Best Books on Wall Street/Finance/Financial Crisis/Money

Hey Guys,

I was wondering if anyone could recommend some books that are enjoyable reads. I'm not talking about books that will teach me about short selling and things like that. I want suggestions for books that have to do with the culture of Wall Street and anything around that idea.

Also, What about books on the financial crisis?
I have heard that Too Big to Fail is really good.

Any others?

 

All time favorite finance book: Reminiscence of a Stock Operator. It will not teach you how to short-sell, but very entertaining. It will amaze you how certain things on the street have not changed in over 100 years.

 
Best Response

I am going to recommend a book that is different from what everyone else would even think of reading. In fact, I firmly believe this should be considered required reading for anyone that wants to work on Wall Street regardless of whether you are trying to break into IBD, S&T, Hedge Funds/Private Equity or Asset Management. I know this is going to be an old and out of date book, but I can't help heap praises for "Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds". It goes without saying that for a book written over 150 years ago, it still holds great relevance to everything today. It's not a shock at all that economists and journalists consider this to be a seminal piece in the discussion of financial crisis and, assuming you agree with Michael Lewis' train of thought, this is a seminal work of classic economics.

I would take note of the fact that it doesn't cover any modern topics, but the lessons learned can be applied to, and in fact have been compared to, any modern bubble we have seen over the last 100 years.

 

Graham, Buffet, Klarman. I still haven't read any of their full books, but I know those are pretty important.

"Respect others in their view, and demand that they respect yours. Love your life, perfect your life, beautify all things in your life."
 
Banker88:
The Game by Neil Strauss

Agreed. This is absolutely vital.

"A strong man cannot help a weaker unless that weaker is willing to be helped, and even the weak man must become strong of himself; he must, by his own efforts, develop the strength which he admires in another. None but himself can alter his condition."
 

Here are the business books on Jamie Dimon's recommnded reading list.

• The World is Flat by Thomas Friedman • Competitive Strategy: Techniques for Analyzing Industries and Competitors By Michael Porter
Security Analysis: The Classic 1940 Edition By Benjamin Graham and David Dodd
• The Intelligent Investor By Benjamin Graham and David Dodd • Execution – The Discipline of Getting Things Done By Larry Bossidy and Ram Charan • Jack: Straight From the Gut By Jack Welch with John A. Byrne • Sam Walton – Made in America By Sam Walton with John Huey • Double Your Profits in 6 Months or Less By Bob Fifer • Built from Scratch By Bernie Marcus and Arthur Blank, Founders of The Home Depot, with Bob Andelman • Only the Paranoid Survive By Andrew S. Grove • Built to Last By James C. Collins and Jerry I. Porras

 
WallStreetOasis.com:
we have Recommended Reading under the industry section in our FAQs...take a look

I had no idea there was a section for this. Great!

Here to learn and hopefully pass on some knowledge as well. SB if I helped.
 

Ok, in all seriousness, if we're talking about public stocks. I'm a huge fan of Aswath Damadaron (any of his books). His material really trains your thought process on investing in stocks. Instead of telling you which investing rules to follow, he break down when it may be advantageous to use P/E and the shortcomings of the P/B under different market environments and company circumstances, vice versa. And uses empirical evidence to back up his points.

Or any of Warren Buffett's essays on corporate management is an interesting read.

Baby you're the perfect shape, baby you're the perfect weight. Treat me like my birthday, I want it this way and I want it that way. It makes a man feel good baby.
 

If you want to learn about general financial services industry, I am reading Black Swan, Financial Shock, When Markets Collide, New Paradigm for Financial Markets(though this book is kinda vague. Personally dont recommend).... If you are interested in banking, Monkey Business(duh~), Accidental Investment Banker, Damn it feels good to be a banker, Culture of Success... I am personally interested in corporate restructuring, and Six Months and Corporate Turnover seems to be easy to read and interesting. If you are interested in distressed investments, I think Vulture Investors are the best. That book gives you the best history lessons for legendary investment bankers like Ken Moelis and infamous hedge fund managers like Karl Icahn. Amazon is a good source to find relevant great books in cheap prices.

The books in the lists above post are MUST-READ. But you should also check some newly published good books.

....couple of PUA books can also help you when your brain gets fried after the dry books.

Hope this helps!

 

i believe that you should listen to music and watch movies instead of reading books in order to learn about financial services.

i suggest the following:

music: I get money - 50 cent I get money remix - 50 cent and everyone else Window Shopper - 50 cent

Movies: Get rich or die trying Boiler room I think I love my wife 25th hour American Psycho Barbarians at the Gate Wall Street Belly Fight Club The Castaway Forrest Gump - to help deal with the depression/rejection if you don't get into Wall Street

Any movie with charlie sheen - that guy always seems to be a stockbroker/salesman in some shape or form in his movies.

We're about to enter a Great Depression. Don't you want a president who's already dressed for it?

------------ I'm making it up as I go along.
 
markhobbus:
Michael Lewis's "The Big Short" is pretty good. I also have "House of Cards" but have not started reading it yet because I'm sick of reading about the crisis already.

You should definitely read 'House of Cards', its a great book. William Cohan's writing makes it seem as if you're on the set of 'Margin Call', giving a minute-by-minute progression of events.

Other good books are 'Free fall' by Stiglitz and 'Crisis Economics' by Roubini - these books are much more theoretical because of the authors' background.

 

I recently read Michael Lewis' new book "Boomerang" which take a more global view of our economic systems. Main thesis is that the financial crisis in the US didn't happen in a vacuum, but was part of a much larger problem worldwide on a sovereign and societal level. He uses case studies to lay out his case: Iceland, Greece, Ireland, Germany's conundrum, and the US (both state and fed).

