What are some of your favourite/must read books?

I am currently in the process of reading/finishing these books:

-Talent is Overrated
-Art of War
-The 48 Laws of Power

What are some other books that you guys recommend be on everybody's book list?

 

El-Erian - "When markets collide" very interesting perspective about the future of world economics (although I'm sure that in light of recent events he's probably alter some of his viewpoints)

 

General good books:

  • Tom Wolfe: Bonfire of the Vanities
  • Robert Caro: The Power Broker, The Path to Power, Means of Ascent, Master of the Senate
  • T.E. Lawrence: The Seven Pillars of Wisdon
  • Michael Lewis: Money Ball, The Blind Side
  • Harman Wouk: The Winds of War, War and Remembrance
  • Mark Bowden: Killing Pablo, Black Hawk Down
  • Ben Mezrich: Bringing Down the House
  • F. Scott Fitzgerald: Great Gatsby
  • John Steinbeck: Grapes of Wrath
  • Mark Twain
  • Ayn Rand: The Fountainhead, Atlas Shrugged
  • Barbara Tuchman: The Guns of August
  • Hunter S. Thompson: Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
  • H.G. Bissinger: Friday Night Lights
  • Slavomir Rawicz: The Long Walk
  • Leon Uris: Mila 13, Exodus
  • Sir Thomas Malory: Le Morte D'Arthur

Finance specific:

I'd suggest going on Amazon, ordering a shit ton of used books, plowing through them, and also using the related book list to find other ones that interest you. You could probably get every book on the list above for $200-$300

 

Fine Literature:

  • I Hope They Serve Beer In Hell by Tucker Max - http://tuckermax.com/
  • The Law (La Loi) by Frederic Bastiat (Great classic refuting socialism)
  • Barbarians At The Gate
  • The Great Gatsby
  • Atlas Shrugged
  • The Golden Age by John C. Wright (Excellent libertarian science fiction)
  • Free To Choose by Milton Friedman
  • Patrick O'Brien's many seafaring books
  • Parallel Worlds by Michio Kaku
  • The Singularity Is Near by Ray Kurzweil - http://www.kurzweiltech.com/aboutray.html great stuff
 

Aside from what's been mentioned, if you like IR, The Paradox of American Power was an interesting read by Joseph S. Nye. He also wrote Soft Power, which was interesting, but I didn't find it quite as good.

If you like behavioral economics, I absolutely loved The Wisdom of Crowds, thought it was well written and fascinating. Predictably Irrational was OK, writing was lacking a little but studies were interesting.

Jack: They’re all former investment bankers who were laid off from that economic crisis that Nancy Pelosi caused. They have zero real world skills, but God they work hard. -30 Rock
 

This doesn't happen often, but I am actually blown away by what some of you are reading. I am truly impressed.

For no real reason, I started reading The Shock Doctrine last night. Every single page pisses me off to no end, and most of it makes me want to punch Naomi Klein in the throat, but I can't seem to put it down. I suppose, if nothing else, it is a worthwhile glance at the convoluted way a socialist views his/her world. I am by no means recommending the book, but if you're a free market type looking to have a visceral reaction to something, check it out from the library.

As for books to have with you when stranded on a desert island (in no particular order):

Walden (and Civil Disobedience) - Henry David Thoreau Following the Equator - Mark Twain Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc - Mark Twain Perpetual War for Perpetual Peace - Gore Vidal A Moveable Feast - Ernest Hemingway For Whom the Bell Tolls - Ernest Hemingway Islands in the Stream - Ernest Hemingway The Recollections and Letters of General Robert E. Lee - Robert Edward Lee The Douay Rheims Bible Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad Anything by Robert Louis Stevenson, Jack London, and Rudyard Kipling

Of the more puerile, but no less enjoyable, selections in my library:

I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell - Tucker Max Do Travel Writers Go to Hell? - Thomas Kohnstamm The Great Shark Hunt - Hunter S. Thompson The Helldiver's Rodeo - Humberto Fontova

Man, this is tough. There are just too many.

