Summary of Market Wizards

I have learned that prices can rise or fall quickly and unexpectedly, and there are low-risk and high-risk stocks in the stock market. Share prices can change quickly and dramatically, because they are based on supply and demand. For example, if more people want to sell their stocks than buy them, the prices of the stocks will fall. This is important to take into consideration, because you do not

So according to the Efficient Market Theory it is impossible for any investor to “beat the market” that is earn more profit or get more return than what the market is actually offering. Therefore the investor can only earn greater profits on his investment if the investment portfolio includes a high proportion of risky investments that is those with higher standard deviations and betas but with a good capability of yielding high returns as well (Stephens, C.R., 2010).

In the introduction of the book, Ho explicitly states all of her credibility through the positions she held and the connections she made throughout her fieldwork at Wall Street. In addition, Ho is clear in her collection of data through multiple different mediums and different audiences. However, Ho does discuss her racial background and the diversity of those who she was interviewing, yet she does not continue this discussion throughout the book. Additionally, the language and vocabulary used throughout the book are highly specified for a specific scholarly and informed audience. Therefore, while this may not be the best recommendation to those who are not knowledgeable about financial terminology, there is still a substantial amount of research and data about the culture of Wall Street. Overall, this book makes a contribution to the literature on work because of its unique and detailed perspective about a small pocket of industry that ultimately, becomes a model of how work should be conducted. Wall Street shapes not just the stock market but also the nature of employment and what kind of workers are valued. Investment firms are the nucleus of the work market and influence corporate America in the way things should be constantly moving and changing in the market to remain efficient. It is then evident how this ethnography is a key addition to the studies of

In Charles Sellers’s book The Market Revolution: Jacksonian America, 1815-1846 (1994), he wrote about how the Market Revolution was not only a defining moment for America, but also the world. In the book A country of Vast Designs by Robert Merry (2011), he quotes Ralph Waldo Emerson in 1844 as describing America as “America is the country of the Future” and “It is a country of beginnings, of projects, of vast design and expectations.”

The Market Revolution attempts to look at the United States in its most critical period. Beginning after the United States’ victory in the War of 1812, the focus shifts to how the United States will undergo rapid change with a new generation of Americans taking part in an emerging free market economy. The Market Revolution is written by Charles Sellers, a professor at the University of California, Berkeley. Sellers is an American history professor who has done extensive research of the nineteenth century United States. This century saw the transformation of the United States from an agrarian republic into an industrialized entrepreneurial power. Facing an identity crisis with the emergence of the free market as well as politics between the Federalists and Jeffersonian republicans is the beginning of Sellers’ thesis. With a focus on how the free market is responsible for this transformation, Sellers focuses on the family structure of the American society from subsistent farms

It is a new year. Investors are looking to the experts for advice on investing in the market. One of the leading financial strategist is a New York based attorney, Sam Tabar. The fact is that he is one one the top capital strategist in the country. This well recognized strategist is also a graduate of the prestigious Columbia Law School. He began his successful career as an associate at Skadden, Arps, Slater, Meagher & Flom LLP. Tabar has also held positions of note in the financial industry. He worked with SPARX Group Co./PMA Investment Advisors and Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

Investment in shares of corporate stock is also very popular that can produce a great amount of profit. By investing in shares of a firm listed on a stock exchange, the investor owns part of the company and also gets the right to share in the future income of the company. Returns on stock come in two ways; first, dividends are paid out of the profit accumulated by the company over a year. Secondly, the investor can sell his or her shares of stock for more than originally paid. Gains may reflect that the company over time has grown or improved or that the investment society sees future prospects. But then capital losses can also occur. The price of shares listed for a company can vary from day to day. On a given day some shares may go up in value and some may go down in vale, depending on how investors view the prospects of each company. Also rises and falls in economic confidence or changes in a particular industry may cause the value of stocks to rise or either fall. There are ranges of factors, which influence stock prices on a daily basis stocks cannot be accurately predicted. Shares of stocks are riskier than

Lewis focuses the book from the perspectives of leaders from three investment firms that saw the future of the financial market and its inevitable collapse in the early 2000’s. Though given the opportunity, these men were not heroes. Instead of spreading the news and rebelling against Wall Street for infecting the market, they were more interested in making a profit. Michael Burry was focused on his company Scion Capital and buying credit default swaps to make both him and his investors’ money. Charlie Ledley and Jamie Mai focused on betting against Wall Street and ultimately in the end made fortunes.

