The book is like taking a college course. The author is very good at explaining the information. He uses examples for most of the material. After reading the book I felt like I could someday reach financial serenity.

Outstanding primer for both the new investor and the more experienced investor interested in improving her/his investing savvy.

First, this book illustrates rather convincingly, how investing just a moderate amount of money consistently over a period of time, can build personal wealth beyond most people's highest expectations. Makes it clear that there are no "guaranteed, get rich quick approaches" but that by being patient and investing in any of a broad range of solid investments...."financial serenity" is definitely within reach.

Then, this book explains the basics of personal financial management; including life insurance, real estate, stocks, bonds, mutual funds, REITs, futures, annuities, 401k plans, IRAs and tips to help determine which is right for you. This explanation of the basics, provides a framework which can be used to help individuals determine which investment vehicles fit their personal financial profile/style, and how they can take the first steps in building a personal financial plan which can secure their future.

I would recommend this book to anyone interested in improving their financial position in life. It is written by one of the world's leading financial management experts in terms that anyone, from any walk of life/profession can easily understand.

Simple no nonsense approach. Cuts thru all the hyphe and explains the market in laymans terms

"The Internet Report" is excellent and will give you the most timely and accurate picture of everything involved with the Internet. As one who teaches Internet classes, I can tell you that this book is just full of great facts about Internet history, Internet infrastructure, Internet technologies, and where various Internet-related businesses will succeed (and fail). If you only buy one technology book in the next six months, it HAS to be this book! It is essential to read this book because your competitors and your customers will read it

Harris's book accomplishes exactly what he intended. Satirical, hilarious, and real...I was rolling through the majority of it. This is definitely a book for the thinking person, and I highly recommend it.

This is a concise & intelligent primer for those beginning investing, as well as those with some experience who hold trust in the responsible managment & guidance of Mr. Gardiner. It provides easily understandible descriptions of markets ranging from Bonds, to Funds, to Options. Further Mr. Gardiner imparts a great deal of his wisdom & logic in a manner accessible to those who have more to do than run our investments... like raise a family. Confident, thoughtful & bold.

Ron Chernow's "The House of Morgan" is both an engaging history of the Morgan banks and a brilliant account of the growth of global finance from Victorian times through the late 1980's. It's every bit as enjoyable as Chernow's "The Warburgs," but provides a better analysis than the Warburg book of key business and political developments of the 20th century.

No one should be intimidated by this book's length or the complexity of its subject. Its pages are rich with lively portraits of the sometimes quirky men who ran the Morgan banks, the high and mighty of the world with whom they did business, and the world's many critics of such concentrated economic might. Pierpont and Jack Morgan and their successors at the top get the most detailed treatment, but figures as diverse as Brandeis, Mussolini, Lindbergh (the son-in-law of a top Morgan partner), Bryan, Theodore Roosevelt and Margaret Thatcher all play a part in the story, not to mention interesting but lesser-known figures like Ferdinand Pecora, Judge Harold Medina and central bankers from Britain, Germany, Italy and Japan.

As a backdrop to the Morgan saga, this book includes accounts of the main events of 20th-century financial history, such as the Panic of 1907, the creation of the Federal Reserve system, the Crash of 1929 and the depression and bank failures that followed it, the New Dealers' attack on banks led by Pecora that resulted in the Glass-Steagall Act and the separation of commercial banking from investment banking, and the rise of hostile takeovers, Eurodollars, petrodollars, Latin American lending, junk bonds and the securitization of debt, all refreshingly written for laymen rather than experts.

"The House of Morgan" has perhaps two overriding themes. The first is that as the years have passed, and the Morgan banks have faced increasing competition, the Morgan bankers' need to maintain their global preeminence has led them to take bigger and bigger risks. Some of these risks have resulted in large financial loss, but more often they have resulted in a loss of both public and customers' confidence, which has eroded the very preeminence that the banks seek to maintain. The second theme is that the top Morgan bankers have consistently underestimated the power of government to control what they do, and even make their lives miserable. From Pierpont on down, they have ignored government at their peril. It's almost a certainty that with the next big economic downturn, the Morgan banks will be attacked again, and I hope that Chernow will be on the scene to provide an account of it.

