Stock Market Wizards: Interviews with America's Top Stock Traders [Paperback]

The downside was that a couple of the interviews were pretty useless for the average person, some of the traders have very complex computer trading systems and some use methods that require millions in capital or extensive understanding of legal aspects and other disqualify (for the average person) criteria. Nobody that is in that league would gain anything from the short interviews here, and the rest of us don't gain much.

That being said the rest of the stories were either very encouraging or very helpful or both. Those interviews give a great overview of methodology used by the various traders and at the end of each chapter Schwager gives a recap that I found to be very enlightening. Also at the end of the book he gives a long list he calls "wizard lessons" and these as well are worth the time to go over. The bottom line here is if you are going to put money in the market, this book is certainly one to go over. One important lesson learned by using someone else's mistakes can be a huge windfall.

I recently reviewed another good book called "The Honest Thief". The title to that book sounds like an oxymoron, however, this is a perfect example of what an honest thief does: "steal" the knowledge that other traders had to pay real money for.

If you bought this book and just read the end of chapter reviews, you'd easily get your money's worth, a strong recommendation for any interested in the stock market.

The first chapter is one of the most colorful, as Mr. Schwager talks shop with Stuart Walton, who manages $150 million as the principal of Reindeer Capital, in San Francisco. To call him the "principal" is something of an understatement. Except for a part-time secretary, he IS Reindeer.

Even Mr. Schwager's first question, about the name of that fund, elicits a fascinating anecdote. It seems that Mr. Walton's great-grandfather, William Gladstone Walton, received the nickname "Reindeer" from his neighbors in northern Quebec.

One year (apparently 1920, although this is left indefinite), forest fires destroyed most of the vegetation and game of the region, and threatened the Indian and Eskimo population with starvation. William G. Walton convinced the Canadian government to finance a scheme of his to lead a herd of reindeer (plentiful in Alaska) across the north of the country into the deforested part of Quebec. The project took him five years, 1921-25, because reindeer are not cattle-moving only when they want to move-but he did succeed, introducing a substantial herd into Quebec, one that has flourished there ever since, and he became a local hero.

"I tell people that my great-grandfather added more value to society than I ever will," said Mr.Walton, in concluding his explanation of his fund's name.

I think he was being too modest there. Of course, an effective trader adds value to society without having to herd Donner and Blitzen through the arctic to do it-by getting investment capital into the hands where it will prove most productive, by helping a variety of enterprises manage their inevitable risks, and by contributing to the financial independence of his clients.