fainancial

This book describes the events and how the stock market came into exsistence.It mentions the events that has fuelled the market booms and busts , the regulations and new rules that were placed after each bust to prevent another bust and the great people involved -- just reminds you that their is nothing new under the sun especially what is happening in the stock market now .I recommend this book to anyone interested in the mechanisms in the stock market and how the booms and busts have created a stock market that has created wealth and admiration all over the world

If money interests you, then you should read this book. As a Wall Street professional I was enthralled by this easy read about the history of Wall Street. Mr. Gordon does an excellent job of taking us from Wall Street's unambitious start as a northern line of defense for a wilderness trading post to the its role as the most powerful stretch of pavement on Earth.

Some of the unique things you will learn include

1. Who invented modern capitalism (hint: Tulips, 1700th century)? 2. The establishment of our federal tax system 3. What structure made NY city the US's largest city 4. Wall Street's first and greatest speculators 5. The creation of the Federal Reserve System

Gordon does a great job of introducing us to the most powerful people the world may have ever known. The most notable include JP Morgan, arguably the world's greatest banker; Hetty Green, the richest (and most paranoid) woman in the world; Charles Merrill, the man who brought Wall Street to Main Street; and Michael Milliken, the world's most famous Wall Street villain to wear a toupee.

The story of Wall Street is truly extraordinary. Its history is littered with courage, greed, jealousy, genius and lots of stupidity! John Steele Gordon does an admirable job of hitting all the salient points while making the journey enjoyable and memorable. Buy this book and read it!

Even though I have another book on the history of Wall Street in my reading stack, I picked up a copy of the book just because John Steele Gordon wrote it. Many of you will recognize his voice on NPR and in American Heritage. In fact, Mr. Gordon's article is the first section I read when I receive the newest copy of American Heritage. Mr. Gordon always spins a surprising story each month and this book is no different.

Mr. Gordon covers 350 years of history in just 300 pages, however, don't let the title fool you, it really only covers Wall Street until about 1995, not 2000 (a minor quibble). The book contains many interesting stories along the way such as how Chase Manhattan started off as a water company and why Merrill Lynch was named after two brokers, not one (I didn't realize that).

As always no book on the history of Wall Street would be complete without the Erie Railroad, the "Scarlet Women of Wall Street." Mr. Gordon relives the Erie tale with relish! I could almost see Daniel Drew laughing as he printed additional shares of Erie stock as fast as Commodore Vanderbilt could buy them. The rest of the players of Wall Street take their turn in the book, including J.P. Morgan, Fisk and Gould, Joe Kennedy, Alexander Hamilton, and a few women such as Hetty Green also appear.

Gordon takes time to explain many concepts about how the stock market came to be today including stories on the first corner in Wall Street history to the most recent, the Hunt's brothers attempt to corner the silver market in 1980. Mr. Gordon also explains that each time a player uses the market to their advantage, the invisible hand of Adam Smith pushes the market to correct the "wrongs."

Though it is not one of Mr. Gordon's main points in the book, he does point out throughout the book that the "Robber Barons" of old had many friends/allies in government that turned a blind eye to their schemes.

This book is filled with the history of people of Wall Street, not numbers! Pick it up, you'll find that Mr. Gordon's cornered the market on the history of Wall Street!

IN THIS SMALL but witty and well-crafted book, Galbraith chronicles the major speculative episodes, from the seventeenth-century tulipmania to the junk-bond follies of the eighties. The book was first published in 1990 and thus the recent dotcom-bubble burst is not covered. Nevertheless, the Harvard professor's book is still worth reading. A reason is that he claims to have identified common patterns in the history of financial euphoria. 'In small ways the history of the great speculative boom and its aftermath does change. Much, much more remains the same', he predicts.

The perennial features are these. Some seemingly new and desirable artifact or development captures the financial imagination of a large number of people (say, group 1). The arrival of tulips in Western Europe, gold in Louisiana, the advent of joint-stock companies (corporations), real estate in Florida, or the economic designs of Reagan are all examples. The price of the object of speculation goes up. The object when bought today is worth more tomorrow. This attracts new buyers and assures a further price increase. Those in group 1 are persuaded that the new price-enhancing circumstance is under control, and expect the market to stay up and go up, perhaps indefinitely. The individual or institution that discovered the novelty (in group 2) is thought to be ahead of the mob. Fewer in number, individuals of group 2 perceive the speculative mood of the moment, try to get the maximum reward from the increase as it continues, and plan to be out before the eventual crash. The affluence of group 2 is wrongly associated, by group 1, with a miraculous financial genius. When something triggers the ultimate reversal, group 2 decides now is time to get out. Group 1 finds its illusion abruptly destroyed. Both groups sell or try to sell. The market collapses.

