Description:
Could it be? Is it possible that day trading--the hottest thing to hit the market since analysts started forecasting stock movements by the heft of Alan Greenspan's briefcase--is simply a bait-and-switch that promises unlimited riches but delivers only aggravation? Joey Anuff, cofounder of the Suck.com humor Web site, certainly thinks so. With a literary assist from Wired magazine's Gary Wolf, he takes us into the belly of the beast in Dumb Money. And his rollercoaster first-person account of the day trading life graphically shows that while this highly romanticized world may be consistently exciting and occasionally quite profitable, it sure ain't pretty. Set to the tempo of a trading day that begins each dawn in Anuff's San Francisco apartment, the book chronicles an existence fueled by CNBC and Starbucks and has little room for anything else. Envious of the vast riches that everyone else seems to be accumulating, Anuff jumps into the abyss full-bore to the detriment of his personal life, his regular job, and even his sanity. Through witty writing and self-effacing irony, he shows why he stayed glued to his keyboard each day until the closing bell, repeatedly risking tens of thousands on stocks he couldn't even recall a few weeks later. Along the way, he introduces us to several top players in the game, and explains how everything from discount brokerages to Web message boards affect the action. A true cautionary tale, it's recommended for anyone who has ever read about a trader's million-dollar day and seriously wondered, "Why not me?" --Howard Rothman
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