Book Description
The million-copy bestseller, revised and updated with new investment strategies for retirement and the most current research into behavioral finance.
Updated with a new chapter that draws on behavioral finance, the field that studies the psychology of investment decisions, here is the best-selling, authoritative, and gimmick-free guide to investing. Burton Malkiel evaluates the full range of investment opportunities, from stocks, bonds, and money markets to real estate investment trusts and insurance, home ownership, and tangible assets such as gold and collectibles. This edition includes new strategies for rearranging your portfolio for retirement, along with the book's classic life-cycle guide to investing, which matches the needs of investors in any age bracket. A Random Walk Down Wall Street long ago established itself as a must-read, the first book to purchase before starting a portfolio. So whether you want to brief yourself on the ways of the market before talking to a broker or follow Malkiel's easy steps to managing your own portfolio, this book remains the best investing guide money can buy.
Customer Reviews:
Quarterlife Finance says, "A Classic that Every Investor Should Read".......2007-10-03
I recently finished reading the 9th edition of Burton Malkiel's classic text A Random Walk Down Wall Street: The Time-Tested Strategy for Successful Investing, Ninth Edition. First published in 1973, this book is a classic text that deserves a place on any investor's bookshelf.
Malkiel presents two possible security valuation models - one based on a firm foundation of value and one based on finding a "greater fool" to sell your speculative buys to. He analyzes the history of investment bubbles from the Dutch tulip mania some two hundred years ago all the way through the tech stock bubble of the late 1990s. He discusses fundamental analysis of stocks and thoroughly trashes technical analysis. Finally, Malkiel presents a strategy that virtually guarantees that your investments will keep pace with the market with minimal investment of time.
I enjoyed and recommend this book for several reasons. First and foremost, it blows the whistle on many common "beat the market" strategies, including all manner of technical analysis. As a relatively young investor, I was always intimidated by the chartist strategies (moving averages, buy points, etc) but after reading Malkiel there is no cause for fear. Those strategies simply do not work.
Moreover, I found the book to be an easy read relative to many texts on investment. While he covers different types of stock analysis, modern portfolio theory, the efficient market hypothesis, and asset allocation in detail, the book is not weighted down with too much heavy terminology. His writing style, use of historical anecdotes, and ability to challenge your beliefs again and again keeps you riveted to the book.
Finally, I believe that the strategies presented in the book are clear, concise, and can be employed by anyone to their immense gain. Too many people pay for poor investment advice, make mistakes by chasing gains and paying for active portfolio management, or even pay absurd 12b-1 fees on underperforming mutual fund investments. By reading this book and taking Malkiel's advice to heart, I believe that just about anyone can end up with more dollars in hand.
On the other hand, the book does delve into financial topics that may be intimidating for someone completely new to the investment world. The basic message (buy and hold a well-diversified portfolio of extremely low-cost index funds) could be expressed much more succinctly. However, I wouldn't change a thing with this book...just be prepared for a wild ride that challenges everything you thought you knew about investing.
not a fan........2007-10-03
This book was not what it was trumped up to be, as far as I am concerned. It's a gloomy, negative, pessimistic, unending drivel of known and common sense information and data presented in a much more complicated manner that they are in real life. After reading this book you may be inclined to start taking anti-depressants and definitely stay away from the stock and other securities markets. Weeooogh!!
Excellent Message. Sweeps some exceptions (particularly those noted herein) under the rug........2007-10-02
Particularly in a day and age where mutual funds are often touting themselves on the television, this book has an excellent, largely unbiased message for the average investor: buy low cost index funds and stay in them for the long haul.
The book is exceptionally well written, covering most of the lessons of an introductory to intermediate finance course in a very accessible format (i.e. all the right *ideas* without the confusing math). He utilizes dozens of powerful examples and good data to show that his basic premise, despite now being 30 years old, is sound. Due to its theoretical strength and accessible style, this book could be of particular value to Undergrad Business and MBA students who find the professor's academic approach to an Introductory Finance course confusing. Get the big picture here, making the math just that much easier to follow. (5 stars for making difficult financial concepts readable and interesting)
Despite my strong recommendation for both his message and style, the book does have some drawbacks. Number one is that he has clearly taken a side on the issue and has thrown impartiality to the wind. Regularly, the author depends on "transaction costs" (the cost to trade) to ensure that a trading strategy cannot beat his preferred portfolio (implying that it would have succeeded without the transaction costs). This "sweeps under the rug" several clear counter-examples to the basic efficient market thesis in order to reinforce his index-investment message. While I understand his reasoning for doing so -- a desire not to encourage investment in high cost funds or heaven forbid day trading -- it does lead to some skepticism about his willingness to admit any possibility that his thesis has weaknesses. To that end, I would discourage readers who are familiar with CAPM and efficient-markets from reading the book (2 stars as a brush up).
In the end, however, I think the message is sound. Rather than cite trading costs, I think the message can effectively be said another way: If you spent 5h a day investigating stocks, what are the odds that you can beat a professional manager? If a manager has a staff of 20 that invest 8h per day investigating stocks, what are the odds that they're going to beat the whole financial services industry? If the whole industry is taking advantage of every opportunity to profit from small deviations, and you're going to pay a manager most if not all of that profit anyway, investing in an index basically gets you the benefit of thousands of mutual funds and investment bankers without the cost of any of them (or of your time to do research).
With qualifications to the highly technical reader, who should pass on the book, I can't, in good conscience, fail to give this book 5 stars for a profoundly valuable message targeted at the individual investor.
Best guide ever.......2007-10-02
A good informative writing on the handling of your finances in regards to investing. I found it to be quite basic but I have been investing since a club in the 1960's. It still gave me a lot of information and ideas that I knew a little or nothing on. I would recommend it highly to any and all that wish to have anything in the future for their retirement.
