Best Finance & Investment Books: Home

Never trust an investment "guru" who uses phrases like the market will . . . , you must . . . , and I guarantee . . . . Because a true expert knows that there are no absolutes in markets. Tadas Viskanta is a true expert. An experienced investor and creator of the popular blog Abnormal Returns, he understands the value of humility when it comes to investing in today''s turbulent global markets. But he also knows that just because you can''t control the markets doesn''t mean you can''t control your own actions--and in Abnormal Returns, he provides a solid foundation in the basic principles for taking a slow, steady, and savvy approach to your financial future. Viskanta helps you navigate your way through the post-crisis markets by developing a solid investing strategy. His simple truths are timely but have been proven effective through recent history. Sophisticated but simple to understand, Abnormal Returns helps you: Master the fundamentals of risk and return Become an expert on the main asset classes--equities and fi xed income Diversify and allocate your assets to build a solid portfolio Understand how ETFs, alternative assets, and globalization affect how we invest Combat your personal behavioral patterns that lead to poor investing Separate the wheat from the chaff when it comes to the financial media While the world of investing has become more complex, there has never been a better time to be an individual investor. It is now easier--and cheaper--to invest than ever before. This back-to-basics approach provides the tools you need for ultimate success. Abnormal Returns doesn''t give you the latest investing trends, "fail-safe" market predictions, or hot new tips for hitting the jackpot right now. What you do get is a fresh perspective on how markets work--and expert insight into how to make them work for you.

A new, evolutionary explanation of markets and investor behavior Half of all Americans have money in the stock market, yet economists can't agree on whether investors and markets are rational and efficient, as modern financial theory assumes, or irrational and inefficient, as behavioral economists believe--and as financial bubbles, crashes, and crises suggest. This is one of the biggest debates in economics and the value or futility of investment management and financial regulation hang on the outcome. In this groundbreaking book, Andrew Lo cuts through this debate with a new framework, the Adaptive Markets Hypothesis, in which rationality and irrationality coexist. Drawing on psychology, evolutionary biology, neuroscience, artificial intelligence, and other fields, Adaptive Markets shows that the theory of market efficiency isn't wrong but merely incomplete. When markets are unstable, investors react instinctively, creating inefficiencies for others to exploit. Lo's new paradigm explains how financial evolution shapes behavior and markets at the speed of thought--a fact revealed by swings between stability and crisis, profit and loss, and innovation and regulation. A fascinating intellectual journey filled with compelling stories, Adaptive Markets starts with the origins of market efficiency and its failures, turns to the foundations of investor behavior, and concludes with practical implications--including how hedge funds have become the Gal#65533;pagos Islands of finance, what really happened in the 2008 meltdown, and how we might avoid future crises. An ambitious new answer to fundamental questions in economics, Adaptive Markets is essential reading for anyone who wants to know how markets really work.

In this unique exploration of the role of risk in our society, Peter Bernstein argues that the notion of bringing risk under control is one of the central ideas that distinguishes modern times from the distant past. Against the Gods chronicles the remarkable intellectual adventure that liberated humanity from oracles and soothsayers by means of the powerful tools of risk management that are available to us today. The Economist "[A] challenging book, one that may change forever the way people think about the world." -Worth "No one else could have written a book of such central importance with so much charm and excitement." -Robert Heilbroner author, The Worldly Philosophers "With his wonderful knowledge of the history and current manifestations of risk, Peter Bernstein brings us Against the Gods. Nothing like it will come out of the financial world this year or ever. I speak carefully: no one should miss it." -John Kenneth Galbraith Professor of Economics Emeritus, Harvard University.

Top economist Gary Shilling shows you how to prosper in the slow-growing and deflationary times that lie ahead. While many investors fear a rapid rise in inflation, author Gary Shilling, an award-winning economic forecaster, argues that the global economy is going through a long period of de-leveraging and weak growth, which makes deflation far more likely and a far greater threat to investors than inflation. Shilling explains in clear language and compelling logic why the U.S. and world economy will struggle for several more years and what investors can do to protect and grow their wealth in the difficult times ahead. The investment strategies that worked for last 25 years will not work in the next 10 years. Shilling advises readers to avoid broad exposure to stocks, real estate, and commodities and to focus on high-quality bonds, high-dividend stocks, and consumer staple and food stocks. . Written by one of today's best forecasters of economic trends-twice voted by Institutional Investor as Wall Street's top economistClearly explains what to invest in, what to avoid, and how to cope with a deflationary, slow-growth economy Demonstrates how Shilling has been consistently right about major economic trends since he began forecasting in the early 1980sFilled with in-depth insights and practical advice, this timely guide lays out a convincing case for why investors need to be prepared for a long period of weak growth and deflation-not inflation-and what you can do to prosper in the difficult times ahead.

Bonds have come a long way in recent years. No longer just a relatively safe and secure investment, bonds now offer the potential for capital appreciation in addition to interest income. All About Bonds, Bond Mutual Funds, and Bond ETFs is the key to understanding both traditional and new types of bond investments. This detailed but accessible introduction covers everything from basic bond characteristics to fixed-income investment techniques. You'll gain a thorough education on such topics as yield, liquidity, duration, convexity, valuation, and emerging markets and find the answers to many questions a bond investor will ask, such as: What percentage of my portfolio should be dedicated to bonds? What are the newest products and where do I find them? What are the risks involved with investing in bonds, bond mutual funds and bond ETFs? How can I use the Internet to my advantage?

A global leader and preeminent expert in asset allocation, David Darst delivers his masterwork on the topic. In a fully updated and expanded second edition of The Art of Asset Allocation, Morgan Stanley's Chief Investment Strategist covers the historic market events, instruments, asset classes, and economic forces that investors need to be aware of as they create asset-building portfolios. He then explains how to use modern asset allocation concepts and tools to augment returns and control risks in a wide range of financial market environments. This completely revised edition shows how to achieve asset balance with the author's proven methods, decades of expertise, relevant charts, practical tools, and astute analyses.

Niall Ferguson follows the money to tell the human story behind the evolution of finance, from its origins in ancient Mesopotamia to the latest upheavals. To Christians, love of it is the root of all evil. To generals, it's the sinews of war. To revolutionaries, it's the chains of labor. But historian Ferguson shows that finance is in fact the foundation of human progress. What's more, he reveals financial history as the essential backstory behind all history. Through Ferguson's expert lens, for example, the civilization of the Renaissance looks very different: a boom in the market for art and architecture made possible when Italian bankers adopted Arabic mathematics. The rise of the Dutch republic is reinterpreted as the triumph of the world's first modern bond market over insolvent Habsburg absolutism. Yet the central lesson of financial history is that, sooner or later, every bubble bursts.--From publisher description.

Stocks and bonds? Real estate? Hedge funds? Private equity? If you think those are the things to focus on in building an investment portfolio, Andrew Ang has accumulated a body of research that will prove otherwise.In his new book Asset Management: A Systematic Approach to Factor Investing, Ang upends the conventional wisdom about asset allocation by showing that what matters aren't asset class labels but the bundles of overlapping risks they represent. Making investments is like eating a healthy diet, Angsays: you've got to look through the foods you eat to focus on the nutrients they contain. Failing to do so can lead to a serious case of malnutrition - for investors as well as diners.The key, in Ang's view, is bad times, and the fact that every investor's bad times are somewhat different. The notion that bad times are paramount is the guiding principle of the book, which offers a new approach to the age-old problem of where do you put your money? Years of experience, both as afinance professor and as a consultant, have led Ang to see that the traditional approach, with its focus on asset classes, is too crude and ultimately too costly to serve investors adequately. He focuses instead on "factor risks," the peculiar sets of hard times that cut across asset classes, andthat must be the focus of our attention if we are to weather market turmoil and receive the rewards that come with doing so. Optimally harvesting factor premiums - on our own or by hiring others -r equires identifying your particular set of hard times, and exploiting the difference between them andthose of the average investor. Clearly written yet chock-full of the latest research and data, Asset Management will be indispensable reading for trustees, professional money managers, smart private investors, and business students who want to understand the economics behind factor risk premiums, harvest them efficiently in theirportfolios, and embark on the search for true alpha.

Wall Street is very good at one thing: convincing you to act against your own interests. And there’s no one out there better equipped with the knowledge and moxie to explain how it all works than Josh Brown. A man The New York Times referred to as the Merchant of Snark and Barron’s called pot-stirring and provocative, Brown worked for 10 years in the industry, a time during which he learned some hard truths about how clients are routinely treated—and how their money is sent on a one-way trip to Wall Street’s coffers. Backstage Wall Streetreveals the inner workings of the world’s biggest money machine and explains how a relatively small confederation of brilliant, sometimes ill-intentioned people fuel it, operate it, and repair it when necessary—none of which is for the good of the average investor. Backstage WallStreet is about seeing reality for what it is and adjusting your actions accordingly. It’s about learning who and what to steer clear of at all times. And it’s about setting the stage for a bright financial future—your own way.

Updated to reflect the current volatile investment climate, this large reference volume is packed with indispensable information for planning and maintaining a healthy investment portfolio. Among its many features are a financial dictionary with definitions of more than 5,000 terms, an analysis of many current investment opportunities, guidelines for non-experts on what to look for when reading corporate reports and financial news sources, an up-to-date directory of hundreds of publicly traded corporations in the United States and Canada, and a directory listing the names and addresses of brokerage houses, mutual funds families, and banks. Also of value is information on federal and state regulators, and what you should know about the legal aspects of investing.

This title presents an insider's look at the changing balance of power on Wall Street. "The Battle for Wall Street" follows the struggle for power between two giants: the sellers, traditional commercial and investments banks; and the buyers, upstart hedge funds, private equity firms and the like. The battle is about winning the hearts, minds, and - yes, the wallets - of global investors. This battle is still running its course, and with the insights of industry veteran Richard Goldberg, who has had a front row seat, readers will gain a detailed understanding as to what, exactly, is going on within this dynamic arena, specifically the forces behind the shift of power from the old sell side gatekeepers to the new buy side players.

Develop a Winning Investment Strategy -- with Expert Advice from "The Nation's #1 Money Manager" Peter Lynch's "invest in what you know" strategy has made him a household name with investors both big and small. An important key to investing, Lynch says, is to remember that stocks are not lottery tickets. There's a company behind every stock and a reason companies -- and their stocks -- perform the way they do. In this book Peter Lynch shows you how you can become an expert in a company and how you can build a profitable investment portfolio, based on your own experience and insights and on straightforward do-it-yourself research. There's no reason the individual investor can't match wits with the experts, and this book will show you how. In "Beating the Street," Lynch for the first time: * Explains how to devise a mutual fund strategy * Shows how he goes about picking stocks, step-by-step * Describes how the individual investor can improve his or her investment performance to rival that of the experts of the investment clubs.

Why do we lose money? It's easy to blame the economy or the financial markets-but the real trouble lies in the decisions we make. As a financial planner, Carl Richards grew frustrated watching people he cared about make the same mistakes over and over. They were letting emotion get in the way of smart financial decisions. He named this phenomenon-the distance between what we should do and what we actually do-"the behavior gap." Using simple drawings to explain the gap, he found that once people understood it, they started doing much better. Richards' way with words and images has attracted a loyal following to his blog posts for The New York Times, appearances on National Public Radio, and his columns and lectures. His book will teach you how to rethink all kinds of situations where your perfectly natural instincts (for safety or success) can cost you money and peace of mind.

When Benjamin Graham began working on Wall Street in 1914, the center of American finance resembled a lawless frontier. The concept of regulatory laws was in its infancy, the SEC wouldn’t see the light of day for 20 years, and many firms hid assets and earnings from nosy outsiders. And security analysts didn’t exist as we know them. They were called “diagnosticians,” and they didn’t do much analyzing. These investors prided themselves on going with the “feel” of the market, and most of them rarely looked at a financial statement. Appalled by the lack of research and quantification, Benjamin Graham set out to change all this—and ended up creating the discipline of modern security analysis. A collection of rare writings by and interviews with one of financial history’s most brilliant visionaries, Benjamin Graham, Building a Profession presents Graham’s evolution of ideas on security analysis spanning five decades.

When Benjamin Graham died in 1976 at age 82, he had achieved legendary status on Wall Street. He had laid the foundation of modern security analysis, inspiring legions of disciples and personally mentoring such up-and-comers as Warren Buffett (who went to work for Graham in 1954). Graham was widely regarded as brilliant, successful, and ethical, a rare trinity of attributes in the rough-and-tumble world of investing. In his later years, Graham wrote a memoir that looked back on the early, seminal decades of his colorful life. Twenty years after his death, this work is being published at last. Brimming with details that will captivate investors and history buffs alike, these pages evoke one of the richest most eventful lives of the century. Graham weaves an eloquent tale of talent and good fortune, viewed against the dynamic backdrop of New York and Wall Street.

Are you looking for some ideas to help you improve your portfolio? Let the brightest, most insightful minds in investing help.The Best Investment Writing - Volume 1 contains 32 hand-selected articles. These are the best pieces from some of the most respected money managers and investment researchers in the world.You'll get valuable insights into:-- The strategies that produce some of the highest historical returns -- Five due diligence questions we must ask before investing-- Why we often make poor "complex" investing decisions-- The easiest, most powerful method to estimate future stock returns-- How to spend our investment gains to maximize genuine happinessThe Best Investment Writing - Volume 1 reads like a masters course in investing. See how it can help you become a better investor today. With contributions from: Jason Zweig, Gary Antonacci, Morgan Housel, Ben Hunt, Todd Tresidder, Patrick O'Shaughnessy, Meb Faber, David Merkel, Norbert Keimling, Adam Butler, Stan Altshuller, Tom McClellan, Jared Dillian, Raoul Pal, Barry Ritholtz, Ken Fisher, Chris Meredith, Aswath Damodaran, Ben Carlson, Dave Nadig, Josh Brown, Corey Hoffstein, Jason Hsu, Wes Gray, John Reese, Larry Swedroe, Cullen Roche, Jonathan Clements, Michael Kitces, Charlie Bilello, John Mauldin

Bias, sentiment and personal opinions cloud the judgement of even the best Wall Street investors, so why do most financial decision-making models fail to factor in basic human nature? In this work, a guide to what really influences the decision-making process, Hersh Shefrin applies psychological research to stock selection, financial services, and corporate financial strategy. Through colourful, often real-world examples, Shefrin points out the common mistakes that money managers, security analysts, financial planners, investment bankers and corporate leaders make so that readers gain insights into their own financial decisions.

Investors are tempted daily by misleading or incomplete information. They may make a lucky bet, realize a sizable profit, and find themselves full of confidence. Their next high-stakes gamble might backfire, not only hitting them in the balance sheet but also taking a mental and emotional toll. Even veteran investors can be caught off guard: a news item may suddenly cause havoc for an industry they've invested in; crowd mentality among fellow investors may skew the market; a CEO may turn out to be unprepared to effectively guide a company. How can one stay focused in such a volatile profession? If you can't trust your past successes to plan and predict, how can you avoid risky situations in the future? In Big Money Thinks Small, veteran fund manager Joel Tillinghast shows investors how to avoid making these mistakes. He offers a set of simple but crucial steps to successful investing, including: #65533; Know yourself, how you arrive at decisions, and how you might be susceptible to self-deception. #65533; Make decisions based on your own expertise, and do not invest in what you don't understand. #65533; Select only trustworthy and capable colleagues and collaborators. #65533; Learn how to identify and avoid investments with inherent flaws. #65533; Always search for bargains, and never forget that the first responsibility of an investor is to identify mispriced stocks. Patience and methodical planning will pay far greater dividends than flashy investments. Tillinghast teaches readers how to learn from their mistakes--and his own, giving investors the tools to ask the right questions in any situation and to think objectively and generatively about portfolio management.

Just as WASPs, Irish-Catholics and Our Crowd Jews once made the ascent from immigrants to powerbrokers, it is now the Indian-American's turn. Citigroup, PepsiCo and Mastercard are just a handful of the Fortune 500 companies led by a group known as the "Twice Blessed." Yet little is known about how these Indian emigres (and children of emigres) rose through the ranks. Until now... The collapse of the Galleon Group--a hedge fund that managed more than $7 billion in assets--from criminal charges of insider trading was a sensational case that pitted prosecutor Preet Bharara, himself the son of Indian immigrants, against the best and brightest of the South Asian business community. At the center of the case was self-described King of Kings, Galleon's founder Raj Rajaratnam, a Sri-Lankan-born, Wharton-educated billionaire. But the most shocking allegation was that the éminence grise of Indian business, Rajat Gupta, was Rajaratnam's accomplice and mole. If not for Gupta's nose-to-the-grindstone rise to head up McKinsey & Co and a position on the Goldman Sachs board, men like Rajaratnam would have never made it to the top of America's moneyed elite. Author Anita Raghavan uncovers the secrets of this subculture--an incredible tale of triumph, temptation and tragedy.

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * The story of the billionaire trader Steven A. Cohen, the rise and fall of his hedge fund, SAC Capital, and the largest insider trading investigation in history--for readers of The Big Short, Den of Thieves, and Dark Money. The rise over the last two decades of a powerful new class of billionaire financiers marks a singular shift in the American economic and political landscape. Their vast reserves of concentrated wealth have allowed a small group of big winners to write their own rules of capitalism and public policy. How did we get here? Through meticulous reporting and powerful storytelling, New Yorker staff writer Sheelah Kolhatkar shows how Steve Cohen became one of the richest and most influential figures in finance--and what happened when the Justice Department put him in its crosshairs. Cohen and his fellow pioneers of the hedge fund industry didn't lay railroads, build factories, or invent new technologies. Rather, they made their billions through speculation, by placing bets in the market that turned out to be right more often than wrong--and for this they have gained not only extreme personal wealth but formidable influence throughout society. Hedge funds now manage nearly $3 trillion in assets, and competition between them is so fierce that traders will do whatever they can to get an edge. Cohen was one of the industry's greatest success stories. He mastered poker in high school, went off to Wharton, and in 1992 launched SAC Capital, which he built into a $15 billion empire, almost entirely on the basis of his wizardlike stock trading. He cultivated an air of mystery, reclusiveness, and extreme excess, building a 35,000 square foot mansion in Greenwich, Connecticut, and amassing one of the largest private art collections in the world. On Wall Street, Cohen was revered as a genius. That image was shattered when SAC became the target of a sprawling, seven-year government investigation. Labeled by prosecutors as a "magnet for market cheaters" whose culture encouraged the relentless hunt for "edge"--and even "black edge," or inside information--SAC was ultimately indicted in connection with a vast insider trading scheme, even as Cohen himself was never charged. Black Edge offers a revelatory look at the gray zone in which so much of Wall Street functions, and a window into the transformation of the U.S. economy. It's a riveting, true-life legal thriller that takes readers inside the government's pursuit of Cohen and his employees, and raises urgent questions about the power and wealth of those who sit at the pinnacle of modern Wall Street. Praise for Black Edge "A modern version of Moby-Dick, with wiretaps rather than harpoons."--Jennifer Senior, The New York Times  "Excellent."--The Economist  "If you liked James B. Stewart's Den of Thieves, Sheelah Kolhatkar's thrilling Black Edge should be next on your reading list."--The Wall Street Journal "A lot of people do not trust Wall Street. They regard it as a moneymaking machine for those who work there, which has little interest in practice in its stated aim of channeling capital into businesses and helping them to grow for the broader benefit of society. For such skeptics, Steven Cohen is Exhibit A."--John Gapper, Financial Times "A richly reported, entertaining tale about the cat-and-mouse game between the government and Cohen."--Andrew Ross Sorkin, The New York Times Book Review 

The financial crisis of 2008 caused major disruptions to every sector of the bond market and left even the savviest investors confused about the safety of their investments. To serve these investors and anyone looking to explore opportunities in fixed-income investing, former bond analyst Annette Thau builds on the features and authority that made the first two editions bestsellers in the thoroughly revised, updated, and expanded third edition of The Bond Book. This is a one-stop resource for both seasoned bond investors looking for the latest information on the fixed-income market and equities investors planning to diversify their holdings. Writing in plain English, Thau presents cutting-edge strategies for making the best bond-investing decisions, while explaining how to assess risks and opportunities. She also includes up-to-date listings of online resources with bond prices and other information. From how bonds work to how to buy and sell them to what to expect from them, The Bond Book, third edition, is a must-read for individual investors and financial advisers who want to enhance the fixed-income allocation of their portfolios.

