Trading Secrets - Book Review
A Wall Street journalist, a broker, and a scandal - it's a one line story that is given even at the back of the book. The interesting part though is the narration of the author who happens to be the journalist involved in the scandal. Imagine a villain of a story scripting it himself!
Foster Winans, the author of the book, is a Wall Street journalist who is pulled into a scandal by Peter Brant, a stock broker. The plot is simple - Foster is to inform Peter on the article that he would write the next day in the journal. The stock market is a very sensitive animal that changes its mood heavily on good or bad news. So articles in a reputed journal like the Wall Street would make it swing by enough magnitude for a broker to make huge profits. It was a nice plan i.e., until the SEC (Securities Exchange Commission) thought otherwise.
The novel is pretty nice and takes us through the lives of two distinct personalities. Foster's story of graduating from a small time column writer into becoming a well known face in Wall Street is nice. But the more interesting part, atleast to me, is the story of Peter Brant. This person was so much indulged at becoming a rich man that he started living the life of the rich even when he was poor, though loans. He dressed rich, learnt only those games that the rich play (golf, polo and the like), and even changed his name to suit his profile. Peter rose from very humble beginnings to become a leading Wall Street broker, so much so that his firm placed ads in papers with his photo.
Quite similar to "Liar's Poker" this book takes us through the rise and fall of people in the Wall Street. "Trading Secrets" is a good read for its narration, for showing the making of a top notch broker, and more than all of these, for showing the pains felt while being involved in a scandal.
Foster Winans, the author of the book, is a Wall Street journalist who is pulled into a scandal by Peter Brant, a stock broker. The plot is simple - Foster is to inform Peter on the article that he would write the next day in the journal. The stock market is a very sensitive animal that changes its mood heavily on good or bad news. So articles in a reputed journal like the Wall Street would make it swing by enough magnitude for a broker to make huge profits. It was a nice plan i.e., until the SEC (Securities Exchange Commission) thought otherwise.
The novel is pretty nice and takes us through the lives of two distinct personalities. Foster's story of graduating from a small time column writer into becoming a well known face in Wall Street is nice. But the more interesting part, atleast to me, is the story of Peter Brant. This person was so much indulged at becoming a rich man that he started living the life of the rich even when he was poor, though loans. He dressed rich, learnt only those games that the rich play (golf, polo and the like), and even changed his name to suit his profile. Peter rose from very humble beginnings to become a leading Wall Street broker, so much so that his firm placed ads in papers with his photo.
Quite similar to "Liar's Poker" this book takes us through the rise and fall of people in the Wall Street. "Trading Secrets" is a good read for its narration, for showing the making of a top notch broker, and more than all of these, for showing the pains felt while being involved in a scandal.
Labels: Book Review
posted by Jammy at 10:19 AM
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