Still the Best.......2007-09-10
I first read this book in its seventh edition. I was great then. I recently purchased the ninth edition as a "refresher." It's still a great book and the one I recommend to prospective clients or other investors prone to believe all of the active management garbage out there. Burton Malkiel does a masterful job of dismantling all of the Wall Street hype and laying out investing in a simple, straight-forward, and long-term approach.
If you read this book and still believe in the Wall Street gurus then you're hopeless. And, you deserve every bit of the bad advice you're following.
Book Description
"How to Burn Down the House" is first insider's guide to restaurant and barroom con games. It contains humorous step by step descriptions of every scam in the business with detailed instructions on how to pull them off undetected.
Two Bourbon Street veterans usher the reader into the hilarious world of America's most overworked and under-appreciated criminal. Take an enlightening tour through the enterprising mind of the "Pump Handle", the enigmatic anti-hero of the service industry. For the first time his ingenious bag of tricks is revealed and examined in detail. After reading the Scam Bible you will never look at your waiter or bartender quite the same way again.
Customer Reviews:
Just for restaurant employees.......2007-01-09
I had been led to believe that this book also included comments about what happens when customers complain about their food. However, it was all about the little scams the wait staff pull to make extra money, usually at the expense of the restaurant. Not having worked in a restaurant, I didn't understand a lot of the scams.
Great Book!!!.......2006-11-14
This book is revolutionary. Eye opening insight to the world of restaurants and the staff that "run" them. It truly is one of the best books that I have ever read, and hysterical. If you have ever worked in the industry, it is a MUST READ!!!
Shocking but very revealing.......2006-11-10
A must read for every restaurant manager/owner and even for restaurant customers. After reading the various ways that servers can line their pockets above and beyond tips, it makes you a much more aware and less likey to get taken. The lengths they would go to pull a scam and their outright audacity were almost amusing, as long as you're not the one getting ripped off.
FANTASTIC.......2006-07-20
This book provided the information I needed to run an efficient food establishment. It also gave me the secrets on what to look out for in the latest restaurant and bar scams. Great authors. A must read.
Short book could have been shorter.......2006-07-13
It seems that the editor wanted to have as many pages in this booklet, so he could call it a book, that he could muster. Large type, small pages, and liberal use of white space still couldn't get it even to 100 pages. The editor even started counting at the title page, so by the time you get to chapter 1, you're already on page 21. I guess the editor took some of the lessons from the authors, about how to rip-off the customers, to heart. I don't read very fast, and spent less than two hours to completely study this novelette.
The authors try and convey a image of rampant rip-offs by a single waiter being possible, but I just don't believe that the scale of their implications are possible. There are a few good scams that may be possible, such as recycling customer checks, but any decent restaurateur has these beat with a good point of sale system, and security cameras.
The references to how bartenders rip-off the customers and store were extremely weak, and probably thrown into the book"let" in order to claim that area is covered. I seriously doubt that the authors ever worked behind the bar, or even interviewed any bartenders before writing this book. For example, they say the bartender should short pour to rip-off his customers. What good is that going to do the bartender? They don't pay for the liquor, the owner does. If anything, over pour so you get larger tips. Duh! Remember, the owner is paying for it, and a customer appreciates and rewards a bartender pouring heavy.
At $12.95 the book is overpriced. It would be appropriately priced around $3.95, provided you always received free shipping. So, for the Amazon rating, if you took $12.95 and divided it by 5 stars, each star is worth $2.59. ($3.95 value / $12.95 cost) * 5 stars) = 1.53 Amazon stars, and we round up to 2 (plus I'm feeling pretty generous right now).
On the positive side, I like the concept of the book, and would like to read one that is more detailed, accurate, and covers more real life situations.
Amazon.com
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.
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. Recommended. --Rob McDonald
Book Description
The million-copy bestseller, now fully up-to-date and ready for post-dot-com investors.
Using the dot-com crash as an object lesson in how not to manage your portfolio, here is the best-selling, gimmick-free, irreverent, vastly informative guide to navigating the turbulence of the market and managing investments with confidence.
A Random Walk Down Wall Street is well established as a staple of the business shelf, the first book any investor should read before taking the plunge and starting a portfolio. With its life-cycle guide to investing, it matches the needs of investors at any age bracket. Burton G. Malkiel shows how to analyze the potential returns, not only for stocks and bonds but also for the full range of investment opportunities, from money market accounts and real estate investment trusts to insurance, home ownership, and tangible assets like gold and collectibles.
Whether you want to verse yourself in the ways of the market before talking to a broker or follow Malkiel's easy steps to managing your own portfolio, this book remains the best investing guide money can buy.
Customer Reviews:
Excellent Message. Sweeps some exceptions (particularly those noted herein) under the rug........2007-10-02
Particularly in a day and age where mutual funds are often touting themselves on the television, this book has an excellent, largely unbiased message for the average investor: buy low cost index funds and stay in them for the long haul.
The book is exceptionally well written, covering most of the lessons of an introductory to intermediate finance course in a very accessible format (i.e. all the right *ideas* without the confusing math). He utilizes dozens of powerful examples and good data to show that his basic premise, despite now being 30 years old, is sound. Due to its theoretical strength and accessible style, this book could be of particular value to Undergrad Business and MBA students who find the professor's academic approach to an Introductory Finance course confusing. Get the big picture here, making the math just that much easier to follow. (5 stars for making difficult financial concepts readable and interesting)
Despite my strong recommendation for both his message and style, the book does have some drawbacks. Number one is that he has clearly taken a side on the issue and has thrown impartiality to the wind. Regularly, the author depends on "transaction costs" (the cost to trade) to ensure that a trading strategy cannot beat his preferred portfolio (implying that it would have succeeded without the transaction costs). This "sweeps under the rug" several clear counter-examples to the basic efficient market thesis in order to reinforce his index-investment message. While I understand his reasoning for doing so -- a desire not to encourage investment in high cost funds or heaven forbid day trading -- it does lead to some skepticism about his willingness to admit any possibility that his thesis has weaknesses. To that end, I would discourage readers who are familiar with CAPM and efficient-markets from reading the book (2 stars as a brush up).