Alex Chu www.mbaapply.com
 

I've read a pile of books on this, a few of which have been mentioned.

All The Devils Are Here was a good read. It jumps from topic to topic and covers a much wider scope of causes. Too Big To Fail was great. The movie sucked. That book was hard to put down. Michael Lewis is one of the best out there and The Big Short is 3-4 different stories of people that are very unique.

Other books worth mentioning....Street Fighters by Kate Kelly, an inside look into the last 72 hours of Bear Stearns. The End of Wall Street by Roger Lowenstein, same guy who wrote When Genius Failed: LTCM. And one of my favorites, Last Man Standing by Duff Mcdonald. It's about my boy, Jamie Dimon, and it looks at his leadership throughout 2008 and how he waded through the storm.

All hard books to put down. I have one more left on my list of unread books and it's Henry Paulson's account of the crises, called On The Brink. I would imagine it will be a good read.

Enjoy.

"I'm short your house"
 
W.Beach:
I've read a pile of books on this, a few of which have been mentioned.

All The Devils Are Here was a good read. It jumps from topic to topic and covers a much wider scope of causes. Too Big To Fail was great. The movie sucked. That book was hard to put down. Michael Lewis is one of the best out there and The Big Short is 3-4 different stories of people that are very unique.

Other books worth mentioning....Street Fighters by Kate Kelly, an inside look into the last 72 hours of Bear Stearns. The End of Wall Street by Roger Lowenstein, same guy who wrote When Genius Failed: LTCM. And one of my favorites, Last Man Standing by Duff Mcdonald. It's about my boy, Jamie Dimon, and it looks at his leadership throughout 2008 and how he waded through the storm.

All hard books to put down. I have one more left on my list of unread books and it's Henry Paulson's account of the crises, called On The Brink. I would imagine it will be a good read.

Enjoy.

I've read 'On The Brink', it offers an excellent first-hand perspective towards the financial crisis rolling out in front of Paulson's eyes.

 

Liar's Poker, Smartest Guys in the Room, Barbarians at the Gate, The Partnership: The Rise of Goldman Sachs, Market Wizards, More Money Than God. It's better to give him books that provide a background and are exciting before getting into the more technical bullshit.

"Greed, in all of its forms; greed for life, for money, for love, for knowledge has marked the upward surge of mankind. And greed, you mark my words, will not only save Teldar Paper, but that other malfunctioning corporation called the USA."
 

Second Liar's Poker, but I'll also throw it "Bank" by David Bledin - hilarious take on what it's like to be an analyst.

- Capt K - "Prestige is like a powerful magnet that warps even your beliefs about what you enjoy. If you want to make ambitious people waste their time on errands, bait the hook with prestige." - Paul Graham
 

The Mystery Method: How to Get Beautiful Women Into Bed How To Win Friends and Influence People The Game: Penetrating the Secret Society of Pickup Artists Monkey Business

If he reads these books and follows all the advices, he will be much closer to banking than after reading Liar's Poker, The Big Short, When Genius Failed, Barbarians at the Gate, Smartest Guys in the Room, The Partnership: The Rise of Goldman Sachs, Market Wizards, More Money Than God combined. I am dead serious. He is a senior. Teach him how to get laid and make friends.

 
The Phantom:
The Mystery Method: How to Get Beautiful Women Into Bed How To Win Friends and Influence People The Game: Penetrating the Secret Society of Pickup Artists Monkey Business

If he reads these books and follows all the advices, he will be much closer to banking than after reading Liar's Poker, The Big Short, When Genius Failed, Barbarians at the Gate, Smartest Guys in the Room, The Partnership: The Rise of Goldman Sachs, Market Wizards, More Money Than God combined. I am dead serious. He is a senior. Teach him how to get laid and make friends.

That's actually not a bad point. Fit is such a huge component of interviews - personality and warmth trump technical knowledge more often than most college kids think.
- Capt K - "Prestige is like a powerful magnet that warps even your beliefs about what you enjoy. If you want to make ambitious people waste their time on errands, bait the hook with prestige." - Paul Graham
 

The Quants

"After you work on Wall Street it’s a choice, would you rather work at McDonalds or on the sell-side? I would choose McDonalds over the sell-side.” - David Tepper
 
Kisya_Me:
What if I want to learn more about a particular area, such as Asset Management. I have great textbook knowledge which I am ready to take to the next level.

What books would you recommend?

P.S I am a college senior.

Thanks!

The Schweser Guides for the CFA if you're about to graduate and want to do AM...

If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses - Henry Ford
 

I second the classics like Monkey Business, Liar's Poker, Barbarians, When Genius Failed, and Accidental Investment Banker...

Also like the idea of him reading Damn It Feels Good to Be a Banker and Leveraged Sellout Blog to give a decent look at how pretentious it all can be (sometimes a bit of a culture shock if you aren't expecting it)

Other good reads, though a little dry: Where are the Customers' Yachts?, A Random Walk Down Wall Street, The 4 Hour Work Week (not a direct Wall Street tie-in but extremely inspirational), and Too Big to Fail

 

A quick Google search should turn up most of the popular ones, especially for the 2007-08 crisis: Lewis, Stiglitz, Blinder, etc.

The End of Alchemy by Mervyn King (former Bank of England governor) is pretty good.

Stabilizing and Unstable Economy by Hyman Minsky has some interesting chapters on financial fragility and crises. It's a bit dated and def more academic, though only mildly technical.

I can probably think of more later and add them. There are some top-notch blog posts on the subject as well. As always, it's good to read a few competing ideas.

 

there are so many bubble like Japan in 1987, dotcom in 2000, china in 2015... and crisis in 1987, 1997...I love to read books about how fund manager, analysts, general investor think and act...please help me to introduce more book. thanks

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