I just wanted to start a thread where people could add their favorite books related to finance and investment banking. Also, include books that you think would give us knowledge that would be useful in this career we have chosen.
I'll start:
The Partnership: The Making of Goldman Sachs - Charles D. Ellis
The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine - Michael Lewis
48 Laws of Power - Robert Greene
The Prince - Niccolo Machiavelli
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Eat Pray Love Chicken Soup for the Banker's Soul
Monkey Business - John Rolfe, Peter Troob Too Big to Fail - Andrew Sorkin
and seeing as I'm just starting to get into this stuff, I have a book arriving today from amazon that I have yet to read -- a reference book rather than a narrative -- but it has 5 stars across the board, for the most part:
Investment Banking: Valuation, Leveraged Buyouts, and Mergers and Acquisitions - Josh Rosenbaum, Josh Pearl, Joseph Perella
Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell is interesting, as well.
i could never fini a Malcom book, like after reading half of it, you lose interest... but the 10,000 hour theory is really interesting, that is like a 2 year analyst stint (100 hr x 100 weeks)
Wow, I've read Outliers and have never noticed how perfectly applicable that rule is to Banking. Good catch, man.
Anything written by Machiavelli is a must for prospective chimps
Lol. Most of Machiavelli's works were contemporary and have no relevance to the modern day at all (unless you dig reading profiles of Italian city states). You're probably referencing The Prince, because you think it teaches you the bad ass secrets of how to manipulate people.
You do realise that the Prince is, in many respects, a work of satire don't you?
Also, even if it were a blueprint for gaining political influence, it has no relevance for chimps. Analysts / Associates are plebs, not princes.
The Selfish Gene - Richard Dawkins
Fooled By Randomness - Nassim Taleb
The Black Swan - Ibid.
Liar's Poker - Michael Lewis
Greene's books are a huge letdown. How the fuck is some story about some 14th century french barron supposed to help me get promoted?
If you want real banker philosophy read Thus Spoke Zarathustra by Nietzsche. It's all about creating value, and just generally being a badass.
As stated above:
Liar's Poker by Michael Lewis
Then more:
Goldman Sachs: The Culture of Success by Lisa Endlich When Genius Failed by Roger Lowenstein The Quants by Scott Patterson More Money Than God by Sebastian Mallaby Fool's Gold by Gillian Tett
I find Inventing Money by Dunbar much better when it comes to the LTCM story.
+1
[double post]
A colossal failure of common sense - lawrence mcdonald, it was a good read looking at the development of Lehman to the point of bankruptcy
loved The Big Short
The Art of War - Sun Tzu The Book of Five Rings - Miyamoto Musashi Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince - JK Rowling
I was really worried no one was going to mention this.
Summer 2004 edition of the International Male catalogue
has anyone here read the memoirs of John Rockefeller? any comments? is it worth reading?
sorry i meant David Rockefeller of course, the former chairman of Chase National Bank
I read the first 50 pages or so. Not so bad but I couldn't get through it.
My recommendations: -Monkey Business -The Accidental Investment Banker -Confessions of an Economic Hitman -The Greatest Trade Ever (about John Paulson)
The Twilight series.
More true than we all might realize.
Where are the customers Yachts?
My favorites for monkeys are, in this order
You can read all these Sun Tzu or Machiavelli books for fun if you want, but it's certainly not going to help you with work as an analyst/associate. You're a worker bee, not a captain of industry. Skip the textbooks too - once in a blue moon they'll be useful as a reference, but you'll learn everything you need to in training.
Wolf of Wallstreet by Jordan Belfor is sweet, lots of drugs and prostitutes...
Jamie Dimon's 2010 Summer Reading List for Interns
http://www.quantnet.com/forum/showthread.php?t=7045
Fortune's Summer 2010 CEO reading list http://www.quantnet.com/forum/showthread.php?t=7048
The Accidental Investment Banker by Jonathan Knee
The Bible
There is a very thorough list on quatnet about books on wall street culture and history.
http://www.quantnet.com/master-reading-list-for-quants
Non-fiction only, please.
Oh, I forgot to add "The Secrets of Mental Math: The Mathemagician's Guide to Lightning Calculation and Amazing Math Tricks"...it's pure gold..