In the end, however, I think the message is sound. Rather than cite trading costs, I think the message can effectively be said another way: If you spent 5h a day investigating stocks, what are the odds that you can beat a professional manager? If a manager has a staff of 20 that invest 8h per day investigating stocks, what are the odds that they're going to beat the whole financial services industry? If the whole industry is taking advantage of every opportunity to profit from small deviations, and you're going to pay a manager most if not all of that profit anyway, investing in an index basically gets you the benefit of thousands of mutual funds and investment bankers without the cost of any of them (or of your time to do research).
With qualifications to the highly technical reader, who should pass on the book, I can't, in good conscience, fail to give this book 5 stars for a profoundly valuable message targeted at the individual investor.
Disappointed Purchaser.......2007-09-13
This is an excellent book, well written and informative. I highly recommend it. I ordered this book in July. I have a 1990 version of the book in my library but wanted the latest version. Imagine my disappointment when I completed most of the book and discovered that this was the 2003 version and not the 2007 version. You'll notice Amazon makes no distinction.
A reality check for the long term investor .......2007-08-21
Malkiel provides convincing arguments for the efficient markets theory accessible to the economically illiterate and gives some useful tips on how to invest for the long term in a world in which securities move in a random walk.
Even if you're already familiar with the theory of financial markets this book is still a worthwhile read because of the oftentimes satirical depiction of the very human reality behind the graphs and numbers.
For a book about the world of investing it is therefore anything but dull. Stories about the tulip mania and the .com revolution make for amusing reading and his writing style is very entertaining.
A Random Walk.......2007-08-09
Outstanding. I don't know why I waited so long to read this. It answered a lot of questions I had for a long time.
Index oriented.......2007-08-08
Intersting read but talks of index funds all the time. I need to more to be successful at stock market.
Book Description
For over half a century, financial experts have regarded the movements of markets as a random walk--unpredictable meanderings akin to a drunkard's unsteady gait--and this hypothesis has become a cornerstone of modern financial economics and many investment strategies. Here Andrew W. Lo and A. Craig MacKinlay put the Random Walk Hypothesis to the test. In this volume, which elegantly integrates their most important articles, Lo and MacKinlay find that markets are not completely random after all, and that predictable components do exist in recent stock and bond returns. Their book provides a state-of-the-art account of the techniques for detecting predictabilities and evaluating their statistical and economic significance, and offers a tantalizing glimpse into the financial technologies of the future.
The articles track the exciting course of Lo and MacKinlay's research on the predictability of stock prices from their early work on rejecting random walks in short-horizon returns to their analysis of long-term memory in stock market prices. A particular highlight is their now-famous inquiry into the pitfalls of "data-snooping biases" that have arisen from the widespread use of the same historical databases for discovering anomalies and developing seemingly profitable investment strategies. This book invites scholars to reconsider the Random Walk Hypothesis, and, by carefully documenting the presence of predictable components in the stock market, also directs investment professionals toward superior long-term investment returns through disciplined active investment management.
Customer Reviews:
not for those of limited intellect.......2003-03-16
There is no indication anywhere that this book was intended
either as a follow on to Burton Malkiel's A Random Walk Down
Wall Street or as a primer for day traders. Hence it is
rather disappointing to read the reviews of those who
somehow managed to reach one of the preceding conclusions.
Several statistical studies have made it clear that the
markets are not completely random as asserted by much of the
academic economics community. It is impossible to prove or
refute the Efficient Markets Hypothesis, because, as Farmer
puts it, the EMH, by itself, is not a well-posed and
empirically refutable hypothesis. This book tries to
rigorously analyze the markets as they are.
The average investor could easily reach the same conclusions
as Burton Malkiel strives for, namely that he is best off
investing in an index fund. However, they do it in a more
interesting fashion than simply asserting that, on average,
one cannot beat the average.
A bit technical.......2002-08-23
After reading A Random Walk, I was expecting another easy, entertaining read. This turned out to be much more technical. Even with a fairly strong statistics background, I still got lost. The style is much more dry. It's not written for the general public like A Random Walk is.
Excellent Econometric Analysis for the Right Audience.......2001-06-12
This is a book about financial economics, not day-trading. The techniques used is advanced econometric analysis, not technical charting. The purpose is to clarify some common myth about efficient market theory and the random walk hypothesis, not to show one how to pick stocks. Just like the authors' other book ("Econometrics of Financial Markets"), this one is of the highest high quality, and does a superb job on what it set out to be.
Some readers seem to be disappointed at this book by naively assuming what the title implies, as shown by some of the reviews here. They really can't blame anyone but themselves. Just because Burton Malkiel's classic didn't show us how to day trade doesn't mean a book with the opposite title will do so, nor did the authors ever claim that, either.
