Essential reading
Finance: a Fine Art, by Michel Fleuriet.
(pub. 2002, John Wiley & Sons, 19.99,
298pp).
A former chief executive of
Merrill Lynch France and former chairman
of HSBC France, Fleuriet tracks the
history of banking and explains price
earnings ratios and bond pricing, as well
as the 1998 near-collapse of the hedge
fund Long Term Capital Management.
Liar's Poker, by Michael Lewis (pub. 1989,
6.39, 298pp). A former bond salesman
paints an unflattering picture of greed,
ambition and extravagance on 1980s Wall
Street. Highly readable and witty.
The Death of Gentlemanly Capitalism
(pub. 2000, 5.39, 416pp). Philip Augar, a
former City of London broker, traces the
decline of British financial services firms
in the City from the 1980s onwards.
Mrs Moneypenny: Survival in the City
(pub. 2003, Piatkus, 12.99, 176pp)
Mrs Moneypenny, a columnist for Financial
News, describes life in the City of London
through entertaining anecdotes mixed
with factual information. A former banker
herself, she has little time for women who
complain of discrimination.
The City of London, by David Kynaston.
This four-volume work traces the history
of the City over 200 years. Anecdotal as
well as factual, it is an exhaustive social
and financial guide.
Talking from 9 to 5: How Women's and
Men's Conversational Styles Affect who
Gets Heard, who Gets Credit, and What
Gets Done at Work, by Deborah Tannen
(pub. 1996, Virago Press, 7.99, 224pp;
Market Wizards: Interviews with Top
Traders, ed. Jack D. Schwager (pub. 1989;
HarperCollins, 12.99, 458pp). Interviews
with traders giving insights into their stories
of extraordinary success.
Reminiscences of a Stock Operator, by
Edwin Lefèvre (pub. 1923; John Wiley &
Son, 14.99, 300pp).
A thinly disguised
biography of Jesse Livermore, who started
speculating in New England bucket shops
at the turn of the 20th century and soon
moved to Wall Street, where he made and
lost his fortune several times.
When Genius Failed, by Roger Lowenstein
(pub. 2000; Fourth Estate, 7.99, 275pp).
The story of the hedge fund Long Term
Capital Management, whose near-collapse
prompted fears for the stability of the
international financial system. (Recommended
by Christine Morrissey, managing
director and European head of fixed
income derivatives, UBS Warburg)
Bonfire of the Vanities, by Tom Wolfe
(pub. 1987; Picador, 8.99, 752pp).
In this
novel Wolfe captures the greed of investment
banks in 1980s New York.
Return of Depression Economics (pub.
1999; Penguin, 8.99, 208pp). MIT professor
Paul Krugman examines the string of
financial crises that plagued economies in
the 1990s and sees an 'eerie resemblance
to the Great Depression'. Instead of the
New World Order promised by the triumph
of capitalism over socialism, 'the
world economy has turned out to be a
much more dangerous place than we
imagined'.
Dot.Con: the Greatest Story Ever Sold, by
John Cassidy (pub. 2002; Penguin, 9.99,
400pp). A look at the stock market mania
of the late 1990s.
Monkey Business: Swinging Through the
Wall Street Jungle, by John Rolfe and Peter
Troob, 8.49).
Portrait of life at a major
Wall Street investment house, exposing
the world of high finance.
A Random Walk down Wall Street, by
Burton G. Malkiel (pub. 1973; WW Norton,
12.99, 462pp). A solid education in market
theory, written in a dense, academic
style.
Common Stocks and Uncommon Profits,
by Philip A. Fisher (1960/1996; John Wiley
& Sons, 12.99, 288pp). Fisher is a pioneer
of modern investment theory and this
book illustrates the roots of today's most
popular theories and philosophies. (recommended
by traders at CSFB).
Barbarians at the Gate: the Fall of RJR
Nabisco, by Bryan Burrough and John
Helyar (pub. 1990; HarperCollins, 9.99,
576pp).
An account of one of history's
biggest takeover deals: the leveraged buyout
of RJR Nabisco in the late 1980s.
The Predator's Ball: The Inside Story of
Drexel Burnham and the Rise of the Junk
Bond Raiders, by Connie Bruck (pub.
1989; Penguin, 399pp).
A detailed explanation
of junk bond issues and corporate
acquisition, giving profiles of the central
characters in the Drexel Burnham
Lambert and Michael Milken story.
Going off the Rails - Global Capital and
the Crisis of Legitimacy, by John Plender
(pub. 2003, John Wiley & Sons, 19.99,
296pp). Plender, a Financial Times
writer, moves between development in
the third world, the collapse of Enron
and stock market mania in the late
1990s. He concludes that company law
and corporate governance are stretched
beyond their limits.