Filled with in-depth insights and practical advice, Bond Math covers in concise detail the key calculations finance veterans, as well as aspiring professionals, need to succeed in this field. Engaging and informative, this book is much more than just a guide to bond calculations—it skillfully emphasizes how to think about bond math and reveals which numbers are most useful when dealing with bonds. Throughout these pages, author Donald J. Smith—an Associate Professor of Finance at Boston University's School of Management, who has been actively involved with executive education for over twenty-five years—covers many essential issues. You'll quickly become familiar with everything from money market add-on and discount rates, periodicity conversions, yields to maturity, horizon yields, implied probability of default, and after-tax rates of return to implied spot and forward rates, duration, and convexity. You'll see how these figures are used with traditional fixed-rate and zero-coupon bonds, as well as floating-rate notes (floaters), inflation-indexed securities (linkers), and interest rate swaps. This reliable resource puts bond math in perspective, analyzing the circumstances when statistics reported for individual securities can be used to calculate summary statistics for a portfolio of bonds. It also discusses how bond math is used in both aggressive and passive investment strategies, such as taking a view on the yield curve and immunizing the portfolio from interest rate volatility. If you work in fixed income and use Bloomberg pages to access data on bonds, you need Bond Math.

In this new edition, Dr. Liaw offers a substantial revision of his bestselling text, responding to requests from educators and professionals alike.Incorporating the most recent developments in the industry, the author describes: financial holding companies, full-service investment banks, boutique investment banks, and their lines of businesses; strategies for risk management, such as market risk, credit risk, operating risk, reputation risk, legal risk, and funding risk; career opportunities in investment banking, career paths, recruitment, and the application and interview process; key investment banking operations, including venture capital and buyouts, M&A services, equity underwriting, debt underwriting, securitization, financial engineering, investment management, and securities services; fundamentals for successful trading, arbitrage strategies, and technical trading techniques; regulatory issues and strategies relating to the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 and analyst conflict of interest; and ethics and professionalism.In addition, Dr.Liaw discusses investment banking opportunities in China, Japan, the EMU, and emerging markets, as well as the special challenges that come with globalization. A staple of industry training programs and a valued reference among banking professionals in its first edition, "The Business of Investment Banking, Second Edition" adds a wealth of new information to an already indispensable practical resource.

;A comprehensive overview of investment banking for professionals and students. The investment banking industry has changed dramatically since the 2008 financial crisis. Three of the top five investment banks in the United States have disappeared, while Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley have converted to commercial banking charters. This <i>Third Edition</i> of <i>The Business of Investment Banking</i> explains the changes and discusses new opportunities for students and professionals seeking to advance their careers in this intensely competitive field.</p> <p>The recent financial regulation overhaul, including the Dodd-Frank legislation, is changing what investment banks do and how they do it, while the Volcker rule has shaken up trading desks everywhere.</p> <ul> <li>This new edition updates investment banking industry shifts in practices, trends, regulations, and statistics</li> <li>Includes new chapters on investment banking in BRIC countries, as Brazil, Russia, India, and China now account for a quarter of the global economy</li> <li>Explains the shift in the listing of securities away from New York to various financial centers around the world, and how major exchanges compete for the same business</li> </ul> <p>This new edition, reflecting the current state of the investment banking industry, arrives in time to better serve professionals wanting to advance their careers and students just beginning theirs.</p>

Describes the changes in the practice of investing that relies heavily on complex mathematics, derivatives, hedging, and hyperactive trading. This book provides insights on how key finance theories have evolved from their ivory tower formulation to profitable application by portfolio managers. "A lot has happened in the financial markets since 1992, when Peter Bernstein wrote his seminal Capital Ideas. Happily, Peter has taken up his facile pen again to describe these changes, a virtual revolution in the practice of investing that relies heavily on complex mathematics, derivatives, hedging, and hyperactive trading. This fine and eminently readable book is unlikely to be surpassed as the definitive chronicle of a truly historic era."—John C. Bogle, founder of The Vanguard Group and author, The Little Book of Common Sense Investing

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.

Charlie Munger, Berkshire Hathaway's visionary vice chairman and Warren Buffett's indispensable financial partner, has outperformed market indexes again and again, and he believes any investor can do the same. His notion of "elementary, worldly wisdom"--a set of interdisciplinary mental models involving economics, business, psychology, ethics, and management--allows him to keep his emotions out of his investments and avoid the common pitfalls of bad judgment. Munger's system has steered his investments for forty years and has guided generations of successful investors. This book presents the essential steps of Munger's investing strategy, condensed here for the first time from interviews, speeches, writings, and shareholder letters, and paired with commentary from fund managers, value investors, and business-case historians. Derived from Ben Graham's value-investing system, Munger's approach is straightforward enough that even novices can apply it to their portfolios. This book is not simply about stock picking, it's about cultivating mental models for your whole life, but especially for your investments.

The futures and options bible from the world's first, and America's largest, futures exchange
Through nine editions over three decades, the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) has provided futures and options traders with the self-published Commodity Trading Manual. Now the CBOT has entered into an exclusive agreement with McGraw-Hill to bring you this vital book. The Chicago Board of Trade Handbook of Futures and Options delivers valuable information on everything from the uses and purposes of the futures market to nuts-and-bolts descriptions of day-to-day exchange operations.

How speculation has come to dominate investment-a hard-hitting look from the creator of the first index fund. Over the course of his sixty-year career in the mutual fund industry, Vanguard Group founder John C. Bogle has witnessed a massive shift in the culture of the financial sector. The prudent, value-adding culture of long-term investment has been crowded out by an aggressive, value-destroying culture of short-term speculation. Mr. Bogle has not been merely an eye-witness to these changes, but one of the financial sector’s most active participants. In The Clash of the Cultures, he urges a return to the common sense principles of long-term investing. Provocative and refreshingly candid, this book discusses Mr. Bogle's views on the changing culture in the mutual fund industry, how speculation has invaded our national retirement system, the failure of our institutional money managers to effectively participate in corporate governance, and the need for a federal standard of fiduciary duty. Mr. Bogle recounts the history of the index mutual fund, how he created it, and how exchange-traded index funds have altered its original concept of long-term investing. He also presents a first-hand history of Wellington Fund, a real-world case study on the success of investment and the failure of speculation. The book concludes with ten simple rules that will help investors meet their financial goals. The Clash of the Cultures: Investment vs. Speculation completes the trilogy of best-selling books, beginning with Bogle on Investing: The First 50 Years (2001) and Don't Count on It! (2011)

This no-bull, bottom-line guide from "The Reformed Broker" Josh Brown and Yahoo Finance's Jeff Macke will help you cut through the cacophony and make the most of today's media news. It's an eye-opening crash course in separating financial facts from fiction featuring interviews with some of the world's most influential investors, including: Jim Cramer (Mad Money) takes you behind the scenes of his polarizing TV program--and talks about his clash with Jon Stewart on The Daily Show. Henry Blodget (Business Insider) shares anecdotes about tangling with Eliot Spitzer, covering the Martha Stewart trial, and launching his Business Insider site as a "marked man." Karen Finerman (CNBC's Fast Money) exposes the hype behind the headlines and the "show biz" demands on television news pundits. You'll also find invaluable insights from the original father of financial TV, Jim Rogers, and from James Altucher, the most shockingly honest commentator in the history of the medium. Clash of the Financial Pundits is the one guide that will change the way you look at markets and investing forever.

The 1998 edition of the Commodity Trading Manual, the first and most accessible guide to the futures industry, continues to provide new industry professionals and potential end users with a comprehensive overview of the market. The Commodity Trading Manual looks both at futures' past, from Ancient Greece to Old Chicago, and futures' future, with updated coverage of major industry trends the rise of new and international markets, OTC derivatives, and electronic trading. Chapters end with annotated bibliographies. A glossary, a directory of major futures exchanges world-wide, and specifications for the most actively traded futures and options contracts are also included.

John C. Bogle shares his extensive insights on investing in mutual funds. Since the first edition of "Common Sense on Mutual Funds" was published in 1999, much has changed, and no one is more aware of this than mutual fund pioneer John Bogle. Now, in this completely updated Second Edition, Bogle returns to take another critical look at the mutual fund industry and help investors navigate their way through the staggering array of investment alternatives that are available to them. Written in a straightforward and accessible style, this reliable resource examines the fundamentals of mutual fund investing in today's turbulent market environment and offers timeless advice in building an investment portfolio. Along the way, Bogle shows you how simplicity and common sense invariably trump costly complexity, and how a low cost, broadly diversified portfolio is virtually assured of outperforming the vast majority of Wall Street professionals over the long-term. It is written by respected mutual fund industry legend John C. Bogle. It discusses the timeless fundamentals of investing that apply in any type of market. It reflects on the structural and regulatory changes in the mutual fund industry.

Widely respected and admired, Philip Fisher is among the most influential investors of all time. His investment philosophies, introduced almost forty years ago, are not only studied and applied by today's finance professionals, but are also regarded by many as gospel. He recorded these philosophies in 'Common Stocks and Uncommon Profits', a book considered invaluable reading when it was first published in 1958, and a must-read today.

The essential futures market reference guide A Complete Guide to the Futures Market is the comprehensive resource for futures traders and analysts. Spanning everything from technical analysis, trading systems, and fundamental analysis to options, spreads, and practical trading principles, A Complete Guide is required reading for any trader or investor who wants to successfully navigate the futures market. Clear, concise, and to the point, this fully revised and updated second edition provides a solid foundation in futures market basics, details key analysis and forecasting techniques, explores advanced trading concepts, and illustrates the practical application of these ideas with hundreds of market examples. A Complete Guide to the Futures Market: Details different trading and analytical approaches, including chart analysis, technical indicators and trading systems, regression analysis, and fundamental market models. Separates misleading market myths from reality. Gives step-by-step instruction for developing and testing original trading ideas and systems. Illustrates a wide range of option strategies, and explains the trading implications of each. Details a wealth of practical trading guidelines and market insights from a recognized trading authority. Trading futures without a firm grasp of this market's realities and nuances is a recipe for losing money. A Complete Guide to the Futures Market offers serious traders and investors the tools to keep themselves on the right side of the ledger.

Discover the secrets of the world's top concentrated value investors Concentrated Investing: Strategies of the World's Greatest Concentrated Value Investors chronicles the virtually unknown--but wildly successful--value investors who have regularly and spectacularly blown away the results of even the world's top fund managers. Sharing the insights of these top value investors, expert authors Allen Benello, Michael van Biema, and Tobias Carlisle unveil the strategies that make concentrated value investing incredibly profitable, while at the same time showing how to mitigate risk over time. Highlighting the history and approaches of four top value investors, the authors tell the fascinating story of the investors who dare to tread where few others have, and the wildly-successful track records that have resulted. Turning the notion of diversification on its head, concentrated value investors pick a small group of undervalued stocks and hold onto them through even the lean years. The approach has been championed by Warren Buffett, the best known value investor of our time, but a small group of lesser-known investors has also used this approach to achieve outstanding returns. Discover the success of Lou Simpson, a former GEICO investment manager and eventual successor to Warren Buffett at Berkshire Hathaway Read about Kristian Siem, described as "Norway's Warren Buffett," and the success he has had at Siem Industries Concentrated Investing will quickly have you re-thinking the conventional wisdom related to diversification and learning from the top concentrated value investors the world has never heard of.

All stock-market investors embrace the motto "Buy low, sell high." Few act accordingly, however, for to do so would require that we go against the crowd, buying stocks that are out of favor and selling Wall Street's darlings. Powerful psychological forces prevent us from pursuing a contrarian investment strategy, although it consistently beats the market, according to David Dreman, a seasoned money manager and long-time columnist for Forbes magazine. One of the Street's best-known and most articulate contrarians, Dreman has updated his 1982 investment classic, Contrarian Investment Strategies, using recent research on investor psychology. His revised book combines proven techniques for selecting undervalued stocks with fresh insights on how to defy, and thereby profit from, the popular fears or enthusiasms of the moment.

Every company faces credit risk. Credit derivatives are among the most powerful tools available for managing it. Once restricted to the financial industry, they are now widely used by businesses of all kinds - and all financial professionals need to understand them. Credit Derivatives explains these tools simply, clearly, and rigorously: what they do, how they work, and how to use them.

In The Credit Derivatives Handbook, some of the world's sharpest financial and legal minds come together to discuss how credit derivatives have evolved from tools restricted to the banking industry into flexible and customizable instruments used by investors of all kinds. You will come away with the knowledge and insight needed to measure and value risk, as well as the ability to put credit derivatives to work. Over fifteen contributors provide in-depth analyses of subjects in their respective areas of expertise.

Market thoughts, predictions, and insights that can't be found anywhere else. With clear and concise language, legendary investment pioneer Dean LeBaron offers guidance for investors. Everything readers need to know about today's complex and exciting investment landscape is in this comprehensive guide to investing theory which shares the insights of thirty investment luminaries on their particular area of expertise including Mark Mobius on emerging markets, John Bogle on mutual funds, and Bill Miller on active portfolio management.

A sharp and illuminating history of one of capitalism’s longest running tensions—the conflicts of interest among public company directors, managers, and shareholders—told through entertaining case studies and original letters from some of our most legendary and controversial investors and activists. Recent disputes between shareholders and major corporations, including Apple and DuPont, have made headlines. But the struggle between management and those who own stock has been going on for nearly a century. Mixing never-before-published and rare, original letters from Wall Street icons—including Benjamin Graham, Warren Buffett, Ross Perot, Carl Icahn, and Daniel Loeb—with masterful scholarship and professional insight, Dear Chairman traces the rise in shareholder activism from the 1920s to today, and provides an invaluable and unprecedented perspective on what it means to be a public company, including how they work and who is really in control. Jeff Gramm analyzes different eras and pivotal boardroom battles from the last century to understand the factors that have caused shareholders and management to collide. Throughout, he uses the letters to show how investors interact with directors and managers, how they think about their target companies, and how they plan to profit. Each is a fascinating example of capitalism at work told through the voices of its most colorful, influential participants. A hedge fund manager and an adjunct professor at Columbia Business School, Gramm has spent as much time evaluating CEOs and directors as he has trying to understand and value businesses. He has seen public companies that are poorly run, and some that willfully disenfranchise their shareholders. While he pays tribute to the ingenuity of public company investors, Gramm also exposes examples of shareholder activism at its very worst, when hedge funds engineer stealthy land-grabs at the expense of a company’s long term prospects. Ultimately, he provides a thorough, much-needed understanding of the public company/shareholder relationship for investors, managers, and everyone concerned with the future of capitalism.

The book is a step-by-step guide to derivative products. By distilling the complex mathematics and theory that underlie the subject, Chisholm explains derivative products in straightforward terms, focusing on applications and intuitive explanations wherever possible. Case studies and examples of how the products are used to solve real-world problems, as well as an extensive glossary and material on the latest derivative products make this book a must have for anyone working with derivative products.

Your Survival Guide to the Hades of Wall Street The Devil’s Financial Dictionary skewers the plutocrats and bureaucrats who gave us exploding mortgages, freakish risks, and banks too big to fail. And it distills the complexities, absurdities, and pomposities of Wall Street into plain truths and aphorisms anyone can understand. An indispensable survival guide to the hostile wilderness of today’s financial markets,The Devil’s Financial Dictionary delivers practical insights with a scorpion’s sting. It cuts through the fads and fakery of Wall Street and clears a safe path for investors between euphoria and despair. Staying out of financial purgatory has never been this fun.

How businesses and other organizations can improve their performance by tapping the power of differences in how people think What if workforce diversity is more than simply the right thing to do in order to make society more integrated and just? What if diversity can also improve the bottom line of businesses and other organizations facing complex challenges in the knowledge economy? It can. And The Diversity Bonus shows how and why. Scott Page, a leading thinker, writer, and speaker whose ideas and advice are sought after by corporations, nonprofits, universities, and governments around the world, makes a clear and compellingly pragmatic case for diversity and inclusion. He presents overwhelming evidence that teams that include different kinds of thinkers outperform homogenous groups on complex tasks, producing what he calls "diversity bonuses." These bonuses include improved problem solving, increased innovation, and more accurate predictions--all of which lead to better performance and results. Page shows that various types of cognitive diversity--differences in how people perceive, encode, analyze, and organize the same information and experiences--are linked to better outcomes. He then describes how these cognitive differences are influenced by other kinds of diversity, including racial and gender differences--in other words, identity diversity. Identity diversity, therefore, can also produce bonuses. Drawing on research in economics, psychology, computer science, and many other fields, The Diversity Bonus also tells the stories of people and organizations that have tapped the power of diversity to solve complex problems. And the book includes a challenging response from Katherine Phillips of the Columbia Business School. The result changes the way we think about diversity in the workplace--and far beyond it.