Galbraith observes that, in this process, 'speculation buys up the intelligence of those involved'. The crowd converts the individual in group 1 from possessing reasonable good sense to stupidity. Those in group 2 also make errors of vanity by thinking they will beat the speculative game. It seems that 'all people are most credulous when they are most happy'. Reputable public and financial opinion reinforces euphoria by condemning those who express doubt or dissent by warning of a crash. The celebrated Yale economist Irving Fisher, for instance, spoke out sharply against Roger Babson, who foresaw the crash of 1929. But the critic must wait until after the crash for any approval, Galbraith laments.

Despite the fact that common features in speculative episodes recur, history counts little because a financial disaster is quickly forgotten by a new, self-confident generation. Something is perceived as a financial novelty merely because the financial memory is short: 'financial operations do not lend themselves to innovation'. Insightfully, Galbraith notices that all financial innovation involves the creation of debt leveraged against more limited assets. This is the case of banks, whose debt is leveraged on a given volume of hard cash. This is also the case of the holding companies created in the 1920s, whose stockholders issued bonds and preferred stock to buy other stocks. And this is the case, too, of the junk bonds of the mergers-and-acquisitions mania in the 1980s, when high-risk, higher-interest bonds were issued in greater volume against the credit of the companies being taken over. As Galbraith puts it: 'the world of finance hails the invention of the wheel over and over again, often in a slightly more unstable version'.

However a crisis may strike at any moment whenever a debt is perceived to become dangerously out of scale in relation to the underlying means of payment. After the crash, group 1 expresses anger against the 'financial genius' of group 2. 'Financial genius is before the fall', Galbraith prophesies. Group 1 finally realizes that having more money may mean that a person in group 2 is indifferent to moral constraints. Group 2 could have even gone beyond the law, as far as leverage is concerned. Incarceration of some individuals of group 2 may follow. Leverage is seen as morally disputable at last.

Talks of regulation and reform follow. However, the speculation itself or the aberrant optimism that lay behind it will not be discussed. 'Nothing is more remarkable than this: in the aftermath of speculation, the reality will be all but ignored.' Why? Because it is easier for group 1 to blame one individual or a few individuals in group 2 than to take responsibility for its own widespread naivety. And also because there is a need to find a cause for the crash that is external to the market itself. After all, the market is believed to be 'a neutral and accurate reflection of external influences; it is not supposed to be subject to an inherent and internal dynamic of error'. The deficit in the federal budget was, for instance, blamed for the 1987 crash. Another anecdotal account of Black Monday has been that the crash was caused by portfolio insurance computer programs which sold stocks as the market went lower.

Galbraith's book is compulsory reading for economists, especially those working on behavioural finance or econophysics. Being an antidote to illusory financial euphoria, the book is thus of interest to the general public as well. Galbraith's own sense of déjà vu towards speculative financial bubbles enabled him to predict the crash of 19 October 1987. People really seem to be intrinsically unable to prevent getting stuck in the error-prone dynamics of bull markets, as in his 'bubble story'. But perhaps they have already learned some minor lessons on how to better protect themselves in the aftermath of crashes. Indeed despite the fact that the Black Monday crash was nearly twice as severe as the stock market collapse of 1929, it did not trigger a depression. Likewise the internet-bubble burst of 2000 had a surprisingly modest effect on wealth. Will we finally learn to learn from history?

Galbraith paints a picture of the episodes of financial euphoria that allow one to see the seeds of the next bubble being planted. What Galbraith points out are the common themes of market bubbles. In the end, the same script is run as we hear that "this time is different" Although published in 1990, this reads like an epilogue to the tech/internet bubble of 1999-2000. The old saying goes that "what we learn from history is that we do not learn from history." Galbraith gives us the tools to learn from history. In an age of books like "Dow 36,000" and other mania induced work, this classic is a reality touchstone for all serious, sophisticated investors - individual and institutional alike. I would rate this book as a **********, but am limited to ***** (5 stars).

You heard it here first -- maybe not the specifics but the concept. A readable short introduction to past bubbles, this work was accessible and fun.