 

A different focus in my reading list, but here's a few classics:

How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie Elements of Style by Strunk and White Getting Things Done by David Allen

 
Edmundo Braverman:
logimech:
Elements of Style by Strunk and White
I live and die by Strunk and White.

Good to see some agreement on that! Writing is ubiquitous in our modern era of emails, pitch books, and memorandums. Does anyone know of a well-regarded guide for writing (or speaking, for that matter) in a corporate context?

 

For finance books, I'll echo what most people have said and go with:

-The Intelligent Investor (Ben Graham) -You Can Be A Stock Market Genius Too (Joel Greenblatt) -The Money Masters (John Train) -Market Wizards (Jack Schwager) (Especially the part on the Commodities Corp. traders) -The Black Swan (Nassim Nicholas Taleb)

For non finance-related stuff:

-All Quiet on the Western Front (Erich Maria Remarque) -If This is a Man (Primo Levi) -Swann's Way (Proust) -The Fairy Gunmother (Daniel Pennac) -A Fine Balance (Rohinton Mistry) -plenty of other stuff I can't think of at the moment..

 

Some of my favourites -

Albert Camus - The Stranger, The Outsider Salman Rushdie - Midnight's Children, The Ground Beneath Her Feet Vikram Seth - An Equal Music Thomas Pynchon - Gravity's Rainbow Joseph Heller - Catch 22 Umberto Eco - Foucault's Pendulum Kurt Vonnegut - Cat's Cradle The Future Of Freedom - Fareed Zakaria Fyodor Dostoevsky - The Idiot, The Brothers Karamazov Most of Joseph Stiglitz's stuff

As far as recent finance books go, I quite liked Jonathan Knee's book (The Accidental Investment Banker), if only because it solely focused on corporate finance/investment banking.

 

Wolf of Wall Street is very entertaining.

This series isn't finance related, but Vince Flynn has about 10 books focused on a counterterrorist agent. I can't stand boring books, but I can't put down books like these.

I'd also recommend anything by Nelson Demille.

 

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance anyone?

Not much about Zen and barely about motorcycle maintenance but a great relatively modern philosophy book my professor recommended to me going into last summer. Anyone above that mentioned books that lead to a great deal of self reflection I'd recommend picking this up.

 
AspiringBanker21:
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance anyone?

Not much about Zen and barely about motorcycle maintenance but a great relatively modern philosophy book my professor recommended to me going into last summer. Anyone above that mentioned books that lead to a great deal of self reflection I'd recommend picking this up.

+1

I was surprised to make it that far down the list without seeing it mentioned...

Seriously though, do you guys really like Taleb's writing (Black Swan OR Fooled by Randomness). Granted the guy is smart, but he comes off as a huge condescending prick in his writing.

 
 

Nice Picks Edmundo

Ludwig von Mises - Socialism Ludwig von Mises - Human Action Murray Rothbard - Man Economy and State Henry Hazlitt - Economics in One Lesson Henry David Thoreau - Walden and Civil Disobedience Robert Murphay - Chaos Theory

various other Economic History books, many more on monetary history (including coinage and currency) only fiction I read has been Ayn Rand and Garet Garret.

But the first two had the biggest impact on my life.

 
[Comment removed by mod team]
 

Fountainhead. Will start Atlas Shrugged once I'm through with Fooled my randomness. Others I have read that I enjoyed: Black Swan Barbarians at the Gate (one of the most entertaining books I've ever read) Colossal Failure of Common Sense Too Big to Fail Myth of the Rational Markets Liars Poker Moneyball Malcom Gladwell books (Outliers, Blink, Tipping Point) Freakonomics and Super Freakonomics

downloaded to my kindle and waiting to be read Greatest trade ever When genius failed Lords of Finance The last Tycoons Conspiracy of Fools Fooling Some of the people all of the time The Big Short (had to buy the book since it's not available on the kindle...)

 
drexelalum11:
yung_gekko:
I'm surprised some of you drop $1,000+ on Margin of Safety.