A non-random challenge to the random walk hypothesis.......2001-06-08
The random walk hypothesis, considered the bedrock of financial theory and modeling, is challenged in this collection of eleven papers by the authors. They attempt in these papers to show that the financial markets do contain a certain degree of predictability, and they illustrate this by both analyzing empirical data and with the development of various mathematical formalisms. It is always interesting when a given paradigm which is entrenched in the minds of a field's practicioners, is challenged and shown to be either inconsistent or not supporting the real facts. The authors make a strong case in this book against the inherent randomness of the financial markets, and they do so in a way that is very understandable. Also, after a consideration of their results, one can construct practical trading software packages that are based on financial models not using the random walk hypothesis. Thus their study is very useful from a practical, everyday trading point of view.
After a brief overview of the efficient markets hypothesis, in the next chapter the authors go right into the analysis of the efficient markets hypothesis by using a specification test based on variance estimators. They conclude from their results that the random walk model is not consistent with the behavior of weekly returns. Interestingly, they find large (negative) autocorrelations in security prices. They do not conclude though that all financial models based on the random walk hypothesis are invalid, but rather they use the specification test to study various stochastic price processes. Since volatilities do change over time, the authors are careful not to reject the random walk hypothesis because of heteroskedasticity; the test they do employ takes into account changing variances. They also discuss the possible role that non-trading practices may have on their conclusions. For the purely mathematical reader, they include in an Appendix to the chapter proofs of the theorems they used in the chapter.
In Chapter 3, the authors employ Monte Carlo simulations to study the variance ratio, Dickey-Fuller, and Box-Pierce tests under Gaussian null and heteroskedastic null hypotheses. They also consider the power of the variance ratio test against an AR(1) process, AR(1) + random walk, and an integrated AR(1) process models of asset price behavior. The discussion is very thorough, and they conclude that the variance ratio test is a viable tool to use for inference in financial modeling. Since they do inform the reader the particular packages they use to perform the Monte Carlo simulations, their results, which they report in tables in the chapter, can be straightforwardly checked.
A somewhat esoteric but very readable account of what has been called nonsynchronous trading is given in the next chapter. They begin the discussion by employing an interesting and elementary argument that explains very well the consequences of ignoring nonsynchronicity in the sampling of multiple time series. The authors list ten consequences of the presence of nonsynchronous trading and then study the empirical evidence for nontrading effects. Also, they give a brief summary of the implications of employing Markov chains to build dependence into the nontrading process, motivating readers to perform the necessary calculations on their own.
The next chapter focuses on contrarian investment strategies; namely one that takes advantage of negative serial dependence in asset returns. The authors summarize the data on autocorrelation properties and also present a formal model of a particular contrarian strategy. They conclude, interestingly, that a large portion of contrarian profits cannot be attributed to overreaction.
The most interesting chapter in the book is the next one on long-range dependence in stock market prices, for it is here that many alternative statistical techniques have been devised to study this dependence. The R/S statistic is modified and then used by the authors to test for long-range dependence in daily and monthly stock return indices. Surprisingly, they find that after correcting for short-range dependencies, there is no evidence of long-range dependence in this data.
The authors switch gears somewhat in Chapter 7, where they discuss deviations from the capital asset pricing model. They discuss effectively the two models which attempt to explain these differences, based on risk-based and nonrisk-based alternatives. These two models are proposed as alternatives to the multifactor asset pricing models that have been employed to explain deviations from CAPM.
In chapter 8, data-snooping biases are investigated using the theory of induced order statistics and tested with Monte Carlo simulations. The authors effectively convince the reader of the impact of data-snooping biases in asset pricing models, and how these biases arise from tendencies to focus on anomalous data.
Even more practical considerations are considered in Chapter 9, where the authors show how to maximize predictability in asset returns. They use a model of time-varying premiums to estimate what they call the maximally predictable portfolio, with this model using an out-of-sample rolling estimation technique to avoid data snooping problems. Monte Carlo simulations are again used to validate the results of the models. They emphasize in their conclusions that predictability does not imply market inefficiency.
Emphasizing the discreteness of real price data, the irregular timing of transaction prices, and the conditional nature of price changes, the authors develop in Chapter 10 a model that addresses these issues using what they call an ordered probit model. They conclude, using some interesting technical analysis with their model and its comparison with empirical data, that discreteness is important in financial modeling.
Chapter 11 is very empirical, wherein the authors study transaction data on the S&P 500 futures contracts with the goal of studying price behavior in relation to arbitrageur strategies. They conclude that on the average, mispricing increases with time to maturity and is path-dependent.
The last chapter of the book discusses the October 1987 stock market crash, with the goal of analyzing order imbalances and stock returns. They conclude that there are notable differences in the returns realized by stocks in the S&P index and those that are not, interestingly.
Thick but good.......2000-09-08
Andy Lo is one of the best minds in quant investing out there right now, and I should have expected this to be a challenging read. But it was a little heavy on the calculus even so. Thankfully it's well written enough that you can take the math for granted and still get a lot out.
Average customer rating:
- Forever a classic
- an exciting nonfiction book!
- One of the best memoirs ever written
- I will always love this book
- We recommend this book
|
Down These Mean Streets
Piri Thomas
Manufacturer: Vintage
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ASIN: 0679781420
Release Date: 1997-11-25 |
Amazon.com
The 30th anniversary edition of this classic memoir about growing up in Spanish Harlem includes an afterword reminding us that its streets are even meaner now, thanks to crack cocaine and the dismantling of government poverty programs. As a dark-skinned Puerto Rican, born in 1928, Piri Thomas faced with painful immediacy the absurd contradictions of America's racial attitudes (among people of all colors) in a time of wrenching social change. Three decades have not dimmed the luster of his jazzy prose, rich in Hispanic rhythms and beat-generation slang.
