Traders' Tales: A Chronicle of Wall Street Myths, Legends, and Outright Lies [Hardcover]

Ron Insana (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1996

Acclaim for Trader's Tales

"I have rarely gone through a day without hearing a joke about Wall Street. Ron Insana captures the essence of the culture that creates those jokes with one hilarious tale after another. This book is great fun." -Stanley Druckenmiller Managing Director, Soros Fund Management.

"Ribald tales and outrageous jokes are as much a part of Wall Street as subordinated debentures, and Ron Insana has sifted through years of financial lore to collect the best of them. A funny, funny book, certain to draw a chuckle and a wry smile of recognition from even the stiffest Masters of the Universe." -Bryan Burrough Coauthor, Barbarians at the Gate.

"You can't beat Wall Street for witty and outrageous behavior. Ron Insana captures it." -Michael Steinhardt Managing Partner, Steinhardt Partners.

"Having worked on Wall Street for 20 years, I thought I had heard and seen it all. The secrets revealed in this book, however, are absolutely shocking." -Elaine Garzarelli Director, Garzarelli Capital, Inc.

"Wall Street has lots of traders' tales which bring us insight into the lighter side of our business. This book should bring fun for us all." -Mario Gabelli Chairman, Gabelli Funds, Inc.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Outsiders have long suspected that Wall Street is nothing more than a real-life Disneyland, where dreams are made and hopes are dashed with the speed of light and the randomness of lightning. By chronicling the rarely publicized, behind-the-scenes reality of some of its most incredible incidents and personalities, CNBC senior anchor Ron Insana brings this perception to life in Traders' Tales: A Chronicle of Wall Street Myths, Legends and Outright Lies. Read this collection of stories about the men and women who have won big and lost bigger, and never think about traders and their lives in the same way again.

From the Publisher

This book is a rich collection of delicious Wall Street stories that will capture the imagination of everyone from Wall Street to Main Street. It is as much about the character of Wall Street as it is about the characters on Wall Street. Trader's Tales is where Liar's Poker meets Aesop's Fables. It's a once-in-a-lifetime collection of stories, secrets, myths and insider jokes--as told to Insana by the legends themselves. You'll discover the secrets of soothsayers like Arch Crawford and female Wall Street pioneers such as Muriel Siebert. Find out how a cockroach almost made a trading floor clerk $2,500 and enjoy dozens more truly memorable tales of the wheelers and dealers who enliven the cavernous confines of the world's most famous street.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: Wiley (March 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0471129992
• ISBN-13: 978-0471129998
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.9 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,510,477 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars rate the book on what it really is--a storybook, August 20, 2003

By 

Joseph M. Campbell - See all my reviews

This review is from: Traders' Tales: A Chronicle of Wall Street Myths, Legends, and Outright Lies (Paperback)

I can't understand why this book gets so many bad reviews. This book is not a book of interviews, a book on fundamental or technical analysis, a book about Warren Buffet or Peter Lynch's investing styles, or a book about timing the market. This is a storybook, plain and simple. And it is a good one at that. Because I'm very interested in the market I purchased this book expecting exactly what I got. Tongue-in-cheek stories from the trading floor. And despite what other reviewers say, there is plenty to be learned from this work. The section about Donald Trump getting sued was great. The Donald got exactly, just exactly, what he deserved. I recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn about the market from a personal and less technical perspective. I was tempted to forgo purchasing this book altogether after reading it's miserable reviews. But because I consider myself a contrarian investor, I thought what the hey and bought the book. And I'm glad I did.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Traders' Tales is a real gem, September 10, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Traders' Tales: A Chronicle of Wall Street Myths, Legends, and Outright Lies (Paperback)

Who says you always have to read about market strategy? After wading through those kinds of hefty tomes, I enjoy a break. Traders' Tales is just that. A delightful collection of stories that have you laughing out loud. (Any chance there will be another similar book)? This is a true gem, so lighten up a little and check out another side of the World of Finance.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Stories aren't interesting (what's so incredible?), February 16, 2003

By 

J. Lizzi (Costa Mesa, CA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Traders' Tales: A Chronicle of Wall Street Myths, Legends, and Outright Lies (Hardcover)

Ron Insana is a fine CNBC commentator who has been instrumental in turning what had long been characterized as dry news for a select few into witty and insightful stock market reporting with mass market appeal. His first book, "Traders' Tales" tries to wow the reader with a bunch of gee-whiz stories, but there's just not much to impress in the way of secrets, outrage, shock value . . . whatever.

After being involved with the stock market for twenty years (the last fifteen as a professional), and thus being familiar with many names of those involved in the stories recounted by Mr. Insana, I still didn't find any story "tantalizing" or "shocking." Heck, anyone who's ever played on a sports team or in a rock 'n' roll band during high school could probably come up with ten crazier stories for every one in this book. Instead, I thought the more interesting reading was in the chapters that gave historical perspective to the careers of Muriel Siebert, Ron Baron, Peter Lynch, and Jimmy Rogers, among others. Everything else was pretty dull.

There's a tad too much explaining about market movement, stock/option price fluctuation, trading floor characteristics (did you know that tons of money can be made or lost very rapidly?), chart patterns, etc., so I'm thinking that those familiar with stock and bond investing might wind up somewhat bored. Keep in mind, Mr. Insana was writing this in late-1995, way before many new investors were "seasoned" by the boom/bust in tech stocks, so some consideration of the time frame is warranted.

Overall, "Traders' Tales" might have mild appeal either to someone who has no experience with the stock markets, or to investors who might want to learn what all the market gurus we follow were doing decades ago.