MINDING MR. MARKET

Though he's written two well-received financial histories, Grant (Money of the Mind, 1992; Bernard M. Baruch, 1983) is best known in financial circles for his twice-monthly newsletter, Grant's Interest Rate Observer. Here—marking that influential journal's tenth anniversary—are nearly one hundred of its myriad short essays, sandwiched between an introduction that looks frankly at Grant's first decade (``not a few of the nickels we spurned turned out to be speculative gold pieces'')—as well as wisely (``Two underappreciated forces in financial markets are irony and paradox'')—and an epilogue that peers into the markets' futures (Grant's bottom line: ``Down with paper [stocks and bonds]. Up with things [commodities]''). In between, the author, a ``self-styled contrarian,'' employs rubrics like ``Mr. Market Changes his Mind,'' ``Foreigners in Debt,'' and ``The Fine Art of Corporate Finance'' to group the essays, which invariably reflect his customary blend of humorous commentary and savvy advice: ``In 1913,'' begins a 1986 piece, ``the Woolworth Building...was completed for $13.5 million, the price including gold mosaic, spectacular vaulted ceilings, and gargoyles. In 1986 the American Express world headquarters...is expected to be finished at a cost of $690 million. That is without the gargoyles.'' Solid bedside reading, then, for those who believe, as Grant does, that ``in financial markets, progress is cyclical, not cumulative.''