Uncertain Times: A Chief Investment Officer's Journey Review

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(More customer reviews)I bought this book with the intention of learning a few new things (my firm is already a client of the author), but Uncertain Times went above and beyond my expectations. Not only was it a fun read, it was packed with thoughtful, timely advice about managing insurance company investments when the future state of the investment landscape is highly uncertain.
Cogert gives great advice on everything from asset allocation and benchmarks to communication and inter-firm relations. If you have anything to do with managing investments for an insurance company, this book is essential reading.

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Uncertain Times is a most unusual business book. It takes you on a journey with an investment professional who has to cope with some of the deepest challenges of his career. While telling his story, Uncertain Times will show you how to develop, improve and streamline the investment process in his industry, one that makes unique demands on investment professionals - insurance.The safety and security of our institutions are continually being questioned in these challenging financial times. Although we rely on them, few people understand the process by which insurance companies invest their assets in order to be able to pay policy holders' claims.No previous book has outlined this unique process with such meticulous precision. Uncertain Times gives an insider's view.Whether you work for an insurer, regulate insurers, provide services to insurers or - like everyone else - are a policyholder concerned about how your insurer is run, this book will be invaluable to you.

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Reminiscences of a Stock Operator: With New Commentary and Insights on the Life and Times of Jesse Livermore (Annotated Edition) Review

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(More customer reviews)I read Reminiscences of a Stock Operator around ten years ago. I was trying to understand trading dynamics in the market, and the book was mentioned frequently.
It is a classic. But can a classic be made better? In this case yes. Jon Markman, an able financial writer, has written notes around the narrative, with pictures and graphs that illustrate many things that would be obscure to the reader of the book. Markman brings forgotten people to life, and motivates the events that transpired.
It was an exciting era, one where the common law of contracts played a greater role, and statutory law played a lesser role. It wasn't no-holds-barred, but it was close.
We are experiencing our own era of leverage that is too high, and what happens when it breaks. The protagonist of the book, Jesse Livermore, aims for best advantage, and learns as he goes along, going broke several times in the process, and dying broke as well. Leverage cuts two ways. Live by leverage; die by leverage.
Paul Tudor Jones II writes an appendix to the volume, as well as a foreword. Being a trading billionaire who started from scratch and went broke a few times, he is an excellent man to get into the mind of Livermore on a modern basis.
Who would benefit from this book: Historians would benefit, as would those interested in trading. Economists wanting to get a look at market microstructure would also benefit. Livermore, more than most, gives a full view of technical analysis, because he lays bare the motivations of players, and how other players attempt to devine those motivations.

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A Random Walk Down Wall Street: The Time-Tested Strategy for Successful Investing (Completely Revised and Updated) Review

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(More customer reviews)My review pertains to the newest 2010 edition of "A Random Walk Down Wall Street". I found it to be a well-updated classic. The author is very knowledgeable and makes a strong case for sensible investing choices using index funds and ETF's. Each chapter is peppered with experiences, jokes, and other interesting anecdotal tidbits. The old references that were fit for the 70's or 80's were purged or modified to make this book fit 2011. For the investor or anyone interested in building their own nest egg and then protecting it, this is a highly recommended book. I consider myself to be a rather experienced and seasoned investor but I learned a lot of new things reading this book. I have also read "The Little Book of Common Sense Investing" by John C. Bogle of Vanguard fame. I much prefer "A Random Walk Down Wall Street". Random is a much bigger book and will require more time to read, but it's much more thorough and less biased. If you have the time to read it, I would recommend A Random Walk over the Little Book.

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The best investment guide money can buy,with over 1.5 million copies sold, now fully revised and updated.
Especially in the wake of the financial meltdown, readers will hunger for Burton G. Malkiel's reassuring, authoritative, gimmick-free, and perennially best-selling guide to investing. Long established as the first book to purchase before starting a portfolio, A Random Walk Down Wall Street features new material on the Great Recession and the global credit crisis as well as an increased focus on the long-term potential of emerging markets. Malkiel also evaluates the full range of investment opportunities in today's volatile markets, from stocks, bonds, and money markets to real estate investment trusts and insurance, home ownership, and tangible assets such as gold and collectibles. These comprehensive insights, along with the book's classic life-cycle guide to investing, chart a course for anyone seeking a calm route through the turbulent waters of the financial markets.

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