Book Description
Thirty years ago Piri Thomas made literary history with this lacerating, lyrical memoir of his coming of age on the streets of Spanish Harlem. Here was the testament of a born outsider: a Puerto Rican in English-speaking America; a dark-skinned morenito in a family that refused to acknowledge its African blood. Here was an unsparing document of Thomas's plunge into the deadly consolations of drugs, street fighting, and armed robbery--a descent that ended when the twenty-two-year-old Piri was sent to prison for shooting a cop.
As he recounts the journey that took him from adolescence in El Barrio to a lock-up in Sing Sing to the freedom that comes of self-acceptance, faith, and inner confidence, Piri Thomas gives us a book that is as exultant as it is harrowing and whose every page bears the irrepressible rhythm of its author's voice. Thirty years after its first appearance, this classic of manhood, marginalization, survival, and transcendence is available in an anniversary edition with a new Introduction by the author.
Customer Reviews:
Forever a classic.......2007-08-12
Down These Mean Streets is the story of Piri Thomas' journey into adulthood. The book is set in Spanish Harlem in the 1940s. The author's writing style is refreshing and lyrical. He uses some Spanish words here and there(readers might find the glossary in the back of the book helpful), and kicks in a few slang words as well, which makes the dialogs that much more genuine.
Piri struggles through poverty, family troubles, and desperately wanting to belong. He fights with being a dark skinned Puerto Rican during a time when racism was strong, and trying to find his place as neither black nor white. Piri did some not-so-good things in his life, being in a gang, drug addiction, and armed robbery among other things, but throughout it all it is easy to tell that Piri is a good guy at heart.
Overall, this is a captivating story. You might find yourself wondering what you would have done faced with the same situations. I even found myself rooting for Piri at times. This book is still a very accurate depiction of "the hoods" of New York, despite being published for the first time about 40 years ago.
I was sad to have to finish the book, and in the end I felt like I knew Piri. I look forward to re-reading this book over the years. It is truly a classic. Everyone should read it. Anyone can find something in the story that they will be able to relate to.
an exciting nonfiction book!.......2007-06-28
This book really told me what it was like to live in Harlem in the 40s. The discrimination and racism is real and raw (although Mr Thomas does get a little jaded and think all white people are bad). The way he describes coming off heroin is realistic, colorful, and explosive. This whole book is very alive, as a memoir. It was funny to see the slang they used back then!
One of the best memoirs ever written.......2007-05-10
I've read this book more than a few times and have taught it to different level readers a few extra times. There was one high school student who came to me after the book was done and told me, "This is the first book I ever finished." Even if it's not the first book you've read, you'll find writing that is fearless, honest, and powerful. You won't forget it, and if you're really lucky, you'll get to share it with someone else.
I will always love this book.......2006-12-28
Grabbed it off my english teachers shelf junior year of high school, loved it so much I never gave it back. This is an amazingly wonderful book. Vivid writing style...I could see every last detail in my head. It was like a movie in my brain. Love it.
We recommend this book.......2006-12-07
Book Review: Down These Mean Streets
We recommend this book because Piri Thomas wrote the book in a way that you can visualize the story. This book is interesting because it talks about a young Latino's life growing up in the streets of Harlem New York in the 30's. However Piri the main character in the story gets discriminated throughout his young life for being a black Puerto Rican. We think this book has some strong scenes suitable for children under 13. Little by little the story gets interesting to the point where you don't want to stop reading. To conclude, this story is a good autobiography to learn from
Book Description
When Washington Shut Down Wall Street unfolds like a mystery story. It traces Treasury Secretary William Gibbs McAdoo's triumph over a monetary crisis at the outbreak of World War I that threatened the United States with financial disaster. The biggest gold outflow in a generation imperiled America's ability to repay its debts abroad. Fear that the United States would abandon the gold standard sent the dollar plummeting on world markets. Without a central bank in the summer of 1914, the United States resembled a headless financial giant.
William McAdoo stepped in with courageous action, we read in Silber's gripping account. He shut the New York Stock Exchange for more than four months to prevent Europeans from selling their American securities and demanding gold in return. He smothered the country with emergency currency to prevent a replay of the bank runs that swept America in 1907. And he launched the United States as a world monetary power by honoring America's commitment to the gold standard. His actions provide a blueprint for crisis control that merits attention today. McAdoo's recipe emphasizes an exit strategy that allows policymakers to throttle a crisis while minimizing collateral damage.
When Washington Shut Down Wall Street recreates the drama of America's battle for financial credibility. McAdoo's accomplishments place him alongside Paul Volcker and Alan Greenspan as great American financial leaders. McAdoo, in fact, nursed the Federal Reserve into existence as the 1914 crisis waned and served as the first chairman of the Federal Reserve Board.
Customer Reviews:
Great read.......2007-08-30
This book is a great read. The topic is fascinating (to me, at least). Some of the material is a bit intricate, but the author does a great job of explaining it. He liberally uses footnotes to explain details which to an economist might be pedestrian but to a lay person such as myself are not obvious. (One ongoing topic is the exchange rate between pounds sterling and dollars, and how that relates to the price of gold and the cost of shipping gold between the UK and the US. He does a great job of walking the reader through the process and the arithmetic.) I highly recommend this book, and particularly recommend it to anyone who wonders what the Federal Reserve Board really does.
Fascinating history of how the U.S. became the world's financial leader.......2007-03-30
In Kazuo Ishiguro's novel The Remains of the Day, a blue-blood guest unmercifully grills James Stevens, the head butler at an English estate. The pompous guest is trying to demonstrate that uneducated people should not have the vote. "My good man," he asks, "do you suppose the debt situation regarding America is a significant factor in the present low levels of trade? Or...is the abandonment of the gold standard...at the root of the matter?" Stevens, aware that the question is meant only to baffle him, replies that he has no idea. Poor Stevens! Anyone without a degree in international finance would have an equally difficult time answering such an abstruse question. That's why this intriguing business history book by William L. Silber is so worthwhile: He brings global finance to life by spotlighting America's 1914 money crisis and by explaining how then-U.S. Treasury Secretary William McAdoo used this portentous episode to establish the nation's financial supremacy. We suggest you read this illuminating work of economic history to understand the seminal events that established U.S. monetary policy.