There are PDFs online

Thanks for the heads up. I just downloaded a copy. yet another book that I need to find the time to get to. On a side note...anyone know if "The hankbook of the economics of finance" vol 1A is available anywhere as a PDF? I found 1B but cant seem to find 1A anywhere.

 
zer0zero:
I like Taleb's books. However, I feel that 1/5 of his book is good material and the rest is just repeating the same points over and over again

agreed. I read the black swan 1st and now i'm reading fooled by randomness. so far, its the same book but told differently. its as if he took one of those "generators" he talks about, where you can input varous pharases and the generator spits out a intelligent sounding paragraph,...and basically inputed fooled by randomness and hte generator spat out black swan.

But i still enjoy his theories and ideas.

 

For the guys that mentioned Partnoy's FIASCO, I think you will like Infectious Greed even better.

Greatest Trade Ever was ok, but not that well written. Lowenstein's The End of Wall Street was very good. Drobney's Inside the House of Money, and to a lesser extent Invisible Hands are both worth picking up, just for the Leitner interviews alone. Thinking Strategically is a nice primer on game theory, if anyone is into that. Berne's Games People Play is a classic, and will change the way you view social interactions.

A few people already mentioned The Elements of Style, which is great to read on the toilet, and for that same purpose I'd also suggest The Art of Worldly Wisdom.

I don't think I've seen anyone mention Hesse's Siddhartha, which I would have expected from the same guys who mentioned Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. As Zen and the Art was to people in the 70's, Umberto Eco's The Name of the Rose was to people in the 80's. If you pick it up, make sure you grab a companion book to translate the Latin for you and clue you in on the middle age references (or you won't get as much from the book).

Next time a bitch pisses you off, start reading a copy of The Arabian Nights (hint: they haven't changed in thousands of years...).

And finally, for some pure escapist fantasy, try out R. Scott Bakker. His Prince of Nothing trilogy was worth it if you are gonna read a fantasy series. If fantasy isn't your thing but you need some well written modern fiction, give Stephenson's Cryptonomicon a go.

 

MUST READS::::

McMafia: A Journey Through the Global Criminal Underworld Illicit: How Smugglers, Traffickers, and Copycats are Hijacking the Global Economy Licensed to Kill: Hired Guns in the War on Terror Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army The Wonga Coup: Guns, Thugs, and a Ruthless Determination to Create Mayhem in an Oil-Rich Corner of Africa Killing Pablo: The Hunt for the World's Greatest Outlaw How to Stage a Military Coup On War Merchant of Death: Money, Guns, Planes, and the Man Who Makes War Possible Coup d'Etat: A Practical Handbook Confessions of an English Opium Eater On Hashish

.

 

How about Jeffrey Archer's "Kane and Abel", alongwith "As the crow flies". Both are great reads about self-made business tycoons (fiction).. Malcolm Gladwell's books are great too. Those of you looking for entertainment (legal thrillers mostly), John Grisham is quite nice.. try "The Rainmaker".

There is a tide in the affairs of men. Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune; Omitted, all the voyage of their life Is bound in shallows and in miseries. On such a full sea are we now afloat, And we must take the current when it serves, Or
 

USE THE F*CKING SEARCH FUNCTION

"Look, you're my best friend, so don't take this the wrong way. In twenty years, if you're still livin' here, comin' over to my house to watch the Patriots games, still workin' construction, I'll fuckin' kill you. That's not a threat, that's a fact.
 

I think your best bet is to go on half.com and find 5-6 year outdated textbooks in 1. equity securities 2. fixed income securities 3. micro and macro economics 4. (Kiesco) Intermediate financial accounting

If you are more inclined towards math or had an engineering background and can handle it see if you can find some on econometrics

What I mean by cheap is under 10-15 dollars each.... so if it's more than that just pick an older one.

However some of my favorite non-technical easy read books are:

Rework by Jason Fried The 4-Hour Work Week by Timothy Ferris They are both short and free of BS.

