media that are back at work today as if the past couple of years never happened.  It always amazes me that folks are investing significant sums of money into the markets having done less research than they did when they purchased their last refrigerator or car.
My only quibble with the book, and it isn't enough to make me less enthusiastic about recommending it strongly, is that the author tends to throw the baby out with the bath water.  He talks as if all public companies had management teams like Enron or Tyco.  It isn't true.  If he had taken a few pages and shown some management teams still doing it right I think it would have made his case stronger.  And though Mr. Lowenstein does place some blame with the investor, I think he lets them off the hook too easily.  The reason "The Greater Fool Theory" works is that far too many investors volunteer for the role of fool.
I do not want to let any of the bad and criminal behavior go without punishment.  However, I remember that when Yahoo was valued at over $200 BILLION dollars and, at the time, that was more than GM, Ford, and Chrysler TOGETHER.  I asked some friends who were rhapsodizing about that and other boom stocks, if they would rather have all the assets of Yahoo or all the auto companies.  They all chose Yahoo.  I pointed out that with the auto companies they would have real property, machines, buildings, and more that could all be sold.  I pointed out that personal transportation is something humans are going to always want.  Yahoo is some software that runs on some servers that could be made obsolete tomorrow.  (And notice today's power of Google which did not exist at that time.)  It made not a dent in their enthusiasm.  Such invincible ignorance deserves to be punished rather than protected.
Anyway, this is a fine book and has a useful index.  Read it and learn some lessons from this book more than there were some criminals running some big companies and you will be amply rewarded!
3657805
Much has already been said about "A Random Walk Down Wall Street," a classic tome that is now in it's tenth edition. I picked up this book because it was featured on the reading list of New York University Stern, and because it is viewed as one of the most definitive guides for  non-professional investors.

As a "crash course" or primer on the world of finance and "Wall Street," I would say that it does a fair job. Malkiel definitely covers most of his bases by running through a short but substantive history of the stock market, outlining different investment strategies and schools of thought, and providing explicit, detailed advice to investors of different ages and risk-capacities. Someone who knows absolutely nothing about finance would easily be able to pick this book up and immediately access some of the most predominant and consequential aspects of the markets.

I have to say, however, that I find Malkiel's writing to be rife with a bit too much subjectivity and critique. Even in the early chapters, it is abundantly clear that he is a staunch proponent of the "buy-and-hold" method and that he believes  active trading is a pastime suited best for those with a penchant for gambling. He consistently disparages both fundamental and technical analyses (in essence, he derides non-efficient market theorists) as well as the idea of taking an active and responsive approach to investment. The reason I cannot give this book five stars is because I find his dismissal of investment as a legitimate hobby as opposed to a vehicle for growing a retirement fund somewhat repelling.

Many of the business and finance books that were released after the 2008-2009 crash have a similar thesis underlying their publication: that the rules of "Wall Street" and the stock market have changed; that there is a new normal. It is argued that average volatility in securities has spiked, and that the tenuous state of the market demands further research and attention, even by investors with simple 401(k)s or IRAs. Regardless of whether this is really the case, you will hear pundits on CNBC often talk about the importance of setting aside time to do homework so that one is not caught off-guard when an earnings miss takes a stock down 20%.

To me, it seems that Malkiel's suggestions are much too laissez-faire to inspire immediate credence and adoption by many investors. As more and more information becomes publicly available and discount brokerage firms abound, the trend is moving distinctively towards active investment. Why would someone want to hold a portfolio made up of mainly SPY shares, REITs, and maybe a couple corporate bonds and break even for the year 2011? There is far too much promise in tech, emerging markets, China, and niche industries to want to sit on the sidelines and occasionally watch one's portfolio fluctuate madly but remain more-or-less unchanged. This book is absolutely well-suited to the older, not-so-reckless individual with a retirement to plan for, but younger, hipper types who buy this book because they're interested in learning AND making money should heavily supplement (if not outright avoid) this title.

Note: This is a review of the 2007 edition of this book and was written at the time I was reading Joe Terranova's "Buy High Sell Higher."
4327142
"If it's broken, fix it." - a simple motto from the book in reference to traditional investing methodology. In Laughing at Wall Street, the author illustrates how one can find great success in the market without using fundamental and technical analysis. Instead he uses a term that was new to me called, "information arbitrage" defined in the book as "the science of initiating investments upon discovery of an information imbalance, and exiting investments at the point of information parity." Basically, he invests when he finds a new product or company that might have some sort of game-changing information that is not yet known by Wall Street. The book provides many examples of this in which he has very successfully invested because of these game-changers. The book is easy to read and makes it clear how he turned $20K into $2mm+ (no small feat), but most importantly it makes you start looking at your own world differently. Every new product trend spotted could be a potential investment - you just have to be ready and willing to take the risk.

