Books that expose Corporate America


CNBC offered a list of some must-read exposés on the inner workings of Corporate America. Among the picks: Conspiracy of Fools, about Enron (and my second favorite book of all time behind A Separate Peace), Barbarians at the Gate, Liar's Poker and The Predator's Ball. These are all excellent books, and I'm embarrassed to say I've read every book on CNBC's list, which is probably part of the reason I don't have a girlfriend. However, I have some additional favorite Wall Street exposés. Oftentimes, you can learn as much about investing reading these books as you can reading the more expository books; and these ones are about 20 times more interesting:

Andy Kessler's Running Money and Wall Street Meat: These two cover the author's exploits as an analyst working alongside the likes of Jack Grubman, and his later career as a hedge fund manager focused on Silicon Valley stocks. They read crisply, and are great for the beach.

Once in Golconda and The Go-Go Years, both by John Brooks: These two, along with anything else published under the Wiley Investment Classics label are great. The first covers Wall Street from the Roaring Twenties through the Great Depression, and the second covers the Go-Go 1960s, when momo-managers like General Tsai rose rapidly, and then crashed just as quickly. Order the Wiley edition so you get Michael Lewis's foreword.


And, of course, Charles Mackay's classic Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds: Originally published in 1841, this is one of a handful of investment books that have stood the test of time. To learn more about euphoric bubbles, from tulipomania to the Roaring Twenties, pick up John Kenneth Galbraith's Short History of Financial Euphoria.

So that's my list. Anything I forgot?

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Symbol Lookup
IndexesChangePrice
DJIA-89.2312,801.23
NASDAQ-23.352,903.88
S&P 500-9.311,342.64

Last updated: February 12, 2012: 05:30 PM

Hot Stocks

General Electric

18.875-0.255(-1.33)

Alcoa

10.29-0.35(-3.29)

Apple Inc

493.42+0.25(+0.05)

Google Inc 'A'

605.91-5.55(-0.91)

Bank of America

8.07-0.11(-1.34)

Wal-Mart Stores

61.90-0.06(-0.10)

Exxon Mobil Corp

83.80-1.08(-1.27)

Ford

12.44-0.25(-1.97)

Citigroup

32.925-0.735(-2.18)

IBM

192.42-0.71(-0.37)

Yahoo

16.14+0.14(+0.88)

Starbucks

48.82-0.38(-0.77)

Microsoft

30.495-0.275(-0.89)

Home Depot

45.33+0.06(+0.13)

DailyFinance Headlines

Benzinga Headlines

TheFlyOnTheWall.com Headlines

BioHealth Investor Headlines

WalletPop Headlines

DailyFinance BlackBerry App

My Portfolios

Track your stocks here!

Find out why more people track their portfolios on AOL Money & Finance then anywhere else.

BloggingStocks Partners

More from AOL Money & Finance

BioHealth Investor Headlines

Page Loaded in 1329085802194 ms.