 
Nachos:
I didn't like freakonomics. More sociology than economics, IMHO.

I'm an economics major, and I thought the book was definitely economics. Anything that studies decision making under contraints, any form of utility maximization, or people's responses to incentives is probably economics.

 

Finding a Fixed Income book by Fabozzi might be good. I dug up this book called Traders: The Jobs, The Products, The Markets by David Weiss in the library once. It's like 17 years old, but if you don't know much about anything, it went over all the basics you should know, what is what type. But if you already covered Hull and Fabozzi, it might look elementary.

 

I'm in the same boat - junior year internship interviews are coming up and I'm scrambling to read read read...

To address your interview concerns, I'm working my way through "Heard on the Street: Quantitative Questions from Wall Street Job Interviews" by Tim Crack. It's super thorough so far and the reviews on Amazon say it all in terms of its effectiveness.

Also, this is a pretty run of the mill suggestion, but the 7th edition of Vault's guide to finance interviews is coming out this Monday (I swear I'm not counting down or anything; just noticed on Amazon today) and since I've only ever borrowed it from friends to skim over, I decided to finally order my own. I'm hoping there is some updated information that'll help me out this January - you might want to look into it as well?

 

Cautiously recommend:

Education of a Speculator by Victor Niederhoffer.

I say cautiously because he is unconventional in some respects, and you may not want to walk into an interview quoting him, just due to reputation - blowing up his hedge funds in the Asian crisis, and possibly about to blow up 3 more.

Still he is extremely systematic and rigorous and will make you think. Thoroughly enjoyed the book.

Also: Soros on Soros.

 

Investing: Essays of Warren Buffett, Margin of Safety, Invisible Hands, Howard Marks' Memos, Distressed Debt Investing, Third Point Letter to Investors, Little Book that Beats The Market

Finance: Ahead of the Curve, Dylan Grice's Soc Gen pieces, Breakfast with Dave

History: Ascent of Money, Bridgewater Whitepapers, Collapse, Fooled by Randomness,

Other: Anything by Mauboussian, The Signal and the Noise

Biographies: Last Man Standing, Onward, Alpha Masters

Read on!

 

Awakening of intelligence by Jiddu Krishnamurti

Ignore the title. This book will change your life immensely, the change might be good or bad but in the end you'll realise.... so f*cking what.

Absolute truths don't exist... celebrated opinions do.
 

Just read everything you can get your hands on. Read what interests you. If you like it, then great. (if you will read transcripts of Bershire's latest shareholders meeting you'll note Buffet offered this exact advice). There's a number of big finance books out there and you'll hear any number of them mentioned by your fellow Finance classmates...but just like Boiler Room or Wall Street, they may be more bullshit and amusing than actual ideas. Reading them won't make you a star.

Reading what interests you, and reading voraciously will serve you much better.

 

Over the summer, I saw some of these books on people's shelves ... the rest I either own or want to own.

Barbarians At the Gate Fool's Gold When Genius Failed The Smartest Guys in the Room Atlas Shrugged

Security Analysis (Graham and Dodd) The Intelligent Investor Barron's Dictionary of Finance and Investment Terms

Damodaran on Valuation The McKinsey Guide to Valuation Principles of Corporate Finance (Brealey Allen Myers)

Heard on the Street Options (Hull) Distressed Debt Investing (Moyer)

The Boston Consulting Group on Strategy

 
chiphifrat:
Over the summer, I saw some of these books on people's shelves ... the rest I either own or want to own.

Barbarians At the Gate Fool's Gold When Genius Failed The Smartest Guys in the Room Atlas Shrugged

Security Analysis (Graham and Dodd) The Intelligent Investor Barron's Dictionary of Finance and Investment Terms

Damodaran on Valuation The McKinsey Guide to Valuation Principles of Corporate Finance (Brealey Allen Myers)

Heard on the Street Options (Hull) Distressed Debt Investing (Moyer)

The Boston Consulting Group on Strategy

did you work at half price books? or a book store?

 
chiphifrat:
Over the summer, I saw some of these books on people's shelves ... the rest I either own or want to own.

