Gents with No Cents [Kindle Edition]

Ron DeLegge II (Author), Dave Clegg (Illustrator)

Book Description

GENTS WITH NO CENTS explores a rarely examined side of Wall Street: Its childish antics. From accountants that can’t count, to financial regulators that don’t regulate, GENTS WITH NO CENTS will make you howl with laughter at their incompetence.

Written by Ron DeLegge II, veteran radio host of the Index Investing Show, GENTS WITH NO CENTS is narrated in an easy going style with sharp satire throughout and 20 hand drawn illustrations by noted cartoonist, Dave Clegg.

DeLegge draws from his personal experiences as a Wall Street salesperson with crazy supervisors and even crazier customers. He offers a refreshing perspective that’s opposite of the angry and condescending tone of financial literature that has come to characterize our era.

GENTS WITH NO CENTS also pokes fun at taxes and the IRS, along with the
media for misreporting the news, inventing questionable facts, and contributing to the public’s confusion.

About the Author:
Ron DeLegge II is the weekly radio voice of the Index Investing Radio Show (IndexShow.com) and a former financial advisor. Ron has over 15 years of experience in the investment industry and he also covers the exchange-traded funds marketplace for ETFguide.com and Research Magazine.

Editorial Reviews

Review

'Gents with No Cents' is a fun-filled romp through the back alleys, sub-basements and greasy trading pits of Wall Street and its equivalents everywhere. ----Daryl Montgomery, Author of Inflation Investing: A Guide for the 2010s

DeLegge tells us who gains and who loses in his humorous expose of the financial industry. ----Rick Ferri, Author, Columnist, and pioneer in low-cost index investing

Investment humor not an oxymoron. -- --Squared Away Blog at Boston College

"An enjoyable read and...educational to boot." --Kirkus Book Review

"DeLegge puts the financial crises in context as he explains the thought processes of Wall street. 'Gents with no Cents' is a fine pick that shouldn't be overlooked by any general interest and economics collection." --Midwest Book Review

About the Author

Ron DeLegge II is the weekly radio voice of the Index Investing Radio Show (IndexShow.com) and a former financial advisor. Ron has over 15 years of experience in the investment industry and he also covers the exchange-traded funds marketplace for ETFguide.com and Research Magazine.

Product Details

• File Size: 1200 KB
• Print Length: 157 pages
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
• Language: English
• ASIN: B006NR29EO
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• X-Ray: Enabled
• Lending: Enabled
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #433,775 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Laughter is the Best Medicine April 9, 2012

By Grady Harp HALL OF FAMETOP 50 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback

There is nothing at all humorous about the miserable state of affairs of the financial chaos in which we find ourselves. But just when the idea of considering a leap off a tall building begins to seem an alternative exit along comes Ron DeLegge II with his book GENTS WITH NO CENTS: A CLOSER LOOK AT WALL STREET, ITS CUSTOMERS, FINANCIAL REGULATORS, AND THE MEDIA comes along as one of the funniest exposés of the madness that pervades the financial kingdom of Wall Street and the belly laughs that abound in this book put everything into perspective!

DeLegge writes enormously well. He divides his words of comfort into nine chapter: In the Beginning..('I felt it was a citizen's duty not to just describe Wall Street as it really is, but to uncover its root mentality, which hovers between lunacy and adolescence. Along the way, I encountered a whole mess of other people with the same psychotic mindset who effortlessly act out the part.');The Office Scene ('A business is a genuine adult playground, with running, throwing, kicking, flirting, fighting, and crying...');Customers - That Venturesome Bunch; News, Views and Zoos ('Fewer than ten seconds of tire kicking unveils an incredible find: The term 'media' contains the word 'me' just before 'dia'. In Spanish 'dia' means 'day'. Therefore the word 'media' literally translates as 'me first today'. Put another way, the media offers us a good case stud in the narcissistic nature of Homo sapiens....'); Investment Funds - Trial and Error Investing; Advanced Strategies for Beginners; Earth, Wind and Taxes ('Is getting flushed down the toilet a taxable event?'); Cops and Robbers ('While it hasn't received much publicity, the SEC doesn't just function as Wall Street's sheriff; it also doubles as a famous playwright.'); Somewhere over the Rainbow. You get the idea. And to add to the humor, there are numerous terrific cartoons by Dave Clegg that punctuate the laughs.

