Rating: 
Summary: Memoir, not methods
Review: This is a book that every investor should read. People who are looking for a trading system or some cookie-cutter program that will make you rich will be dissapointed. Although he made hundreds of millions of dollars, I doubt Levy himself had an exacting system that he used. He knew how to manage risk and look for low-risk opportunities. He also knew how to take advtange of new investment markets - which are almost impossible for average investors. Leveraged buyouts for example.Nonetheless, if they take the effort this is one of the most important investment books that someone can read in this moment in time. Levy's book is one that will make you think. As he recounts the past 50's years on Wall Street you'll see how the stock market changed and how the psychology around it did too. Going into the 1950's, people, remembering the 1930's, were extremely bearish about the market. Levy wouldn't hire anyone under 30 - not because he wanted youth, but because he feared that those older would be too cautious, because of their life experiences of the depression. Contrast that bearish sentiment, with today where every down day is heralded as a bottom and a one week rally is called a new bull market, and you'll see how different the eras are. You'll also realize how different the risk to reward ratio for stock investors is. I have come to the same conclusions that Levy has concerning our market and our economy and where the coming investment opportunities are in the world. I was already in agreement with him before I read his book. That is why I strongly recommend that people read it. This is one of the few mainstream investment books that you can find that will give you a good picture of what has happened to our markets in the past decade and where it is likely to go in the next 10 years - and where true investment opportunities lie in the world. This is all done in a crisp, engaging style, that makes for a quick read. If you want to understand what is going on read this! Even if you have an investment/trading style where you don't think this is important you need to read this book. I personally trade mostly on charts and technical indicators. However, if you are trading a trend in the market it is helpful to have a knowledge about what is moving the market. That makes it easier to have believe that what the charts are telling you is real. You need to believe in your convictions. That is why it is important for investors and traders to keep up with the news and take the time to read books such as this one. I spend a lot of my time involved in the financial markets and usually read books as a way to get away from them. When I take the time to read a financial book it has to be a good one and this one didn't disappoint. This book is never going to be one of the trading classics, like Jesse Livermore's Remicenses of a Stock Operator. However, 10 years from now it will be known as one of the few books that warned of what was to come.
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