Barbarians At the Gate Fool's Gold When Genius Failed The Smartest Guys in the Room Atlas Shrugged

Security Analysis (Graham and Dodd) The Intelligent Investor Barron's Dictionary of Finance and Investment Terms

Damodaran on Valuation The McKinsey Guide to Valuation Principles of Corporate Finance (Brealey Allen Myers)

Heard on the Street Options (Hull) Distressed Debt Investing (Moyer)

The Boston Consulting Group on Strategy

Of these, which ones will become classics? Something that will still be on your list in 10 years? I'm a fan of the historical fiction genre, but I don't think it has lasting appeal, besides for recent (current) events. Hull is definitely a classic, so is Security Analysis.

 
International Pymp:
let's add a bit of culture:

Infinite Jest (if you're already a banker you won't have time to read this till you retire) This Side of Paradise Walden ('Life in the Woods') Pnin The Death of Ivan Ilyich Ender's Game, Ender's Shadow

Shadow of the Hegemon (to add to the Orson Scott Card books) Starship Troopers (great poli sci commentary) Siddhartha (if you're throwing in Walden anyways)

 
International Pymp:
let's add a bit of culture:

Infinite Jest (if you're already a banker you won't have time to read this till you retire) This Side of Paradise Walden ('Life in the Woods') Pnin The Death of Ivan Ilyich Ender's Game, Ender's Shadow

Infinite Jest is amazing. Seriously blew my mind, had me laughing one day and depressed the next. Have you read any Pynchon?

There have been many great comebacks throughout history. Jesus was dead but then came back as an all-powerful God-Zombie.
 

Walden should be required reading for bankers, if for no other utility than perspective. Understanding the benefits of the minimalist lifestyle will go a long way to reminding you how little sense a life of acquisition makes. I'm not saying don't go make a bunch of money and have a bunch of toys, just realize that those things aren't necessary to be happy.

 
Edmundo Braverman:
Walden should be required reading for bankers, if for no other utility than perspective. Understanding the benefits of the minimalist lifestyle will go a long way to reminding you how little sense a life of acquisition makes. I'm not saying don't go make a bunch of money and have a bunch of toys, just realize that those things aren't necessary to be happy.

Agreed completely. I still want everything to excess, but that book helped to provide some nice perspective.

 

Eddie,

So very true on Walden. I've been reading Thoreau since high school and every year, I make it a point to reread Walden. That and Emerson's Self Reliance. Both are great essays that offer perspective we so sorely lack.

Now, to the OP,

I must suggest you read Suetonius' seminal masterpiece Die Vita Ceasarum, The Twelve Ceasars, about the lives of the first twelve Roman Emperors. It's a well written piece of silver age Roman writing worthy of at least a once through.

The other suggestion is the Tao of Wu, which is the Philosophy of the Wu Tang Clan's leader RZA. Definitely eye opening if you are a fan of the group and I highly suggest reading it. It was a really fast read and I went cover to cover in about 3 days, reading it over a weekend.

 

Great recommendations guys. Reading is my one one true passion in life. Dorky I know, but the only wisdom in life is attained through reading and experience. With reading, you learn from experience.
It is the only form of media that does not dilute the mind and. Diminish the sense of independent thought. I wish we had no televisions, just books an jiving amongst fellow human beings. The art of persuasive dialogue is non-existent in our society, inless it's a drunken insincere quarrel.

You'd be amazed and how many older professionals you impress by articulating the wisdom and knowledge gained through reading

 

Eyelikecheese you need to read Infinte Jest. David Foster Wallace wrote a lot of essays about the impact of media (TV, especially) on our culture, and Infinite Jest incorporates a lot of his ideas about the destructive nature of passive entertainment. It's also pretty compelling sci-fi when you consider it was written about a decade ago-he very accurately predicts things like NetFlix/streaming video and iPhone FaceTime.

