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Type of bind: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 332.64273
EAN num: 9780471770893
ISBN number: 0471770892
Label: Wiley
Manufacturer: Wiley
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 208
Printing Date: January 10, 2006
Publishing house: Wiley
Sale Popularity Level: 34965
Studio: Wiley
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'Once I picked it up I did not put it down until I finished. . . . What Schwed has done is capture fully-in deceptively clean language-the lunacy at the heart of the investment business.'
-- From the Foreword by Michael Lewis, Bestselling author of Liar's Poker
'. . . one of the funniest books ever written about Wall Street.'
-- Jane Bryant Quinn, The Washington Post
'How great to have a reissue of a hilarious classic that proves the more things change the more they stay the same. Only the names have been changed to protect the innocent.'
-- Michael Bloomberg
'It's amazing how well Schwed's book is holding up after fifty-five years. About the only thing that's changed on Wall Street is that computers have replaced pencils and graph paper. Otherwise, the basics are the same. The investor's need to believe somebody is matched by the financial advisor's need to make a nice living. If one of them has to be disappointed, it's bound to be the former.'
-- John Rothchild, Author, A Fool and His Money, Financial Columnist, Time magazine
Humorous and entertaining, this book exposes the folly and hypocrisy of Wall Street. The title refers to a story about a visitor to New York who admired the yachts of the bankers and brokers. Naively, he asked where all the customers' yachts were? Of course, none of the customers could afford yachts, even though they dutifully followed the advice of their bankers and brokers. Full of wise contrarian advice and offering a true look at the world of investing, in which brokers get rich while their customers go broke, this book continues to open the eyes of investors to the reality of Wall Street.
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Rated by buyers 
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For the author investing is nothing but a flipping contest where you have 50/50 odds...
Of course there is always a risk, and a possible reward, but if you are able to at least approximately calculate these risks and the reward outweights by a good margin the risk, then you are investing (which according to the author is impossible)...
It is funny, but if you are looking for a funny investing book "A fool and his money" is much more enjoyable...
Rated by buyers 
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Where are the Customers' Yachts? was written in 1940, but the advice and insights contained in this slim volume are as up-to-date as anything you will read on the Internet this week. Written in a humerous and down-to-earth style, without a lot of confusing jargon or mathematical equations, Mr. Schwed tells investors what they can expect from Wall Street and what they ought not to expect. He never talks down to his readers; nor does he require that they have PhDs in Economics. Rather, he simply states facts about what it is possible for Wall Street to provide and what it is foolish to ask Wall Street to attempt.
Mr. Schwed has a low opinion of the SEC and demonstrates convincingly that the "investor confidence" mantra of the SEC and its brother regulators is not only deceitful but wrong-headed. What is needed is investors that understand the nature of the game they are playing.
Reading this enjoyable and enlightening book is one of the best ways for any sensible person to gain that understanding.
Rated by buyers -
You should consider reading this book if you are an active investor in the stock market or even participating in the market through mutual funds. This book is too fun to read and most probably you will not be putting the book down till you finish it, at least I found it so interesting to finish it in one sitting. Though I read lot of more academic and conceptual books on investing, this book is also much relevant to investing.
The writing is so hilarious and it presents very hard look at brokers, bankers and different participants in the financial markets. Some of interesting chapters from this book for me are on stock options and short selling. If you don't like playing with stock options like me, then you will surely find the chapter on stock options much useful and fun to read. It would be worthwhile to consider reading this book before you visit your broker subsequent time or investing in any stock based on tip from your portfolio manager.
Rated by buyers -
This funny book is a mild rebuke of Wall Street operators and Wall Street customers alike. In fact, there are many more outright crooks on the street than Schwed lets on, specially if they perceive you as an easy mark, an orphan or a widow. I speak from experience having seen them churn an account to milk it of commissions.
I was delighted to discover how old some of the Wall Street sayings are. It seems that nothing really changes in the human condition. One passage I found very entertaining is about a large group of Wall Street operators competing in a coin tossing game. As soon as you lose a toss, you are out of the game meaning that with each toss half of the players are gone. If you start with 500,000 players, after 15 tosses you have about 16 people left in the game. According to Schwed, these lucky people will soon take on airs of expert coin tossers even if they are winning based on pure luck. What I found amusing was that the author of a recent investment best seller uses this exact scenario to "prove" that most people who make money investing are just lucky. I wonder if this unnamed author read Schwed.
I found one commentary rather unnerving. Schwed say that you cannot buy "competence" on Wall Street. You can find a competent plumber and a competent lawyer or doctor but you cannot find a competent investment advisor. While I'm no fan of Wall Street operators, this statement seems over the top. They might be hard to find or maybe the competent ones don't need clients, but that there is a total lack of competence on Wall Street must be an exaggeration.
Read the book and be prepared to be entertained and instructed. There is a lot of solid Wall Street experience behind the humor.
Rated by buyers -
All I can say is READ THIS! READ THIS! READ THIS! Very amusing and very dry treatise by a pro (yes, Mr. Carl) who clearly has been around a couple of blocks in Lower Manhattan.
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