Almost! After taking the test with my husband, we adjusted our spending and it worked like a charm. We've knocked 8 years off our current bill paying and will be totally out of debt in a year and a half. Thank God for this book. It's easy to read as well as implement. I've bought a lot of financial books in my life and none came close to this one!

Great Book! Wish I could have had these insights earlier. It's a must read for everyone seeking financial independence.

A must read now for anyone who wants to discover how to unlease their financial psyche and improve their quality of life.

The dualistic title of the book comes to refer to the nature of the roaring stock market of the 80's and 90's as well as what was being shoveled to fuel that market. The book may not break any new ground but does an excellent job pointing out how price increases fuel further speculation; driving up prices still further. As price and speculation feed upon itself there is tremendous pressure not to be left behind. Analysts are pressured not to say anything bad about a stock; the media is pressured to be cheerleaders and not fault-finders; and corporate executives find creative ways to make their companies more profitable than they really are. The result is a price bubble and when it bursts people get hurt.

Maggie Mahar, a financial journalist since 1982, writes a coherent study of how the bull market came to be, what fueled it, and what can investors do now. It is up-to-date book and truly enlightening. Much of the material has been covered in financial journals and newspapers but never in such a concise manner; and you'll soon discover many surprises that you probably didn't know about the bull market.

I finished Bull! in two days, and I enjoyed every page. The problem that I've had with most books on economic history or investing (and particularly those, such as this one, that include considerable economic detail) is that they are miserable to plow through, and are invariably filled with dry and seemingly superfluous detail. This book is different. Mahar mixes witty anecdotes with incisive analysis, and her claims about investing are offered in intelligent often playful prose, surrounded with a copious amount of recent historical material. Even well known stock-market figures--like Warren Buffet--look new here: we get a sense of why they acted as they did, and often a hint of what they may have been thinking. Recommended for anyone interested in learning more about investing, uncovering what the last bull run was all about, or meeting some of the major Wall Street players that were made into near-celebrities.

I read Bull! when it first came out, sometime last Fall, and I recently re-read it after I saw Warren Buffett recommended Bull! in the 2003 Berkshire Hathaway annual report. I enjoyed it even more the second time, and it has led me to rethink some of my investment plans for 2004.

Bull! does not pretend to predict the investment future (no book can do that, and everyone--including Buffett--has made, and will continue to make, some investment mistakes) but for any reader interested in an intelligent, historically sound account of the most recent bull run--and what it means for investing in the future--I suggest that you take a look at Bull!.

I liked his commentary and explanations of the important stories from the bible.

He applies it to Business.

It's an honest good clean book of strategies that will help you with your faith, family and friends.

I'm a fan after reading his Wall Street Money

Machine book. Can't wait to hit a seminar

in the near future.

One may imagine learning even more about

the life of wealth, riches and promises.

Politicians should read this book!

One of the things that impressed me about Wade from the getgo, is his costant references to the Bible and his philosophy is based on scriptures.This book shows you how to use Gods principles in your business and investing life as well as your personal life.Notice that Wades usually ever present detractors are absent here. Perhaps that is because they don't live by Gods principles?I'll leave with this biblical quote:"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts."-Isaiah 55:8-9

My introduction to Wade Cook was his best selling book Real Estate Money Machine and Real Wealth and then his Wall Street Money Machine books that followed. I also have a huge library of self development books. Although I hate to admit it, if Wade Cook hadn't written this book, I never would have bought it......and I would have stayed out of balance. This book got me back to reading the scriptures again and attending church (other than for weddings) I d been taken in by a philosphy of a very successful and highly educated individual who was a atheist. He gave all the scientific reason why there wasn't a God and how this Universe came to be. Then I saw how his career came crashing down. Relationships dissolved. Health deteriated and he died at the young age of only 49. It got me thinking that his way was the wrong way. I have always had a lot of respect for Wade Cook so bought Business Buy the Bible and when I bought this book, I bought a Bible with it. Can you imagine that---I had over 500 books in my library, but no Bible! What this book did for me was to put balance back in my life. I found that I felt better, started to attract more people in my life, more sales, business and investment success and enjoyed my family more. I wholeheartiy recommend Business Buy the Bible to everyone who wants more out of life and wants to get better in every way.