Ron Chernow is arguably the best business historian writing today. His ambitious attempt to tell the story of the famed banking dynasty of J.P Morgan could not have succeeded more brilliantly. Here is a story not of just a bank. It is even more than simply the story of the financial services industry. It is, in fact, the story of the modern era, where everyone from Teddy Roosevelt and Benito Mussolini to Paul Volker and Ivan Boesky figure prominently.

At the heart of this epic is a great paradox: the rise of modern global finance ushered in the demise of the banker. In J.P. Morgan's day, a small group of bankers held sway over giant corporations and the governments of global powers, serving as intimate advisors and self-regulating their industry with a strict but unwritten gentleman banker's code of conduct. The institutions that banks like Morgan created ultimately grew too powerful to control. Whereas once governments and companies were at the mercy of their bankers, today the reverse is true. Chernow tells the story of this transformation in exquisite detail and with admirable clarity.

As interesting and well written as this book is, some may still find it to be a challenge to finish. For those who like to read a few pages before bed every night, you should expect the "House of Morgan" to be on the nightstand for several months. However, if you have the time and commitment, you'll likely find the experience of reading this book to be a worthwhile and fulfilling one.

This book is superbly written.
The House of Morgan tells a fascinating story of the Morgan family's dominance of the American banking industry. After reading this book, you will find out that it was not the famous one, J. Pierpont Morgan, who oversaw the greatest expansion of Morgan power but rather it was his son, Jack Morgan. This doesn't seem to be very known.
Even more interesting than the story of the Morgans and their various firms is the other story that this book tells - the story of the banking business. House of Morgan effectively chronicles the tremendous shift that occurred in the financial industry. When Pierpont opened shop in the 19th Century, banking was a clubby business, where decisions were made by consensus among men. Although certainly not inclusive or politically correct, it almost seems quaint in comparison to modern office life. It was far from the litigious, contentious style that seems to be present in the modern versions of these corporations. Chernow does a great job at depicting it all.

As a former Morgan Stanley employee, I found this report was disappointing and out of date. A more useful report on Morgan is the Vault.com 2002 Guide to Morgan Stanley

I wonder why an ex-Morgan Stanley employee would bother buying a report on the company. Could it be that this person really works for Vault? hmm. I thought this guide was really useful, especially if you don't know anyone who works there and want to know what it's really like and how to best prep for your interview.

The investment banking industry has been so hard hit that I wondered if it was a good idea to even consider it coming out of my MBA program. But Morgan Stanley among others has always had a solid reputation on the Street, and so I remain undeterred in trying to get a job either there or at another comparable firm. This guide is a good one for someone with my goals. I am feeling much more up to the job of landing an internship there. I understand better now what it's going to take and what I'm going to get out of working at MS. I really enjoyed the read. It was clear and concise. It cut through all the fat and got right to the meat of the matter in what I'd say is just the right amount of pages. I certainly don't have the time or inclination to read a tome on MS--as i've seen other company guides floating out there do. Rather, I like that this guide boils it down and tells me just what I need to know.

The book gives a good summary of different investment vehicles out there to beginner and somewhat experienced investors. However, the book does push the idea of investing through Dean Witter a little too much especially in the beginning chapters. Not bad as a reference book although the Motley Fool books are a little more amusing.

I loved this book! It gave me a complete overview of different investment markets, and how to capitalize on them. This book taught me how important it is to understand that starting your investments today is one of the biggest factors to my financial security. I think this book is great for someone who wants a good foundation of the knowledge on Wall Street and other investment areas.

For those people with little or no investment experience, I think this is an appropriate book. It's fairly comprehensive but doesn't go into detail. I would keep it as a handy reference rather than as an investment guide (not enough investment advice).

