Bios & Memoirs – Rich Maloy

Reminiscences of a Stock Operator by Edwin Lefevre

Rich — Sat, 12 May 2018 05:17:16 +0000

I first read this book in 2000 when I was a day-trader. The stories were just as entertaining then as they were when I recently re-read it. And by entertaining, I mean entertaining to a finance nerd. I bought a copy of this book for my dad, who does his own trading, is a self-taught corporate finance guy, and has interest in the stock market. He thought this was terribly boring. I obviously disagree, but I do want to give you the caveat of my glowing recommendation: the stories are about stock and commodities trading from nearly 100 years ago.

I find the stories fascinating and the lessons especially prescient in the crypto markets today. But if you are unsure that you’ll find it interesting, then skip it.

Publisher’s Summary

First published in 1923, this lightly fictionalized biography of Jesse Livermore, one of the greatest market speculators ever, is widely regarded as one of best investment books of all time. Reminiscences of a Stock Operator is the resource that generations of investors have turned to when they needed deeper insight into their own investing habits and those of others. Listen to this work, featuring narrator Rick Rohan, and you’ll soon discover your portfolio growing in new and unexpected ways!

Genre: Bios & Memoirs, Non-Fiction

I’m Feeling Lucky by Douglas Edwards

Rich — Sat, 02 Nov 2013 04:20:36 +0000

I’ve learned that I don’t really go in for memoirs, but for whatever reason this one appealed to me. It was written by one of Google’s first marketing people. It’s a wild story that covers a lot of ground with Google: multiple offices, expansion after expansion, and plenty of internal political battles. The author is a great writer, and he does own up to at least one mistake. He also clearly had no love lost for Marissa Mayer. The only reason this isn’t a four-star for me is because I prefer business books with data-backed insights and lessons over retrospectives. If memoirs are your thing, then this would be an interesting read into the early days of Google.

Publisher’s Summary

Comparing Google to an ordinary business is like comparing a rocket to an Edsel. No academic analysis or bystander’s account can capture it. Now Doug Edwards, Employee Number 59, offers the first inside view of Google, giving listeners a chance to fully experience the bizarre mix of camaraderie and competition at this phenomenal company.
Edwards, Google’s first director of marketing and brand management, describes it as it happened. We see the first, pioneering steps of Larry Page and Sergey Brin, the company’s young, idiosyncratic partners; the evolution of the company’s famously nonhierarchical structure (where every employee finds a problem to tackle or a feature to create and works independently); the development of brand identity; the races to develop and implement each new feature; and the many ideas that never came to pass. Above all, Edwards – a former journalist who knows how to write – captures the Google Experience, the rollercoaster ride of being part of a company creating itself in a whole new universe.
I’m Feeling Lucky captures for the first time the unique, self-invented, yet profoundly important culture of the world’s most transformative corporation.

Genre: Bios & Memoirs, Non-Fiction

Eisenhower in War and Peace by Jean Edward Smith

Rich — Sat, 22 Dec 2012 05:02:33 +0000

I’m not super into biographies, but I really wanted to read about great leaders, and heard good things about this book. I enjoyed learning out Eisenhower, but when it got into his presidency it started to drag for me. I finished it and am glad I read it, but decided that I’m just not that into biographies.

Publisher’s Summary

Author of the best-seller FDR, Jean Edward Smith is a master of the presidential biography. Setting his sights on Dwight D. Eisenhower, Smith delivers a rich account of Eisenhower’s life using previously untapped primary sources. From the military service in WWII that launched his career to the shrewd political decisions that kept America out of wars with the Soviet Union and China, Smith reveals a man who never faltered in his dedication to serving America, whether in times of war or peace.

Genre: Bios & Memoirs, Non-Fiction

Screw It, Let’s Do It by Richard Branson

Rich — Sat, 30 Jun 2012 05:38:52 +0000

Richard Branson is one of those guys that everyone wants to be or wants to know. He does cool shit, does it his way, and doesn’t seem to be a dick about it—from the limited I’ve read about him. I was excited to read a book by him. It was fun. It was cool. It had great stories about his origins and the growth of Virgin. I didn’t get much else out of it.

Publisher’s Summary

Richard Branson is an iconic businessman. In Screw It, Let’s Do It, he shares the secrets of his success and the invaluable lessons he has learned over the course of his remarkable career. As the world struggles with the twin problems of global recession and climate change, Richard explains why it is up to big companies like Virgin to lead the way in finding a more holistic and environmentally friendly approach to business. He also looks to the future and shares his plans for taking his business and his ideas to the next level.
Richard reveals the new and exciting areas into which Virgin is currently moving, including bio fuels and space travel, and brings together all the important lessons, good advice and inspirational adages that have helped him along the road to success. This is a fantastic motivational book that will help listeners achieve their own dreams.

Genre: Bios & Memoirs, Business, Non-Fiction

Confessions of an Economic Hitman by John Perkins

Rich — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 22:05:28 +0000

The recent history of America is fascinating, and this book will provide an interesting perspective on how USA waged economic war in the cold war era, and beyond.

Publisher’s Summary

This is the inside story of how America turned from a respected republic into a feared empire. “Economic hit men,” John Perkins writes, “are highly paid professionals who cheat countries around the globe out of trillions of dollars. Their tools include fraudulent financial reports, rigged elections, payoffs, extortion, sex, and murder.”
John Perkins should know; he was an economic hit man. His job was to convince countries that are strategically important to the U.S., from Indonesia to Panama, to accept enormous loans for infrastructure development and to make sure that the lucrative projects were contracted to Halliburton, Bechtel, Brown and Root, and other United States engineering and construction companies. Saddled with huge debts, these countries came under the control of the United States government, World Bank, and other U.S.-dominated aid agencies that acted like loan sharks, dictating repayment terms and bullying foreign governments into submission.
This extraordinary real-life tale exposes international intrigue, corruption, and little-known government and corporate activities that have dire consequences for American democracy and the world.

Genre: Bios & Memoirs, Non-Fiction