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(More customer reviews)While working on the book Steven, the author, learned and shares with the reader through a series of interviews, "how the best minds in the business think about risk, portfolio construction, history, politics, central bankers, globalization, trading, competition, investors, hiring, the evolution of the hedge fund business and a variety of other details."
The book provides an inside look at the thoughts and actions of many great financial minds. For example did you know that Maynard Keynes (the father of modern macroeconomic theory) was completely wiped out by a margin call during the commodity slump of 1929 or that George Soros's Quantum Fund averaged over 30% for it's 31 ½ years existence and that $100,000 invested in the fund at inception was worth $420 million 31 ½ years later.
Jim Leitner of Falcon Management who claims to have taken $2 billion out of the market so far in his career says he "reads a tremendous amount of books and papers" and feels, "developing a network by going out and meeting groups of intelligent people is very important". He also recommends reading the Economist. Jim says, "The Economist had something on Nigeria, stating the average beer consumption had dropped from 34 liters to 3 and then rebounded to 4. That signaled to me that there must be a trade there. There is something going on when beer consumption drops 90% in a hot country and then starts to rebound. We started buying Guinness of Nigeria and its gone straight up over the last 3 years".
Peter Thiel, the former CEO and co-founder of PayPal who runs Clarium Capital Management was given this advice from a major venture capital partner when asking about the industry, "The best way to get into venture capital is to make at least $20 million by starting a company and selling it. Take that money and invest in other companies as a VC." He would give the same advice today.
Then there is Jim Rogers, the co-founder of the Quantum fund in 1969, and author of, Investment Biker, Adventures in Capitalism and Hot Commodities, who lives in a Victorian mansion overlooking the Hudson River on the Upper West Side of NY that he bought for $105,000 and is worth $15 million today. He's so hot on commodities he says, "one day lumberjacks and farmers may be on the cover of Fortune magazine" and thinks in the next decade, "oil will be at $150 a barrel and they will be drilling for it on the white house lawn and cotton will be $4 and they will be planting it in central park".
He is so bearish on the dollar he believes it can fall to half the value of the Euro. He says, "the pound sterling was once the worlds reserve currency and it went down 80% from top to bottom. The dollar went up 400% against it."
For market enthusiasts this book is tons of fun and you sure as hell pick up real insight as to the thoughts of some brilliant traders. I may pull more of my favorite parts that I'd like to remember and post them on my blog.
By Kevin Kingston, author of: A 20,000% Gain in Real Estate: A True Story About the Ups and Downs From Wall Street to Real Estate Leading to Phenomenal Returns
My Blog: The Real Estate Investors Blog
Click Here to see more reviews about: Inside the House of Money: Top Hedge Fund Traders on Profiting in the Global Markets