Book Description
He is one of the world's most accomplished figures of modern finance. As chairman and chief executive officer of Citigroup, Sanford "Sandy" Weill has become an American legend, a banking visionary whose innovativeness, opportunism, and even fear drove him from the lowliest jobs on Wall Street to its most commanding heights. In this unprecedented biography, acclaimed Wall Street Journal reporter Monica Langley provides a compelling account of Weill's rise to power. What emerges is a portrait of a man who is as vital and as volatile as the market itself.
Tearing Down the Walls tells the riveting inside story of how a Jewish boy from Brooklyn's back alleys overcame incredible odds and deep-seated prejudices to transform the financial-services industry as we know it today.
Using nearly five hundred firsthand interviews with key players in Weill's life and career -- including Weill himself -- Langley brilliantly chronicles not only his success and scandals but also the shadows of his hidden self: his father's abandonment and his loving marriage; his tyrannical rages as well as his tearful regrets; his fierce sense of loyalty and his ruthless elimination of potential rivals. By highlighting in new and startling detail one man's life in a narrative as richly textured and compelling as a novel, Tearing Down the Walls provides the historical context of the dramatic changes not only in business but also in American society in the last half century.
Download Description
"The very night that Sanford ""Sandy"" Weill, the chairman and chief executive officer of Citigroup, was being feted on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange as CEO of the Year, the television screens above the floor were flashing danger: A congressional panel was tearing into Jack Grubman, the $20-million-a-year telecommunications analyst who worked for Sandy. Had Grubman and Citigroup favored corporate clients at the expense of average investors? Was Citigroup recommending stocks of troubled companies to get their business? The worst scandal of Sandy Weill's long career was breaking around him. Here, from its very beginning, is the riveting inside story of how a rough-edged kid from Brooklyn overcame incredible odds and deep-seated prejudice to put together Citigroup, the world's largest financial empire, and to transform financial services in America -- for better or worse. Tearing Down the Walls provides an unprecedented look at how business and finance are conducted at the highest levels, with extraordinary insight into the character and motivations of powerful men and women.
Customer Reviews:
Could have been better.......2007-04-07
This is a very well written book and is full of details about Sandy Weill but the entire book plays on him being an undertrodden jew, but he fails to take into account that you don't have to be jewish to be the underdog - take Frank Lowrys Pushing the Limits he was jewish lived in the ghetto and there was not one mention that he was a victim he just got on with life and made the best of it. Again this is a very good book just read past the constant comments about how he was always being victimised jew.
Another potential title.......2007-03-06
Another potential title for this book is "Jew-boy from Brooklyn done good". This story does a great job demonstrating how Sandy Weill fought his way to the top, battled anti-semitism, encouraged diversity, and reached a level of success that few can compare to. An excellent read and interesting history lesson of Wall Street during its technology expansion phase.
Fascinating book.......2006-10-26
Whether you like Sandy Weil or not is not the issue here. This is just a fascinating book and one of the best books I have read in a while. You will not regret the time that you spend reading this.
Sandy Weill is a testament to belief in delivering value.......2006-08-01
This book could be considered a corner stone foundation marker in understanding what makes people relevant, even when they are not.
Sandy Weill shows how consistentcy and planning directed to delivering real value for others will result in producing positive results. Monica Langley describes well how a strong basis in fundamental value wins over adversity and fills in a vacume.
The book does a good job in reflecting the transition from family to business and the process of creating an icon that Sandy Weill became with his challenges as a broker, American Express, Travelers and Citibank. As a reader, you can see how these companies needed Sandy's pivotal instincts to solve their problems and evolve.
finished the whole book overnight.......2005-05-24
As a person used to work in Wall Street and live now in China, I read the Chinese version of this book. It was as if I lived, breathed, angered, and cheered with Weill, Dimon, Prince.... One of the best books about wall street of past 10 years. I ordered this book in English and will read it again, for at least once.
Average customer rating:
- Could have been better
- A good actioner
- Your Friendly Neighberhood Spiderman
- Finally!
- I regret reading this book
|
Down These Mean Streets (Spider-Man (Pocket Star))
Keith R. A. DeCandido
Manufacturer: Pocket Star
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
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Spider-Man: The Darkest Hours
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War Zone (Fantastic Four)
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Watchers on the Walls (X-Men)
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Dark Mirror (X-Men)
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Wolverine: Weapon X (Wolverine)
ASIN: 1416509682 |
Book Description
A brand-new designer drug arrives in New York City with the force of a hurricane: Triple X, a potentially lethal combination of ecstasy and gamma radiation that is literally turning users from the shadowy, dank alleys to the glittering, raucous party circuit into living, rampaging nightmares. For high school science teacher Peter Parker, Triple X's onslaught on some of his students and his wife's professional life is as dangerous as it is unexpected. For Peter's secret alter-ego, the costumed crime-fighter known to the world as Spider-Man, the situation quickly accelerates from bad to worse, as the drug's effects run unchecked against law enforcement's and his own valiant efforts to rein in the city-wide chaos. But there is a growing consensus between Spider-Man and the police that, for reasons yet unknown, one of the arachnid's most fearsome enemies may be behind it all as part of a greater scheme to bring the city -- and one of its most heroic and hated defenders -- to its knees at long last...