As a result, numerous investors seek advice from Igor Cornelsen. Fortunately for them, he remains a friendly and outgoing personality. Moreover, he specializes in advising people about making long-term Investments. Furthermore, he encourages them to shy away from investing in damaged companies and focus their efforts on damaged stocks. This remains attributed to the fact that such stock opportunities remain affordable. In addition, they give investors an increased level of

Generally, the society believes that a degree in Economics is critical to opportunities such as investment banking. Nonetheless, acquiring employment in a company like Salomon Brothers changes an individual’s perspective. An individual learns that trading is more inclined to exceptional analytical skills rather than formal training in economics. I believe that Liar’s Poker is a perfect illustration of the trading world. It shows that the sector involves taking risks without regrets; this means that a trader should neither moan nor cry in the face of loss. In the contemporary society, the Liar’s Poker game encourages individuals to take responsibility for their

I had the opportunity of listening to a lecture by one of the hosts of “Freakonomics”, a podcast that analyzes the irregularities present in the economy. In Steven Levitt’s lecture, I was given advice to start pursuing my interests early, which led me to apply for a seminar with Morningstar- a company which specializes in fund investing. Like my microeconomics class, this seminar gave me the opportunity of expanding my knowledge in the basic principles. Furthermore, I was also taught the basics of the stock market. Towards the end of the course, my peers and I took a trip to the Morningstar tower, and I was intrigued by the goals that every worker pursued, which was to provide accurate data of which stocks would prove to be good investments.

In this rather concise chapter the author states the gist for the next few pages which is his perception of free trade in our economy. His perception on free trade is that it “makes it possible for people to play win-win games of exchange.” The author then reflects on how the Soviet Union mistakenly made their trades win-lose, this is because they would make the house way overpriced and then force people to buy it at that price. I found this historical fact to be quite interesting considering how unlikely it sounds as well as I disagree with this system completely because of how corrupt it is. The speaker then proceeds to speak on examples of how the free trade system works in everyday life. These examples include getting a job, buying

In order to beat the market a portfolio manager must bet against it. Bill Miller had employed a “contrarian strategy” that the market was inefficient and bargains could be found through active investing. The strategy was based on lower diversification, risk taking, buying in bulk at low and falling prices, and a belief that profits could be made by exploiting a market that is irrational, pessimistic, and emotional.

* Note that the last 5 years, and particularly the most recent year, have been bad for bonds, the asset class that Alpine had been encouraged to hold. Within this asset class, however, Alpine did much better than the index fund. Moreover, despite the fact that the bond index underperformed both the actuarial return and T-bills, Alpine outperformed both. Alpine’s performance within each asset class has been superior on a risk-adjusted basis. Its overall disappointing returns were due to a heavy asset allocation weighting towards bonds, which was the Board’s, not Alpine’s, choice.

The efficient market, as one of the pillars of neoclassical finance, asserts that financial markets are efficient on information. The efficient market hypothesis suggests that there is no trading system based on currently available information that could be expected to generate excess risk-adjusted returns consistently as this information is already reflected in current prices. However, EMH has been the most controversial subject of research in the fields of financial economics during the last 40 years. “Behavioural finance, however, is now seriously challenging this premise by arguing that people are clearly not rational” (Ross, (2002)). Behavioral finance uses facts from psychology and other human sciences in order to