Customer Reviews

Fifty Years in Wall Street (Big Business)

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4 star:		(2)
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2 star:		(1)
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While there is a lot of investment wisdom to be gleamed from this book, I recommend it more for the stories of larger than life giants who made and lost vast fortunes waging war amongst themselves with shares and debentures instead of cannons. If like me you believe it's impossible to understand our current markets without an appreciation of the history that created them then you will find Clews' first hand account of a never to repeated era both enjoyable and educational.

This version of the book is good if you just want the gist of it, but is garbage if you want all the fine details. I give it 4-stars because I believe this is an important book for anyone seeking a better understanding of the inner workings of Wall Street, or for anyone interested in the history in general.

The main problem with this version is that the original was 1062 pages and Wiley butchered it down to 358. A lot is missing, and this version often feels fragmented with no coherent consistency. The original version sells for $400 to $2,500, but there is a 2-volume version of the original from Kessinger Publishing that can be had for $90 or less, though the print quality is not the best; at least it has the content.

When it was first released, the book was hailed for its insight on the history, politics, and financial events that unfolded in the last half of the 19th century. The book is loaded with tales of the former Masters of the Universe, their money-making schemes, and methods of forecasting markets.

Clews was born the son of a potter in 1836 and married a descendant of President Madison. He came from Europe to America in 1853 and broke into Wall Street's inner circle in 1857. He made a fortune selling War Bonds during the Civil War and earned a spot in high NY society. He was a campaign adviser to General Grant, and declined the position of Secretary of the Treasury when it was offered.

In 1873 the Credit Mobilier bankrupted him and most of his clients including The City of San Diego. He rebuilt his business in 1877 and was eventually regarded as "The Sage of Wall Street". He died in 1923 at the age of 87. Too bad he missed the Crash of '29.

Some of his Sagely advice:

"I conclude, then, that for a man to be a thoroughly equipped speculator, it is necessary that he be possessed of extraordinary parts and attainments. He must be an unceasing and intelligent observer of events at large, and a sagacious interpreter of symptoms on the exchange; his judgment must be sound, not only as to existing conditions, but as to coming tendencies, and he must possess the calmness and nerve to face unflinchingly whatever emergencies may arise. Whoever enjoys these qualities in the highest degree must be the King of Speculators. As to others, their rank must correspond to the degree of their conformity to this ideal standard."

Sound advice. Very interesting stuff.

This book provides some interesting anecdotes about the various players in the 1857 - 1907 period. These include Jay Gould, Cornelius Van Der Bilt, Dan'l Drew, Jim Fisk, Henry Villard, James R. Keene, Ferdinand Ward, etc. On the positive side, it is written by an individual who was part of the action at the time, which gives it some color. It also describes the financial mechanisms of the time -- forinstance, how "corners" were done, and how politicians were manipulated. However, the stories are disconnected and poorly organized. To put together the full story of any one character, you need to hop from chapter to chapter. Part of this may be because this version of the book consists of excepts from the 1000 page origonal. Overall, a lively, anecdotal addition to the financial history of this period