Customer Reviews

A Million a Minute: Inside World of Securities Trading -- The Men, the Women, the Money that Makes the Markets Work

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Ms. Davis might not stretch to say traders are saviors but she almost deifies them with her genuinely affectionate portrayals here. She's intent on redeeming the profession (as if it needs redeeming--it doesn't), which she imagines the Average Joe scorns and vilifies. I bet the Average Joe pays little attention to hyperactive market makers, compared to the time spent fretting over his or her own investments. Still, Ms. Davis assures us that for every rogue trader like Nick Leeson (who brought down the British Bank, Barings) or Mike Milken (wait, Mike is NOT a crook, she corrects, notwithstanding the criminal charges), there are scads of other, brilliant, hardworking people--possessed of traits you and I could only wish to have--who lubricate the capital markets and provide the fuel for growth. In other words, she's a proselytizing apologist: by compensating she overstates. If you're not in the financial business, you might find this breezy book an acceptable companion at martini time, if you're someone who will gaze in amazement at the hue of a cocktail olive. She's oddly cozy and deferential with her subjects, like a mistress. More like it, the traders are friends whom she has no desire to offend, or perhaps she plans to approach them for future employment. The trouble is, the topic cries out for a critical eye. For those who take investments seriously the text is a great failure, totally lacking in specifics, or even anecdotes that might illuminate. Imagine a cook book that attempts to describe the taste of the recipes without listing any ingredients and you'll understand the problem with "A Million A Minute." Ms. Davis, your readers can take more. A truly entertaining book (and with more meat) is Michael Lewis' "Liar's Poker" and "Pit Bull" by Martin Schwartz. Mr. Schwartz, especially, is a man who has traded for years, who can share his secrets (successes and failures) and who can live to tell about it!

My biggest complaint with most books like this is that they are boring to read because they go on and on with long explanations that lose the point somewhere along the way.I loved this book and was pleasantly surprised. There was no time to get bored. The author moved easily from topic to topic. Her observations were not run of the mill, but were sharp and fascinating.The characters came to life.The book's approach is more like an economic look at the world of trading and its implications rather than a recipe book for how to trade. But as the author said, you can't learn to trade from a 'how to trade book' anyway.If you could, people wouldn't get paid so much to do it.I'd recommend this book very highly.

When I scanned this book initially I was encouraged by the authors last chapter discussion about how the internet transformed trading as we know it today, empowering everyone/anyone to be a trader. After buying and reading it I was disappointed. Except for a few interesting pieces, (like how barings bank became bankrupt), the rest of the stories were uninteresting and did not keep my attention. Too much attempts were made to gloss up the interviews with these super traders. The author would even describe in great detail the furnishings of the traders offices, etc. In the first chapter, was interesting to read how traders move such great sums of money (a million a minute), but the author kept repeating this topic over and over. Finally the book consisted too little substance and not enough practical information for the average investor. If you want to read about the lifestyles of the Wall ST. traders, this book might be for you, but if you're looking for practical and useful information to help you in your trading, look elsewhere.

I wanted to like this book, and held out high hopes through the first several chapters. It's real flaw is in its lack of substance. Perhaps the editors or Ms. Davis feared losing readers in overly technical explanations of complex trades, but I believe there is a middle ground which was not even approached. I was also dismayed with the chapter on women in the business--not a single profile of a woman attempting to balance a high powered career with family. As a group, the individuals (men and women) come across as smug, self-satisfied and self-centered (the section where she writes about their charitable work is as fawning as it is laughable). But what this book really needed was more meat--more about programmed trading, the chartists, the value traders, derivatives, day traders, etc.

Finally! A serious, in depth, intellectual business/finance book written by a woman! Bravo! I really liked this book. It gets into everything - the history of trading, how people's minds work, it delves into derivatives, currency trading, internet trading - in short, it was a fascinating read. I'll be looking for her next book.

A refreshing insight of the people who make it in the high stess, high reward world of Futures and Securities trading. Hillary Davis writes in an entertaining, easy to follow style that makes you want to talk some more with Melamed, Seibert, Bloomberg et al. These folks sound like the kind you'd like to sit around a bar with as they regale you with their triumphs and failures. For a change we learn that all traders aren't the evil masters of the universe commonly represented by the media. A thoroughly enjoyable read.

Would these traders come to your fantasy dinner party-- Leo Melamed, Michael Bloomberg, Muriel Seibert, Bob Mnuchin, David Shaw, Stanley Shopkorn, Eric Sheinberg, Bill Johnston, Gary Lapayover? For less than the price of dinner for one, Hillary Davis' book provides an entree of tasty personalities all working in a whiz-bang setting that's never bland. This fun book is full of war stories, patient explanations of trading markets and technology, and what it's like to be a global trader. The author puts a human face on market activity that sometimes seems anonymous to the outsider.

This is the best book on the world of high finance since "Liar's Poker".It is a lively and readable study of the history of trading and includes some wonderful insights into where electronic trading is taking us.I bought the UK version when it was first published last year and still pick it up frequently to reread sections.Hillary Davis' love of the markets and her understanding of complex trading issues are very evident.Highly recommended for those who think they know all about the world of high finance and those who want to start learning.