Rating: 
Summary: Yep! It's a biography, not a trader's manual.
Review: If you want to know more about Mr. Steinhardt, his faith, family and philanthropy this book is for you.If instead you want the keys to his phenomenal trading machine you'll want to look elsewhere.
Rating: 
Summary: Steinhardt the Blowhard...
Review: In his book, Michael does an excellent job of explaining his success on Wall Street, from his tenancity and sharp intellect to some of the good and bad luck which his firm encountered. He also delves into some more interesting discussion surrounding the opportunities that wealth and success can bring to any individual. While his career was indeed legendary, I think Michael tells his story with an amazing amount of self-deprecation and humility. I really enjoyed reading it.
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent review of a brilliant career on Wall Street
Review: In his book, Michael does an excellent job of explaining his success on Wall Street, from his tenancity and sharp intellect to some of the good and bad luck which his firm encountered. He also delves into some more interesting discussion surrounding the opportunities that wealth and success can bring to any individual. While his career was indeed legendary, I think Michael tells his story with an amazing amount of self-deprecation and humility. I really enjoyed reading it.
Rating: 
Summary: Useful--up to a point
Review: It's always revealing to read about the life of a well-reputed money manager, and Steinhardt is no exception. This book is disarming by revealing intriguing details of Steinhardt's life and intriguing snippets of his management of one of the Street's premiere hedge funds.
Its biggest virtue is personal honesty. For example, Steinhardt concedes that he is an "unpleasant boss" and notes that it was "not his job to be nice." It is good to see him admit that he was, at times, a "tyrant" -- particularly when you contrast his honesty on this score to the syrupy recent biography of Julian Robertson, which covered up for his notorious bad temper.
My problem with this book is that it fails to deliver on its most crucial selling point, which is to discuss Steinhardt as a trader and investor. We do get snippets, but not enough. What is here in this book is good stuff, but one leaves it feeling disappointed.
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Summary: A Terrific Yarn by one of Wall Street's Legends
Review: Michael Steinhardt came of age in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn during the mid-1950's, the glory days of the Brooklyn Dodgers. Yet he was a Giants fan, meaning that this graduate of Brooklyn's Lafayette High School, the alma mater of the immortal Sandy Koufax, cheered when Bobby Thomson hit "the shot heard 'round the world" in the final game of the National League 1951 playoffs. Fortunately for Mr. Steinhardt, and for those who buy his wonderful book, neither his Bensonhurst neighbors nor Big Ralph (No. 13) Branca, the hapless Dodger pitcher who gave up Thomson's homer, heard him cheering. Otherwise, he'd be enjoying his eternal dirt nap about 50 feet below Ebbets Field Houses, constructed above the site where the Duke, Newk, Campy, Robbie, and Gil once ruled the National League. This anecdote is revealing, for it shows the makeup of a financial (and otherwise) heavyweight who defied the conventional investment wisdom for the almost 30-year life of his investment firm, Steinhardt Partners, making a ton of money for himself and his clients in the process. Definitely not one who went with the herd, as most portfolio managers did then and do now. Ten thousand dollars invested with Steinhardt, Fine & Berkowitz (the original company) at its inception in July, 1967 would be worth $4,810,000 when Steinhardt finally closed shop at the end of 1995. Not exactly chump change, even after considering inflation. What this book won't tell you is how to run a hedge fund. For that, there exist many shelves' worth of tomes on derivatives, portfolio hedging, and similar esoterica, complete with partial differential equations, stochastics, and the like. None make as enjoyable reading as "No Bull." Moreover, Steinhardt's investment style is best described as eclectic, using a mix of approaches depending upon underlying economic factors, issues affecting particular industries, and those influencing individual companies. Which is all to the good. If an individual investor, even one highly sophisticated, tried to trade like Steinhardt, he'd go broke in a hurry, even if he traded on the Internet paying minimal commissions. Steinhardt, and firms like his, have access to market information individual investors only dream of, including high-powered analytics, and immediate access to Wall Street's finest analysts and investment bankers. Nevertheless, there are numerous pearls of wisdom individual investors (as well as investment pros) can take advantage of. Foremost would be what Steinhardt calls "variant perception." In plain English, this means taking positions in companies (both on the long and short side) if your opinion differs from the market consensus, AND if you feel very strongly about that opinion. Secondly, what "Steinhardt" refers to as the Judy Steinhardt (his wife's) investment philosophy, which is selecting companies on the basis of the reception you believe their products would have in the marketplace. The optimal advice, however, is to diversify, and the best way to do that is to find a good money manager, one who outperforms the averages in bull, bear, and flat markets, and stick with him. This is also a key part of the Judy Steinhardt investment philosophy; they've been married 33 years. Steinhardt, like any great investment analyst, is a master at telling a story, and this is why you should buy the book. You will learn about his wiseguy father, the late Sol Steinhardt (AKA "Red McGee"), who hobnobbed with many real-life characters straight out of "The Godfather." These included Meyer Lansky, Jimmy ("Jimmy Blue Eyes") Aiello, and New York crime boss Albert Anastasia, who bought it in a barber's chair in 1957 (the elder Steinhardt was questioned by the cops in that matter, for he and Anastasia reportedly were out gambling the night before). You will learn about the real benefits of carpooling, which have nothing to do with conserving gas or saving the planet. Finally, you'll learn how Steinhardt, a conservative (by New York City standards) Democrat, tried to turn the Clinton Administration from a Kameradenland of the liberal Left to something more to his liking (Steinhardt's efforts were unsuccessful, although it turned out that Clinton did bend towards the right after all). What now for Steinhardt, who like another famous Michael, owns a private zoo? Will he, a professed atheist yet passionate Jew, continue in his efforts to stem intermarriage between Jews and Gentiles through his Birthright Israel program, which offers a free 10-day trip to Israel for any Jewish youth aged 18-26? Will he, like yet another famous Michael, attempt a comeback? Or will he take after another "robust" man of similar temperament whose last name also starts with "Stein" and buy a major league baseball team, thus making entirely different types of trades? Will he, who has dabbled in the movie business, finally make a successful film? (His life story would be a good place to start.) One thing's a safe bet: As far as Michael Steinhardt's concerned, the fat lady hasn't sung yet.
