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F.I.A.S.C.O.
by Frank Partnoy If you're
looking for an easy read this is probably not for you. I did enjoy the
derivatives stuff though - very nicely done and picks up on the place where
Liars Poker fell down. Where this book is unbeatable
is in providing plenty of real-life examples of biased, arrogant and
overconfident behaviors both inside and outside Morgan Stanley. If anybody
still believed in market efficiency and investors' rationality, this book is
for sure a great reality check
Paperback - 322 pages (10 September, 1998)
expected price £6.39
(+p&p) Buy
This Book or
U$17.50 from US Amazon
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Fooled by Randomness by Nassim Nicholas
Taleb Antidote to the hundreds of
titles that will be published this year promising unbeatable strategies for
reaping rich rewards from the stock markets.... This is a book about luck.
More specifically, it is a book about how we perceive luck, twist it around and
regard it as intention or purpose. What better setting than the world of
trading to investigate? How often has the brilliant trader, who seems to the
outside world to have been granted the gift of second sight in the
implementation of his strategies, been suddenly wiped out by an unexpected
shift in the markets? The book may have its roots firmly in the financial
arena, but it also incorporates and explains the effects and repercussions of
randomness in many varied fields - ranging from philosophy to literature and
science - to create an insight into how randomness cannot be conquered, but can
be embraced.
Hardcover
- 223 pages ( 4 October, 2001) expected price
£18.99 (+p&p) Buy
This Book or
U$19.57 from US Amazon
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The Moneymaker by Janet Gleeson The Moneymaker is a good story, well told, of modern
banking's debt to the skill of the professional gambler. Understandably,
there¹s some simplification of the status of money in the 17th and 18th
centuries--a time when many people were still quite happy with mutually
reciprocal credit arrangements. It does all make sense however when the author
cleverly links to now. All in it's a fascinating tale.
Paperback - 271 pages ( 1 September, 2000)
expected price £5.59
(+p&p) Buy
This Book
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A Random Walk Down Wall Street by Burton G. Malkiel
An excellant book that helps you deal
with the self serving rubbish most investment professionals come out with. He
says that markets can be irrational for short periods of time but tend towards
rationality. This book is very well written and easy to read. It covers
financial economics for the private investor but is completely
non-mathematical. Professor Malkiel's general recommendations appear sound and
his examples translate well into the UK market. Of course, specific funds and
tax law etc are particular to the USA.
Paperback - 462 pages Revised Ed
(16 August, 2000) expected price £12.50
(+p&p) Buy
This Book
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Liar's Poker
 by Michael Lewis Michael
Lewis retired from being a bond salesman at the age of 28, having risen from
being a mere trainee. He looks back at his career, at the Golden Age of
banking, at the company he worked for and the memorable figures within it, and
at the spectacle of the financial boom which marks the 80s. If you thought
Gordon Gekko of the Wall Street movie was an implausibly corrupt piece
of fiction, see how you like the real thing. This rip-the-lid-off account of
the bond-dealing brouhaha is the work of a real-life bond salesman.....headlong
greed, inarticulate obscenity, etc. Paperback - 298 pages ( 7 October, 1999)
expected price £5.59
(+p&p) Buy
This Book
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The Motley Fool UK Investment Guide by David Berger, David
Gardner, Tom Gardner
 Ever spent half the night worrying
that you're going to wind up penniless in your old age? No? Then it's high time
you did, according to the Motley Fool's UK Investment Guide. The Fool lays bare
the murky world of personal investment; how independent financial advisers
aren't so independent, how unit trusts are badly managed, how putting your
money in the building society is often the least safe option and how the
professionals have a vested interest in keeping you in the dark. Fortunately,
the Fool also explains, in words of one syllable, how to work the system to
your advantage. So even the most financially dim--yours truly included--should
be able to understand. In fact, it is only the style of the book that may cause
problems, as the relentless schoolboy humour does get irritating after a while.
But stick with it, because you don't get information like this anywhere else,
and the book has something for everyone--from those just looking to make one
good decision about their finances before forgetting about the whole thing, to
those who want to take a more active role. This book may not save you a
fortune, but it could just make you one.
Paperback - 304
pages (23 October, 1998) expected price
£10.39 Buy
This Book
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