Stock-market

This book is an example of how someone with a decent track record in investing thinks they can be as successful in writing, but then fail miserably at creating anything meaningful. I was able to finish this book in less than 9 hours!

The author actually makes an attempt at explaining the market based on the theories and doctrines of Behavioral Finance, or so he says. Unfortunately, the book is nothing more than a ramble about the "excess of the late 90's", as if we need more literature on that subject. In reality, the book would be thrown out of Behavioral Finance class rooms as a miserable failure.

In one instance, the author refers to Amazon.Com as "nothing more than a mail order house". He also suggests that Amazon's model of selling books is not going to be sufficient to bring this company to profitability. Hmm...Maybe an update is required but this book was published in 2002!!

Throughout the book, the author constantly refers to his and his firm's success, suggesting this to be nothing more than a $15 advertisement. There is no resemblance to work such as "Reminiscence of a Stock Operator", which is the classic book on speculator psychology. Unless you have never ever invested in the market and have nothing more than a basic understanding of what an investment is, don't buy this book. Instead, consider work by Schwager, LeFevre, Bernard Baruch and even classic Technical Analysis work such as "TA of Stock Trends", which goes more into the psychology behind successful investing than this author. I also highly recommend the two books written by Victor Neiderhoffer.

In instances where the author actually begins to discuss anything remotely close to behavioral finance, he immediately drops off into another subject. He continually refers to the subjects of Greed and Fear. However, greed and fear are merely symptoms of the herd mentality. Nothing new there!

On the plus side, Ch. 12 covers EuroDollar Call Options and the benefits of trading these instruments when playing the interest rate curve. Unfortunately, in the middle of this discussion which was no more than a page, he changes the subject abruptly and begins talking about the benefits of archeological digs in present day Syria and why one should make philanthropic donations based on trust. This is literally the next paragraph after EuroDollars!!!

If you have an advanced grasp of markets, read "Alchemy of Finance". This is in fact the greatest work on the subject and quite honestly, the recent implementation of Behavioral Finance as a course of study amongst many universities is based on the work of George Soros, the greatest speculator of all time, and his "Theory of Reflexivity", which was first introduced in Alchemy of Finance.

After reading the Foreward by Alan Abelson I was prepared to like the book, its author Leon Levy, and I was looking forward to reading it.

Having finished it I am fairly disappointed. Reading it was a chore and kind of embaraasing. Levy is a good guy no doubt. A lover of all things good and true, liberal, well read, and charitable. He gives us a leisurely stroll though his career, you get to meet some knaves and good investors, and you can mull over maxims and wall street lore, and listen to tales of Levy's philanthropy.

Unfortunately, the books title, the Mind of Wall Street, isn't much in evidence. I wore though every chapter trying to find evidence of this "Mind of Wall Street" and was just about to give up, when I found something in the next to the last chapter.

In this chapter, Levy tells us that he never thought of himself as rich. A founding partner in Oppenheimer funds isn't rich! A legendary financier isn't rich? A guy who goes to parties with Sandy Weill and other luminaries isn't rich? So I'm thinking, well maybe he had some bad luck or something. But no. In the same chapter he tell us that in the course of many years he gave away 100 million to a college?

There is the mind of Wall Street: He can give away 100 million and he isn't rich.

Now take me home to Main Street!

Having been acquainted with Leon Levy and a personal friend to
many of his partners since the early 1960's, I had eagerly
waited for the book's publication and read it with great
interest.

After reading the book, I have found one unsolved puzzle.
How Mr. Leon Levy, reputed to have a net worth of over US$700
million and has made donations to various interest groups of
over US$100 million, has achieved such mediocre investment
results for his investors in the Oppenheimer group of mutual
funds. Mr. Levy is the founder and chairman of the Oppenheimer
Funds.

Nonetheless, Mr. Leon Levy has provided some great insights to
the inner workings of Wall street, including some of the lesser
known specultaive techniques -- e.g., the Euro call option
market.

This book is not much about the psychology of the market. In fact most of the text is changes in corporate finance over the years, boom/bust periods as in "madness of crowds". Lots of market history. There is no investing method per se, as stated in one review. It can be summed up as: trade with the trend, cut you losses, don't bet too much on one stock, and money goes where it is treated best. The market psychology is the same thing in other books.

Because of the high praise this book recieved I was expecting some new insights or a different perspective on market psychology. Here it failed miserably. Pass on this one.

"The ability to accept unpleasant truths and, at the same time, respond decisively is the hallmark of a great investor." Chu tells us in Mind of the Market, his essay on the psychology of investments and the history of the markets. Chu - a money manager, civic leader and former Wall Street investment banker - advances some unusual, well-informed and intruiging idea. Unfortunately, he doesn't fully apply his own concepts.

Chu enlightens us with notions such as "living to accumulate more money suggests that we are somewhat empty and incomplete, dependent on some external activity or substance to give us meaning." Chu also advocates trading with Zen-like detachment from short-term consequences. AS a money manager, I can attest to his wisdom.

Yet Mind of the Market doesn't face the unpleasant and unprofitable truth about the unfettered free market. Chu contends the existing market gives participants an opportunity to "lift themselves off their knees and to walk out of the darkness towards the sunlight." Although he admits a "small minority" doesn't have access to self-advancement (a "flaw" of a market economy), other people simply "whine about their unequal status." After all, unequal status is the market's incentive for production.

Chu's celebration of the unfettered free market ignores the huge number of souls who don't have proper nutrition, let alone capital to invest. This "flaw" is no more inevitable than it is tolerable, for there is nothing in the concept of a market economy that requires that purchasing power and opportunity be highly concentrated rather than widely distributed. While I agree with Chu's claim that unequal status motivates people, the important question is how much inequality is enought to motivate people.

Poverty is not a popular concern these days, and raising questions about distribution of wealth won't help anyone's career on Wall Street or in politics. But unflinching intellectual honesty can raise one's spiritual standing. Chu could teach the world some important lessons if only he would rethink Wall Street's advice to let capital be capital. As Chu himself says, "Few individuals have the nerve to stand outside the crowd. Indeed, to go against the crowd successfully is the hallmark of greatness...[Capitalism] humiliates those who defensively cling to the status quo."

The author attacks the true catalyst of the market. This is not the usual "How To" book about the market, rather a refreshing and coherent look at the foundation of the market.

A series of vignettes from the early 80s to the early 90s. I love these "time capsule" books.

Grant is a good author, and he is bearish, which is instinctually satisfying for most creatures.

Mr. Grant's analysis and insight into market inconsistencies, anomalies, and absurdities is refreshing in this age of me too financial journalism. The articles, taken from Grant's Interest Rate Observer, are as original in thought as they are uncompromising in their logic. I am a finance professional and feel that this book is a must read for any young entrant into the field. This perennial bear can teach even the most ardent bull to reflect before they leap. Beware if you've been nurtured on Money Magazine!

This is a book written by a guy without a college education and no real experience in the financial industry. He was unusually lucky during the bull years of the 90's picking stocks on paper - and I should emphasize "on paper" because his one venture into money management ended disastrously. Since the market crash, his media "empire", along with the investments his company made, have been completely wiped out.

If you want to take investment advice from a notable failure, be my guest. Be aware that whoever wrote the editorial review probably got paid handsomely to write it.

Midas Investing tells the average investor how to prosper in the market. It tells how to use strategies like insider trading, earnings, momentum and updates to beat the market averages. For beginning investors a must read book