This is a good book at one third its cost. It would make a good pamphlet but for nearly $20 (counting shipping costs) it's little bang for too much bucks. The writing style is simplistic and predictable. Nearly every page presents two inches of blank white space and the font is oversized as if an attempt by the publisher to hide the shortness of the manuscript. The content is useful though nothing new is presented. I wanted to read the book because I am a fan of Ken Blanchard. He has a knack of popularizing good sense principles so that they are useful in practice. Unfortunately, I think this latest effort is more a whimper than a winner. If the readers of this review insist on buying this book, perhaps, the lesson they will learn is that people (like me) will buy anything if it comes from someone with a strong reputation. I hope Mr. Blanchard and Mr. Bowles develop more content if they collaborate again. They have much to offer, but this book isn't it...

I have read dozens of personal growth books and they all purport to have the answer...27 keys to success, 15 strategies for happiness, 40 things you can do to get better. By now I probably have 1000 things I need to focus on, it's rediculous.

This book has only a few key points, but they are the most direct, to the point, and fundamental points in making huge money. This book isn't the end all, but it is absolutely essential.

I guess the reason I'm so excited about this book is it had the one key that I had been missing all these years. So many books I've read talk about discipline, delayed gratification, and million different ways to try to motivate yourself. What this book taught me, was that the very foundation of all success is doing what you love.

It sounds simple. Most people hear that and they respond "Of course." but few people really take it to heart. Everything gets really easy when you are doing what you love. Motivation is a snap. Discipline is a snap. You follow everything through because you are having so much fun.

That of course is just the foundation, the beginning. But what a beginning! Buy this book right now, it could change your life.

In RAVING FANS, authors Ken Blanchard and Sheldon Knowles
concentrated on the importance of delighting customers . . . in GUNG
HO!, they focused on how companies could become the "employer of
choice" and attract the best employees . . . I liked both those
books and thus looked forward to listening to the taped version of
BIG BUCKS! . . . this third book promised me in its subtitle "How
to Make Serious Money for Both You and Your Company," something
that could be done by focussing my time and energy.

Like other works by Blanchard and Knowles, the points are
presented in a parable . . . here, we're introduced to a man struggling
to make ends meet . . . he goes on a journey to discover the secret
to becoming rich and meets three wise (and successful) people
who present simple truths that can be applied to virtually any
situation.

I liked the above fact; i.e., that when listening, I found myself
thinking that this stuff makes sense--and I should and could

apply it to my situation . . . there's nothing overly earth-shattering,
yet I should add that it got me thinking . . . and it made sense.

Also making sense was the conclusion, in which the authors
reviewed the simple tests that should have been learned from
either reading or listening:

The test of joy . . . you can't make money unless you're having fun.

The test of purpose . . .you can't make money unless making money
is more important than having fun.

The test of creativity . . . incomes, less expenses = profit.

And, lastly, there's perpetual prosperity . . . which comes to those
who help others.

Just read "Beat the Millenium Crash." It's clear, concise, and contains numerous strategies for protecting your assets. Excellent discussions of stock market reactions to previous panics and interest rate trends and the patterns which affect most major markets. Downplays alarmist expectations while explaining what the average individual can do to both protect assets and profit in the event of a Y2K panic. Highly readable.

After reading Beat the Millennium Crash : How to Profit from the Coming Financial Crisis by Jake Bernstein, investors can begin to see the potential for gain rather than focusing on the problems associated with the Y2K bug. I agree with Mr. Bernstein in that we are due for a cyclical bottom in interest rates in the near future, and that a panic top in the stock market is certainly a possibility. The fear of investors losing access to their (online) investments, and thus their unrealized wealth for a period following the start of the new Millennium will certainly add fuel to this fire. This does not have to be a negative for investors willing to invest in long term gold stocks as Jake points out in this new text. Thanks Jake for breaking the mold of "Doom" and "Gloom" others seem to be so trapped in.

Extremely thorough on the subject matter. Easy reading but full of a wealth, (no pun intended), of information. A must "read" for everyone, even "non-investors". This cleared up any misconceptions and filled the cracks of all the "rhetoric". Thanks Jake - Todd

It's wonderful to finally find a book that covers everything you need to know to get started in life. I'm in the process of planning a wedding and found some of the best hints and tips in this book. What a great resource.

I wish I would have had a resource like this when I graduated from college. This book is full of great advice for recent college graduates, and if I would have had a copy of it when I graduated, I would have had a much easier time. Of course, it's not like it's only for the college graduate. There are still many useful tips that people of all ages can use. It's a great book.

