http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/t...f=sr_1_2/103-9306953-6237445?v=glance&s=books Wow, I just saw the interview with the author of this book on CNBC. This book looks like a gem. Book Description Ben Mezrich, author of the NEW YORK TIMES bestseller BRINGING DOWN THE HOUSE, returns with an astonishing story of Ivy League hedge-fund cowboys, high stakes, and the Asian underworld. UGLY AMERICANS is the true story of John Malcolm, a hungry young Princeton grad who traveled halfway around the world in search of the American dream and ultimately pulled off a trade that could, quite simply, be described as the biggest deal in the history of the financial markets. After receiving a mysterious phone call promising him a shot at great fortune in an exotic land, Malcolm packed up his few belongings and took the chance of a lifetime. Without speaking a word of Japanese, with barely a penny in his pocket, Malcolm was thrown into the bizarre, adrenaline-fueled life of an expat trader. Surrounded by characters ripped right out of a Hollywood thriller, he quickly learned how to survive in a cutthroat world -- at the feet of the biggest players the markets have ever known. Malcolm was first an assistant trading huge positions for Nick Leeson, the twenty-six-year-old rogue trader who lost nearly two billion dollars and brought down Barings Bank -- the oldest in England. Then he was the right-hand man to an enigmatic and brilliant hedge-fund cowboy named Dean Carney, and grew into one of the biggest derivatives traders in all of Asia. Along the way, Malcolm fell in love with the daughter of a Yakuza gangster, built a vast fortune out of thin air, and came head-to-head with the violent Japanese mobsters who helped turn the Asian markets into the turbulent casino it is today. Malcolm and his twentysomething, Ivy League-schooled colleagues, with their warped sense of morality and proportion, created their own economic theory: Arbitrage with a Battle Axe. They rode the crashing waves of the Asian markets during the mid- to late 1990s, culminating in a single deal the likes of which had never been seen before -- or since. A real-life mixture of LIAR'S POKER and WALL STREET, brimming with intense action, romance, underground sex, vivid locales, and exotic characters, UGLY AMERICANS is the untold, true story that will rock the financial community and redefine an era.
By the way, Ben Mizrich's last book, "Bringing Down the House" was the true story of six MIT students who scammed Vegas out of millions of dollars playing blackjack. That book was a great read, one of the best I have ever read. So I have high hopes for this one as well.
OK, so let me get this straight. Nobody on ET watches NCAA basketball, the Masters, the Kentucky Derby, and nobody even reads either? Am I understanding this correctly? I mean the last time I checked, ET was a message board community for active traders with over 20,000 members, and all we have are 50 threads on religion, 100 worthless polls, vendors pushing their Forex software, people who don't trade giving advice on trading to people who don't trade. And despite the fact there is a direct correlation to sports and trading, apparently no one on ET watches sports either which would explain why nobody even trades on ET. LOL. We need to change the name of this website. It doesn't accurately fit the description anymore.
Sounds like a good one, Mav. The next one on my list, which I just picked up yesterday, will be Chernow's new biography of Alexander Hamilton, the greatest president we never had.
Kentucky Derby? The Masters? Formula One? Sorry, but those aren't considered sports in my neck of the woods. Hobbies maybe, but sports no. If you want to talk real sports -- football, baseball, hoops -- I'm game. But if you'd prefer to discuss the other stuff, you'd probably have better luck at Redneck.com.
I very much enjoyed this book. I remember not wanting it to end. It also motivated me with my trading.
HD, I've started football, basketball, and baseball threads on here. And what did I get nothing. You must have missed them. I don't think anyone on ET watches anything sports related. During the last football season we must have had over 10 to 15 threads on the NFL and I don't think it ever got past the first page. Very sad.
Yeah, that is sad and sorry I missed them. Definitely count me in for the next go 'round. In fact, now that the Yanks are reverting to form, we can start a new baseball discussion right now. Or we can talk NBA playoffs and the prospects for the best Minnesota team since the George Mikan-led Lakers. Or we can discuss Big Blue's pending return to the Super Bowl with Eli at the helm. Anything you like. Just no hockey, okay.
Bringing Down the House was excellent. This one sounds like it's aimed at the same audience. There was a movie about the Leeson episode. Not that great but interesting for traders.