SEX AND MONEY: The Adventures of a Stockbroker

by John D. Spooner ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 15, 1985

Spottily amusing Wall Street war stories, loosely linked by the unoriginal theme that ""fear and greed dictate the fluctuations of the stock market."" Being a stockbroker, says Spooner, is an ""Alice-in-Wonderland business,"" a calling for the ""half crazed,"" where if you produce you can get away with anything (personal eccentricity, lavish expense-account entertainment) but success is ephemeral and anxiety abounds even in good times. (""In bull markets someone always has a hotter stock than you. It can drive you crazy."") But the cast of characters is colorful: Herbert the Big Hitter, whose hard sell is irresistible (""These two are clinchers: I got my dough in it; I want you to put your mother in it""); a broker who claims to get inside word on proposed takeovers by bedding the divorced daughters of corporate CEOs (""they're vulnerable. . . I trust this method""); and a securities analyst who often finds her insights at orgies (she once recommended a buy on Brooks Brothers' parent company after checking labels on the mens' discarded clothes). Most clients are what-have-you-done-for-me-lately types, with their own quirks (one chose Spooner to handle his account because he liked the way Spooner dressed in a TV appearance) but a general willingness to forgive a bad recommendation--""what they do not forgive is your giving them the impression that you are ignoring them."" Readers looking for investment-applications will be disappointed: aside from the occasional out-of-left-field observation (""near the end of every fad in the market someone hypes a stock located in California that sells for under five dollars a share""), Spooner sticks to generalities (""you want to get rich, you have to concentrate on value""). Chiefly for those in the business, who may even recognize some of the pseudonymous players.

Pub Date: March 15, 1985

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 1985

Categories: NONFICTION