Will definitely be recommending this one.
4840347
Mike went right to the basics with this book, he made it easy for the begginer to read. This book is a step by step map of the Stock Market written with brevity and concisness. If you read this book it will help you understand the complexity and the mood swings of the Stock Market.
2011468
The Sunday night interview of Michael Lewis dominated the media during the following week and gave me the impetus to download Flash Boys. The author tells a compelling tale of the adoption of the latest communications technology by a group of traders, who have established processes to capture trade and order information and execute transactions for investors, to optimize their returns, rather than those of the investors. The exchanges and brokers are complicit in these processes, which due to their complexity were difficult for the investors to understand and rectify. Michael Lewis effectively analyzes and reports the story through the eyes of the head of equities of a Canadian bank, who finally unravels the riddle of why his trades are not being executed at the prices quoted on their screens, which consolidates the best bids and offers of all the security exchanges.

Some sub-plots round out the overall story - the laying of fiber-optics cable from Chicago to New York, the trial of a Russian programmer who was sent to jail for taking some ancillary source code for trade routing and execution from Goldman Sachs, and even a brief appearance of Bernie Madoff. The book is very informative and entertaining, though one is left with the question at the end, whether the actual issues are not as black and white - good and evil, as the author portrays.
4816193
This book really breaks down the complexities of investing in today's markets in a way that any investor can understand and comprehend. When every financial advisor is speaking in Wall Street jargon to their clients, this book clarified so many things about investing in the infinite and many times confusing vehicles that are available these days. Very refreshing approach and for anyone that is serious about making money in today's markets.
3535899
The point of this book is to provide the average reader with the tools to start their own hedge fund. I have an MBA in Finance but I actually thought this was one of the best financial books I have read. It is relatively easy to take a complex subject and keep it complex. It took a somewhat complex topic and made it simple. That is the art. In this respect I  would compare it favorably to the 'The little book that beats the market' by Joel Greenblatt. A must read!
3000566
I chose this book because, although I'd heard of Black Wall street referred to, I never learned about it in schools and had no knowledge of the details. This book does an excellent job of telling the story without fluff or romanticism that tend to soften the blow of the horrific details.
3196497
This is a look at the individuals who were in charge of Wall Street when the market crashed in 1929.  It begins a year ealrier on New Years Day 1928 and proceeds to that fateful day that changed our country.  It was easy to read and I enjoyed it.  If you are looking for something that is more involved in economics, this is not the book.  It is the story of the people involved and responsible for the 1929 crash.
3173069
I found this book very good to read especially during the current financial crisis. Even though the author wrote it in the 80s, it shows the culture and business of investing. The author used to be a bond salesman in the New York and London offices of Salomon Brothers.

The description of the S&L crisis is in a way similar to the subprime mortgage crisis of 2008. The greed and obsession with money made both crises possible. After reading this book, I realized that no matter how much regulation we have, we will experience similar events. Yesterday, it was the S&L crisis, today it is the subprime mortgage crisis, and tomorrow the greedy minds of Wall Street will create something even more interesting that will have more devastating effects.

For those who are not familiar with the business of high finance, this book will be an eye-opener. It shows what traders, salesmen, and executives of Wall Street firms do every day to make money by taking huge risks with the hope of a payoff.  I absolutely loved this book and highly recommend it.