There have been many great comebacks throughout history. Jesus was dead but then came back as an all-powerful God-Zombie.
 

Another one that just crossed my mind in the same vein as Asimov would be Ray Bradburry's Farenheit 451. Despite it's dystopian future, it really is a great picture of the world around us. I hightly recomend it for everyone to read.

Also, I just recently finished Lamb: The Life and Times of Jesus Christ as told by his best friend Bif. It's by Christopher Moore and I can't give enough praise to that book. It was an absolutel laugh from start to finish.

 
Frieds:
Another one that just crossed my mind in the same vein as Asimov would be Ray Bradburry's Farenheit 451. Despite it's dystopian future, it really is a great picture of the world around us. I hightly recomend it for everyone to read.

Also, I just recently finished Lamb: The Life and Times of Jesus Christ as told by his best friend Bif. It's by Christopher Moore and I can't give enough praise to that book. It was an absolutel laugh from start to finish.

Wasn't a huge fan of Fahrenheit 451, maybe because we read it in middle or high school English class. Another English class book, Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt was phenomenal though, I want to read his second book about teaching when I get some time.
 

Read The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, Red Mars, Enders Game, Foundation, Dune, The Illustrated Man, Neuromancer, and I, Robot.

All good on the Sci fi front. And I used to like HP Lovecraft until it became mainstream and everybody thought it was cool to overuse the shit out of his stuff.

 

Ulysses

The price of a soul

Metamorphosis

A discourse upon the origin and the foundation of the inequality among mankind

When a man comes to himself

Anything of Dumas besides the classics, great descriptions of backstabbings and intrigue, office politics on crack

More is good, all is better
 

THis you got to it a must no a definite heck vital to your survival

THE BRAVE NEW WORLD

The mark of the immature man is that he wants to die nobly for a cause While the mark of the mature man is that he wants to live humbly for one
 

I would say, start with anything that gets you going...I have read a lot of OSHO books. Bible is always near to me. For my kids, I cannot think of anything better than Nancy Drew, Famous Five, Secret Seven etc..

 

I love reading a lot! Probably I would pick a few of those suggested here and give them a go soon! This thread really has my attention for all the time now!

 

This is a great thread... Didn't expect WSO literature interests to be so broad!

I've just ordered Infinite Jest as I have a bit of time on my hands and need to catch up on my fiction reading.

By the way, many of the books you guys mention are in the public domain. You can find them in various formats (kindle, html, plain text, etc...) on Project Gutenberg. their search function is pretty good.

http://www.gutenberg.org

 

I fucking love Harry Potter. Not even kidding.

Also, Summerland, House of Sand and Fog, The Pearl, The Iliad (Buy a reader's guide with commentary if you want to really appreciate it).

And everyone should read Hamlet. Foundational text of English literature.

 

I tried reading Robinson Crusoe a few months ago when I had some downtime at work - I remember it being pretty good when I read the (abridged and modernized) version when I was in middle school or so, but it was just really, really bad. Couldn't get past the first 5 or so pages, but maybe I'll give it another shot next time I'm bored and want to feel productive while actually not being so.

 

It's amazing how this enormous thread neglected a fundamental classic by reknown economist Harry Browne

How I Found Freedom in an Unfree World: A Handbook for Personal Liberty - Harry Browne

A mandatory read that lays out how to deal with important pillars of your life, facing conflict, dealing with decisions, relationships, work, and happiness. It's a great book to help you dissect things in a rational way. Lot's of original content that hasn't been rehashed from prior thinkers.

I believe a natural followup to the above book is a modern classic

Principles - Ray Dalio

If anyone can recommend more original mind-expanding books like these i'd appreciate it.

 

The Amazon reviews cracked me up. I saw it only got 3 stars and there were a bunch of negative reviews, and I couldn't believe it. Then I scrolled down and saw that the negative reviews were all Kindle users bitching about it because they couldn't buy it for $9.99. Kindle users (and I am one of them) need to get used to the new pricing structure of ebooks, and they have Apple to thank for it.