Customer Reviews:
Could have been better.......2007-10-04
I am a huge Spider-Man fan. I know pretty much all there is to know about the wall crawler. I had just finished reading "Spider-Man: The Darkest hours" and was impressed. It was a great book. I decided that I would keep on the streak and move to this book.
"Down these Mean Streets" was a disapointment to me. The plot itself was very good, but the exacution was lacking. I encountered several spelling grammar errors which were not caught by the editor. There were also a few parts that were worded funny.
All in all I'm giving it a 2/5. Like I said, good plot, but the writing in and of itself was lacking.
A good actioner.......2006-07-25
Triple X,a potent combination of Ecstasy and gamma radiation,is
turning people into Hulkish monsters.Now it's up to Spiderman to stop them and find out who's responsible.This is a well-done,
fast-paced thriller that works up quite a head of suspense.It also has a surprising dark adult tone and some rough but very
appropriate language.I like how DeCandido also lightens things
at times with some of Spidey's trademark zingers.He also creates very believable characters.All in all,this is a very
satisfying read.
Your Friendly Neighberhood Spiderman.......2006-04-25
When a mysterious drug starts spreading across NYC turning people into gamma sized Hulks, it's up to Spidey to figure out the why's and how's. That's pretty much the story in a nutshell. It's an entertaining story throughout but some places where it stops short.
In general, I'm a fan of Spidey and I was glad to see him back in a full length novel and when I heard it was being written by Keith De Candido, I was even happier. For those who don't follow Star Trek, De Candido has written many Trek bestselers and is one of the more poular authors in that line.
There were times in the book where there's some cursing and reading it, surprised me if only because it's not something you see in his Trek books (at least I haven't).
His writing style here is similiar to his style in other pieces of his novels. The chapters aren't as long as usual but it does go at a fast pace with the story beginning right away. It is a qucik read (less then 300 pages), wheras most of his other stuff is more then that. There were times in the story where I thought The Incrediable Hulk himself would make a cameo but the only one we get is from Doc Ock but that pretty much was, IMO, a cop out only cause the author knew he had to end it at some point and he did so rather quickly.
The good thing about it is no one will suspect who the main culprit is pretty much until the end when all the clues are solved. In fact, the book plays like a mystery novel more then a sci fi (though why Spiderman is considered Sci Fi is beyond me).
All in all, if you like Spiderman, you'll like this book. If you don't like Spiderman but like De Candido's work. you'll probalby like this.
Finally!.......2006-03-15
After being disappointed with a couple of the DC Comics novels of late, I decided to give one of the Marvel versions a try. And I'm glad that I did!
While "Green Lantern: Hero's Quest" and "Superman: The Never-Ending Battle" were both fairly bland, this novel was quite refreshing. For one thing, it was clearly written with a mature audience in mind. That does NOT mean that there is endless swearing (there is some) or unnecessary sex scenes (none), but that the theme and tone are geared toward a thoughtful audience.
This is a drug novel. It might be a science-fiction drug with science-fiction side effects, but it is a drug story nonetheless. Young people die from this drug. And both Spider-Man and the police have to use their wits for detective work just as much as for battle scenes.
As far as I know, I have never read any of Keith R. A. DeCandido's work before, but I would love it if he were to write more of these types of super hero novels. In fact, if this series of books maintains such a mature feel, I would love to see Dean R. Koontz or Christopher Andrews take a crack at one.
My ONLY complaint, the only reason I am not giving this novel 5 stars, is because of the ending. While my favorite elements were the down to earth, realistic issues, when it eventually became evident that a popular Spider-Man super villain was behind it all, THEN I was ready for a climactic battle. Unfortunately, it was not to be. The final fights, of which there were two, were handled very briefly, adding up to only a few pages the first time, and over in essentially one page the second time. A bit disappointing. I wish the author had taken just one more chapter to play up those elements. But ...
Overall, I was very pleased. This book was very refreshing after DC's let downs. Thanks to this novel, I am now looking forward to Christopher Andrews' "Paranormals," which is apparently ALSO a super human story (though not from DC or Marvel). I'll be reviewing that one next!
I regret reading this book.......2006-01-09
If you're a fan of superhero fiction, you'll probably like the first four-fifths of this book. It's well written, the characters ring true, and the story sticks to the Spidey universe.
The ending, though, is almost like the writer got tired of the whole thing and just wrote a quick ending so he could be done with it.
It is only in this last small part that you find out Doc Ock is the villain. There's a kind of lame connection between Doc Ock and this designer drug which is the main source of the conflict, and the characterization of Ock makes him out to be a kind of tight-assed sissy.
Worse, there's a bogus final scene where the Doc is taken into custody -- by ordinary cops, no less -- that you'll probably hate. Sadly, the epilog is better reading than the main story ending.
It's not often that I really, really wish I'd found a better use for my time than reading a book, but this was one of them.
Book Description
A true life, how it was done, play by play book, that's full of ups and downs and ultimately culminates with a 20,000% return in real estate. This is a perfect book for anyone starting out or thinking about making a move into a career on Wall Street or an investor in real estate. It's a put it all on the line and let it ride motivational and informative story about starting on Wall Street at a young age of 19, and working up to the major firms and becoming a million dollar producer, then having the 2000 tech wreck take a business apart. After a 10 year build up, with major cycles along the way and finally reaching the million dollar production level comes a complete loss on Wall Street and a total change of direction from tech stocks to real estate. Starting with no cash, only the equity in a home this book proves it's possible to leverage up and grow a business and succeed through sheer force of will. Learn how to zone in on what you really want and get there step by step. Take a bird eyes look at deal analysis and find out what it takes to make them happen.
