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Serpico
Liar's Poker
Den of Thieves
A Random Walk Down Wall Street

Serpico
Book Description
The New York Times bestseller that became a classic film starring Al Pacino, with a new afterword by Frank Serpico. Presents a candid portrait of the life and career of Frank Serpico, describing his one-man battle against corruption in the New York City Police Department.

In the late sixties, the New York City Police Department was immersed in corruption that had been a tradition for over a hundred years. Police payoffs, protection, and drug runner shakedowns were common, enforced by the department's unwritten code of silence. But Frank Serpico, a Brooklyn-born, Italian cop with long hair and an attitude, refused to go along with the system. Risking his health, career, and nearly his life, he dared to expose the bad cops and delivered the greatest single blow to corruption in the history of the NYPD.

About the Author
An award-winning, bestselling author, Peter Maas lives in New York City. His previous works include The Valachi Papers, King of the Gypsies, Marie, Made in America and Manhunt. One of his more recent works includes Underboss: Sammy the Bull Gravano's Story of Life in the Mafia (which I, Ayse, have read and enjoyed).

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Liar's Poker
Book Description
In fiction there was Bonfire of the Vanities; in reality, there is Liar's Poker--the fascinating insider's account of what really happens on Wall Street. This irreverent and hilarious birds-eye view of Wall Street's heyday will appeal to anyone intrigued by the allure of million dollar deals.

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In this shrewd and wickedly funny book, Michael Lewis describes an astonishing era and his own rake's progress through the jungle of a powerful investment bank. In two short years he rose from trainee to a bond salesman who could turn over millions of dollars' worth of doubtful bonds with just one call.

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Unlike (nearly all, or all) academic economics books, which 'explain' that arbitrage does not and cannot exist, Lewis explains to us how the big bond houses live from arbitrage (buying low from the government or somewhere else and selling a bit higher to you and me). The book is a rare, a highly entertaining and very informative jewel: Lewis rightfully and poetically calls brokerage houses 'full servive casinos', far better than Monte Carlo or Las Vegas. Not only will they accept and place your bets, they'll also lend you (a large fraction of) the money needed to place your bets (margin)! A very good book to read now (1/27/00) during the 'wild ride' before the present big market bubble goes: POP!

Unfortunately, Lewis tells us too litlte about Meriwether, who later seduced two of the top finance academics (they were willing) and, with their aid, constructed the huge, uncontrolled experiment in 'equilibrium theory' called 'Long Term Capital Management' (LTCM). Their philosophy, also believed uncritically by most working economists, was and likely still is: Equilibrium will prevail (even in the absence of restoring forces!). For the continuation of the story where Liar's poker leaves off ('portfolio insurance', arbitrage and more arbitrage, and the formation and collapse of the bubble called LTCM), see the new book "Inventing Money".

I found this book to be a great experience in living the life of a bond trader through the gigantic boom of the 80's. It really gave you the sense of what it was like to be there, from typical conversations to real issues, ideas, and even mistakes that arose during the course of a typical stint at a bond traders desk. Lewis pulls you and keeps you there.

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"One hand. One million. No tears." The game was Liar's Poker and Salomon chairman John Gutfreund put this challenge to his chief trader. High stakes? Maybe, but that's the way every game is played on Wall Street.

"Each day, I had to decide whether to walk through the mortgage trading desks. These traders emitted such evil vibes that I carved a wide loop around them every day. They were known for hurling phones at the heads of trainees and were said to have installed extra-long cords to increase their range."

"The traders performed astonishing feats of gluttony. Each Friday was 'Food Frenzy' day, during which all trading ceased and eating commenced. We'd order guacamole in five-gallon drums, for a start."

"If a new employee, dubbed a geek, could make millions of dollars for the company, he became that most revered of all species: a Big Swinging Dick. And nothing in the jungle got in the way of Big Swinging Dick."

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A Random Walk Down Wall Street
Book Description
It's unlikely that you'll spot many dog-eared copies of A Random Walk floating amongst the Wall Street set (although bookshelves at home may prove otherwise). After all, a "random walk"--in market terms--suggests that a "blindfolded monkey" would have as much luck selecting a portfolio as a pro. But Burton Malkiel's classic investment book is anything but random. Since stock prices cannot be predicted in the short term, argues Malkiel, individual investors are better off buying and holding onto index funds than meddling with securities or actively managing mutual funds. Not only will a broad range of index funds outperform a professionally managed portfolio in the long run, but investors can avoid expense charges and trading costs, which decrease returns.

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First published in 1973, this seventh printing of a A Random Walk looks forward and does so broadly, examining a new range of investment choices facing the turn-of-the-century investor: money-market accounts, tax-exempt funds, Roth IRAs, and equity REITs, as well as the potential benefits and pitfalls of the emerging global economy. In his updated "life-cycle guide to investing," Malkiel offers age-related investment strategies that consider one's capacity for risk. (A 30-year-old who can depend on wages to offset investment losses has a different risk capacity from a 60-year-old.) In his assessment of rocketing Internet stocks, Malkiel defends his "random" position well, explaining how "the market eventually corrects any irrationality--albeit in its own slow, inexorable fashion. Anomalies can crop up, markets can get irrationally optimistic, and often they attract unwary investors. But eventually, true value is recognized by the market, and this is the main lesson investors must heed." Written for the financial layperson but bolstered by 30 years of research, A Random Walk will help individual investors take charge of their financial future.

