The Ascent of Money by Niall Ferguson

I came to know about this author Niall Ferguson, when one of my close friends told me about the concept 'Chimerica',which is the term indicating the symbiotic relationship between Chinese and American Economy. According to author, this was one of the main drivers behind the recent recession.

Anyway coming back to the book 'The Ascent of Money', it reminded me of the works of Alvin Toffler, especially the 'Third Wave' and 'Future Shock'. This book tells you the financial history of the world, especially about the currency,banking system, bond markets, stock markets, insurance and real estate. I will not be ashamed to claim that I was more than scared after reading this book. I am enlightened as well as confused about money now.

And at the same time, I will say today's schools should include this book in the course, because nobody can't remain untouched by financial market at least in the civilized world today.

A must read.

More articles on author's work can be found here http://www.niallferguson.com/site/FERG/Templates/Home.aspx?pageid=1

The Money Changers by Arthur Hailey

This is the first novel by Arthur Hailey, which I read. Before it, I tried to read, Overload, Airport and Detective, but was not able to proceed more than 50 first pages.

I picked this novel, understanding that Arthur Hailey is research oriented author, who gives full ins and outs of the sector, about which it is writing a novel.

So, in the given picture of Global Economic Tsunami, ‘The Money Changers’ by him was the logical choice.

The story is thrilling, giving all the details of Banking industry. And it gave me better picture about how US is pushing its valueless Dollars, projecting it equivalent to gold, in the whole world. Also, it gave me insight what might have happened to Lehman Brothers, Merryl Lynch, J P Morgan Chase, Bank of America…………………

I think if you seek enjoyment in reading and you are interested in Financial Sector, specifically the Banking Sector, it’s the best time to read this

Book Review : Buffetology - Mary Buffet and David Clark

In contrast to How buffet does it, this book was a big let down. It has two parts, one about the philosophy and the qualitaitve part and the other advanced buffetology which has some number work done. It is a 319 page book but doesn't give you any thing other than the same thing Pardoe says in 150 pages. The so called quantative part and advanced buffetology is at best something lifted from a basic / entry level finance text book. NPV calculation, calculaing expected values and P/E multiples etc. It was a major let down.

Lair's poker

Lair's Poker by Michel Lewis

Just finished reading Lair's Poker. The book is about the author's days as a bond trader with Solomon brothers, and how the rise and fall of solomon brothers and the bond market sort of co-incided with his career. Lair's Poker is a game where each player holds a dollar bill in his hand and each one makes a claim about the count of a particular number. E.g four 7s i.e there are four 7s in the numbers of the dollar bills of all the players combined. The next guy can either up the number or call a new bid for another number and the game goes on till some one challenges the call made by a player.

Apparently it was the favourite game of Bond traders on the solomon floor.
An interesting and gripping book about the life of a trader during the good old days when rules were not so strict. Narated in a very lucid manner without any unnecessary jargon. Makes an interesting read even if you have no intentions of being an i-banker.

LIAR'S POKER

This is an enthralling book which gives u a peek into the hallowed corridors of Investment banking and trading. The author has given a humorous tinge to this book to make it readable to ordinary mortals. It is a must read for anyone having a propensity in becoming a trader and make quick bucks. It describes the transformation of a trainee to a geek and finally to a well established trader or a salesman at an investment bank.

Michael Lewis (Author) succinctly narrates how he landed up a job at Salomon Brothers, the most profitable investment bank of the 1980's. He joins Salomon Brothers at a time when Investment banking is in vogue and is considered to be the only worthwhile occupation.

The author gives vivid pictures of the trading floor at an Investment bank with all the associated pandemonium. Salomon Brothers was a pioneer in bond trading and had a near monopoly in the bond market (except Junk Bonds).

Lewis is flabbergasted by the fact that the customers were treated such short handedly by the traders. The traders didn’t loose a single opportunity to seal a bad deal with the consumer. It is no surprise that this industry rests on the premise that "Buyer's Beware". Nonetheless he himself seals a one or two raw deals with the investors, which continues to haunt him during his tenure at Salomon Brothers.

Lewis is appalled to notice that there is no lucid management direction at Salomon Brothers which ultimately leads to its demise. The bonuses dispersed to traders at the year end are disproportionate to the amount of business he gets for the firm. This leads to a widespread discontent and unsurprisingly attrition of premier traders from Salomon. This not only leads to a loss of a prized asset but also to the loss of accounts associated with the concerned employee.

There are a lot of important concepts in this book like Junk and Mortgage bonds. Lewis gives a detailed description that how star traders smell an opportunity and develops a whole new business around it. The case in point is the mortgage trading which was invented by a Salomon Trader. Mortgage trading rose from nowhere to become a multi million dollar business. Of course there is no dearth of imitation at Wall Street. Salomon's success in Mortgage Trading was quickly replicated by other banks like Goldman Sachs.

Lewis also reflects on Milken, the guru of Junk Bonds. Milken revolutionsed the whole debt market and made it available even to the sub par investment grade firms. He was the pioneer in junk bonds and targeted new startups or older firms on brink of bankruptcy. Cheap and easy availability of credit lead to a wave of mergers and acquisitions which is the most profitable business these days.

Finally I would like to say that this book is indispensable for anyone who has dreams of making it big at Wall Street. This will give us a macroscopic view of the life at an investment bank and various positions available apart from being a trader. It takes you through the strenuous ordeal a trainee faces on his path to a star trader or salesman and raking in millions for firm as well as himselfJ.