Customer Reviews:
MOTIVATING!.......2006-11-15
This is a motivating book about how a Wall Street lover moved to become a real estate guru. This is not a bad read and should be in anyone's library. Please note one key component is his capital, he had something to start with. If you have nothing to start with, you might want to look at asset buildling slowly or partnering up.
Other supplementary titles:
Complete Guide to Real Estate Tax Liens and Foreclosure Deeds: Learn in 7 Days
A 20,000% Gain in Real Estate: A True Story About the Ups And Downs from Wall Street to Real Estate Leading Up to Phenomenal Ret.......2006-09-30
The book was descent, far from the best book I've read on the subject of real estate investing. However, the author does an excellent job in sharing the tactics that he used to purchase commercial property by using as much
leverage as possible,with a partner. I highly recommend this book and "2 Years to a Million in Real Estate
by Matthew A. Martinez. A MUCH better read and contains allot more information on the same type of concepts
Break out the Calculator.......2006-09-17
$15,000 to $3,000,000 is 20,000% on the button
And $3 million is lowballing it. It's more like $5 million.
Kevin Kingston.
Phenomenally Motivating Story!.......2006-08-01
I read this book a few times and have used the principles outlined to do a couple of deals myself. Similar to the author I used the equity in my house to purchase 2 apartment buildings and now have more equity in those two buildings than I can believe. This is the book that pushed me to do it and I would highly recommend reading it!
I was on the fence about using a credit line to invest in the stock market or real estate, boy am I happy I read this book. It was just what I needed at the right time and helped me realize the importance of cash flow, leverage and principal pay down.
Disregard the authors math.......2006-08-01
First, the title must just be for eye-catching purposes, because no matter how you value his portfolio, he made nowhere close to a 20,000% return on his initial investment. And be forwarned, when he says its a story '... from Wall Street to Real Estate...' he means it. 40 pages of this 124 page book are about his stockbroking career. Having said that, it is a great book about what to look for, even though he himself even says it will probably be next to impossible to find these type of returns in todays market, and how he did it.
Book Description
The Moon came down on Milk Street, came down with a very soft sound.Shh-shhh, shh-shhhhh, in pieces on the ground.A compelling story with a strong message of community and togetherness When the moon suddenly falls on Milk Street, a little boy wonders, "Who will make it right again and set it in the air?" His question is soon answered, as firefighters, rescue workers, and the entire neighborhood of Milk Street come together to restore the moon in the sky. Jean Gralley's dynamic images and spare text brilliantly illustrate the power of the human spirit during difficult times. This is a story of community, comfort, and brave men and women everywhere.
Customer Reviews:
teamwork!.......2004-12-08
Late one night on Milk Street the moon falls from the sky! What should the people do? They all come together and work as a team to set in right in the sky! Everyone helps! The fire chief, worker dogs, rescue workers and citizens of the community work until the job is done!
The book teaches the values of teamwork, cooperation and sense of community to young children.
I would recommend this book to kids who are just learning to read on their own. The will enjoy the simple text. Only a few words are on each page making the book very easy for them to read in one sitting.
Who Will Help Make Things Right Again?.......2004-11-20
It's a Lunar 9-1-1 on Milk Street when the moon comes down-and it's up to everyone to help put it back in the sky. I discovered this book purely by accident while I was browsing the picture book section, but I'm glad I did-it's a beautiful little treasure for any childhood library.
In the urban setting of Milk Street one night, the moon comes down. And all the children come to help dressed as firemen and policemen, all eager to fix things. The text is very simple, perfect to be read to a very young child or read by a child just learning to read. In some ways the restful and gentle nature of the lyrical words reminds me of GOODNIGHT MOON, but the similarities end there. The warmly colored gouache and mixed media pictures are simply drawn, depending on a soft cartoon style rather than detailed-realistic. They work perfectly with the words and subject, creating an almost dream-like feel to this story. All the characters are children in their pajamas and animals, all running to help. This is a proactive tale, a positive story of an emergency that is solved by cooperation. And, by the time the children wish each other goodnight and go off to bed, readers know they well deserve their peaceful sleep.
This book tackles some important issues. Anyone familiar with what happened on 9/11 in 2001 will be quick to see similarities here. The pictures of children clothed in police and firefighter gear gathered in the street and all pitching in to help is an echo of similar images people saw after the events of 9/11. The moon dust on their pajamas even echoes the soot. But the reflection isn't brutal or dark; the similarities are gentle reminders-not scary. And the message is positive, and essential for children to hear. When an emergency happens, people will band together to help "set things right again." It teaches children a powerful lesson within a fairly gently told tale that will inspire hope, not fear.
This isn't a book about 9/11, of course. It can be read to cover many different traumatic events and emergencies. On the first page of the book, the author makes mention of Fred Rogers "when he was a child, if he ever came across a car accident or some other terrifying scene his mother would tell him, `Look for the helpers.'" And that's what this book is about. Helpers. It is a tribute to them, and an inspiration to a new generation of them.
I'd recommend this book for children anywhere from age 1-4, and especially for children who might be coping with fears or worries that this addresses. This is a remarkable little book and deserves some recognition for the beautiful art, musical prose and important message.
Happy Reading! ^_^ Shanshad
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- Art And Flair Of Mary Blair, The
- Baghdad Burning: Girl Blog From Iraq
- Black Powder War (Temeraire, Book 3)
- Black Widow Vol. 1: Homecoming (Mighty Avengers)
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- Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 8, Issue 2
- Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 8, Issue 2
- Cartoon Guide to Statistics
- Christianity for the Rest of Us: How the Neighborhood Church Is Transforming the Faith
- Come on Over: A delightful collection of simple recipes and clever ideas for casual gatherings with family & friends. (Gooseberry Patch)
Books Index
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