Why is paying for things painful? Why are we comfortable overpaying for something in the present just because we've overpaid for it in the past? Why is it easy to pay $4 for a soda on vacation, when we wouldn't spend more than $1 on that same soda at our local grocery store? We think of money as numbers, values, and amounts, but when it comes down to it, when we actually use our money, we engage our hearts more than our heads. Emotions play a powerful role in shaping our financial behavior, often making us our own worst enemies as we try to save, access value, and spend responsibly. In Dollars and Sense, bestselling author and behavioral economist Dan Ariely teams up with financial comedian and writer Jeff Kreisler to challenge many of our most basic assumptions about the precarious relationship between our brains and our money. In doing so, they undermine many of personal finance's most sacred beliefs and explain how we can override some of our own instincts to make better financial choices. Exploring a wide range of everyday topics--from the lure of pain-free spending with credit cards to the  pitfalls of household budgeting to the seductive power of holiday sales--Ariely and Kreisler demonstrate how our misplaced confidence in our spending habits frequently leads us astray, costing us more than we realize, whether it's the real value of the time we spend driving forty-five minutes to save $10 or our inability to properly assess what the things we buy are actually worth. Together Ariely and Kreisler reveal the emotional forces working against us and how we can counteract them. Mixing case studies and anecdotes with concrete advice and lessons, they cut through the unconscious fears and desires driving our worst financial instincts and teach us how to improve our money habits. The result not only reveals the rationale behind our most head-scratching financial choices but also offers clear guidance for navigating the treacherous financial landscape of the brain. Fascinating, engaging, funny, and essential, Dollars and Sense provides the practical tools we need to understand and improve our financial choices, save and spend smarter, and ultimately live better.

"In the world according to Victor Niederhoffer, life is speculation and we are all speculators, except when we lose - then we are gamblers. We speculate on our careers, relationships, games, and investments. Life-changing decisions hang on our ability to read and anticipate turns of events." "In The Education of a Speculator, Niederhoffer opens the kaleidoscopic story of his life to show how he came to understand these fundamental forces. Offering a way of thinking rather than a "system," this powerful, remarkable book shows us how to speculate and win much more than we ever thought possible." "Niederhoffer shows how, by distilling the lessons of board games, horse racing, and hoodoos, we can achieve the right mental and emotional state before, after, and during a contest. Of course, Niederhoffer's greatest fame (and fortune) is as an extremely successful trader, and here his tips, principles, and methods become most manifest. Niederhoffer establishes the relationship between stampeding elephants and market behavior, explores the use of musical structure as a guide to trading, and dissects the many roles of deception. In The Education of a Speculator, charts of stock prices are followed by pictures of paintings; the advice of cops, crooks, and Nobel scientists are all juxtaposed and synthesized - all in the service of successful speculation and investment.

Efficiently Inefficient describes the key trading strategies used by hedge funds and demystifies the secret world of active investing. Leading financial economist Lasse Heje Pedersen combines the latest research with real-world examples and interviews with top hedge fund managers to show how certain trading strategies make money—and why they sometimes don’t. Pedersen views markets as neither perfectly efficient nor completely inefficient. Rather, they are inefficient enough that money managers can be compensated for their costs through the profits of their trading strategies and efficient enough that the profits after costs do not encourage additional active investing. Understanding how to trade in this efficiently inefficient market provides a new, engaging way to learn finance. Pedersen analyzes how the market price of stocks and bonds can differ from the model price, leading to new perspectives on the relationship between trading results and finance theory. He explores several different areas in depth—fundamental tools for investment management, equity strategies, macro strategies, and arbitrage strategies—and he looks at such diverse topics as portfolio choice, risk management, equity valuation, and yield curve logic. The book’s strategies are illuminated further by interviews with leading hedge fund managers: Lee Ainslie, Cliff Asness, Jim Chanos, Ken Griffin, David Harding, John Paulson, Myron Scholes, and George Soros. Efficiently Inefficient effectively demonstrates how financial markets really work. Free problem sets are available online at http://www.lhpedersen.com

A timeless, easy-to-read guide on life-long investment principles that can help any investor succeed. The Elements of Investing has a single-minded goal: to teach the principles of investing in the same pared-to-bone manner that Professor William Strunk Jr. once taught composition to students at Harvard, using his classic little book, The Elements of Style. The Elements of Investing hacks away at all the overtrading and over thinking so predominant in the hyperactive thought patterns of the average investor. Malkiel and Ellis offer investors a set of simple but powerful thoughts on how to challenge Mr. Market at his own game, and win by not losing.

This pioneering reference is the most authoritative source on alternative investments. Containing 545 entries, the encyclopedia focuses on hedge funds, managed futures, commodities, and venture capital. With contributions from well-known, respected academics and professionals from around the world, it offers in-depth definitions for each entry, lists numerous tables and figures, and includes academic references.

The Encyclopedia of Finance is a major new reference work covering all aspects of finance. Coverage includes finance (financial management, security analysis, portfolio management, financial markets and instruments, insurance, real estate, options and futures, international finance) and statistical applications in finance (applications in portfolio analysis, option pricing models and financial research). The project is designed to attract both an academic and professional market. It will also have international approach to ensure its maximum appeal. The Editors' wish is that the readers will find the encyclopedia to be an invaluable resource.

An innovative new valuation framework with truly useful economic indicators The End of Accounting and the Path Forward for Investors and Managers shows how the ubiquitous financial reports have become useless in capital market decisions and lays out an actionable alternative. Based on a comprehensive, large-sample empirical analysis, this book reports financial documents' continuous deterioration in relevance to investors' decisions. An enlightening discussion details the reasons why accounting is losing relevance in today's market, backed by numerous examples with real-world impact. Beyond simply identifying the problem, this report offers a solution'the Value Creation Report'and demonstrates its utility in key industries. New indicators focus on strategy and execution to identify and evaluate a company's true value-creating resources for a more up-to-date approach to critical investment decision-making. While entire industries have come to rely on financial reports for vital information, these documents are flawed and insufficient when it comes to the way investors and lenders work in the current economic climate. This book demonstrates an alternative, giving you a new framework for more informed decision making. Discover a new, comprehensive system of economic indicators Focus on strategic, value-creating resources in company valuation Learn how traditional financial documents are quickly losing their utility Find a path forward with actionable, up-to-date information Major corporate decisions, such as restructuring and M&A, are predicated on financial indicators of profitability and asset/liabilities values. These documents move mountains, so what happens if they're based on faulty indicators that fail to show the true value of the company? The End of Accounting and the Path Forward for Investors and Managers shows you the reality and offers a new blueprint for more accurate valuation.

The year 2015 marks the fiftieth anniversary of Berkshire Hathaway under Warren Buffett's leadership, a milestone worth commemorating. The tenure sets a record for chief executive not only in duration but in value creation and philosophizing. The fourth edition of The Essays of Warren Buffett: Lessons for Corporate America celebrates its twentieth anniversary. As the book Buffett autographs most, its popularity and longevity attest to the widespread appetite for this unique compilation of Buffett's thoughts that is at once comprehensive, non-repetitive, and digestible. New and experienced readers alike will gain an invaluable informal education by perusing this classic arrangement of Warren's best writings.
The fourth edition's new material includes: Warren's 50th anniversary retrospective, in what Bill Gates called Warren's best letter ever, on conglomerates and Berkshire's future without Buffett; Charlie Munger's 50th anniversary essay on ''The Berkshire System''; Warren's definitive defense of Berkshire's no-dividend practice; and Warren's best advice on investing, whether in apartments, farms, or businesses.

Following an introductory essay that explores investment theory and stockmarket returns over the years, the A-Z covers everything from Accruals concept and Arbitrage pricing theory, through Leverage and Mark to market, all the way to Weight of money and Zero coupon bond. Useful appendices include data on stockmarket performance and investment formulas.

This currency trading book provides readers with real, practical information on how to trade the foreign exchange market effectively. It begins by covering introductory information on the forex market, including basic trading mechanics and the benefits of forex trading, and then goes on to describe specific currency trading methods and skills in step-by-step detail. This includes highly practical information on technical and fundamental analysis, risk and money management, and powerful forex trading strategies. These strategies have proven extremely effective in helping traders play the forex game to win.

A comprehensive history of the evolution of technical analysis from ancient times to the Internet age Whether driven by mass psychology, fear or greed of investors, the forces of supply and demand, or a combination, technical analysis has flourished for thousands of years on the outskirts of the financial establishment. In The Evolution of Technical Analysis: Financial Prediction from Babylonian Tablets to Bloomberg Terminals, MIT's Andrew W. Lo details how the charting of past stock prices for the purpose of identifying trends, patterns, strength, and cycles within market data has allowed traders to make informed investment decisions based in logic, rather than on luck. The book reveals the origins of technical analysis, compares and contrasts the Eastern practices of China and Japan to Western methods and details the contributions of pioneers such as Charles Dow, Munehisa Homma, Humphrey B. Neill, and William D. Gann. The Evolution of Technical Analysis explores the fascinating history of technical analysis, tracing where technical analysts failed, how they succeeded, and what it all means for today's traders and investors.

Financial Behavior: Players, Services, Products, and Markets provides a synthesis of the theoretical and empirical literature on the financial behavior of major stakeholders, financial services, investment products, and financial markets. The book offers a different way of looking at financialand emotional well-being and processing beliefs, emotions, and behaviors related to money. The book provides important insights about cognitive and emotional biases that influence various financial decision-makers, services, products, and markets. With diverse concepts and topics, the book bringstogether noted scholars and practitioners so readers can gain an in-depth understanding about this topic from experts from around the world.In today's financial setting, the discipline of behavioral finance is an ever-changing area that continues to evolve at a rapid pace. This book takes readers through the core topics and issues as well as the latest trends, cutting-edge research developments, and real-world situations. Additionally,discussion of research on various cognitive and emotional issues is covered throughout the book. Thus, this volume covers a breadth of content from theoretical to practical, while attempting to offer a useful balance of detailed and user-friendly coverage. Those interested in a broad survey willbenefit as will those searching for more in-depth presentations of specific areas within this field of study. As the seventh book in the Financial Markets and Investment Series, Financial Behavior: Players, Services, Products, and Markets offers a fresh looks at the fascinating area of financialbehavior.

So much for the notion 'those who can, do-those who can't, teach.' Mulford and Comiskey function successfully both as college professors and real-world financial mercenaries. These guys know their balance sheets. The Financial Numbers Game should serve as a survival manual for both serious individual investors and industry pros who study and act upon the interpretation of financial statements. This unique blend of battle-earned scholarship and quality writing is a must-read/must-have reference for serious financial statement analysis."

Techniques to uncover and avoid accounting frauds and scams Inflated profits ..., suspicious write-offs ..., shifted expenses ...- these and other dubious financial maneuvers have taken on a contemporary twist as companies pull out the stops in seeking to satisfy Wall Street. "Financial Shenanigans" pulls back the curtain on the current climate of accounting fraud. It presents tools that anyone who is potentially affected by misleading business valuations - from investors and lenders to managers and auditors - can use to research and read financial reports, and to identify early warning signs of a company's problems. A bestseller in its first edition, "Financial Shenanigans" has been thoroughly updated for today's marketplace. New chapters, data, and research reveal contemporary "shenanigans" that have been known to fool even veteran researchers.

An updated guide to the essential discipline of financial statement analysis In Financial Statement Analysis, Fourth Edition, leading investment authority Martin Fridson returns with Fernando Alvarez to provide the analytical framework you need to scrutinize financial statements, whether you're evaluating a company's stock price or determining valuations for a merger or acquisition. This fully revised and up-to-date Fourth Edition offers fresh information that will help you to evaluate financial statements in today's volatile markets and uncertain economy, and allow you to get past the sometimes biased portrait of a company's performance. Reflects changes in the financial reporting landscape, including issues related to the financial crisis of 2008-2009 Provides guidelines on how to interpret balance sheets, income statements, and cash flow statements Offers information for maximizing the accuracy of forecasts and a structured approach to credit and equity evaluation Filled with real-life examples and expert advice, Financial Statement Analysis, Fourth Edition will help you gain a firm understanding of the techniques that will help you interpret financial statements, which are designed to conceal more than reveal.

Flash Boys is about a small group of Wall Street guys who figure out that the U.S. stock market has been rigged for the benefit of insiders and that, post-financial crisis, the markets have become not more free but less, and more controlled by the big Wall Street banks. They come to this realization separately; but after they discover one another, the flash boys band together and set out to reform the financial markets. They create an exchange in which high-frequency trading--source of the most intractable problems--will have no advantage whatsoever.The characters in Flash Boys are each completely different from what you think of when you think "Wall Street guy." Several have walked away from jobs in the financial sector that paid them millions of dollars a year. From their new vantage point they investigate the big banks, the world's stock exchanges, and high-frequency trading firms and expose the many strange new ways that Wall Street generates profits.The light that Lewis shines into the darkest corners of the financial world may not be good for your blood pressure, because if you have any contact with the market, even a retirement account, this story is happening to you. But in the end, Flash Boys is an uplifting read. Here are people who have somehow preserved a moral sense in an environment where you don't get paid for that; they have perceived an institutionalized injustice and are willing to go to war to fix it.

Luck in trading, business, and life. This book is about luck, that single most important factor in everything. It tells how we perceive and deal with luck and how we filter the mass of information that is thrown at us daily, to understand what is important and what is the result of pure chance. Fooled by Randomness delves into the reality of the lucky fool being in the "right place at the right time", and is set around the greatest forum for investigating the misconception of chance perceived as skill -- the world of trading and derivatives. Written in an accessible and entertaining manner, Taleb combines personal trading experiences, with details and examples from a multidisciplinary array of topics -- ancient history, classical literature, philosophy, mathematics, and science.

In 1956 two Bell Labs scientists discovered the scientific formula for getting rich. One was mathematician Claude Shannon, neurotic father of our digital age, whose genius is ranked with Einstein's. The other was John L. Kelly Jr., a Texas-born, gun-toting physicist. Together they applied the science of information theory-the basis of computers and the Internet-to the problem of making as much money as possible, as fast as possible. Shannon and MIT mathematician Edward O. Thorp took the "Kelly formula" to Las Vegas. It worked. They realized that there was even more money to be made in the stock market. Thorp used the Kelly system with his phenomenally successful hedge fund, Princeton-Newport Partners. Shannon became a successful investor, too, topping even Warren Buffett's rate of return. Fortune's Formula traces how the Kelly formula sparked controversy even as it made fortunes at racetracks, casinos, and trading desks. It reveals the dark side of this alluring scheme, which is founded on exploiting an insider's edge. Shannon believed it was possible for a smart investor to beat the market-and Fortune's Formula will convince you that he was right. William Poundstone is the bestselling author of nine nonfiction books, including Labyrinths of Reason and The Recursive Universe. "Fortune's Formula may be the world's first history book, gambling primer, mathematics text, economics manual, personal finance guide and joke book in a single volume. Poundstone comes across as the best college professor you ever had, someone who can turn almost any technical topic into an entertaining and zesty lecture."-The New York Times Book Review

"You'll never learn a trade until you learn the tricks of the trade."Futures trading has undergone a dramatic metamorphosis. Regulatory changes have rewritten the trading rules; the emphasis has changed from grains and metals to financial instruments, such as Treasury bonds and foreign currencies; computers and the Internet have made the dissemination and digestion of information widespread and immediate; and commission rates have fallen significantly, benefiting both hedgers and speculators. The Futures game, Third Edition, helps traders prepare for trading today and well into the 21st century. This revised and updated edition of the classic futures traders' guidebook provides valuable accurate knowledge of today's important markets.

"You'll never learn a trade until you learn the tricks of the trade."Futures trading has undergone a dramatic metamorphosis. Regulatory changes have rewritten the trading rules; the emphasis has changed from grains and metals to financial instruments, such as Treasury bonds and foreign currencies; computers and the Internet have made the dissemination and digestion of information widespread and immediate; and commission rates have fallen significantly, benefiting both hedgers and speculators. The Futures game, Third Edition, helps traders prepare for trading today and well into the 21st century. This revised and updated edition of the classic futures traders' guidebook provides valuable accurate knowledge of today's important markets.

Global Investments, the Sixth Edition of the previously titled International Investments, provides accessible coverage of international capital markets using numerous examples to illustrate the applications of concepts and theories. The new title reflects the current understanding that the distinction between domestic and international is no longer relevant and that asset management is global.

This history of the global securities market is the product of over 30 years of research by one of the world's foremost financial historians. It covers all aspects of the history of the securities markets from its beginnings in Medieval Venice through Amsterdam and London to its operations in Tokyo and New York today.

Since the 2008 financial crisis the price of gold has sky-rocketed, from around $800 an ounce in August of that year to a peak of around $1700 an ounce. Fortunes have been made, and this has kicked off an unprecedented gold-mining and prospective boom around the world. In this book Matthew Hart takes readers on a journey around the world and through history to tell the story of how gold became the world's most precious commodity, the highlights of its dramatic, tempestuous history, and the behind-the-scenes intrigue of the current boom. He ends this controversial rollercoaster story by revealing what the experts are saying about the profound changes underway in the gold market and the prospects for the future. - See more at: http://books.simonandschuster.com.au/Gold/Matthew-Hart/9781849839686#sthash.jZaecrYz.dpuf

This work examines the 'gold-rush fantasy' in American psychology and describes its dire consequences. The Florida land boom, the operations of Insull, Kreuger and Hatry, and the Shandoah Corporation all come together in Galbraith's study of concerted human greed and folly. Reviewing Galbraith's classic examination of the 1929 financial collapse, The Atlantic Monthly said, "Economic writings are seldom notable for their entertainment value, but this book is. Galbraith's prose has grace and wit, and he distills a good deal of sardonic fun from the whopping errors of the nation's oracles and the wondrous antics of the financial community.

This is the definitive guide explaining why different financial markets exist and how they operate. The world's markets play a hugely important role in the modern economy and globalization of these markets continues apace. Electronic trading has led to exponential year by year growth in trading on the money and foreign exchange markets. And billions of dollars' worth of derivatives in all kinds of new and fancy—and often almost incomprehensible—forms are created and sold daily. Stock markets have bubbled and burst, proving that their performance can never be taken for granted and giving the bond market a fillip. This book provides a brilliantly clear guide to this complex world that even those who work in it often find hard to understand. With chapters on the markets that deal in money, foreign exchange, equities, bonds, commodities, financial futures, options, and other derivatives, it looks at why these markets exist, how they work and who trades in them, and it gives a rundown of the factors that affect prices and rates.

This book gives a thorough but concise overview of the hedge fund industry, its significance, and its major players. Accessible to anyone interested in finding out more about hedge funds.

With detailed analysis supported by data and anecdotes drawn from investment experiences, this practical guide emphasizes the importance of basing recommendations for investment strategy on the principles of traditional finance.

The Handbook of Alternative Assets merges the data and strategies of four key alternative asset classes into one handy guide for the serious investor. This concise handbook classifies four types of alternative assets: hedge funds, commodity and managed futures, private equity, and credit derivatives, and shows you how these assets can be used to hedge and expand any portfolio. Organized by sections - one for each alternative asset class - the Handbook of Alternative Assets explores four of the major alternative asset classes in detail, while providing expert advice along the way.