The Fountainhead- Ayn Rand
Market Wizards
The Pokerface of Wall Street
Completely agree with the Nassim Taleb picks (Fooled by Randomness and Black Swan)
I like this one: Cityboy: Beer and Loathing in the Square Mile (G. Anderson)
Am curious to know whether you've ever read this book? There is absolutely no link between IB and the philosophy taught by Machiavelli.
Quoting a prestigious philosopher doesn't make you sound smart!
Ugly Americans: The True Story of the Ivy League Cowboys
@camondo
We are in a cutthroat industry. Machiavelli's ideas and teachings represent that. Being aware of some of the tools used by corrupt individuals to take advantage of people and to get power help us to avoid getting a knife in our back.
@camondo
We are in a cutthroat industry. Machiavelli's ideas and teachings represent that. Being aware of some of the tools used by corrupt individuals to take advantage of people and to get power help us to avoid getting a knife in our back.
Thank you
I don't understand how "The Prince" helps at all. If you are going to throw Machiavelli in, I am surprised you didn't put the Art of War by Lao Tsu in there as well. The only takeaway I ever really think about from the Prince is "Its better to be feared than loved." Lets get over the delusions of grandeur guys, we are competing on an individual level, not governing a city state.
Anyway, here are my recommendations that haven't been mentioned yet:
Barbarians at the Gate- Bryan Burrough (?) Reminiscences of a Stock Operator- Edwin LeFevre Predator's Ball Den Of Thieves A Random Walk Down Wall St - Burton Malkiel The Intelligent Investor- Graham The Smartest Guys in the room.
Note: Its entirely possible I butchered the spelling of author's or got them completely wrong.
The Mystery Method: How to Get Beautiful Women Into Bed by Mystery, Chris Odom, and Neil Strauss
As is often mentioned in these book threads, The Alchemist is a fantastic book especially for all the bankers who feel like they've been "shepherding" too long. Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov is still my favorite book, although not a light read.
I've read many of the banking/trading and ultimate downfall (LTCM, Drexel) books; many are accurate and often hilarious, but I find it more refreshing to read books that have nothing to do with finance these days.
The Intelligent Investor Liar's Poker
In honor of the coming developed world debt crisis: -"The Chastening", Paul Blustein -"And the Money Kept Rolling In (and Out)", Paul Blustein and of course, "This Time is Different", Reinhart and Rogoff
Anyone read Roubini's new book?
Rogoff is good. Ascent of money by nial. Roubini can blow me, as can the wolf of wall street garbage. That's some shit I would have read when I was 19.
The book of the moment is When Money Dies...if you can find it. While the hyperinflation crowd is wrong and only getting more wrong, it is still a very interesting read.
I would like to add Rigged - The True Story of an Ivy League Kid Who Changed the World of Oil, from Wall Street to Dubai
Investment Banking: Valuation, Leveraged Buyouts, and Mergers and Acquisitions - Josh Rosenbaum, Josh Pearl, Joseph Perella Liar's Poker - Michael Lewis Too Big To Fail - Andrew Ross Sorkin
The Last Tycoons about Lazard is pretty in depth.
Ayn Rand - Atlas Shrugged Milton Friedman - free to choose Barbarians at the Gate
second the last tycoons
just saving myself to this list
adding myself to this list..this is great!
Margin of Safety by Klarman is my personal favorite, but you might struggle to find a copy.
Investment Banking - What should I read to prepare myself (Originally Posted: 09/23/2012)
So I'm in high school and really love following the stock market and all...but I wanna get more involved, like what should i read and how should i prepare myself with knowledge and experience so I can become a future I-banker
Mergers & Inquisitions website.
that website is great for like telling me how the lifestyle is and everything...but im wondering like how to actually invest better...like what to look for in financials or key things in the Journal that will sway stocks
For interview questions, the M&I/Breaking into Wall Street 400-question guide is easily the best imo, but some people like the WSO guides and the Vault guide.
If you want to understand investment banking more in depth, "Investment Banking" by Rosenbaum and Pearl is a good book.
That said, investment banking is not investing. If you want to learn how to trade equities or whatever, none of this is really going to help you. As an analyst, ibanking consists of making powerpoints and excel spreadsheets to try to a) sell or buy a company or b) issue debt or equity securities. It's not a position where you invest. If investing is what interests you, try looking into investment management, hedge funds or private equity. Spending time in investment banking can help you break into "buy-side" roles though (buy-side refers to firms that actually invest in companies/stocks/bonds/etc to make a return) which is why a lot of people want to do it out of college.
