Customer Reviews

Ruthless: How Enraged Investors Reclaimed Their Investments and Beat Wall Street

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I've read a lot of books on finance and this is one of the very best. The author tackles a rather arcane subject - the collapse of the auction rate securities market. Sounds dry, right? It's not. It was a bigger scandal than Madoff. The author brings the story to life and puts a face on something you may have read about on page 18 of the Wall Street Journal. There's a strong human element here, and even if you've never heard of auction rate securities, if you've even received devastating news over the phone that threatened your entire being, you will relate to this book.

Ruthless should be mandatory reading for everyone who caused the economic collapse of 2008-2009 - the bankers, the fed and, most of all, the brokerages. Ruthless gives it to the latter with both barrels.

For those interested in the financial future of the world and who have a desire to ward off the next bubble this is absolutely must reading.

It's worth noting that the auction rate securities crisis is not over. Some brokerages, Oppenheimer & Company is particular, refuse to do the right thing. Their clients continue to twist in the wind.

Ruthless is a cautionary tale for anyone who's ever trusted an "expert" to handle their money.

I just had the pleasure of reading Mr. Trupp's new book, Ruthless. The story is a compelling walk through the personal and professional life of a seasoned investor and his struggle with a devastating investment bait and switch scam and ultimate triumph. The realization that this Wall Street scandal is so immense, hurting so many people, adds considerable gravity to the story. Their is a strong thread of anger and contempt through the book, but it always feels sincere and justified.

There is a very intriguing cast of characters that keep the book engaging and fresh. Most notably, the Bush official on the outs. He is less than affectionately referred to as "Radio Active Man." Taking the time frame into account, and the fact that their were only a few truly ostracized Bushies, I believe this to be Alberto Gonzales.

This is not a slow, boring investment how to book. This is a fast and fun read that's more of a personal tale of life experience. I literally couldn't put it down.

Though Mr. Trupp succeeds in getting whole again, don't let the subtitle fool you. Many investors have not recovered their loss, and over 100 billion dollars of stolen money continues to reside in the pockets of Wall Street scum. Mr. Trupp has become a guiding force, guru, and hero to many still seeking to reclaim their lost or frozen investments. Don't be surprised, as this story continues to unfold, if you soon discover it's resolution in a theatre near you. - NL

Phil Trupp writes of his quest to beat Wall Street. Phil, as well as many other investors, lost $336 billion in the auction rate securities (ARS) market. Brokers promised their clients, "It's just like cash."

The real story about these investments:

*They are most definitely not liquid; these are long-term or no maturity bonds
*the supposed market for these was artificially created by banks.

Phil is mad and that comes through loud and clear in every chapter. You can really feel his emotion. Phil is also determined. He's not going to lie down and accept that he can't get his money back.

Phil triumphs in spite of the odds stacked against him. It's inspiring to read of his fight. The odds he was fighting:

*he's considered a sophisticated investor
*he's supposedly bound by the arbitration agreement he was forced to sign. Arbitration almost always comes out on the side of the broker and not the investor.
*the Wall Street conspiracy of silence.

Phil is human. He is afraid and nervous about contacting Harry "the hit man" Newton, the force behind the website, AuctionRatePreferreds.org. The headline of this website says it all, "Auction rate preferred securities is the largest fraud ever perpetuated by Wall Street on investors."

What I learned from this book:

*NEVER buy an investment that I don't understand.
*ALWAYS read the prospectus. If there isn't a prospectus, don't buy it.
*Stick to plain vanilla investments, e.g. stocks, bonds, money markets.
*Diversify, diversify, and diversify.

This book is both inspiring and educational. I highly recommend it.

"Ruthless" provides answers (additional to don't swindle intelligent,
resourceful, respected journalists). A victim of the "Auction Rate
Securities" (ARS) fraud, author Phil Trupp candidly discloses how he and
146,500 individuals and major institutions believed reassuring
misrepresentations that their ARS investments were "just like cash" in
liquidity. Only when the investors were told the then-$336 billion market
was "frozen" in early 2008 did investors learn that it was a scam;
underlying bonds and preferred stocks were not liquid at all, but
distressingly long term. If all was well, the investors' granchildren,
decades later, would be paid. Meanwhile, issuers and banks fared well,
timely paid for issuance and holding auctions, some of which never happened.



The story of action by companies and investors catastrophically damaged by
the massive liquidity crisis is summarized nicely by Phil Trupp's subtitle:
"How enraged investors reclaimed their investments...and beat Wall Street."
If you've not heard much about the Auction Rates Securities 2008 scandal,
you are not alone; the book offers interesting explanation why there was
little coverage for a fraud of breathtaking scope. Enjoy this honest,
readable explanation and story, with a cast of bizarre characters including
infamous personality and newsmaker "Radioactive Man," providing a diversion
into the Kennedy and King assasinations after the major Bush Administration
figure explains the President was "actually aware" of all the (ARS)
problems, and that "Government jumping in- well it can only make matters
worse."

Barbara Radnovsky

I loved this book! It read like a movie and I couldn't help but feeling a wide range of emotion including anger, shock and ultimately inspiration. Ruthless is an important story and one that needed to be told.

Just got this book and am reading with great interest. It is giving me hope and also good information. Check out the names and emails in the appendix.

This book is a life saver.

This is the only chronicle of one of the largest frauds in US financial history and should be read by every investor. For various reasons the auction rate failure received little media coverage, a major reason being in my opinion that the fraud involved almost all the major financial firms, which advertise heavily on such as CNBC and in the financial press such as the Wall St. Journal. Consequently, few people have even heard of this fraud which dwarfs the Madoff ponzi scheme, which is almost a household word. Those who have gone through the auction rate securities scandal mill invariably came out on the other side, to the extent they have emerged, with a reprocessed perspective of the investment and regulatory climate in the US. The author categorizes his work as largely a story of his personal experience and that of others he encountered, with their funds frozen in something which was marketed as highly liquid and safe akin to a money market fund. The book would be better had he explained the mechanics of auction rate securities and the reason why these investments became frozen due to the sudden total failure of the market in which they traded. He does explain that the investment houses who had been backstopping these markets pulled out in unison in February, 2008. But that begs the question why the markets needed support. The reason is that most of these auction rate securities had a mandatory cap on the interest which the issuers had to pay, which was a multiple of some arcane market interest rate unknown to most investors, sophisticated or otherwise. This rate was below what such a risky instrument should have commanded and thus did not allow the market to clear, with the result there was mass failure. Initially about $330 billion was frozen, and there is still at least a third frozen. The author notes how FINRA, which ostensibly exists to protect investors, did nothing in that regard, probably because it was preoccupied in 2007 with dumping the almost $700 million in auction rate securities it held, well ahead of the market collapse. The book discusses also how the SEC investigated the auction rate market in 2006 and then did nothing. The conclusion one draws from this sordid tale is that the individual investor is largely on his own and should not look to FINRA and SEC for any realistic protection from fraudulent investments, especially when these are purveyed widely in the securities industry.

RUTHLESS is a book that shows what to do when you get robbed by a brokerage and or scam artist. Don't give up you CAN fight back. Phil Trupp shows you how to do that with names, emails and telephone numbers. His story is an inspiration and is an eye-opener for every person who has had their money frozen or stolen.