The Handbook of Commercial Real Estate Investing delivers an authoritative “best practices” approach to the three major areas of the industry: investment transactions, asset management, and enterprise management. Skillfully written by John McMahan, a leader of the U.S. commercial real estate investment industry, The Handbook of Commercial Real Estate Investing presents state-of-the-art methods needed to successfully invest in and manage commercial properties such as office buildings, shopping centers, industrial buildings, apartments, and hotels.

Filled with a comprehensive collection of information from experts in the commodity investment industry, this detailed guide shows readers how to successfully incorporate commodities into their portfolios. Created with both the professional and individual investor in mind, The Handbook of Commodity Investments covers a wide range of issues, including the risk and return of commodities, diversification benefits, risk management, macroeconomic determinants of commodity investments, and commodity trading advisors. Starting with the basics of commodity investments and moving to more complex topics, such as performance measurement, asset pricing, and value at risk, The Handbook of Commodity Investments is a reliable resource for anyone who needs to understand this dynamic market.

The Handbook of Finance is a comprehensive 3-Volume Set that covers both established and cutting-edge theories and developments in finance and investing. Edited by Frank Fabozzi, this set includes valuable insights from global financial experts as well as academics with extensive experience in this field. Organized by topic, this comprehensive resource contains complete coverage of essential issues—from portfolio construction and risk management to fixed income securities and foreign exchange—and provides readers with a balanced understanding of today’s dynamic world of finance. Vol. I: Financial Markets and Instruments; Vol. II: Investment Management and Financial Management; Vol. III Valuation, Financial Modeling, and Quantitative Tools.

The Handbook of Fixed Income Securities, Seventh Edition, equips you with a comprehensive overview of all fixed income securities and strategies and continues to be the investment industry's most accessible and all-inclusive resource. Invaluable for its theoretical insights, unsurpassed in its hands-on guidance, and unequalled in the expertise and authority of its contributors, this concise, complete explanation of fixed income securities and applications remains the one fixed income reference to have within reach at all times.

Intended as a comprehensive reference for investors and fund and portfolio managers, Handbook of Hedge Funds combines new material with updated information from Francois-Serge L’habitant’s two other successful hedge fund books. This book features up-to-date regulatory and historical information, new case studies and trade examples, detailed analyses of investment strategies, discussions of hedge fund indices and databases, and tips on portfolio construction.

"Let's start with the bad news first- Most investors' results bear very little resemblance to the long-run returns touted in the glossy marketing materials from financial services firms. What's more, most of them have no idea just how massive that difference actually is. But, there's reason for hope-Investing is a winner's game with excellent long-term odds once you stop shooting yourself in the foot. Since leaving his job as a top-rated stock analyst to become an investing columnist, Spencer Jakab has watched his readers-and his family, friends, and colleagues-make the same mistakes again and again. He looks at all the typical advice, from the clearly risky to the seemingly safe, to show you how various strategies are undermining even the savviest investor's returns. The paths that lead to a seven figure nest egg are surprisingly few, but he reveals reliable strategies that can multiply a typical retirement saver's nest egg fourfold or more. Jakab combines wise storytelling with a knack for doing the math on complicated ideas to explain why you shouldn't buy Apple, care about tomorrow's big IPO, or even try to act on the belief that a recession is around the corner. He also explains why you should never trust a World Cup predicting octopus and why you shouldn't invest in companies with an X or Z in their names - information more useful than it sounds, and every bit as fun. Whatever your level of expertise, Jakab's Heads I Win, Tails I Winwill be entertaining, enlightening, and almost certainly profitable."

Fascinating insights into the hedge fund traders who consistently outperform the markets, in their own words From bestselling author, investment expert, and Wall Street theoretician Jack Schwager comes a behind-the-scenes look at the world of hedge funds, from fifteen traders who've consistently beaten the markets. Exploring what makes a great trader a great trader, Hedge Fund Market Wizards breaks new ground, giving readers rare insight into the trading philosophy and successful methods employed by some of the most profitable individuals in the hedge fund business. Presents exclusive interviews with fifteen of the most successful hedge fund traders and what they've learned over the course of their careers Includes interviews with Jamie Mai, Joel Greenblatt, Michael Platt, Ray Dalio, Colm O?Shea, Ed Thorp, and many more Explains forty key lessons for traders Joins Stock Market Wizards, New Market Wizards, and Market Wizards as the fourth installment of investment guru Jack Schwager's acclaimed bestselling series of interviews with stock market experts A candid assessment of each trader's successes and failures, in their own words, the book shows readers what they can learn from each, and also outlines forty essential lessons'from finding a trading method that fits an investor's personality to learning to appreciate the value of diversification'that investment professionals everywhere can apply in their own careers. Bringing together the wisdom of the true masters of the markets, Hedge Fund Market Wizards is a collection of timeless insights into what it takes to trade in the hedge fund world.

Although hedge fund managers have earned some great fortunes, investors as a group have done quite poorly, particularly in recent years. Plagued by high fees, complex legal structures, poor disclosure, and return chasing, investors confront surprisingly meager results. Drawing on an insider's view of industry growth during the 1990s, a time when hedge fund investors did well in part because there were relatively few of them, The Hedge Fund Mirage chronicles the early days of hedge fund investing before institutions got into the game and goes on to describe the seeding business, a specialized area in which investors provide venture capital-type funding to promising but undiscovered hedge funds. Today's investors need to do better, and this book highlights the many subtle and not-so-subtle ways that the returns and risks are biased in favor of the hedge fund manager, and how investors and allocators can redress the imbalance. Hedge fund investors have had it hard in recent years, but The Hedge Fund Mirage is here to change that, by turning the tables on conventional wisdom and putting the hedge fund investor back on top.

The hedge fund industry has grown dramatically over the last two decades, with more than eight thousand funds now controlling close to two trillion dollars. Originally intended for the wealthy, these private investments have now attracted a much broader following that includes pension funds and retail investors. Because hedge funds are largely unregulated and shrouded in secrecy, they have developed a mystique and allure that can beguile even the most experienced investor. In Hedge Funds, Andrew Lo—one of the world's most respected financial economists—addresses the pressing need for a systematic framework for managing hedge fund investments. Arguing that hedge funds have very different risk and return characteristics than traditional investments, Lo constructs new tools for analyzing their dynamics, including measures of illiquidity exposure and performance smoothing, linear and nonlinear risk models that capture alternative betas, econometric models of hedge fund failure rates, and integrated investment processes for alternative investments.

Hedge fund Amaranth Advisors LLC had more than $9 billion in assets. A few weeks later, it completely collapsed. The disaster was largely triggered by one hotshot trader. Meticulously researched and character-driven, this riveting fly-on-the-wall account details its collapse, the largest in history.

This book provides extraordinary insight into both the art of technical analysis and the character of the successful trader. Distinguished MIT professor Andrew W. Lo and researcher Jasmina Hasanhodzic interviewed thirteen highly successful, award-winning market professionals who credit their substantial achievements to technical analysis. Together, these lively and candid interviews tell the story of technical analysis in the words of the people who know it best. The first half of the book focuses on the technicians' careers: how and why they learned technical analysis, what market conditions increase their chances of making mistakes, what their average workday is like, to what extent trading controls their lives, whether they work on their own or with a team, and how their style of technical analysis is unique. The second half concentrates on technical analysis and addresses questions such as the following. Did the lack of validation by academics ever cause you to doubt technical analysis? Can technical analysis be applied to other disciplines? How do you prove the validity of the method? How has computer software influenced the craft? What is the role of luck in technical analysis? Are there laws that underlie market action? What traits characterize a highly successful trader? How do you test patterns before you start using them with real money? Interviewees include: Ralph J. Acampora, Laszlo Birinyi Jr., Walter Deemer, Paul F. Desmond, Gail M. Dudack, Robert J. Farrell, Ian McAvity, John J. Murphy, Robert R. Prechter Jr., Linda Bradford Raschke, Alan R. Shaw, Anthony W. Tabell, Stan Weinstein.

"A History of Interest Rates" presents a very readable account of interest rate trends and lending practices over four millennia of economic history. Despite the paucity of data prior to the Industrial Revolution, authors Homer and Sylla provide a highly detailed analysis of money markets and borrowing practices in major economies. Underlying the analysis is their assertion that "the free market long-term rates of interest for any industrial nation, properly charted, provide a sort of fever chart of the economic and political health of that nation." Given the enormous volatility of rates in the 20th century, this implies we're living in age of political and economic excesses that are reflected in massive interest rate swings. Gain more insight into this assertion by ordering a copy of this book today.

In this absorbing, smart, and accessible blend of economic and cultural history, Scott Nations, a longtime trader, financial engineer, and CNBC contributor, takes us on a journey through the five significant stock market crashes in the past century to reveal how they defined the United States today The Panic of 1907: When the Knickerbocker Trust Company failed, after a brazen attempt to manipulate the stock market led to a disastrous run on the banks, the Dow lost nearly half its value in weeks. Only billionaire J.P. Morgan was able to save the stock market. Black Tuesday (1929): As the newly created Federal Reserve System repeatedly adjusted interest rates in all the wrong ways, investment trusts, the darlings of that decade, became the catalyst that caused the bubble to burst, and the Dow fell dramatically, leading swiftly to the Great Depression. Black Monday (1987): When "portfolio insurance," a new tool meant to protect investments, instead led to increased losses, and corporate raiders drove stock prices above their real values, the Dow dropped an astonishing 22.6 percent in one day. The Great Recession (2008): As homeowners began defaulting on mortgages, investment portfolios that contained them collapsed, bringing the nation's largest banks, much of the economy, and the stock market down with them. The Flash Crash (2010): When one investment manager, using a runaway computer algorithm that was dangerously unstable and poorly understood, reacted to the economic turmoil in Greece, the stock market took an unprecedentedly sudden plunge, with the Dow shedding 998.5 points (roughly a trillion dollars in valuation) in just minutes. The stories behind the great crashes are filled with drama, human foibles, and heroic rescues. Taken together they tell the larger story of a nation reaching enormous heights of financial power while experiencing precipitous dips that alter and reset a market where millions of Americans invest their savings, and on which they depend for their futures. Scott Nations vividly shows how each of these major crashes played a role in America's political and cultural fabric, each providing painful lessons that have strengthened us and helped us to build the nation we know today. A History of the United States in Five Crashes clearly and compellingly illustrates the connections between these major financial collapses and examines the solid, clear-cut lessons they offer for preventing the next one.

A successful Wall Street trader turned Cambridge neuroscientist reveals the biology of boom and bust and how risk taking transforms our body chemistry, driving us to extremes of euphoria and risky behavior or stress and depression The laws of financial boom and bust, it turns out, have more than a little to do with male hormones. In a series of groundbreaking experiments, Dr. John Coates identified a feedback loop between testosterone and success that dramatically lowers the fear of risk in men, especially younger men—significantly, the fear of risk is not reduced in women. Similarly, intense failure leads to a rise in levels of cortisol, the antitestosterone hormone that lowers the appetite for risk across an entire spectrum of decisions. Before he became a world-class neuroscientist, Coates ran a derivatives desk in New York. As a successful trader on Wall Street, "the hour between dog and wolf" was the moment traders transformed-they would become revved up, exuberant risk takers, when flying high, or tentative, risk-averse creatures, when cowering from their losses. Coates understood instinctively that these dispositions were driven by body chemistry—and then he proved it. The Hour Between Dog and Wolfexpands on Coates's own research to offer lessons from the entire exploding new field—the biology of risk.Though Coates's research concentrates on traders, his conclusions shed light on all types of high-pressure decision making-from the sports field to the battlefield.The Hour Between Dog and Wolfleaves us with a powerful recognition: To handle risk in a "highly evolved" way isn't a matter of mind over body; it's a matter of mind and body working together. We all have it in us to be transformed from dog into wolf; the only question is whether we can understand the causes and the consequences.

"Quants"--those who design and implement mathematical models for the pricing of derivatives, assessment of risk, or prediction of market movements--are the backbone of today's investment industry. As the greater volatility of current financial markets has driven investors to seek shelter from increasing uncertainty, the quant revolution has given people the opportunity to avoid unwanted financial risk by literally trading it away, or more specifically, paying someone else to take on the unwanted risk.

Trading floors have always fascinated people, but few understand the role they play in the world of finance today. Though markets rise and fall every day, the drivers of those are rarely explored. Those who understand the dynamics of trading floors will better understand the dynamics of global financial markets. This book reveals the key players on the floor, their roles and responsibilities, how they serve their clients, and how it all impacts the markets. It also explains important terminology, explains the world of trading both cash and derivatives, and much more.

Hidden somewhere among all the numbers in a financial report is vitally important information about where a company has been and where it is going. This is especially relevant in light of the current corporate scandals. The sixth edition of this bestselling book is designed to help anyone who works with financial reports--but has neither the time nor the need for an in-depth knowledge of accounting--cut through the maze of accounting information to find out what those numbers really mean.

To those who don’t speak it, the language of money can seem impenetrable and its ideas too complex to grasp. In How to Speak Money, John Lanchester—author of the New York Times best-selling book on the financial crisis, I.O.U.—bridges the gap between the money people and the rest of us. With characteristic wit and candor, Lanchester reveals how the world of finance really works: from the terms and conditions of your personal checking account to the evasions of bankers appearing in front of Congress. As Lanchester writes, we need to understand what the money people are talking about so that those who speak the language don’t just write the rules for themselves. Lanchester explains more than 300 words and phrases from “AAA rating” and “amortization” to “yield curve” and “zombie bank.” He covers things we say or hear every day—such as GDP, the IMF, credit, debt, equity, and inflation—and explains how hedge funds work, what the World Bank does, and why the language of money has gotten so complicated. Along the way he draws on everything from John Maynard Keynes to the Wu-Tang Clan, Friedrich Hayek to Thomas Piketty, The Wealth of Nations to Game of Thrones. A primer, a polemic, and a reference book, How to Speak Money makes economics understandable to anyone. After all, “money,” as Lanchester writes, “is a lot like babies, and once you know the language, the rule is the same as that put forward by Dr. Spock: ‘Trust yourself. You know more than you think you do.’”

Alpha still exists! But that doesn't mean it is easy to find, or even worth the pursuit. Larry Swedroe, author of the bestselling series of "The Only Guide" investment books, and co-author Andrew Berkin bring you the quantitatively chilling tale of "The Incredible Shrinking Alpha." As aficionados of classic science fiction, Swedroe and Berkin saw similarities between the monumental struggle of Scott Carey, novelist Richard Matheson's Incredible Shrinking Man, and that of every individual investor trying to beat the market. Swedroe and Berkin explain in academic yet simple terms what is happening to the alpha for which so many investors yearn. Offering compelling data from decades of academic research, Swedroe and Berkin present the hard truth as they know it - it's not worth the time or effort spent battling to win those few extra cake crumbs. Instead, focus on the things you can control and discover what life has to offer beyond the quest for alpha.

In The Index Card, Helaine Olen and Harold Pollack draw on years of experience researching and reporting on financial lives to present an accessible, one-stop guide to taking back your financial future. Beyond outlining rules for financial success, the authors also explain why so few people follow them. The answers to healthy finance, it turns out, are simple enough to fit on an index card. Armed with The Index Card, readers will gain the tools, knowledge and confidence to make the right decisions regarding their money.

The evidence-based approach to a more worthwhile portfolio The Index Revolution argues that active investing is a loser's game, and that a passive approach is more profitable in today's market. By adjusting your portfolio asset weights to match a performance index, you consistently earn higher rates of returns and come out on top in the long run. This book explains why, and describes how individual investors can take advantage of indexing to make their portfolio stronger and more profitable. By indexing investment operations at a very low cost, and trusting that active professionals have set securities prices as correctly as possible, you will achieve better long-term results than those who look down on passive approaches while following outdated advice that no longer works. "Beating the market" is much harder than it used to be, and investors who continue to approach the market with that mindset populate the rolls of market losers time and time again. This book explains why indexing is the preferred approach in the current investment climate, and destroys the popular perception of passive investing as a weak market strategy. Structure your portfolio to perform better over the long term Trust in the pricing and earn higher rates of return Learn why a passive approach is more consistent and worthwhile Ignore overblown, outdated advice that is doomed to disappoint All great investors share a common secret to success: rational decision-making based on objective information. The Index Revolution shows you a more rational approach to the market for a more profitable portfolio.

Private equity fund investing is often viewed as more art than science, though in reality it requires an even blend of both skills. This book focuses on the science behind the art. It covers all the major concepts while introducing some great new ones, and must be required reading for serious private equity market participants.

Inside the House of Money lifts the veil on the typically opaque world of hedge funds, offering a rare glimpse at how today's highest paid money managers approach their craft. Author Steven Drobny demystifies how these star traders make billions for well-heeled investors, revealing their theories, strategies and approaches to markets. Drobny, cofounder of Drobny Global Advisors, an international macroeconomic research and advisory firm, has tapped into his network and beyond in order assemble this collection of thirteen interviews with the industry's best minds. Whether Russian bonds, Pakistani stocks, Southeast Asian currencies or stakes in African brewing companies, no market or instrument is out of bounds for these elite global macro hedge fund managers. Inside the House of Money is a must-read for financial professionals and anyone else interested in understanding the complexities at stake in world financial markets.

This book offers a straightforward look at quantitative trading. Investors, from high-net-worth individuals to pension funds, have never been more interested in quantitative trading - mainly due to the impressive returns they usually generate. And yet, few actually understand what goes on inside these black box trading strategies. That's why expert fund manager Rishi Narang has created "Inside the Black Box". In non-mathematical terms - and supplemented by anecdotes and real-world stories - this guide explains how quantitative trading strategies actually work. Written in a straightforward and accessible style, this book also skillfully explains how quant strategies fit into a portfolio, why they are valuable, and how to evaluate a quant manager.

First published in 1972, "Inside the Yield Book underwent more than twenty-five printings and remains a standard among bond market professionals. This new edition brings the still-relevant classic back into print with a new introduction by coauthor Martin L. Leibowitz, now chief investment officer at TIAA-CREF, and a new foreword by Henry Kaufman, former vice chairman of Salomon Brothers and one of the financial community's most-successful and most-respected figures. "Inside the Yield Book takes the bond investor behind the scenes and reveals in nontechnical terms the precise nature of bond yields and the ways in which they're often misunderstood and misused. It corrects many misconceptions about bond prices and yields as calculated in the standard Yield Book, and it provides a set of tools to aid in bond investment strategy that have made it the standard reference on bond math within the field of fixed income.

The best book on investing ever written, this classic work offers sound and safe principles for investing - principles that have worked for more than the half century since the first edition was published. This revised edition features a new introduction, appendix and chapter updates. Since its original publication in 1949, Benjamin Graham's book has remained the most respected guide to investing, due to his timeless philosophy of 'value investing', which helps protect investors against areas of possible substantial error and teaches them to develop long-term strategies with which they will be comfortable down the road.