People will probably post on this thread and make fun of you so I wanted to give you the straight answer. The best thing you can do as a kid in high school to break into ibanking is to get the highest possible GPA/SAT you can and do impressive extracurricular activities so you can get accepted to a top college. Knowing particulars about technical investment banking stuff at this point won't really help you. You can learn all of that during your sophomore or junior year of college with ease. However, if you can't get into a top school, it will be much, much, much harder to break into the field (although certainly not impossible).
Hope this helps.
[quote=SonnyZH]
] The top comment for that video is fucking retarded.
First, you need to understand that an investment banker is not the same thing as a stock picker or an investor or a sales and trader for that matter. But I commend your enthusiasm given you are still in high school and have a long way to go. It's never too early to learn about the markets, but make sure you don't go overboard - keep things balanced and enjoy the next couple of years.
For starters, I highly recommend reading Ben Graham's The Intelligent Investor - he was Warren Buffet's professor and mentor at Columbia, and Graham is widely regarded as the father of fundamental analysis. The book is a relatively easy read even if you have no prior experience in finance.
Two other books I strongly recommend are One Up on Wall Street and A Random Walk Down Wall Street.
If you really want to learn what investment bankers do, then read Rosenbaum and Pearl's Investment Banking book. More of a how-to, but this covers the basic methodologies investment bankers use to value companies.
Lastly, if you want to learn more about the culture and lifestyle in Wall Street, I suggest you look into Liar's Poker and Monkey Business.
Cheers.
This is perfect, thanks and I will look into those books. So is it really true that it is hard to get into wall street from like NYU, Georgetown, Emory, other schools on that level? what should i look for in markets? like trends wise
ibankingfaq
ibankingfaq
Look to do a job that contributes something to society.
Books to read - Basic course (Originally Posted: 04/03/2007)
Since I am just starting out my college career I pretty much only have basic course, so i try to read as much as possible about Ibanking. What would you guys recommend?
theres a lot of books you can get at barnes and nobles that talk specifically about finance/wall street stuff, but if you want general reading about the atmosphere and wall street 'feel' you should check out Liars Poker or Monkey Business, something along those lines
Yea ive read basic ones, of course Liars Poker, Im looking for more specific ones. Ive walked through those sections at book stores and there are tons of books, I dont want to waste my time reading some useless information
den of thieves
Barbarians at the Gate
the Accidental Investment Banker--a little bit less entertaining than the others mentioned, but very informative and gives you a great feel for what investment banking really is and how the industry has evolved
how do these books compare to like Liars Poker, cuz that was a great story but i wish it was more informative of what Ibanking really does
yea, I read the accidental IB as well. kinda dry; gives history of goldman and MS...IB perspective of a VP.
Barbarians at the Gate, while it does cover histories of RJR Nabisco, KKR, and the like, it does a good job of showing to some degree what bankers do. The hours spent negotiating on a Friday night, getting called in at 3-4 AM. Of course, it won't help you with what its like to be an analyst. As far as being compared to Liar's Poker, I would say Barbarians is much more relevant.
is a fun read and lets u know what life as a banker is really like
traders guns and money is a really great book about derivatives
Definitely recommend Golden Handcuffs. It's a story about the first 12 months in IBanking, written from the perspective of one male and one female analyst. It reads just like this forum, so I'm assuming it's quite realistic! A thousand times funnier and more useful than Liar's Poker.
The Culture of Success by Lisa Endlich..
Monkey Business. Period.
Monkey Business and Barbarians at the Gate are great books. Liar's poker is good to learn more about S&T and junk bonds in the 80's.
As a side note, I had a few interviewers that weren't too happy to hear me mention that I enjoyed Monkey Business... I loved the book though and just recently reread it
Confessions of a Wall Street Analyst - Dan Reingold Greed Merchants - Philip Auger
When asked in interviews how I'd gone about learning about IBanking, I said I'd gone out to find critiques of the industry - book of praise will undoubtedly have more bias than a critique (which can honestly tell the awful truths of the industry). Anyway, one MD called to give me an offer, stating that my questioning approach to life had struck a chord with him....I can only assume he meant reading these books before applying.
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