- Mariusz Skonieczny, author of Why Are We So Clueless about the Stock Market? Learn how to invest your money, how to pick stocks, and how to make money in the stock market
4049287
I enjoyed immensely John Bogle's book on how to invest in the stock and bond markets. It is down to earth, easy to understand for us "little people." I have been a fan of his thinking and Vanguard Group funds for years. It will not offer excitement for the thrill seekers diving into the market to make a killing. However, if you like me just want to make slow and steady money, this is the book for you.
3585308
Loved the book because it exposed me to the basic truths about money I had not considered. It cleared my head about the true value of the paper money I have relied on for security. The book is very easy to read and I recommend it for anyone who is concerned about their financial future.
2912319
Lewis certainly understands Wall Street, as previous books have demonstrated.  He may understand it too well.  I would have liked more detailed explanations about how stock prices are set.  Perhaps a re-reading will make that clear.  And the book is good enough to warrant a second read.  I had heard about high frequency trading and the "need for speed", but I didn't have a sound understanding of how it worked.  Not too surprising, since the high frequency traders have done a fine job of obscuring how it works. But Lewis does a great job of explaining high frequency trading, and how it benefits the high frequency traders at the expense of traders just looking for an open market.
1541991
In a nut shell the contents of this book show the pathway to a simpler method of investing in the share market..It cuts through the market noise and institutional propaganda to statistically show how poorly most if not all managed funds perform over the long term (6years) with their high fees for little result. For those who are time poor it is ideal to gaining an insight into the methods of using ETFS to gain greater returns in their investment portfolios. Well done Garry for digging out  the statistics and charts which the average Joe would find difficult if not impossible to find. I'm very impressed with the quality of the text and how the BEYONDCHARTS SOFTWARE package will compliment the ideas outlined .BLUEPRINT TO WEALTH has certainly opened a new dimension to my investing for my retirement. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
1517867
Matthew has a gift for taking complex concepts about the market, and making them easy to understand in fewer words than any other stock market books I have read, without comprimising any essential information. If you want to get up to speed quickly with a simple, but powerful strategy this is a great book.
250654
I was introduced to this book when I was given a copy by the author.  I was intrigued by the title, because it seemed to be taking an extreme position that made me ask questions like, "No stocks?  What is the alternative?"

But I found the book to be very useful.  The strength of this book is that it shows the inherent dishonesty that has infected so much of Wall Street.  I have always been uneasy about government policies that punish companies just for being successful.  A recent example that comes to mind was the Justice Department's attempt to break up Microsoft merely because of its size.  I felt, at the time, that they bungled an opportunity to address significant abuses by Microsoft, by focussing on Microsoft's success, rather than on how that success was obtained.

So I tend to approach books like this from a somewhat skeptical perspective.  But this book did make a believer out of me in a couple key areas.  First, it is an exhaustive and well-researched chronicle of the abuses of Wall Street taken from recognized sources.  All of this information has been published before, but never in the same place at the same time.  And I second what another reviewer mentioned about the chapter on credit rating agencies.  The book is worth reading for that reason alone.

But beyond that, Marc's protrayal of Wall Street as the nemesis of main street is what has really opened my mind to a new way of thinking.  I just never thought about it that way before.  Big Wall Street companies draw money away from local businesses.  Years ago I was living in a small town in North Dakota when Walmart came to town.  Every item at Walmart had a price tag, along with the listed price for the same item at other stores in town.  The effect was dramatic.  Ben Franklin's went under in a matter of weeks.  Not sure if J.C. Penny's is still in business, but they were really hurt by it.  At the time, I tended to see the good side of it, because living in a small, remote community where businesses have you "over a barrel" can be really frustrating.  But whatever your opinion about how Walmart attacks businesses in small towns, it is, at least, a very visible process.  But Wall Street takes money away from local communities in a way that is not visible.  For years I listened to nightly Dow Jones reports, never stopping to think that Wall Street was sapping money that would have been invested in the local community, were it not for the distraction of Wall Street.

But there comes the rub.  How would that actually work?  If there is something more this book needs, it is perhaps a little more discussion about the  alternative.  In other words, What would happen if everyone took the advice the title gives us?"  And how would we go about implementing a such a radical change in the country's economic system?  I have urged Marc to write a second book focussing on that transformation: Wall Street vs. Main Street.  That is a subject waiting to be developed.  The reason I say this is because I think so many people (myself among them) have tended to conclude that Wall Street is just a part of life, and so it needs to be maintained--abuses corrected, investment facilitated, speculation discouraged, etc.  But this book has opened my mind to another possibility.  And it isn't just America that is involved. I just opened the China Daily and saw the headline, "Nasdaq-like board opens in Shenzhen."  The sub-title reads, "ChiNext creates many billionaires, but risk-control must be "top priority."  The world copies America, but everyone wants to have it both ways.  If the Americans can come up with another way to encourage investment and economic development that is not so corruption prone, Many local communities throughout the developing world will benefit from the experiment.  Keep up the good work, Marc.  I look forward to your next book.  Meanwhile, I'll get back to reading the Main Street Journal.