This guide explains what mutual funds are, how they have developed and how they are used, regulated and administered across the globe. Both open-ended and closed-ended funds are described and the differences between the international markets, particularly USA, Europe and UK are addressed. Written by successful trainer and consultant, Ray Russell, the material reflects the growth and importance across the globe of mutual funds as a means of investing in worldwide economic development, whether to build a fund for retirement or otherwise.

Academics turned portfolio managers, Landier and Nair offer up evidence for socially responsible investing's potential for financial gain and real social change, highlighting how returns, risks and goals differ in ethical investing. The book traces the evolution of socially responsible investing (SRI) from its 18th-century Quaker roots to the first socially responsible mutual fund, 37-year-old Pax World, and finally to more recent "responsibility indices" and the increasing availability of corporate sustainability reports.

In this updated second edition, well-known investment author Hagstrom explores basic and fundamental investing concepts in a range of fields outside of economics, including physics, biology, sociology, psychology, philosophy, and literature. He discusses, for instance, how the theory of evolution disrupts the notion of the efficient market and how reading strategies for literature can be gainfully applied to investing research. Building on Charlie Munger's famous "latticework of mental models" concept, Hagstrom argues that it is impossible to make good investment decisions based solely on a strong knowledge of finance theory alone. He reinforces his concepts with additional data and a new chapter on mathematics, and updates his text throughout to reflect the developments of the past decade, particularly the seismic economic upheaval of 2008. He has also added a hundred new titles to the invaluable reading list concluding the book.

Investing-the commitment of resources to achieve a return-affects individuals, families, companies, and nations, and has done so throughout history. Yet until the sixteenth century, investing was a privilege of only the elite classes. The story behind the democratization of investing is bound up with some of history's most epic events. It is also a tale rich with lessons for professional and everyday investors who hope to make wiser choices. This entertaining history doubles as a sophisticated account of the opportunities and challenges facing the modern investor. It follows the rise of funded retirement; the evolution of investment vehicles and techniques; investment misdeeds and regulatory reform; government economic policy; the development of investment theory; and the emergence of new investment structures. Norton Reamer and Jesse Downing map these trends and profile the battle between low cost index and exchange-traded funds, on the one hand, and the higher-fee hedge funds and private equity, on the other. By helping us understand this history and its legacy of risk, Reamer and Downing hope to better educate readers about the individual and societal impact of investing and ultimately level the playing field.

Jargon-free and written for all investors-experienced, beginner, and everyone in between-The Investment Answer distills the process into just five decisions-five straightforward choices that can lead to safe and sound ways to manage your money.When Wall Street veteran Gordon Murray told his good friend and financial advisor, Dan Goldie, that he had only six months to live, Dan responded, "Do you want to write that book you've always wanted to do?" The result is this eminently valuable primer which can be read and understood in one sitting, and has advice that benefits you, not Wall Street and the rest of the traditional financial services industry.The Investment Answer asks readers to make five basic but key decisions to stack the investment odds in their favor. The advice is simple, easy-to-follow, and effective, and can lead to a more profitable portfolio for every investor. Specifically:* Should I invest on my own or seek help from an investment professional?* How should I allocate my investments among stocks, bonds, and cash?* Which specific asset classes within these broad categories should I include in my portfolio?* Should I take an actively managed approach to investing, or follow a passive alternative?* When should I sell assets and when should I buy more?

Investment Banking Explained provides a clear overview of this complex industry. It covers the history, key terms, structures, and strategies of investment banking and breaks the business down into its respective specialties—from traders, brokers, and analysts to relationship managers, hedgers, and retirement planners—illustrating how each contributes to the industry as a whole. Written by a high-level investment-banking veteran, this comprehensive guide examines the operations of the world's most successful firms and their shifting approach to risk. It then travels to capital markets around the world to explain how investment banks are forging their international strategies.

Most investors make their decisions based on "stories" that sound logical...stories backed by anecdotes claiming enormous success. Value investing sounds great. So does momentum investing. So does choosing high-dividend or low P/E stocks. So do many other strategies...even strategies that flatly contradict each other. They can't all work, no matter how good they sound. But some work better than others. And it's possible to combine the best elements from several strategies...maximizing your return and slashing your risk. In this book, one of the world's leading investment and valuation researchers will show you how. No "happy anecdotes" here: This is a thorough, objective analysis of the actual results of 13 different investment approaches...and their current outlook.

The Dividend Discount Model is also known as the "Gordon model" named after professor Myron J. Gordon who popularized the model. Professor Gordon wrote about the model in a book he authored in 1962 titled The Investment, Financing and Valuation of the Corporation. Since then the model has appeared in virtually every investments textbook. In his book titled Investment Valuation, Aswath Damodaran, a professor at New York University states: "In the long term, undervalued (overvalued) stocks from the dividend discount model outperform (underperform) the market index on a risk-adjusted basis." Although no investment model works for all stocks all of the time, the dividend discount model has proven to be a reliable way of selecting stocks that on average will perform relatively well on a long-term basis. It should be among the tools that investors use to select at least some of the stocks in their portfolio.

Even the most experienced investors in the world can screw up—and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. Whether you’re an old pro with a well-designed portfolio or a newbie investor just starting out, bestselling author Larry Swedroe with RC Balaban can show you how to “live and learn” from others’ mistakes—and invest in good times and bad. Be warned: This groundbreaking guide will shatter the myths about money you’ve come to accept and challenge the conventional wisdom you’ve received from friends, advisors, and other “experts. By exposing these all-too-common mistakes, one by one, you’ll be able to rethink your strategy and reinvest in your future with confidence. You’ll discover the truth about misleading demographics, “high-return” investments, active managers, and other resources you should—or shouldn’t—trust.You’ll learn the actual devastating effect taxes can have on your returns if you use the wrong strategy. You’ll learn the wrong way and the right way to build your portfolio, diversify your accounts, and plan for your family’s future. Most important, this book will show you how to avoid making the investment mistakes you used to make and how to give yourself the best chance of achieving your financial goals. Filled with insider insight, need-to-know advice, and revealing case studies, this is the one book smart investors can learn from—and even smarter investors can invest in.

In what feels like a series of personal audiences, Warren Buffett, John Templeton and dozens of others share the experiences of lifetimes in the market. Reach into this jewel box of an anthology and you will come up with gems of wit, wisdom, and analysis that reflect a unique combination of experience and insight in the essential elements that investing, like life itself, requires.

Based on cutting-edge research by leading corporate critic Louis Lowenstein, The Investor’s Dilemma: How Mutual Funds Are Betraying Your Trust and What to Do About It reveals how highly overpaid fund sponsors really operate and walks you through the conflicts of interest found throughout the industry. Page by page, you’ll discover the real problems within the world of mutual funds and learn how to overcome them through a value-oriented approach to this market.

In Investors and Markets, Nobel Prize-winning financial economist William Sharpe shows that investment professionals cannot make good portfolio choices unless they understand the determinants of asset prices. But until now asset-price analysis has largely been inaccessible to everyone except PhDs in financial economics. In this book, Sharpe changes that by setting out his state-of-the-art approach to asset pricing in a nonmathematical form that will be comprehensible to a broad range of investment professionals, including investment advisors, money managers, and financial analysts. Bridging the gap between the best financial theory and investment practice, Investors and Markets will help investment professionals make better portfolio choices by being smarter about asset prices. Based on Sharpe's Princeton Lectures in Finance, Investors and Markets presents a method of analyzing asset prices that accounts for the real behavior of investors. Sharpe makes this technique accessible through a new, one-of-a-kind computer program (available for free on his Web site, at http://www.stanford.edu/~wfsharpe/apsim/index.html) that enables users to create virtual markets, setting the starting conditions and then allowing trading until equilibrium is reached and trading stops. Program users can then analyze the final portfolios and asset prices, see expected returns, and measure risk.

In this timely and prescient update of his celebrated 2000 bestseller, Robert Shiller returns to the topic that gained him international fame: market volatility. Having predicted the stock market collapse that began just one month after the first edition was published, he now expands the book to cover other markets that have become volatile, particularly the recently red-hot housing market. Shiller amasses impressive evidence to support his argument that the recent housing market boom bears many similarities to the stock market bubble of the late 1990s, and may eventually be followed by declining home prices for years to come. After stocks plummeted when the bubble burst in 2000, investors moved their money into housing. This precipitated the inflated real estate prices not only in America but around the world, Shiller maintains. Hence, irrational exuberance did not disappear—it merely reappeared in other settings. Building on the original edition, Shiller draws out the psychological origins of volatility in financial markets, this time folding real estate into his analysis. He broadens the evidence that investing in capital markets of all kinds in the modern free-market economy is inherently unstable—subject to the profoundly human influences captured in Alan Greenspan’s now-famous phrase, “irrational exuberance.

First published in 1984, The Irwin Guide to Using The Wall Street Journal has shown over a quarter of a million investors how to locate and profitably use the investment information found daily in The Wall Street Journal. Now, this invaluable reference has been updated to include the latest charts, examples, and information on every facet of the investing world, with sample articles and data taken directly from the pages of The Journal itself! In addition to being the definitive tool for understanding and gaining every edge from reading The Wall Street Journal, this perennial bestseller is a complete guidebook on investing.

Welcome to the age of data. No matter your interests, your industry, or the type of organization you work for your world is awash with data. As a successful manager today, you must be able to make sense of all this information. You need to be conversant with analytical terminology and methods and able to work with quantitative information. This book promises to become your “quantitative literacy" guide—helping you develop the analytical skills you need right now in order to summarize data, find the meaning in it, and extract its value. In Keeping Up with the Quants, authors, professors, and analytics experts Thomas Davenport and Jinho Kim offer practical tools to improve your understanding of data analytics and enhance your thinking and decision making.
Big data and the analytics based on it promise to change virtually every industry and business function over the next decade. If you don’t have a business degree or if you aren’t comfortable with statistics and quantitative methods, this book is for you. Keeping Up with the Quants will give you the skills you need to master this new challenge—and gain a significant competitive edge.

It was wonderful to be young and working on Wall Street in the 1980s: never had so many twenty-four-year-olds made so much money in so little time. In this shrewd and wickedly funny, Michael Lewis describes an astonishing era and his own rake’s progress through a powerful investment bank. From an unlikely beginning (art history at Princeton?) he rose in two short years from Salomon Brothers trainee to Geek (the lowest form of life on the trading floor) to Big Swinging Dick–a bond salesman who could turn over millions of dollars’ worth of doubtful bonds with just one call. A born storyteller, Michael Lewis shows us how things really worked on Wall Street. The bond traders, wearing greed and ambition as badges of honor, might well have swaggered straight from the pages of Bonfire of the Vanities. But for all their outrageous behavior, they were in fact presiding over enormous changes in the world economy.

An accessible and thorough review of the international financial markets Life in the Financial Markets?How They Really Work And Why They Matter To You offers the financial services professional, and anyone interested in knowing more about the profession, an entertaining and comprehensive analysis of the financial markets and the financial services industry. Written by Daniel Lacalle'a noted portfolio manager with EcoFin and well-known media personality'the book goes beyond a simple summary and offers solid advice on the future of the global financial markets. This great resource also includes a review of effective strategies and forecasts the trends that represent potential opportunities for investors. The book reviews the recent history of the financial crisis and includes information on hot topics such as derivatives and high frequency trading. An in-depth section on investment banking is written from the perspective of a successful practitioner and provides clarity on several complex and overly politicized elements of the banking system. The author gives an expert's perspective on the debt markets, monetary policies, and quantitative easing, and helps explain the various issues surrounding sovereign debt, the Euro crisis, and austerity versus growth policies. Comprehensive in scope, this resource also offers an analysis of investment styles, from hedge funds to "long only" investments, as well as an in-depth look at corporate communication and its impact on markets and investments. Offers an engaging and comprehensive analysis of the financial services industry Includes information on the workings of the global financial system following the economic crisis Contains a review of complex banking systems Analyzes the various investment styles and answers the most common questions pertaining to investing

In "The Little Book of Behavioral Investing," expert James Montier takes you through some of the most important behavioral challenges faced by investors. Montier reveals the most common psychological barriers, clearly showing how emotion, overconfidence, and a multitude of other behavioral traits, can affect investment decision-making. Offers time-tested ways to identify and avoid the pitfalls of investor bias Author James Montier is one of the world's foremost behavioral analysts Discusses how to learn from our investment mistakes instead of repeating them Explores the behavioral principles that will allow you to maintain a successful investment portfolio. Written in a straightforward and accessible style, "The Little Book of Behavioral Investing" will enable you to identify and eliminate behavioral traits that can hinder your investment endeavors and show you how to go about achieving superior returns in the process.

The best-selling investing "bible" offers new information, new insights, and new perspectives The Little Book of Common Sense Investing is the classic guide to getting smart about the market. Legendary mutual fund  pioneer John C. Bogle reveals his key to getting more out of investing: low-cost index funds. Bogle describes the simplest and most effective investment strategy for building wealth over the long term: buy and hold, at very low cost, a mutual fund that tracks a broad stock market Index such as the S&P 500. While the stock market has tumbled and then soared since the first edition of Little Book of Common Sense was published in April 2007, Bogle's investment principles have endured and served investors well.  This tenth anniversary edition includes updated data and new information but maintains the same long-term perspective as in its predecessor.  Bogle has also added two new chapters designed to provide further guidance to investors:  one on asset allocation, the other on retirement investing. A portfolio focused on index funds is the only investment that effectively guarantees your fair share of stock market returns. This strategy is favored by Warren Buffett, who said this about Bogle: "If a statue is ever erected to honor the person who has done the most for American investors, the hands-down choice should be Jack Bogle. For decades, Jack has urged investors to invest in ultra-low-cost index funds. . . . Today, however, he has the satisfaction of knowing that he helped millions of investors realize far better returns on their savings than they otherwise would have earned. He is a hero to them and to me." Bogle shows you how to make index investing work for you and help you achieve your financial goals, and finds support from some of the world's best financial minds: not only Warren Buffett, but Benjamin Graham, Paul Samuelson, Burton Malkiel, Yale's David Swensen, Cliff Asness of AQR, and many others. This new edition of The Little Book of Common Sense Investing offers you the same solid strategy as its predecessor for building your financial future. Build a broadly diversified, low-cost portfolio without the risks of individual stocks, manager selection, or sector rotation. Forget the fads and marketing hype, and focus on what works in the real world. Understand that stock returns are generated by three sources (dividend yield, earnings growth, and change in market valuation) in order to establish rational expectations for stock returns over the coming decade. Recognize that in the long run, business reality  trumps market expectations. Learn how to harness the magic of compounding returns while avoiding the tyranny of compounding costs. While index investing allows you to sit back and let the market do the work for you, too many investors trade frantically, turning a winner's game into a loser's game. The Little Book of Common Sense Investing is a solid guidebook to your financial future.

An accessible look at the art of investing and how to adopt the practices of top professionals What differentiates the highly successful market practitioners'the Market Wizards'from ordinary traders? What traits do they share? What lessons can the average trader learn from those who achieved superior returns for decades while still maintaining strict risk control? Jack Schwager has spent the past 25 years interviewing the market legends in search of the answers'a quest chronicled in four prior Market Wizards volumes totaling nearly 2,000 pages. In The Little Book of Market Wizards, Jack Schwager seeks to distill what he considers the essential lessons he learned in conducting nearly four dozen interviews with some of the world's best traders. The book delves into the mindset and processes of highly successful traders, providing insights that all traders should find helpful in improving their trading skills and results. Each chapter focuses on a specific theme essential to market success Describes how all market participants can benefit by incorporating the related traits, behaviors, and philosophies of the Market Wizards in their own trading Filled with compelling anecdotes that bring the trading messages to life, and direct quotes from the market greats that resonate with the wisdom born of experience and skill Stepping clearly outside the narrow confines of most investment books, The Little Book of Market Wizards focuses on the value of understanding one's self within the context of successful investing.

Valuation is at the heart of any investment decision, whether that decision is to buy, sell, or hold. In The Little Book of Valuation, expert Aswath Damodaran explains the techniques in language that any investors can understand, so you can make better investment decisions when reviewing stock research reports and engaging in independent efforts to value and pick stocks. Page by page, Damodaran distills the fundamentals of valuation, without glossing over or ignoring key concepts, and develops models that you can easily understand and use. Along the way, he covers various valuation approaches from intrinsic or discounted cash flow valuation and multiples or relative valuation to some elements of real option valuation. Written with the individual investor in mind, this reliable guide will not only help you value a company quickly, but will also help you make sense of valuations done by others or found in comprehensive equity research reports.

In 2005, Joel Greenblatt published a book that is already considered one of the classics of finance literature. In The Little Book that Beats the Market?a New York Times bestseller with 300,000 copies in print?Greenblatt explained how investors can outperform the popular market averages by simply and systematically applying a formula that seeks out good businesses when they are available at bargain prices. Now, with a new Introduction and Afterword for 2010, The Little Book that Still Beats the Market updates and expands upon the research findings from the original book. Included are data and analysis covering the recent financial crisis and model performance through the end of 2009. In a straightforward and accessible style, the book explores the basic principles of successful stock market investing and then reveals the author?s time-tested formula that makes buying above average companies at below average prices automatic. Though the formula has been extensively tested and is a breakthrough in the academic and professional world, Greenblatt explains it using 6th grade math, plain language and humor. He shows how to use his method to beat both the market and professional managers by a wide margin. You?ll also learn why success eludes almost all individual and professional investors, and why the formula will continue to work even after everyone ?knows? it. While the formula may be simple, understanding why the formula works is the true key to success for investors. The book will take readers on a step-by-step journey so that they can learn the principles of value investing in a way that will provide them with a long term strategy that they can understand and stick with through both good and bad periods for the stock market. As the Wall Street Journal stated about the original edition, ?Mr. Greenblatt?says his goal was to provide advice that, while sophisticated, could be understood and followed by his five children, ages 6 to 15. They are in luck. His ?Little Book? is one of the best, clearest guides to value investing out there.?

The recent economic crisis was a dramatic reminder that capitalism can both produce and destroy. It's a system that by its very nature encourages predators and creators, locusts and bees. But, as Geoff Mulgan argues in this compelling, imaginative, and important book, the economic crisis also presents a historic opportunity to choose a radically different future for capitalism, one that maximizes its creative power and minimizes its destructive force. In an engaging and wide-ranging argument, Mulgan digs into the history of capitalism across the world to show its animating ideas, its utopias and dystopias, as well as its contradictions and possibilities. Drawing on a subtle framework for understanding systemic change, he shows how new political settlements reshaped capitalism in the past and are likely to do so in the future. By reconnecting value to real-life ideas of growth, he argues, efficiency and entrepreneurship can be harnessed to promote better lives and relationships rather than just a growth in the quantity of material consumption. This is a book for anyone who wonders where capitalism might be heading next--and who wants to help make sure that its future avoids the mistakes of the past.