Rating: 
Summary: A story, no finance details
Review: Michael Steinhardt tells the story of his life, but leaves out all the interesting financial stuff. He rarely tells how he made his 30%/year, and when this is mentioned there are no details.
Rating:
Summary: The Secret of Success
Review: No Bull is a hard core, magnified study of one of Wall Streets true butt-kickers. Most autobiographies tend to be teflon coated ego pumping finalis to stellar careers. As always, Steinhardt is different. He treats himself like he treated everyone who ever worked for him. You got on that roller coaster knowing you would either make money or end up getting thrown off and landing on your butt. While it is true that he takes no prisoners, his butt-kicking approach often backfires and leaves him in solitary confinement. He holds himself personally responsible for everthing he does wrong. He takes very little credit for making a lot of people, including himself, very rich. He is very clear and clean-cut about the good the bad and the ugly. I like that, it is very refreshing to hear the truth.
I disagree with the pundits who see no clues or get no market advise or secret formula for success. Steinhardt lets it all hangout for all to see and learn. Being brutally honest with yourself is a quality few people possess. Knowing when to hold them and when to fold them is an ego confusing game for anyone. Having achieved huge success, Steinhardt seems to bear his losses greater than he tauts his gains. I truly believe he does not gloat about the money he has made. That is one of his greatest successes. Giving money away to worthy causes now seems to be his biggest hobby.
The secrets he reveals with his personal introspection blow away any motivational or financial seminar you would pay big bucks to attend. If you don't find this book uplifting, refreshing and a new look at yourself and your business, you are braindead. Dale Carnigie could take a lesson or two from Steinhardt about hard work, honesty and fulfilling your wildest dreams. Obsession often comes with different faces. Having goals is all about dreams that come true if you succeed. The name of the book could have been "My life in the pressure cooker and how I came out raw." It almost makes you feel like Steinhardt would have been offended if someone else wrote this book about him. That's how honest it is.
I have coined the phrase "Professional observer," for what I believe it takes to be a good investor. The insight that Steinhardt reveals about how he thinks makes him the guru of professional observers. Common sense and logic backed by years of observation and his ability to learn to think different, truly separated him from the crowd. The book tells it all, if you are ready to hear it...Especially about yourself! If you can't take the heat...Get out of the kitchen.
Thank you, "No Bull" Steinhardt, for a great read!
Rating:
Summary: No bull _or_ bear, really
Review: Steinhardt's book is surprisingly well-written for a financier, though much of it doesn't really belong in the "business and investing" category. It generally breezes past any of the kind of nuts-and-bolts discussion of strategies and techniques that you find in other books by great investors. Instead, it sometimes feels like Steinhardt is trying to coax you into hero-worship when he argues that his success in the market is due to some kind of sixth sense that no one else has.
Also surprisingly, the best passages in the book are Steinhardt's thoughts and experiences about being Jewish in the late twentieth century. Many are quite moving, like his anti-Semitic experience in the Army, his grudging acceptance by his gentile Wall Street peers, and his thoughts on the future of Jewish Americans. "No Bull" should have been 2 books, one on Steinhardt's trading strategies and the other on his experience with cultural assimilation into the American mainstream in the 20th century. If you want market wisdom, read Soros' Alchemy of Finance.
Rating:
Summary: Interesting but Unfocused
Review: Steinhardt's extraordinary investment record deserves a book in and of itself. However, I found myself struggling to read this book because I wanted much more detail of his trader life, of which No Bull provides only passing glimpses. This book provides a broad view of his life without a lot of detail about any particular aspect of it. The problem is that the hedge fund world and its firms are rich with colorful personalities and stories, and this book provides only very brief and basic accounts. As a former investment professional, I found the most interesting aspect of this book is Steinhardt's admission that despite his unparalleled success in the hedge fund business, he felt as if he had yet to make a difference in the world - a theme far too common in our business, and a primary reason why I retired from it. I
Rating:
Summary: Too much life story, not enough trading - a disappointment
Review: The book doesn't contain much explanation about how Steinhardt made his money: instead it spends most of its time telling us about personal events in his life. Like most people who buy books by significant speculators, I do so to learn about speculation and the markets, not to read a meandering monologue about every detail of their personal life. The trading sections are few and far between, and when they arrive they are brief and lacking in detail or explanation. In contrast with "Reminiscences of a Stock Operator", Soros' "Alchemy of Finance", and the "Market Wizards" books, "No Bull" is disappointingly lightweight and lacking in insight. The only 2 bits of interest for me were the mention of "Tony" and his legendary trades in the 1973-75 bear market and subsequent rally, and the period at the end of MS's career where he lost shedloads on European bonds - I was quite shocked to hear that he simply wasn't aware that everyone else was long those markets too. I give it 2 stars because even one lesson learned is worth many times more than whatever this book costs.
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