Great book; can't recommend it enough.

 

Thanks Braverman that was a great review, i'll definitely buy this book now and check it out.

It is without a doubt the best book I've read on the market since the crisis (and it feels like I've read all of them)

Can anyone name a few of the other good post-crisis books?

 

if you want to be informed, i would recommend following the economist, ft, bloomberg, wsj, cnbc, etc. you dont need to read books about the crisis, but it doesnt hurt to either.

--- man made the money, money never made the man
 

I am hoping to read Hank Paulson's new book "On The Brink". I have read some small adaptions from the book and they are great. He made huge decisions for our country and in my opinion did a great job. Nonetheless, it's still supposed to be a great insider's view to the crisis from our Treasury secretary.

 

Paulson's book should be great. For all you Michael Lewis fans out there, make sure you check out "Panic" as well as his new book due in March called "The Big Short" that will be very much like House of Cards, etc. with Lewis' great style of writing.

Another interesting book I read over the summer about the recent crisis was Dear Mr. Buffett. Check it out.

 

Too Big To Fail is an entertaining read. Not very in-depth as to the details of the crisis, but reads like a novel. This can definitely be made into a movie down the road.

Panic by Michael Lewis came out WAY too early, and I did not find it that impressive, largely other people writings anyway.

I am intrigued to read the Quants. Seems like much more than a crisis story, more of a "how the street really works" story.

 

"How Ed Thorp was asked to analyze the returns of an options trading strategy that never seemed to fail. Upon analyzing the strategy, Thorp recommended the fund pull out of the investment completely, immediately. The year was 1991. The investment was Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities."

You can see that hte book is just trying going way over the top with things like this. I think the common view is that Madoff went from running a legit fund to a ponzi around 1994. So either Thorp was lucky, or then the author is just trying desperately to relate things to current events...

 

Great review Edmundo, thanks for taking the time to write it. So good in fact that I'll even buy it from Amazon using your affiliate link rather than drive over to Borders, heh. You earned it.

Sounds like a very good read - extra points if it is in fact accessible enough that I can hand it to my mother (like Liar's Poker).

- 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
 

I'm only midway through the book but the theory on Jim Simons' RenTech is pretty fascinating. The author believes RenTech uses information theory and speech recognition (basically electrical engineering topics) because their recent hires previously worked in those areas.

I wonder what happens when other HFs start piling into this strategy (or whatever strategy RenTech uses - I'm sure someone out there will hit it by chance). Since RenTech has probably anticipated this, what do you guys think is going to be the next secret sauce?

(I know this sort of speculation is useless but I thought it'd be fun to try anyway...)

 

not trying to revive a dead topic, but a buddy of mine who use to work as a quant emailed me this video. it was interesting.

dont think the geeks are going to take over the world anytime soon.

--- man made the money, money never made the man
 

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Let n be a fixed positive integer greater than 1...
 

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Career Advancement Opportunities

March 2024 Investment Banking

  • Jefferies & Company 02 99.4%
  • Goldman Sachs 19 98.8%
  • Harris Williams & Co. (++) 98.3%
  • Lazard Freres 02 97.7%
  • JPMorgan Chase 03 97.1%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

March 2024 Investment Banking

  • Harris Williams & Co. 18 99.4%
  • JPMorgan Chase 10 98.8%
  • Lazard Freres 05 98.3%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.7%
  • William Blair 03 97.1%

Professional Growth Opportunities

March 2024 Investment Banking

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  • Jefferies & Company 02 98.8%
  • Goldman Sachs 17 98.3%
  • Moelis & Company 07 97.7%
  • JPMorgan Chase 05 97.1%

Total Avg Compensation

March 2024 Investment Banking

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  • Associates (86) $261
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (13) $181
  • Intern/Summer Associate (33) $170
  • 2nd Year Analyst (66) $168
  • 1st Year Analyst (202) $159
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (144) $101
notes
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