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Almost every list of must-read investment books (including Booklist's own "Twenty Timeless Business Books") includes Malkiel's Random Walk. Malkiel, who holds an endowed economics professorship at Princeton, first wrote his perennial bestseller in 1973, and this is its seventh updating and revision. His basic premise is that it is impossible to outperform the market over the long run. This argument antagonizes those who pick and recommend individual stocks, but it also is the rationale behind the growing number of stock index funds that have become so popular. Malkiel continues to update his guide so that he can use the most current performance data to validate his theory. Each revision also includes an evaluation of newer forms of investment vehicles. This time, Malkiel has reorganized much of his material and specifically addresses the spectacular price explosion in Internet stocks. Over the years, Malkiel added and fine-tuned his "Life-Cycle Guide to Investing," which covers the full range of investment strategies over one's life span.

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If you believe that Buffett, Lynch, and the others are not lucky stiffs but uncommonly gifted evaluators of stocks, you won't fall in love with Malkiel's idea of how to invest in the market. But there's no ignoring his theory's stubborn fame--or his horse sense.

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Few people can outthink the market, efficient market theorists believe, so why try? No one has stated the case better than Burton Malkiel in this pioneering book....[O]ne ignores Malkiel at one's peril....It has become a classic.

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Tracking the latest risks and rewards on Wall Street, here's the perennial bestseller offering the most reliable investment advice for the new century. This gimmick-free, irreverent, and vastly informative guide shows how to navigate the turbulence on Wall Street and beat the pros at their own game. Skilled at puncturing financial bubbles and other delusions of the Wall Street crowd, Burton Malkiel shows why a broad portfolio of stocks selected at random will match the performance of one carefully chosen by experts. Taking a shrewd look at the high-tech boom and its aftermath, Malkiel shows how to maximize gains and minimize losses in this era of electronic brokers, virtual gurus, and flashy investment vehicles. Learn how to analyze the potential returns, not only for stocks and bonds, but for the full range of investment opportunities, from money market accounts and real estate investment trusts to insurance, home owning, and tangible assets like gold and collectibles. Decode the rating game for mutual funds, and discover the unique advantages of index mutual funds over the wide range of riskier alternatives. Year in and year out the best investing guide money can buy, this enhanced edition includes an update of Professor Malkiel's famous "Life-Cycle Guide to Investing," showing how to match an investment strategy to your stage of life.

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An unconventional guide to investing in Wall Street tells how to put together a broad portfolio of stocks through sidestepping the experts and how to rate the potential of a stock, bond, money market fund, or other investment.

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About the Author
Burton G. Malkiel is a member of the economics department and holds the Chemical Bank Chairman's Professorship at Princeton University.

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Den of Thieves
Book Description
A damningly detailed rundown on the predatory conspirators whose willful violations of securities law and ethical standards gave Wall Street a deservedly bad name during the takeover frenzy of the 1980's. Wall Street Journal editor Stewart (The Partners, The Prosecutors) was a beat reporter for much of the dirty decade. As one result, he has firsthand knowledge of the carriage-trade criminals who made a mockery of free enterprise during one of the century's greatest bull markets. Focusing on four major culprits- -Ivan Boesky, Dennis Levine, Michael Milken, and Martin Siegel--the Pulitzer-winning reporter offers unsparing accounts of the havoc they wreaked on their own as well as in concert with wide-ranging rings of accomplices. Nor, it seems, was the performance of the SEC and US Justice Department particularly praiseworthy. Indeed, the author leaves little doubt that regulatory authorities and enforcement officials were usually overmatched and outmaneuvered. Stewart nonetheless devotes most of his attention to the villains of the piece, who participated in and organized the era's antisocial daisy chains. Levine, for example, latched on to Boesky, who, in need of inside information to reduce the risk of his high- stakes arbitrage trading, had lured investment banker Siegel into the game. In turn, Boesky became a pawn of Milken's, a control freak whose financial acumen was exceeded only by his talent for plotting and organizing illicit buy/sell networks. The author puts paid to any lingering notion the junk-bond king was unjustly hounded by vengeful agents of the federal government. In addition, he makes clear that, but for stubborn pride and hubris, the man who leveraged corporate American could have cut a favorable deal that greatly reduced his ten-year prison sentence. A sorry and cautionary tale of world-class scofflaws, brilliantly reported by a savvy journalist with a sure sense of right and wrong.

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A number-one bestseller from coast to coast, Den of Thieves tells, in masterfully reported detail, the full story of the insider-trading scandal that nearly destroyed Wall Street, the men who pulled it off, and the chase that finally brought them to justice. Pulitzer Prize winner James B. Stewart shows for the first time how four of the biggest names on Wall Street -- Michael Milken, Ivan Boesky, Martin Siegel, and Dennis Levine -- created the greatest insider-trading ring in financial history and almost walked away with billions, until a team of downtrodden detectives triumphed over some of America's most expensive lawyers to bring this powerful quartet to justice.

Based on secret grand jury transcripts, interviews, and actual trading records, and containing explosive new revelations about Michael Milken and Ivan Boesky, Den of Thieves weaves all the facts into an unforgettable narrative -- a portrait of human nature, big business, and crime of unparalleled proportions.

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A step-by-step look at the SEC's investigation of Michael Milken, Ivan Boesky, Martin Siegel, and Dennis Levine that paints an unforgettable portrait of the runaway greed on Wall Street in the 1980s.

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