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Title: Money Game by Adam Smith ISBN: 0-394-72103-9 Publisher: Vintage Pub. Date: 12 August, 1976 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $10.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.7 (10 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: equal parts humor and wisdom
Comment: Much to my surprise, I find myself in agreement with a prize winning economist (Paul Samuelson has dubbed the book a "modern classic," and it is). A brief but insanely great read, Adam Smith made me laugh out loud at least half a dozen times with his dry sarcasm and sardonic wit. If 'Reminiscences of a Stock Operator' is the all time ultimate classic for traders, then 'The Money Game' is the all time ultimate classic for investors.
Written almost a decade before I was born, the book is just as relevant today as it was in the latter half of the sixties. The high flyers Smith writes about are so similar to those of the 1990's bubble, it is literally as if nothing but the symbols have changed (and perhaps the clothing styles). Sixties screamers like Brunswick and Solectron were bid up to hundreds of times earnings, then flamed out and fell through the floor with spectacular declines of 90% or more- just like the JNPR's and CMGI's and JDSU's of our more enlightened age. The Great Winfield, master tape reader of his day, is the perfect 1960's equivalent to the modern daytrader banging bids on Island or Selectnet. The technical analysts of the sixties, with their punch cards and their vacuum tube computers, are in perfect harmony with the high powered number crunchers and stochastics trackers of today. And when Smith discusses the complete and utter wackiness of corporate accounting methods, complete with a hundred and one ways to massage earnings statements six ways to Sunday while technically remaining within the law, you would swear he is foreshadowing the fall of Enron. And of course there is good old John Jerk, proud representative of the general public, buying high, selling low and getting taken behind the woodshed by the smarter players, just as he still is today (but don't worry John, you'll come out okay in the "long term," really truly you will, snicker).
Smith also takes some time near the end of the book to roast the gold bugs, who were the same bunch of pessimistic doom mongers back then as they are today (surprise!). The uber-pessimists had their brief moment in the sun in the early 80's, but of course 99% of them gave it all back too. What self respecting bug would have cashed in with gold at $800 an ounce when it was surely going to infinity? ...
The old hands are always saying that the game is the same. Young gunslingers and wet behind the ears traders nod and smile, because they know the old timers are wise- yet the youngsters are still naïve enough to harbor doubts in the back of their minds as to whether it is true. Is the game always the same? Couldn't it be different this time? Couldn't it? 'The Money Game' really, seriously puts the issue to rest. There is no way a book written in 1966 could sound perfectly suited to 2001, no way that bowling stocks and fiber optic packet switching stocks could give the exact same performances under mania circumstances, unless the game is always indefinitely, immutably the same. And why shouldn't it be? We can put a man on the moon, but we certainly aren't any more humble or mature than we were yesterday. Our knowledge may increase but our greed and our fear stay the same.
Bravo Adam Smith (or should I say George Goodman). I don't know if you are even still alive to read this praise, but your book is as fresh today as it was on the day you wrote it.
Rating: 2
Summary: Useless book
Comment: Despite glamorous reviews from nobel prize winner Paul Samuelson and a NY Times reviewer on the covers, do not read this book if you are hoping to learn how to make money in the stock market. The book doesn't offer a hint. The author tells about what technical analysts do, what fundamental analysts do, and how the random walk behavior of stocks thwarts both types of analysts. After reading this book, one would think the succesful investors just have a feel for "the game," but the author does not do a good job telling the reader how the succesful investors apply technical and fundamental analysis. To be fair, he does mention some anecdotal reports of some investors, but he does not publish the record of these investors in a way that would make me respect their philosophies.
If you want to learn how to apply analysis for making money in the stock market read Peter Lynch's books Beating the Street and One Up on Wall Street, read Malkiel's book A Random Walk Down Wall Street, read Jack Bogle's new book on mutual funds, read all of Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway reports, and subscribe to Outstanding Investor's Digest.
The one interesting point in The Money Game worth learning is that corruption has ALWAYS been a part of Wall Street. All earnings reports should be taken with a grain of salt unless you're an expert in analysing them! Companies have been managing their earnings for decades! Wall Street is like any other market: Caveat Emptor
Rating: 5
Summary: A Classical Gold Book
Comment: A book written in the sixties, that just as well could have been written today (except for a few details). This is proof that most investment bankers and fund managers are complete morons, especially in the light that they haven't changed in over 40 years (same mistakes and bad attitudes year after year).
This should be mandatory reading for anyone considering a glamorous career involving trading or any type of Exchange. If you are not into these kinds of fun, avoid it, as it probably will be very boring without some knowledge of how these markets works.
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Title: Extraordinary Popular Delusions & the Madness of Crowds by Charles Mackay ISBN: 051788433X Publisher: Three Rivers Press Pub. Date: 25 July, 1995 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
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Title: Strategy in Poker, Business & War by John McDonald ISBN: 039331457X Publisher: W.W. Norton & Company Pub. Date: September, 1996 List Price(USD): $11.95 |
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Title: Reminiscences of a Stock Operator by Edwin Lefèvre, Marketplace Books ISBN: 0471059706 Publisher: John Wiley & Sons Pub. Date: 11 May, 1994 List Price(USD): $19.95 |
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Title: Against the Gods: The Remarkable Story of Risk by Peter L. Bernstein ISBN: 0471295639 Publisher: John Wiley & Sons Pub. Date: 31 August, 1998 List Price(USD): $19.95 |
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Title: Where Are the Customers' Yachts? or A Good Hard Look at Wall Street by Fred Schwed, Marketplace Books ISBN: 0471119784 Publisher: John Wiley & Sons Pub. Date: February, 1995 List Price(USD): $19.95 |
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