After graduating college and entering the "real world", most people see their first "real" job as a gravy train. The money is good but they fail to realize that expenses are also high. They need some financial advice/guidance and ways to save money - this book is a valuable tool. Every graduating student, regardless of their major, should read this book. Parents, if you want your children to take the first steps on the road to financial independence, buy this book for your college graduates. The money you spend will pay high dividends in the end. I read this book in an effort to save myself some money and to pick up tips and advice that I could pass onto my kids concerning money and money management. This book has some great advice and also gives specific examples. Highly recommended.

For my economics class, I had to chose and read a book involving some form of economics. I read "A Girl Needs Cash" and was pleasantly surprised because I found the book to be very interesting. I enjoyed how the author was able to turn the book into an acutal story instead of just writng facts about enconomics like an encyclopedia would. Not only did the author show us the lives of other people and how their financial lives were going, but she also put herself and her experiences in the book which made it much more interesting to know that even people like her at one point stuggled with money. My favorite part of the book was the section on "The White Knight Myth". The "Money Machine" was also a very helpful tip. This book contained some very good advice and was motivating. I do belive that this book will help me with my own financial life.

Perry's "A Girl Needs Cash" is a great motivator. I was especially happy to hear here opinion that an investor shouldn't wait before credit card balances are zero before saving/investing. The book also encourages self-reliance when it comes to money matters, which is a terrific goal for any financial planner trying to help a client.

I was dissapointed that Perry several times in her book referred to home ownership as having no ability to provide future income. A reverse annuity mortgage may provide needed income to a retiree. She also refers to variable life insurance products as "private pension plans". Despite being marketed as such, referring to insurance as a pension plan borders on the unethical.

Despite these minor problems, I certainly recommend this book as one of the several men and women should read while trying to organize there personal finances.

This book belongs in every woman's library. It is entertaining and easy to read, but makes finances and saving for retirement easy. Honest, even if you "aren't good at math."

First I'd like to say that in large Kiyosaki has some great ideas, and two of his books (the 1st rich dad poor dad and cash flow quadrant) were interesting reads. Unfortunately, this one isn't one of them. If this book was a set of new ideas or even just compilation of other works it have been pretty good. Sadly, this book just serves as one big advertisement of all of his other products, such as his board game, which he dedicates almost a full chapter to advertising it. There are glimmers of good information, but most of is very vague.

To summarize, I wasn't very happy to buying and reading a paperback commercial. I would recommend his other books, but I'm not sure I even have respect for the author anymore.

I have to admit that the Amazon Board is pretty amusing. We have this guy claiming to be "the true reviewer from Chicago" giving this book five stars but Rich Dad Success Stories only 3 stars because there not enough business success stories to warrant 5 stars.

Well Mr. "Reader from Chicago", if you truly bought the book, you should have reviewed it quickly at the book store like I did and I assume the others did as well. I enjoyed Rich Dad Success Stories and felt that it was five star material based on the content. You feel differently, that is your choice. Enough!

In Becoming Rich .... Without Cutting Up Your Credit Cards Kiyosaki expands on the philosophy that you don't have to cut up your credit cards and can do quite nicely by using your credit cards properly. This is also a five star book. Too many other so called financial "experts" seem to think that the answer to credit management is "just cut up your credit cards."
Sorry, wrong answer.

A certain amount of debt is good when used responsibly. Cutting up credit cards is not responsibility, it is only a feel good experience that gives temporary relief while you still have the long term pain of debt.

Excellent book Mr. Kiyosaki. I hope you keep them coming. Oh, "reader from Chicago", perhaps we will meet someday in Chicago. I frequent Ophrah Winfrey's restaurant and other places where people who do not cut up their credit cards but do own their own businesses and real estate frequent. Perhaps this section of Chicago is unfamiliar to you.

I downloaded the e-book yesterday and read it last night before going to bed. Once I started, I couldn't stop reading.

While some of the contents are similiar to the other Rich Dad e-books and programs, there is also new material here. The concept of not having to cut up your credit cards is interesting.

Too many so called "financial experts" are touting "cutting up your credit cards." My grandparents used to tell me the only way to lose weight is to push away from the table. Doesn't work - neither does cutting up your credit cards.

What Rich Dad teaches is responsibility - how to responsibly use credit cards and other forms of debt not only to stay out of trouble but actually to create wealth.

I highly recommend this e-book and will buy the paperback when it comes out next month. The stories were inspiring and a joy to read.

Kiyosaki has done it again - another winner.