Much of what we consider modern economics is the work of British journalist and economist Walter Bagehot, one of the first editors of the influential newspaper The Economist and an early proponent of business cycles. Here, he develops his theory of central banking, much of which continues to impact financial thinking today. First published in 1873, Lombard Street explores the history of London's Lombard Street, from how it came to be the traditional home of banks and moneylenders to how the value of money was determined by the institutions there. Joint stocks, private banking, and the regulation of the banking reserve: Bagehot's discussion of these fundamental economic issues makes this a vital resource for anyone wishing to understand financial history. WALTER BAGEHOT (1826-1877) also wrote The English Constitution (1867), Physics and Politics (1872), and The Postulates of English Political Economy (1885), among other works.

The incredible true story of the card-counting mathematics professor who taught the world how to beat the dealer and, as the first of the great quantitative investors, ushered in a revolution on Wall Street.   A child of the Great Depression, legendary mathematician Edward O. Thorp invented card counting, proving that you could do the seemingly impossible--beat the dealer at the blackjack table--and in doing so launched a gambling renaissance. His remarkable success--and mathematically unassailable method--caused such an uproar that the casinos altered the rules of the game to thwart him and the legions he inspired. They barred him from their premises, instituted new rules, and put his life in jeopardy. Nonetheless gambling was forever changed.   Thereafter, Thorp shifted his sights to "the biggest casino in the world": Wall Street. Devising and then deploying mathematical formulas to beat the market, Thorp ushered in the era of quantitative finance that we live in today. Along the way, the so-called godfather of the quants played bridge with Warren Buffett, crossed swords with a young Rudolph Giuliani, detected the Bernie Madoff scheme, and invented, with Claude Shannon, the world's first wearable computer to successfully beat the game of roulette.   Here, for the first time, Thorp tells the story of what he did, how he did it, his passions and motivations, and the curiosity that has always driven him to disregard conventional wisdom and devise game-changing solutions to seemingly insoluble problems. An intellectual thrill ride, replete with practical wisdom that can guide us all in uncertain financial waters, A Man for All Markets is an instant classic--a book that challenges its readers to think logically about a seemingly irrational world.

The first edition of Charles Kindleberger's brilliant, panoramic history, published in 1978, summarized the pattern of market developments and the five stages in the evolution of a financial crisis. Robert Z. Aliber probes the sequence of four waves of crises that have involved more than forty countries since the early 1980s and shows that implosions of their banking systems do not follow from the decisions of 'bad actors' but instead are symptomatic of a dysfunctional international monetary arrangement. With an updated Foreword from Robert M. Solow and a new Afterword from Lord Robert Skidelsky, this seventh edition exemplifies the continued importance of Kindleberger's work and Aliber's ongoing examination of financial crises around the world.  

Bestselling author, Jack Schwager, challenges the assumptions at the core of investment theory and practice and exposes common investor mistakes, missteps, myths, and misreads When it comes to investment models and theories of how markets work, convenience usually trumps reality. The simple fact is that many revered investment theories and market models are flatly wrong-that is, if we insist that they work in the real world. In this engaging new book, Jack Schwager, bestselling author of Market Wizards and The New Market Wizards, takes aim at the most perniciously pervasive academic precepts, money management canards, market myths and investor errors. Like so many ducks in a shooting gallery, Schwager picks them off, one at a time, revealing the truth about many of the fallacious assumptions, theories, and beliefs at the core of investment theory and practice. A sobering dose of real-world insight for investment professionals and a highly readable source of information and guidance for general readers interested in investment, trading, and finance Spans both traditional and alternative investment classes, covering both basic and advanced topics As in his best-selling Market Wizard series, Schwager manages the trick of covering material that is pertinent to professionals, yet writing in a style that is clear and accessible to the layman.

Emanuel Derman was one of the financial engineers whose mathematical models became crucial for Wall Street. The reliance investors put on such quantitative analysis was catastrophic for the economy, setting off the ongoing string of financial crises that began with the mortgage market in 2007 and continues today. Here Derman looks at why people—bankers in particular—still put so much faith in these models, and why it’s a terrible mistake to do so. Though financial models imitate the style of physics and employ the language of mathematics, ultimately they deal with human beings. In physics, theories aim for a description of reality; in finance, at best, models can shoot only for a simplistic and very limited approximation to it. Physicists and economists have been too enthusiastic to acknowledge the limits of their equations in the sphere of human behavior—which of course is what economics is all about. Describing the collapse of the subprime mortgage CDO market in 2007, Derman urges us to stop the naïve reliance on these models, and offers suggestions for mending them. This is a fascinating, lyrical, and very human look behind the curtain at the intersection between mathematics and human nature.

Wealthy, powerful and potentially dangerous, hedge fund moguls have become the It Boys of twenty-first century capitalism, succeeding the leveraged-buyouts barons of the 1980s and the dot-com wizards of the nineties. Their weekend mansions are doffer for "Vanity Fair" photographers; their potential to cause chaos preoccupied authorities even before the recent financial cataclysm. Based on unprecendented access to the industry, including three hundred hours of interveiws and binders of internal documents, "More Money Than God" provides the first authoritative history of hedge funds, telling the inside story of their origins, their explosive battles with central banks and finally their role in the financial crisis of 2007-2008. Hedge funds reward risk-takers, so they tend to attract larger-than-life personalities. Ken Griffin of Citadel started out trading convertible bonds from his dorm room at Harvard; a boy genius made good, the financial version of the entreprenerds who forged tech companies such as Google. And there are more. A saga of riches and rich egos, "More Money Than God" is a history of discovery, or the search for inefficiencies that lurk within supposedly efficient markets. Ever since the 1950s, finance professors have argued that beating the market is impossible; so how do the titans earn hundreds of millions, year after year? The answers lie in the extraordinary fertility of hedge funds, which draw on insights from physics, economics and psychology to crack the mysteries of the market. More than just a history "More Money Than God" is a window on tomorrow's financial system. It describes how hedge funds have been left for dead after past financial panics, but how they have also survived the test of 2008 far better than its rivals. The future of finance lies in the history of hedge funds.

Since its first publication, Michael J. Mauboussin's popular guide to wise investing has been translated into eight languages and has been named best business book by BusinessWeek and best economics book by Strategy+Business. Now updated to reflect current research and expanded to include new chapters on investment philosophy, psychology, and strategy and science as they pertain to money management, this volume is more than ever the best chance to know more than the average investor.Offering invaluable tools to better understand the concepts of choice and risk, More Than You Know is a unique blend of practical advice and sound theory, sampling from a wide variety of sources and disciplines. Mauboussin builds on the ideas of visionaries, including Warren Buffett and E. O. Wilson, but also finds wisdom in a broad and deep range of fields, such as casino gambling, horse racing, psychology, and evolutionary biology. He analyzes the strategies of poker experts David Sklansky and Puggy Pearson and pinpoints parallels between mate selection in guppies and stock market booms.For this edition, Mauboussin includes fresh thoughts on human cognition, management assessment, game theory, the role of intuition, and the mechanisms driving the market's mood swings, and explains what these topics tell us about smart investing. More Than You Know is written with the professional investor in mind but extends far beyond the world of economics and finance. Mauboussin groups his essays into four parts-Investment Philosophy, Psychology of Investing, Innovation and Competitive Strategy, and Science and Complexity Theory-and he includes substantial references for further reading. A true eye-opener, More Than You Know shows how a multidisciplinary approach that pays close attention to process and the psychology of decision making offers the best chance for long-term financial results.

Howard Marks's The Most Important Thing distilled the investing insight of his celebrated client memos into a single volume and, for the first time, made his time-tested philosophy available to general readers. In this edition, Marks's wisdom is joined by the comments, insights, and counterpoints of four renowned investors and investment educators: Christopher C. Davis (Davis Funds), Joel Greenblatt (Gotham Capital), Paul Johnson (Nicusa Capital), and Seth A. Klarman (Baupost Group). These experts lend insight into such concepts as "second-level thinking," the price/value relationship, patient opportunism, and defensive investing. Marks also adds his own annotations, expanding on his book's original themes and issues. A new chapter addresses the importance of reasonable expectations, and a foreword by Bruce C. Greenwald, called "a guru to Wall Street's gurus" by the New York Times, speaks on value investing, productivity, and the economics of information.

In the last decade, the number of mutual funds has tripled to more than 6,000 funds with more than $4 trillion in assets and more than 60 million individual shareholders. Yet there is no book on the mutual fund business designed for MBA and undergraduate business courses. The Mutual Fund Business, assembled by a leading industry expert, fills this gap. The book is divided into four parts. Part I contains a general introduction to mutual funds, a short history of the industry, and an overview of mutual fund regulation. Part II covers portfolio management of stock funds and bond funds, as well as execution of fund trades. Part III discusses the marketing and servicing of mutual funds in the direct, intermediary, and retirement channels. Finally, Part IV delves into more specialized topics: the financial dynamics of mutual funds, mutual funds as institutional investors, the role of technology in mutual fund complexes, and the internationalization of mutual funds.

'"The Mutual Fund Industry Handbook" is a remarkably important work ...I am profoundly impressed by the broad and comprehensive sweep of information and knowledge that this book makes available to industry participants, college and business school students, and anyone else with a serious interest in this industry' - From the Foreword by John C. Bogle President, Bogle Financial Markets Research Center Founder and former chief executive, The Vanguard Group. This authoritative book explains the complexities of the phenomenal industry in simple terms. Investors like the fact that mutual funds offer professional management, easy diversification, liquidity, convenience, a wide range of investment choices, and regulatory protection."Mutual Fund Industry Handbook" touches on all of those features and focuses on the diverse functions performed in the day-to-day operations of the mutual fund industry.

Chronicling the rise and fall of the efficient market theory and the century-long making of the modern financial industry, Justin Fox's The Myth of the Rational Market is as much an intellectual whodunit as a cultural history of the perils and possibilities of risk. The book brings to life the people and ideas that forged modern finance and investing, from the formative days of Wall Street through the Great Depression and into the financial calamity of today. It's a tale that features professors who made and lost fortunes, battled fiercely over ideas, beat the house in blackjack, wrote bestselling books, and played major roles on the world stage. It's also a tale of Wall Street's evolution, the power of the market to generate wealth and wreak havoc, and free market capitalism's war with itself. The efficient market hypothesis—long part of academic folklore but codified in the 1960s at the University of Chicago—has evolved into a powerful myth. It has been the maker and loser of fortunes, the driver of trillions of dollars, the inspiration for index funds and vast new derivatives markets, and the guidepost for thousands of careers. The theory holds that the market is always right, and that the decisions of millions of rational investors, all acting on information to outsmart one another, always provide the best judge of a stock's value. That myth is crumbling. Celebrated journalist and columnist Fox introduces a new wave of economists and scholars who no longer teach that investors are rational or that the markets are always right. Many of them now agree with Yale professor Robert Shiller that the efficient markets theory “represents one of the most remarkable errors in the history of economic thought.” Today the theory has given way to counterintuitive hypotheses about human behavior, psychological models of decision making, and the irrationality of the markets. Investors overreact, underreact, and make irrational decisions based on imperfect data. In his landmark treatment of the history of the world's markets, Fox uncovers the new ideas that may come to drive the market in the century ahead.

How can a company that has never turned a profit have a multibillion dollar valuation? Why do some start-ups attract large investments while others do not? Aswath Damodaran, finance professor and experienced investor, argues that the power of story drives corporate value, adding substance to numbers and persuading even cautious investors to take risks. In business, there are the storytellers who spin compelling narratives and the number-crunchers who construct meaningful models and accounts. Both are essential to success, but only by combining the two, Damodaran argues, can a business deliver and sustain value. Through a range of case studies, Narrative and Numbers describes how storytellers can better incorporate and narrate numbers and how number-crunchers can calculate more imaginative models that withstand scrutiny. Damodaran considers Uber's debut and how narrative is key to understanding different valuations. He investigates why Twitter and Facebook were valued in the billions of dollars at their public offerings, and why one (Twitter) has stagnated while the other (Facebook) has grown. Damodaran also looks at more established business models such as Apple and Amazon to demonstrate how a company's history can both enrich and constrain its narrative. And through Vale, a global Brazil-based mining company, he shows the influence of external narrative, and how country, commodity, and currency can shape a company's story. Narrative and Numbers reveals the benefits, challenges, and pitfalls of weaving narratives around numbers and how one can best test a story's plausibility.

In the midst of the most serious financial upheaval since the Great Depression, legendary financier George Soros explores the origins of the crisis and its implications for the future. In a concise essay that combines practical insight with philosophical depth, Soros makes an invaluable contribution to our understanding of the great credit crisis and its implications for our nation and the world

Inside the Trillion Dollar Industry That Owns Everything What do Dunkin′ Donuts, J. Crew, Toys "R" Us, and Burger King have in common? They are all currently or just recently were owned, operated, and controlled by private equity firms. The New Tycoons: Inside the Trillion Dollar Private Equity Industry That Owns Everything takes the reader behind the scenes of these firms: their famous billionaire founders, the overlapping stories of their creation and evolution, and the outsized ambitions that led a group of clever bankers from small shops operating in a corner of Wall Street into powerhouse titans of capital. This is the story of the money and the men who handle it. Go inside the private worlds of founders Henry Kravis, Steve Schwarzman, David Bonderman, and more in The New Tycoons, and discover how these men have transformed the industry and built the some of the most powerful and most secretive houses of money in the world. With numerous private equity firms going public for the first time, learn how these firms operate, where their money comes from and where it goes, and how every day millions of customers, employees, and retirees play a role in that complex tangle of money Author Jason Kelly tells the story of how thirty some years ago a group of colleagues with $120,000 of their own savings founded what would become one of the largest private equity shops in the world, completing the biggest buyout the world has ever seen, and making them all billionaires in the process Presents a never-before-seen look inside a secretive and powerful world on the verge of complete transformation as the industry and its leaders gain public profiles, scrutiny, and political positions Analyzing the founders and the firms at a crucial moment, when they′ve elevated themselves beyond their already lofty ambitions into the world of public opinion and valuation, New Tycoons looks at one of the most important, yet least examined, trillion-dollar corners of the global economy and what it portends for these new tycoons.

When the official history of twentieth-century Wall Street is written, it will certainly contain more than a few pages on Michael Steinhardt. One of the most successful money managers in the history of "The Street," Steinhardt far outshone his peers by achieving an average annual return of over thirty percent-significantly greater than that of every market benchmark. During his almost thirty-year tenure as a hedge fund manager, he amassed vast wealth for his investors and himself. One dollar invested with Steinhardt Partners L.P., his flagship hedge fund, at its inception in 1967 would have been worth $462 when he retired from active money management in 1995. No Bull offers an account of some of the investment strategies that drove Michael Steinhardt2s historic success as a hedge fund manager including a focus on his skills as an industry analyst and consummate stock picker. He also reveals how his uncanny talent for knowing when to trade against the prevailing market trend-a talent that was not always appreciated by several erstwhile high-profile clients-resulted in many of his greatest successes. Here he provides detailed accounts of some of his most sensational coups-including his momentous decision, in 1981, to stake everything on bonds-and his equally sensational failures, such as his disastrous foray into global macro-trading in the mid-1990s. At the same time, No Bull is the rags-to-riches story of a boy from Bensonhurst and his rise from the streets of Brooklyn to the heights of Wall Street. In a thoroughly engaging narrative, Steinhardt relates the early influences that shaped his attitudes toward life and success, as well as the beginning of his love affair with stock investing. Further, he chronicles his dawning awareness of the need for a purpose in life beyond the acquisition of wealth and how it led to his decision to retire and redirect his energies. We learn about his experiences as the chairman of the Democratic Leadership Council for nearly a decade, as well as his innovative thinking and ambitious projects to strengthen the Jewish community. The inspiring true story of a Wall Street genius and world-class philanthropist, No Bull is an unforgettable read for finance professionals and students of human nature alike. Michael Steinhardt is one of the most successful money managers in the history of Wall Street. He is also widely known for his philanthropic activities, particularly in the Jewish community-most notably as cofounder with Charles Bronfman of birthright israel, a program whose mission is to provide a free educational opportunity for every young Jewish person of the Diaspora to visit Israel.

"Investors are actively seeking investment options other than equities, bonds, and cash that will provide diversification and improved returns. The book offers an overview of a wide range of alternative investments, explaining what each is and how it works. The author shares his opinions on which to seriously consider and which to avoid at all costs"--Provided by publisher

In print for more than 20 years, this classic personal finance reference, updated to take into account ongoing changes in the financial world, is a must-have for anyone who wants to manage their money more effectively. As Andrew Tobias notes in his introduction, this book wasn't written for people who want to get rich quickly -- the advice presented here is smart, commonsensical, and designed for those who are courting long-term success. Some of Tobias's recommendations will sound familiar and comfortable -- pay off your credit cards on time, conserve energy, do research online before you buy, save money whenever you can -- while others, like his belief that you should trust no one when it comes to your money, come across as somewhat more hard-nosed; however, they are all worth reading about and, more important, putting into practice.

To trade successfully, traders need an authoritative, up-to-date guide to all the strategies available to them. Now, renowned options expert and best-selling author Michael C. Thomsett has created the definitive reference for options traders at all levels of experience. Thomsett systematically illuminates each key technique and strategy: how trades are structured, how to assess risk, and when each strategy is most applicable. For most strategies, Thomsett presents detailed tables and illustrations identifying profit zones, loss zones, and breakeven points. This book thoroughly explains how option premium develops based on various elements of value, walks through the calculation of returns on options trading, discusses how federal taxation works in the options market, shows how stocks are picked for options trading, and provides a complete glossary and additional resources for traders.

In just over three years, real estate giant Tishman Speyer and its partner, BlackRock, lost billions of investors’ dollars on a single deal. The New York Times reporter who first broke the story of the sale of Stuyvesant Town-Peter Cooper Village takes readers inside the most spectacular failure in real estate history, using this single deal as a lens to see how and why the real estate crisis happened. How did the smartest people in real estate lose billions in one single deal? How did the Church of England, the California public employees’ pension fund, and the Singapore government lose more than one billion dollars combined investing in a middle-class housing complex in New York City? How did MetLife make three billion dollars on the deal without any repercussions from a historically racist policy of housing segregation? And how did nine residents of a sleepy enclave in New York City win one of the most unlikely lawsuits in the history of real estate law? Not only does Other People’s Money answer those questions, it also explains the current recession in stark, clear detail while providing riveting first-person accounts of the titanic failure of the real estate industry to see that a recession was coming. It’s the definitive book on real estate during the bubble years and what happened when that enormous bubble exploded.