Ron DeLegge II happens to be that voice we hear on Index Investing Radio Show. He knows his stuff about economics and he most assuredly knows his humor addiction. Few people have the courage to point to the glow that surrounds Wall Street for fear it may cloud personal fortunes. What DeLegge shows us in this ripe book is that the people in charge of the nation's economy are actually more like dolts trying out for Laugh-In - and while their actions are not amusing, their behaviors in the words and mind of DeLegge provide some of the best laughs of the season. This is an enormously entertaining (and, um, educational!) book. Grady Harp, April 12

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Funny take on Wall Street's shenanigans March 30, 2012

By Raghu Nathan

Format:Paperback

I had not known anything about Ron DeLegge prior to reading this book. I chanced to read it as I was offered a free copy by the publishers. Once I finished the book, I found out that he was a former financial advisor and also a current radio host on investing. This book is a punishing expose of the financial industry as a whole, especially Wall Street, and written in much lighter vein.

The book exposes the dark side of American finance, especially the investment side of it that is actively promoted by the government, the IRS, the SEC, the media and also the financial regulators. In short, it says that they are all hand-in-glove with each other, stringing the naive investing citizen along, resulting in the investor being separated from her hard-earned wealth. The book shows how greed runs amok, ignoring common sense and stark reality that stares you in the face.
I have been one of those naive investors for 15 years and have been conned and robbed by the investment banks of much of my money through their financial 'advisors'. It is only after losing most of my money in the downturns that I started studying more deeply about investment and came to understand many of the malpractices of Wall street, which DeLegge humorously points out. However, just this understanding alone does not help me keep my money away from the vultures. In real life, the purpose is to find ways as to how to keep your money from being 'siphoned off' by Wall street. Eventually, I learnt the lessons of index investing even though the book does not cover that aspect. In my experience, I feel that all the mumbo-jumbo of investing can be reduced to focus on just three points: 1. Reduce the risk in your portfolio to what you can tolerate. 2. Invest and trade such that you reduce taxes. 3. Allocate to beat inflation, taking into account your risk tolerance.

I ask myself if I would have benefited from DeLegge's book had I read it before the 2000 dotcom crash. Unfortunately the answer is 'No'. The fault is not with the book but with the characteristics of the 'Customer' that Ron himself outlines in his book. I needed to lose substantial money in order to take a hard look at the whole scenario. Then only the ordinary investor is ready to heed these lessons outlined in the book. In the same way, only after losing money consistently through the 'advice' of the advisors of your investment bank, do you realize that you don't need to pay money managers to 'take care' of your money. After the debacle of 2008, it has become gradually apparent to many that the whole system is smoke and mirrors and corrupt. Insider trading seems to be the dharma of Wall Street rather than an exception. So, De Legge's book can be enjoyed for its humor only by people who have been scarred by Wall Street. The ones who still have much of their money and not lost a lot of it in the stock market, ironically, might see Ron's book as that of a cynic and naysayer and hence dismiss it. That is the paradox of such books.

The book is a breezy and humorous read. Ron says, "Keep your cents and the money will follow". It is good advice to follow.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars If Something Funny Is Going on on Wall Street,Try Laughing December 8, 2011

By New York Investing meetup

Format:Paperback

Hysterically funny -- the author should be a stand-up comic. The book is a tongue-in-cheek look at all aspects of the investment business, including Wall Street, the financial media, investors and traders, regulators and the tax authorities. Considering the outrageous things that have happened in the last several years, it is difficult to parody them because they are already so absurd, but DeLegge gets in a lot of good one-line zingers. While Delegge does an admirable job of skewering Wall Street, he doesn't cover the other great financial absurdity of our time -- the economy (perhaps that's because this would be more in the genre of fantasy than slapstick). When you've had enough of all the bad news about the latest financial crisis de jour, consider reading this book. At least you'll know the laughs are honest.