Offbeat reminiscences and observations from a Wall Street pro who appreciates that there's more to life than balance sheets, income statements, and price charts. A champion squash player as well as world-class investor (whose associates include the storied George Soros), Niederhoffer grew up in Brooklyn's Brighton Beach, a bustling Jewish enclave that had a perdurable influence on his values and viewpoints. While unwilling to share whatever real secrets he has for making money in futures or securities, the author offers a series of discursive takes on aspects of a secular-humanist version of the Great Chain of Being, which in the aggregate afford would-be speculators some guidance on playing the markets. In addition to reviewing cost- effective lessons on self-reliance learned from boyhood chums like the neighborhood bookie, Niederhoffer examines what, if anything, links board games (chess, checkers), casino gambling, horse racing, music, sex, sports, and the weather to the capital or commodities markets. The author (who earned a Ph.D. in economics) also delves into financial panics, crashes, cyclical shifts in market trends, and allied issues. Trader Vic even constructs a comprehensive ecology of markets in which he credibly equates fixed-income investors with herbivores, hedge funds with carnivores, and brokers with decomposers (bacteria, crows, et al.). In a concluding chapter, Niederhoffer manages to combine a graceful, heartfelt tribute to his late father with a clutch of antic advisories for those who aspire to quick killings in the market; a highlight of this potpourri is so-called LoBagolo analysis, a plausible surmise that suggests bears may trap bulls along the path that bore the latter upward in much the same way as African villagers snare itinerant elephants on the routes the herd invariably takes to and from its starting point. Edifying pieces of a lively mind whose education has been both broad and deep.
Pub Date: Feb. 7, 1997
ISBN: 0-471-13747-2
Page Count: 464
Publisher: Wiley
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 1996
More uncommonly sensible investment guidance from a master of the game. Drawing on his experience at Fidelity's Magellan Fund, a high- profile vehicle he quit at age 46 in 1990 after a spectacularly successful 13-year tenure as managing director, Lynch (One Up on Wall Street, 1988) makes a strong case for common stocks over bonds, CDs, or other forms of debt. In breezy, anecdotal fashion, the author also encourages individuals to go it alone in the market rather than to bank on money managers whose performance seldom justifies their generous compensation. With the caveat that there's as much art as science to picking issues with upside potential, Lynch commends legwork and observation. ``Spending more time at the mall,'' he argues, invariably is a better way to unearth appreciation candidates than relying on technical, timing, or other costly divining services prized by professionals. The author provides detailed briefings on how he researches industries, special situations, and mutual funds. Particularly instructive are his candid discussions of where he went wrong as well as right in his search for undervalued securities. Throughout the genial text, Lynch offers wry, on-target advisories under the rubric of ``Peter's Principles.'' Commenting on the profits that have accrued to those acquiring shares in enterprises privatized by the British government, he notes: ``Whatever the Queen is selling, buy it.'' In praise of corporate parsimony, the author suggests that, ``all else being equal, invest in the company with the fewest photos in the annual report.'' Another bull's-eye for a consummate pro, with appeal for market veterans and rookies alike. (Charts and tabular material— not seen.)
Pub Date: March 1, 1993
ISBN: 0-671-75915-9
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 1993
An easy reading book of supportive encouragement to follow one’s dreams.
More than 40 career-changers tell their stories.
Introduced by Facebook executive and founder of Leanin.org Sheryl Sandberg, Lewis’ second cousin, the book offers exuberant advice for people who want to make a leap—daring or modest—from one career path to another, just as he did. At the age of 24, working for the investment firm Bain Capital, the author felt restless and dissatisfied. “I began to realize,” he writes, “that I wanted this life mostly because I thought I should,” but he heard “a very distinct if faint voice” urging him to try something “very different.” As he considered following his passion to become a professional squash player, Lewis sought advice from others who made similar jumps: a banker-turned-cyclist, for example, and a journalist-turned-politician. From them, and the others whose stories fill the book, he came up with the idea of the Jump Curve, a process of four key phases: listening to your inner voice, making a practical plan, believing in your own good luck, and rejecting regret. “You will come out stronger,” Lewis insists, even if your initial plan fails. “I keep coming back to the idea of agency,” said a man who made a move from corporate hospitality service to restaurant ownership: “the difference between life happening to you versus you making life happen.” Among the individuals profiled are a nurse who, at the age of 50, became a doctor; a football player–turned-writer; an investment professional who became coxswain of the U.S. Paralympic Rowing Team; a PR executive who found her calling as an Episcopal bishop; and a lawyer who sued the New York fire department to admit women firefighters—and then became the first woman hired. “Harassment, discrimination, death threats,” and physical abuse dogged her 25-year career. But, she says, “this was a jump worth fighting for,” a sentiment that Lewis underscores. Changing careers is risky, but “there is a risk to not taking a jump at all.”
An easy reading book of supportive encouragement to follow one’s dreams.Pub Date: Jan. 9, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-250-12421-0
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: Oct. 16, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2017
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