Author of the acclaimed work Iceberg Risk: An Adventure in Portfolio Theory, Kent Osband argues that uncertainty is central rather than marginal to finance. Markets don't trade mainly on changes in risk. They trade on changes in beliefs about risk. In the process, markets unite, stretch, and occasionally defy beliefs. Recognizing this would make a world of difference in investing. Belittling uncertainty has driven a rift between financial theory and practice and within finance theory itself. It has misguided regulation. It has stoked the greatest financial imbalances in world history. Hoping to spark a revolution in the mindset of the investment professional, Osband recasts the market as a learning machine rather than a knowledge machine. The market continually errs, corrects itself, and makes new errors. Respecting that process without idolizing it will lead to wiser investment, trading, and regulation. With uncertainty embedded at its core, Osband's rational approach points to a finance theory worthy of twenty-first-century investing.

A masterful account of today's money culture, showing how the underpricing of risk leads to catastrophe.When it comes to markets, the first deadly sin is greed. Michael Lewis is our jungle guide through five of the most violent and costly upheavals in recent financial history: the crash of '87, the Russian default (and the subsequent collapse of Long-Term Capital Management), the Asian currency crisis of 1999, the Internet bubble, and the current sub-prime mortgage disaster. With his trademark humor and brilliant anecdotes, Lewis paints the mood and market factors leading up to each event, weaves contemporary accounts to show what people thought was happening at the time, and then, with the luxury of hindsight, analyzes what actually happened and what we should have learned from experience.As he proved in Liar's Poker , The New New Thing , and Moneyball , Lewis is without peer in his understanding of market forces and human foibles. He is also, arguably, the funniest serious writer in America.

There is one thing about gambling that everyone knows: the house always wins. Lotteries are set up to guarantee profits, to the state. A craps game is a sure thing, but only if you own the table. Sometimes, however, everyone is wrong. After all, the reason that casinos ban card counters is that counting cards works. Indeed, for the past 500 years, gamblers--led by mathematicians and scientists--have been trying to figure out how to turn the tables on the house and pull the rug out from under Lady Luck. InThe Perfect Bet, mathematician and award-winning writer Adam Kucharski tells the astonishing story of how the experts have done it, revolutionizing mathematics and science in the process. From Galileo to Alan Turing, betting has been scientists’ playground for ideas: dice games in sixteenth-century bars gave birth to the theory of probability, and poker to game theory (mathematician John von Neumann wanted to improve his game) and to much of artificial intelligence. Kucharski gives us a collection ofrogues, geniuses, and mavericks who are equally at home in a casino in Monte Carlo as investigating how to build an atomic bomb for the Manhattan Project. They include the mathematician who flipped a coin 25,000 times to see if it was fair; the college kids who gamed the Massachusetts lottery to yield millions of dollars in profit; and the horse-betting syndicates of Hong Kong’s Happy Valley, who turned a wager on ponies into a multi-billion-dollar industry. With mathematical rigor and narrative flair,  Adam Kucharski reveals the tangled history of betting and science. The house can seem unbeatable. In this book, Kucharski shows us just why it isn’t. Even better, he shows us how the search for the perfect bet has been crucial for the scientific pursuit of a better world 

After the economic meltdown of 2008, many pundits placed the blame on “complex financial instruments” and the physicists and mathematicians who dreamed them up. But how is it that physicists came to drive Wall Street? And were their ideas really the cause of the collapse? In The Physics of Wall Street, physicist James Weatherall answers both these questions. He tells the story of how physicists first moved to finance, bringing science to bear on some of the thorniest problems in economics, from bubbles to options pricing. But models have limitations and can break down in the hands of those who either don’t understand their purpose or don’t care, which is exactly what happened on Wall Street. However, Weatherall argues that the solution is not to give up on the models, but to make them better.

During his fourteen years as Yale's chief investment officer, David F. Swensen has transformed the management of the university's portfolio. Largely by focusing on nonconventional strategies, including a heavy allocation to private equity, Swensen has achieved an annualized return of 16.2 percent, which has propelled Yale's endowment into the top tier of institutional funds. Now, this acknowledged leader of fund managers draws on his experience and deep knowledge of the financial markets to provide a compendium of powerful investment strategies. Swensen presents an overview of the investment world populated by institutional fund managers, pension fund fiduciaries, investment managers, and trustees of universities, museums, hospitals, and foundations. He offers penetrating insights from his experience managing Yale's endowment, ranging from broad issues of goals and investment philosophy to the strategic and tactical aspects of portfolio management. Swensen's exceptionally readable book addresses critical concepts such as handling risk, selecting investment advisers, and negotiating the opportunities and pitfalls in individual asset classes. Fundamental investment ideas are illustrated by real-world concrete examples, and each chapter contains strategies that any manager can put into action. Swensen's book is an indispensable roadmap for creating a successful investment program for every institutional fund manager.

Charles Ponzi perpetrated his infamous scheme almost a hundred years ago. But his method of using new investments to pay existing investors and finance a highflying lifestyle is alive and well: just as much money is lost in the United States today from Ponzi schemes as from shoplifting. Somehow, con artists are able to dazzle wealthy, educated individuals and sophisticated institutions and convince them to hand over huge sums of money. How? InThe Ponzi Scheme Puzzle, renowned legal scholar Tamar Frankel explores these con artists' fascinating power of persuasion and deception, uncovering the subtle signals that mimic truth and honesty. After years of close study of hundreds of cases, Frankel explains the striking patterns that emerge and the common characteristics of the con artists and their victims. She offers clear yet comprehensive descriptions of the various designs of Ponzi schemers' attractive offers and flags the ways in which they mask their deception through specialized methods of advertising and selling. There are indeed many lessons to learn from these stories, and Frankel brings them to light through the insightful results of her research. She shows how peoples' attitudes are ambivalent and uncertain toward con artists, perhaps because their behavior is so seemingly honest, because they act like the social leaders with whom they are likely to mingle, or perhaps because their actions are thought to shake up a complacent society. Frankel concludes by offering a surprising solution on how to prevent charming, dangerous con artists from perpetuating the enduring, disastrous legacy of Charles Ponzi.

Options have been traded for hundreds of years, but investment decisions were based on gut feelings until the Nobel Prize–winning discovery of the Black-Scholes options pricing model in 1973 ushered in the era of the “quants.” Wall Street would never be the same. In Pricing the Future, financial economist George G. Szpiro tells the fascinating stories of the pioneers of mathematical finance who conducted the search for the elusive options pricing formula. From the broker’s assistant who published the first mathematical explanation of financial markets to Albert Einstein and other scientists who looked for a way to explain the movement of atoms and molecules,Pricing the Futureretraces the historical and intellectual developments that ultimately led to the widespread use of mathematical models to drive investment strategies on Wall Street.

Private equity firms have long been at the center of public debates on the impact of the financial sector on Main Street companies. Are these firms financial innovators that save failing businesses or financial predators that bankrupt otherwise healthy companies and destroy jobs? The first comprehensive examination of this topic, Private Equity at Work provides a detailed yet accessible guide to this controversial business model. Economist Eileen Appelbaum and Professor Rosemary Batt carefully evaluate the evidence including original case studies and interviews, legal documents, bankruptcy proceedings, media coverage, and existing academic scholarship to demonstrate the effects of private equity on American businesses and workers. They document that while private equity firms have had positive effects on the operations and growth of small and mid-sized companies and in turning around failing companies, the interventions of private equity more often than not lead to significant negative consequences for many businesses and workers. Prior research on private equity has focused almost exclusively on the financial performance of private equity funds and the returns to their investors. Private Equity at Work provides a new roadmap to the largely hidden internal operations of these firms, showing how their business strategies disproportionately benefit the partners in private equity firms at the expense of other stakeholders and taxpayers. In the 1980s, leveraged buyouts by private equity firms saw high returns and were widely considered the solution to corporate wastefulness and mismanagement. And since 2000, nearly 11,500 companies representing almost 8 million employees have been purchased by private equity firms. As their role in the economy has increased, they have come under fire from labor unions and community advocates who argue that the proliferation of leveraged buyouts destroys jobs, causes wages to stagnate, saddles otherwise healthy companies with debt, and leads to subsidies from taxpayers. Appelbaum and Batt show that private equity firms financial strategies are designed to extract maximum value from the companies they buy and sell, often to the detriment of those companies and their employees and suppliers. Their risky decisions include buying companies and extracting dividends by loading them with high levels of debt and selling assets. These actions often lead to financial distress and a disproportionate focus on cost-cutting, outsourcing, and wage and benefit losses for workers, especially if they are unionized. Because the law views private equity firms as investors rather than employers, private equity owners are not held accountable for their actions in ways that public corporations are. And their actions are not transparent because private equity owned companies are not regulated by the Securities and Exchange Commission. Thus, any debts or costs of bankruptcy incurred fall on businesses owned by private equity and their workers, not the private equity firms that govern them. For employees this often means loss of jobs, health and pension benefits, and retirement income. Appelbaum and Batt conclude with a set of policy recommendations intended to curb the negative effects of private equity while preserving its constructive role in the economy. These include policies to improve transparency and accountability, as well as changes that would reduce the excessive use of financial engineering strategies by firms. A groundbreaking analysis of a hotly contested business model, Private Equity at Work provides an unprecedented analysis of the little-understood inner workings of private equity and of the effects of leveraged buyouts on American companies and workers. This important new work will be a valuable resource for scholars, policymakers, and the informed public alike."

QFINANCE: The Ultimate Resource (4th edition) offers both practical and thought-provoking articles for the finance practitioner, written by leading experts from the markets and academia. The coverage is expansive and in-depth, with key themes which include balance sheets and cash flow, regulation, investment, governance, reputation management, and Islamic finance encompassed in over 250 best practice and thought leadership articles. This edition will also comprise key perspectives on environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors -- essential for understanding the long-term sustainability of a company, whether you are an investor or a corporate strategist.Also included:Checklists: more than 250 practical guides and solutions to daily financial challenges;Finance Information Sources: 200+ pages spanning 65 finance areas;International Financial Information: up-to-date country and industry data;Management Library: over 130 summaries of the most popular finance titles;Finance Thinkers: 50 biographies covering their work and life;Quotations and Dictionary.

Drawing on unprecedented access to Peter Muller, Ken Griffen, Clifford Asness and Boaz Weinstein -- four number-crunching titans -- The Quants tells the inside story of what they thought and felt in the days and weeks when they helplessly watched much of their net worth vaporize – and wondered just how their mind-bending formulas and genius-level IQ’s had led them so wrong, so fast. Had their years of success been dumb luck, fool’s gold, a good run that could come to an end on any given day? What if The Truth they sought -- the secret of the markets -- wasn’t knowable? Worse, what if there wasn’t any Truth?

In a time of market volatility and economic uncertainty, when high-frequency traders and hedge fund managers seem to tower over the average investor, Burton G. Malkiel's classic and gimmick-free investment guide is now more necessary than ever. Rather than tricks, what you'll find here is a time-tested and thoroughly research-based strategy for your portfolio. Whether you're considering your first 401(k) contribution or contemplating retirement, this fully updated edition of A Random Walk Down Wall Street should be the first book on your reading list.In A Random Walk Down Wall Street you'll learn the basic terminology of "The Street" and how to navigate it with the help of a user-friendly, long-range investment strategy that really works. Drawing on his own varied experience as an economist, financial adviser, and successful investor, Malkiel shows why, despite recent advice to the contrary from so-called experts in the wake of the financial crisis, an individual who buys over time and holds a low-cost, internationally diversified index of securities is still likely to exceed the performance of portfolios carefully picked by professionals using sophisticated analytical techniques. In this new edition, Malkiel has provided valuable new material throughout the book on exchange-traded funds and investment opportunities in emerging markets, and in a brand-new, timely chapter, Malkiel authoritatively assesses the pitfalls and prospects of the latest investing trend, "smart beta."On top of all this, the book's classic life-cycle guide to investing, which tailors strategies to investors of any age, will help you plan confidently for the future. You'll learn how to analyze the potential returns, not only for basic stocks and bonds but for the full range of investment opportunities--from money-market accounts and real estate investment trusts to insurance, home ownership, and tangible assets like gold and collectibles. Individual investors of every level of experience and risk tolerance will find throughout the book the critical facts and step-by-step guidance they need to protect and grow their hard-earned dollars.With the prevailing wisdom changing on an almost daily basis, Malkiel's reassuring and vastly informative volume remains the best investment guide money can buy.

Updated and revised to include ten years of new developments in real estate investment, Real Estate Finance and Investment Manual, Ninth Edition is the definitive guide to financing for all real estate investors. Understand all the financing options, learn how to choose an appropriate strategy, read about insider techniques, and get hands-on experience with case studies and helpful checklists.

Investing in commercial real estate can provide excellent risk-return opportunities for both the large and small investor. Unlike equity securities, commercial real estate often generates a substantial and predictable cash flow over time—and the compounding effect of this cash flow can significantly enhance the performance of most investment portfolios.
Filled with in-depth insight and practical advice, The Real Estate Investment Handbook is an essential tool for current and aspiring commercial real estate investors looking to develop and evaluate commercial real estate properties. Throughout the book, experts G. Timothy Haight and Daniel D. Singer offer careful examinations of the various types of commercial real estate available, the measures within the markets used to evaluate their performance, and the intricacies of the markets in which they are traded.

First published in 1923, Reminiscences is a fictionalized account of the life of the trader Jesse Livermore. The book tells the story of Livermore's progression to day trading in the then so-called New England "bucket shops", from there to market speculator, market maker, and market manipulator, and finally to Wall Street where he made and lost his fortune several times over. Along the way, Livermore learns many lessons, which he happily shares with the reader. Despite the book's age, it continues to offer insights into the art of trading and speculation. In Jack Schwage'rs Market Wizards, Reminiscences was quoted as a major source of stock trading learning material for experienced and new traders by many of the traders who Schwager interviewed.

In 1940 few Americans had heard of mutual funds. Today U.S. mutual funds are the largest financial industry in the world, with over 88 million shareholders and over $11 trillion in assets. Cottage Industry to Financial Giant describes the developments that have produced mutual funds' long history of success. Among these developments are: * formation of the first mutual funds in the roaring 20s * how the 1929 stock market crash, a disaster for most financial institutions, spurred the growth of mutual funds * establishment in 1934, over FDR's objection, of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, the federal agency that regulates mutual funds * enactment of the Revenue Act of 1936, the tax law that saved mutual funds from extinction * passage of the Investment Company Act of 1940, the "constitution" of the mutual fund industry * the creation in 1972 of money market funds, which totally changed the mutual fund industry and the entire U.S. financial system *enactment of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, which created Individual Retirement Accounts * the accidental development of 401(k) plans, which have revolutionized the way Americans save for retirement * the 2003 trading abuses, the greatest scandal ever in the history of the mutual fund industry Many events have never been reported before. Others have been discussed in works on other subjects such as retirement plans. Thus, this is first book that pulls together the many strands of mutual funds' unique history. Moreover, the author was personally involved in developments over the past forty years, and much of the book is a personal narrative regarding the people and events that have produced mutual funds' success.

Executives, investors, and the business press routinely chant the mantra that corporations are "owned by shareholders" and managers are obliged to "maximize shareholder value." The results have been disastrous. "Shareholder primacy" thinking causes corporate managers to focus myopically on short-term earnings reports at the expense of long-term performance; discourages investment and innovation; harms employees, customers, and communities; and causes companies to indulge in reckless, sociopathic, and socially irresponsible behaviours. In this powerful new book, distinguished legal scholar Lynn Stout proves that there is in fact absolutely no legal obligation for corporations to maximize shareholder value - people just assumed there was. Nor, she demonstrates, is it the optimal economic model - that's just another unproven assumption. And in fact, it is not the best model: Stout presents empirical evidence which shows that companies that put share value first do not outperform companies that emphasize it less. Shareholder primacy actually hurts individual investors by obscuring their specific, diverse interests in the name of serving a hypothetical, homogeneous, abstract shareholder. Stout looks at new theories that not only better serve the needs of real human beings who invest, but of corporations and society as well.

Although considered risky business in the finance community, short selling is recognized by many as an essential element of portfolio management. This guide for managers and investors presents practical suggestions from investment professionals and academics for using the technique of short selling to enhance financial performance. A sampling of topics includes the mechanics of the equity lending market, the information content of short sales, and the economic profit approach to short selling.

Are you too busy to pay much attention to your money? Do you worry that maybe you haven't been doing the right things? This book is for you, from Jane Bryant Quinn, the most trusted voice in personal finance today. Her classic bestseller, Making the Most of Your Money, guided a generation toward smart and sensible financial choices. Here she strips away the extras, choosing the best financial ideas and products available today. They're all you need to create a successful and long-lasting financial plan. It's money management the No Worry way.

Here is THE book recounting the life and times of one of the most respected men in the world, Warren Buffett. The legendary Omaha investor has never written a memoir, but now he has allowed one writer, Alice Schroeder, unprecedented access to explore directly with him and with those closest to him his work, opinions, struggles, triumphs, follies, and wisdom. The result is the personally revealing and complete biography of the man known everywhere as “The Oracle of Omaha.” Never before has Buffett spent countless hours responding to a writer’s questions, talking, giving complete access to his wife, children, friends, and business associates—opening his files, recalling his childhood. It was an act of courage, as The Snowball makes immensely clear. Being human, his own life, like most lives, has been a mix of strengths and frailties. Yet notable though his wealth may be, Buffett’s legacy will not be his ranking on the scorecard of wealth; it will be his principles and ideas that have enriched people’s lives. This book tells you why Warren Buffett is the most fascinating American success story of our time.

Kenneth A. Posner spent close to two decades as a Wall Street analyst, tracking the so-called "specialty finance" sector, which included controversial companies such as Countrywide, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, CIT, and MasterCard& -many of which were caught in the subprime mortgage and capital markets crisis of 2007. While extreme volatility is nothing new in finance, the recent downturn caught many off guard, indicating that the traditional approach to decision making had let them down. Introducing a new framework for handling and evaluating extreme risk, Posner draws on years of experience to show how decision makers can best cope with the "Black Swans" of our time.Posner's shrewd assessment combines the classic fundamental research approach of Benjamin Graham and David Dodd with more recent developments in cognitive science, computational theory, and quantitative finance. He outlines a probabilistic approach to decision making that involves forecasting across a range of scenarios, and he explains how to balance confidence, react accurately to fast-breaking information, overcome information overload, zero in on the critical issues, penetrate the information asymmetry shielding corporate executives, and integrate the power of human intuition with sophisticated analytics. Emphasizing the computational resources we already have at our disposal& -our computers and our minds& -Posner offers a new track to decision making for analysts, investors, traders, corporate executives, risk managers, regulators, policymakers, journalists, and anyone who faces a world of extreme volatility.