Ok let me get this straight. Here is a guy that believes in the efficient market theory but was a salesman/trader. There are tons of conflicts in the book. Partnoy is obviously a professor now. He is practically begging for more regulation in investment banking and feels that financial reporters and professors are not only smarter but deserve more money compared to the investment bankers. He starts out at First Boston and is doing well financially. Then moves to Morgan Stanley and does complicated derivative deals and makes a ton of money. Now a professor and investment banking is pure evil (now that he made a ton of money). Another conflict is Partnoy said he quit Morgan Stanley but on page 277 he writes "...I am not referring what Morgan Stanley did to me." This is where he is talking about another Morgan Stanley employee being fired. I rate this book 2 stars because it was somewhat entertaining but think about this before you buy it. Do you really want to read a book by an author who believes in the efficient market theory but also worked as a salesman/trader? I only bought this book for $3.29 used on amazon.com. I definitely wouldn't recommend paying full price for it.

F.I.A.S.C.O. offers a look at the ruthless game of derivatives trading on Wall Street, and the devastation of losses upwards of billions suffered by the fools off Wall Street. In this fast paced book, Frank Partnoy chronicles his journey as a derivatives salesman at Morgan Stanley. You will learn how institutions ranging from banks to governments got "blown up" or had their "faces ripped off" by Wall Street's army of fierce derivative salemen. You will cringe at how many organizations that touch your life may be involved in trading these complex, highly leveraged, instruments when they may not even know it or be legally allowed to invest in them.

Portnoy tells his story in a fluid style, leaving the reader wanting more, page after page. This book exposes the greed and ignorance of the market's fools, or customers, and the eagerness of the Wall Street investment firms to offer ever more enticingly packaged derivative instruments to help them achieve their ruin. Everyone who has money in the markets should read a few books like this to get a more realistic idea of what these venerable Wall Street institutions really think of their customers.

A very good introduction to derivatives (and even some general finance for novices) and one of the better looks at how degenerate Wall Street culture can be. Though comparisons are frequently made to Liar's Poker, I found FIASCO to be a more useful read, even though it's not quite as funny as Liar's Poker was at its best. The usual tales of arrested development among Wall Street's community are here, but there's a much more gripping and sobering tale of how rapacious greed knows no bounds, and how a large number of actors, including large multinationals and even governments, ultimately pay the price.

Partnoy doesn't tell his story as smoothly as he could, and his narrative sometimes feels larded with anecdotes that don't add much color or relief. He also struggles at times to weigh his role in the big picture. Overall though, he describes his experiences and general Wall Street culture with enough insight that you can feel his disgust, and applaud when he eventually steps away from it all.

A great business book, flaws and all, and a perfect antidote to all the puffery surrounding coverage of financial markets and Wall Street these days. Now when will we see a book of investment banker/derivatives trader jokes, to add to all the great lawyer joke books?

On the whole, Mr. Jackson has written a balanced account of the enigmatic financier of the Gilded Age, but several glaring errors jump out at the reader and leaves one wondering just how reliable the author's research. He mentions in his discussion of the sinking of the Titanic for example, that Captain Edward Smith escaped drowning by paddling away in the same lifeboat as Bruce Ismay, chief executive officer of the White Star Line. Captain Smith, as the most casual observer of history now knows, went down with the great liner. This kind of slip-shod reporting completely destroys an author's credibility, especially when discussing a well-documented and important historical event such as the Titanic sinking. There are other errors of ommission and commission that riddle the text. To his credit, Mr. Jackson presents an evenly balanced account of Morgan, based (I would guess) on previously published books, though some of the personal insights into Morgan's private life are missing. This is not a definitive biography - far from it. It seems that Mr. Jackson put the volume together in great haste, when in fact a definitive study of the life of Morgan, and the House of Morgan, would require years, if not decades to complete.