The stock market--the virtual "place" where corporations raise capital--has come to symbolize business more profoundly than any other entity or institution. This book provides a glimpse into the history, development, regulation, and increasing importance that the stock market plays in business and economic growth, as well as the investment strategies of individuals--in the U.S. and around the world, including Europe, Japan, Hong Kong, and "emerging markets" in the developing world that are rapidly integrating into the global economy. To explore the roles and workings of the stock market, the authors trace its evolution from its origins on Wall Street in the 1700s to the present, and examine the varied ways in which it is used to generate economic value.

In this long awaited and eagerly anticipated update, Jeremy Siegel provides his legendary perspective and guidance to an investment world turned upside down. Siegel offers solid strategies for long-term investment success in the stock market, shows investors how to understand and interpret the movements of the market over time, and includes a detailed description of market performances since 1802--including nearly 100 original charts and graphs. WIth all the new material and the perspective that Siegel offers for these scary times, he has pulled off the rare feat: making a classic even better. I rate Stocks for the Long Run a strong buy.

ONE OF BLOOMBERG'S BEST BOOKS, 2016 FOREWORD BY NOURIEL ROUBINI $UPERHUBS is a rare, behind-the-scenes look at how the world's most powerful titans, the -superhubs- pull the levers of our global financial system. Combining insider's knowledge with principles of network science, Sandra Navidi offers a startling new perspective on how superhubs build their powerful networks and how their decisions impact all our lives. $UPERHUBS reveals what happens at the exclusive, invitation-only platforms - The World Economic Forum in Davos, the meetings of the International Monetary Fund, think-tank gatherings and exclusive galas. This is the most vivid portrait to date of the global elite: the bank CEOs, fund managers, billionaire financiers and politicians who, through their interlocking relationships and collective influence are transforming our increasingly fragile financial system, economy and society.

This book was first printed in 1938, having been written as a Ph.D. thesis at Harvard in 1937. Our good friend, Peter Bernstein mentioned this book several times in his excellent Capital Ideas which was published in 1992. Why the book is interesting today is that it still is important and the most authoritative work on how to value financial assets. As Peter says: "Williams combined original theoretical concepts with enlightening and entertaining commentary based on his own experiences in the rough-and-tumble world of investment." Williams' discovery was to project an estimate that offers intrinsic value and it is called the 'Dividend Discount Model' which is still used today by professional investors on the institutional side of markets.

Now fully updated with the latest financial developments, this is the bestselling book that briefly and brilliantly explains how we got into the economic mess that is the Credit Crunch. With the housing markets unravelling daily and distress signals flying throughout the rest of the economy, there is little doubt that we are facing a fierce recession. In crisp, gripping prose, Charles R. Morris shows how got into this mess. He explains the arcane financial instruments, the chicanery, the policy misjudgments, the dogmas, and the delusions that created the greatest credit bubble in world history. The Two Trillion-Dollar Meltdown, updated to include the latest financial developments, is indispensable to understanding how the world economy has been put on the brink.

Now in its sixth edition, Understanding Futures Markets by Robert Kolb (University of Colorado) and James Overdahl (Chief Economist of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission) provides the most comprehensive coverage of futures markets available. Clearly written and accessible, this is the authoritative text for students and practitioners alike looking for an in-depth treatment of futures markets.

An investing classic--updated to meet the realities of a changing economy For 30 years, Understanding Wall Street has been helping investors gain a firm grasp of how the stock market functions. Now, when readers need it most, we provide important updates while retaining the foundations that have made the book a perennial bestseller. Understanding Wall Street, Fifth Edition, has new sections and information on the current shift to exchange traded funds (ETFs), using the Internet as an investing tool, recent scandals, and other subjects important to readers today.

A highly visual look at major investment opportunities from the minds at Bloomberg The essential guide for anyone trying to get a handle on the fundamentals of investing, the Bloomberg Visual Guide to Financial Markets distills 30 years of Bloomberg expertise into one straightforward, easy-to-read volume. The book teaches readers about three basic investment options-governments, companies, and real assets, including gold and other commodities-and offers valuable insights into money-market securities, bonds, stocks, derivatives, mutual funds, exchange-traded funds, and alternatives. Designed to help financial professionals, students of finance, and individual investors understand the markets in which they′re investing, the book begins with simple investments before moving on to more complex choices. Explains bonds, stocks, derivatives, mutual funds, exchange-traded funds, and alternatives such as hedge funds Explores the three Rs of returns, risks, and relative value that are associated with each type of investment Provides a highly visual presentation with an emphasis on graphics and professional applications The Bloomberg Visual Guide to Financial Markets gives the reader a clear picture of what underlies market structure, instruments, and dynamics and how to capitalize on these elements.

Wall Street is an unending source of legend--and nightmares. It is a universal symbol of both the highest aspirations of economic prosperity and the basest impulses of greed and deception. Charles R. Geisst'sWall Streetis at once a chronicle of the street itself--from the days when the wall was merely a defensive barricade built by Peter Stuyvesant--and an engaging economic history of the United States, a tale of profits and losses, enterprising spirits, and key figures that transformed America into the most powerful economy in the world. The book traces many themes, like the move of industry and business westward in the early 19th century, the rise of the great Robber Barons, and the growth of industry from the securities market's innovative financing of railroads, major steel companies, and Bell's and Edison's technical innovations. And because "The Street" has always been a breeding ground for outlandish characters with brazen nerve, no history of the stock market would be complete without a look at the conniving of ruthless wheeler-dealers and lesser known but influential rogues. This updated edition covers the historic, almost apocalyptic events of the 2008 financial crisis and the overarching policy changes of the Obama administration. As Wall Street and America have changed irrevocably after the crisis, Charles R. Geisst offers the definitive chronicle of the relationship between the two, and the challenges and successes it has fostered that have shaped our history.

How does Wall Street, that great bastion of American Capitalism, really work? This book provides the multifaceted answer to that question clearly, concisely, and on a practical level for anyone seeking to better understand the inner workings of the capital markets. Tracing the dealings of a fictional company from inception to maturity, The Wall Street Primer provides the reader with practical insights on Wall Street and its functions and operations. Written for professionals new to the industry, investors, job seekers, students, brokers and traders, and entrepreneurs and business executives, the book goes well beyond "nice to know" information. Instead, it will be, for many people, "must have" information about organizations, professions, and transactions that can help them make deals, get ahead in their careers, or better fund and build their businesses.

Recognize Wall Street tactics for what they are, and make smarter decisions with your money Wall Street Potholes shares insights into the money management industry, revealing the shady practices that benefit the salesman far more than the client. Bestselling author Simon Lack brings together a team of experienced money managers to give you straight-from-the-source intel, and teach you how to recognize bad advice and when it's better to just walk away. Investors are rightly suspicious that many products are sold more because of the fees they generate than their appropriateness to the client's situation, and that's only the beginning. This book lays it all bare so you can walk into your next deal with your eyes wide open. You'll learn just how big the profit margin is on different products, and why Wall Street intentionally makes things as complicated as possible. You'll learn expert tactics for combatting these practices, so you can avoid buying overpriced products and confidently discriminate against advisors who put their own interests first. For all the volumes of investment advice on the market, dissatisfaction with the financial services industry has never been higher. This book describes the reason for that disconnect, and tells you how to see through the smoke and mirrors to make the best decisions for your money. Discover the profit margin built into some popular products Learn the reason behind bundling and why Wall Street fears comparison shopping Consider the importance of benchmarking, and why so many firms avoid it Become better informed so you can easily recognize poor investment advice If asking questions of your financial advisor only nets more confusion, if you want to have more control over your money, you need a firm grasp of how these firms manipulate your trust. Wall Street Potholes tells you what you need to know to become a smarter investor.

Wall Street Research: Past, Present, and Future provides a timely account of the dramatic evolution of Wall Street research, examining its rise, fall, and reemergence. Despite regulatory, technological, and global forces that have transformed equity research in the last ten years, the industry has proven to be remarkably resilient and consistent. Boris Groysberg and Paul M. Healy get to the heart of Wall Street research#151;the analysts engaged in the process#151;and demonstrate how the analysts' roles have evolved, what drives their performance today, and how they stack up against their buy-side counterparts. The book unpacks key trends and describes how different firms have coped with shifting pressures. It concludes with an assessment of where equity research is headed in emerging markets, drawing conclusions about this often overlooked corner of Wall Street and the industry's future challenges.

The 2008 financial collapse, the expansion of corporate and private wealth, the influence of money in politics--many of Wall Street's contemporary trends can be traced back to the work of fourteen critical figures who wrote, and occasionally broke, the rules of American finance. Edward Morris plots in absorbing detail Wall Street's transformation from a clubby enclave of financiers to a symbol of vast economic power. His book begins with J. Pierpont Morgan, who ruled the American banking system at the turn of the twentieth century, and ends with Sandy Weill, whose collapsing Citigroup required the largest taxpayer bailout in history. In between, Wall Streeters relates the triumphs and missteps of twelve other financial visionaries. From Charles Merrill, who founded Merrill Lynch and introduced the small investor to the American stock market; to Michael Milken, the so-called junk bond king; to Jack Bogle, whose index funds redefined the mutual fund business; to Myron Scholes, who laid the groundwork for derivative securities; and to Benjamin Graham, who wrote the book on securities analysis. Anyone interested in the modern institution of American finance will devour this history of some of its most important players.

A simple guide to a smarter strategy for the individual investor A Wealth of Common Sense sheds a refreshing light on investing, and shows you how a simplicity-based framework can lead to better investment decisions. The financial market is a complex system, but that doesn't mean it requires a complex strategy; in fact, this false premise is the driving force behind many investors' market "mistakes." Information is important, but understanding and perspective are the keys to better decision-making. This book describes the proper way to view the markets and your portfolio, and show you the simple strategies that make investing more profitable, less confusing, and less time-consuming. Without the burden of short-term performance benchmarks, individual investors have the advantage of focusing on the long view, and the freedom to construct the kind of portfolio that will serve their investment goals best. This book proves how complex strategies essentially waste these advantages, and provides an alternative game plan for those ready to simplify. Complexity is often used as a mechanism for talking investors into unnecessary purchases, when all most need is a deeper understanding of conventional options. This book explains which issues you actually should pay attention to, and which ones are simply used for an illusion of intelligence and control. Keep up with-or beat-professional money managers Exploit stock market volatility to your utmost advantage Learn where advisors and consultants fit into smart strategy Build a portfolio that makes sense for your particular situation You don't have to outsmart the market if you can simply outperform it. Cut through the confusion and noise and focus on what actually matters. A Wealth of Common Sense clears the air, and gives you the insight you need to become a smarter, more successful investor.

Everything investors who skipped accounting class need to know to spot--and steer clear of--companies whose numbers don't add up Individual investors today are painfully aware that accounting fraud is more widespread than ever, yet often they aren't sure what this fraud looks like or even where to look. What Every Investor Needs to Know About Accounting Fraud explains common accounting maneuvers, distortions, and outright deceptions that savvy investors must be able to recognize and steer clear of, all in a concise, easy-to-understand format. Professor Jeff Madura has created a book that is both accessible and informative, and doesn't talk down to the reader. Concise yet complete, it provides investors with: Methods for uncovering scams that distort revenues, hide expenses, and more Studies of infamous accounting frauds and how they could have been avoided.

This is the story of the slow evolution of Goldman Sachs-addressing why and how the firm changed from an ethical standard to a legal one as it grew to be a leading global corporation.In What Happened to Goldman Sachs, Steven G. Mandis uncovers the forces behind what he calls Goldman's "organizational drift." Drawing from his firsthand experience; sociological research; analysis of SEC, congressional, and other filings Mandis uncovers the pressures that forced Goldman to slowly drift away from the very principles on which its reputation was built.Mandis evaluates what made Goldman Sachs so successful in the first place, how it responded to pressures to grow, why it moved away from the values and partnership culture that sustained it for so many years, what forces accelerated this drift, and why insiders can't-or won't-recognize this crucial change.Combining insightful analysis with engaging storytelling, Mandis has written an insider's history that offers invaluable perspectives to business leaders interested in understanding and managing organizational drift in their own firms.

Combining the new field of behavioral finance with the real world of investing, this engaging new book explores the mind-sets and motivations behind the major money decisions—and most common mistakes—that investors make every day. You'll also learn how age, gender, genetics, and personality affect your investment decisions and how people of different countries and cultures think about risks and returns, poverty, and wealth. You'll discover
how behavioral finance provides key insights into the behavior that has rocked investment markets in recent years. And, most important, you'll learn to recognize the desires, thoughts, and emotions that drive your own investment decisions—so you can drive better on your road to investment success.

"Once I picked it up I did not put it down until I finished. . . . What Schwed has done is capture fully-in deceptively clean language-the lunacy at the heart of the investment business." -- From the Foreword by Michael Lewis, Bestselling author of Liar's Poker ". . . one of the funniest books ever written about Wall Street." -- Jane Bryant Quinn, The Washington Post "How great to have a reissue of a hilarious classic that proves the more things change the more they stay the same. Only the names have been changed to protect the innocent." -- Michael Bloomberg "It's amazing how well Schwed's book is holding up after fifty-five years. About the only thing that's changed on Wall Street is that computers have replaced pencils and graph paper. Otherwise, the basics are the same. The investor's need to believe somebody is matched by the financial advisor's need to make a nice living. If one of them has to be disappointed, it's bound to be the former." -- John Rothchild, Author, A Fool and His Money, Financial Columnist, Time magazine Humorous and entertaining, this book exposes the folly and hypocrisy of Wall Street. The title refers to a story about a visitor to New York who admired the yachts of the bankers and brokers. Naively, he asked where all the customers' yachts were? Of course, none of the customers could afford yachts, even though they dutifully followed the advice of their bankers and brokers. Full of wise contrarian advice and offering a true look at the world of investing, in which brokers get rich while their customers go broke, this book continues to open the eyes of investors to the reality of Wall Street.

The bestselling investment guide tailored to help readers succeed in today's ailing economy In this new edition of the bestselling Winning the Loser's Game, Charles Ellis concentrates on longterm strategies that allow time, compounding, and the natural ebbs and flows of the market to work for the individual investor. Historical data proves that when individual investors fight to beat the market, they are bound to lose. Ellis explains how readers can use the market to their advantage if they deploy its powers carefully and wisely. With a writing style that is concise and to the point, Ellis had added timely material to his timeless classic, making Winning the Loser's Game more relevant than ever before.

"A fascinating new perspective on modern finance," --Oliver Hart, 2016 Nobel Laureate in Economics "Lucid, witty and delightfully erudite...From the French revolution to film noir, from the history of probability to Jane Austen andThe Simpsons, this is an astonishing intellectual feast." --Sebastian Mallaby, author ofThe Man Who Knew: The Life and Times of Alan Greenspan In 1688, essayist Josef de la Vega described finance as both "the fairest and most deceitful business . . . the noblest and the most infamous in the world, the finest and most vulgar on earth." The characterization of finance as deceitful, infamous, and vulgar still rings true today - particularly in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis. But, what happened to the fairest, noblest, and finest profession that de la Vega saw?  De la Vega hit on an essential truth that has been forgotten: finance can be just as principled, life-affirming, andworthy as it can be fraught with questionable practices.  Today, finance is shrouded in mystery for outsiders, while many insiders are uneasy with the disrepute of their profession.  How can finance become more accessible and also recover its nobility? Harvard Business School professor Mihir Desai, in his "last lecture" to the graduating Harvard MBA class of 2015, took up the cause of restoring humanity to finance. With incisive wit and irony, his lecture drew upon a rich knowledge of literature, film, history, and philosophy to explain the inner workings of finance in a manner that has never been seen before. This book captures Desai's lucid exploration of the ideas of finance as seen through the unusual prism of the humanities. Through this novel, creative approach, Desai shows that outsiders can access the underlying ideas easily and insiders can reacquaint themselves with the core humanity of their profession. The mix of finance and the humanities creates unusual pairings: Jane Austen and Anthony Trollope are guides to risk management; Jeff Koons becomes an advocate of levera≥ and Mel Brooks'sThe Producers teaches us about fiduciary responsibility. In Desai's vision, the principles of finance also provide answers to critical questions in our lives. Among many surprising parallels, bankruptcy teaches us how to react to failure, the lessons of mergers apply to marriages, and the Capital Asset Pricing Model demonstrates the true value of relationships. THE WISDOM OF FINANCE is a wholly unique book, offering a refreshing new perspective on one of the world's most complex and misunderstood professions.    

Becoming a young Wall Street banker is like pledging the world's most lucrative and soul-crushing fraternity. Every year, thousands of eager college graduates are hired by the world's financial giants, where they're taught the secrets of making obscene amounts of money-- as well as how to dress, talk, date, drink, and schmooze like real financiers. YOUNG MONEY is the inside story of this well-guarded world. Kevin Roose, New York magazine business writer and author of the critically acclaimed The Unlikely Disciple, spent more than three years shadowing eight entry-level workers at Goldman Sachs, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, and other leading investment firms. Roose chronicled their triumphs and disappointments, their million-dollar trades and runaway Excel spreadsheets, and got an unprecedented (and unauthorized) glimpse of the financial world's initiation process. Roose's young bankers are exposed to the exhausting workloads, huge bonuses, and recreational drugs that have always characterized Wall Street life. But they experience something new, too: an industry forever changed by the massive financial collapse of 2008. And as they get their Wall Street educations, they face hard questions about morality, prestige, and the value of their work. YOUNG MONEY is the story of how the financial crisis changed a generation-and remade Wall Street from the bottom up.

What happens inside our brains when we think about money? Quite a lot, actually, and some of it isn't good for our financial health. In Your Money and Your Brain, Jason Zweig explains why smart people make stupid financial decisions — and what they can do to avoid these mistakes. Zweig, a veteran financial journalist, draws on the latest research in neuroeconomics, a fascinating new discipline that combines psychology, neuroscience, and economics to better understand financial decision making. He shows why we often misunderstand risk and why we tend to be overconfident about our investment decisions. Your Money and Your Brain offers some radical new insights into investing and shows investors how to take control of the battlefield between reason and emotion.

In 2007, a stranger-than-fiction multibillion-dollar bidding war for the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) erupted between the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) and Atlanta’s IntercontinentalExchange (ICE). Zero-Sum Game: The Rise of the World’s Largest Derivatives Exchange takes readers behind the scenes of this battle to tell the gripping—and often comical—story of how the historic merger between CME and CBOT almost didn’t happen. Author Erika S. Olson, a managing director at CBOT during the bidding war, delivers a blow-by-blow account of the fight for the world’s oldest futures exchange, taking you inside CBOT’s landmark Chicago Loop headquarters, onto the high-octane trading floor, and into executives’ offices.