Customer Reviews

No Bull: My Life In and Out of Markets

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Book was shipped quickly an in excellent condition. Would definitely reorder again. I'm very happy with the purchase. The customer service was also good

Dull, pompous pablum - with surprising little insight into both the markets and Steinhardt's reasoning for the trades he describes in his book. This gives credence to the likelihood that Steinhardt is nothing more than an outlier along the curve (in other words, extremely lucky) Given the amount of money this guy made, his philanthropic "vision" is extremely narrow and self-serving. Pass this one by...

In his book, Michael does an excellent job of explaining his success on Wall Street, from his tenancity and sharp intellect to some of the good and bad luck which his firm encountered. He also delves into some more interesting discussion surrounding the opportunities that wealth and success can bring to any individual. While his career was indeed legendary, I think Michael tells his story with an amazing amount of self-deprecation and humility. I really enjoyed reading it.

Steinhardt's extraordinary investment record deserves a book in and of itself. However, I found myself struggling to read this book because I wanted much more detail of his trader life, of which No Bull provides only passing glimpses. This book provides a broad view of his life without a lot of detail about any particular aspect of it. The problem is that the hedge fund world and its firms are rich with colorful personalities and stories, and this book provides only very brief and basic accounts. As a former investment professional, I found the most interesting aspect of this book is Steinhardt's admission that despite his unparalleled success in the hedge fund business, he felt as if he had yet to make a difference in the world - a theme far too common in our business, and a primary reason why I retired from it.

I

As a speculator I learned to take the best from books and ideas without arguments (many readers seem to be training to be shallow critics)--good insights are hard to come by. One does not find these in the writings of a journalist. There are some things personal to the author that might be uninteresting to some, but I take the package. The man is one of the greatest traders in history. There are a few jewels in there.
The man did it. I'd rather listen to him than read better written but hollow prose from some journalist-writer.

When the official history of twentieth-century Wall Street is written, it will certainly contain more than a few pages on Michael Steinhardt. One of the most successful money managers in the history of "The Street," Steinhardt far outshone his peers by achieving an average annual return of over thirty percent-significantly greater than that of every market benchmark. During his almost thirty-year tenure as a hedge fund manager, he amassed vast wealth for his investors and himself. One dollar invested with Steinhardt Partners L.P., his flagship hedge fund, at its inception in 1967 would have been worth $462 when he retired from active money management in 1995.
No Bull offers an account of some of the investment strategies that drove Michael Steinhardt's historic success as a hedge fund manager including a focus on his skills as an industry analyst and consummate stock picker. He also reveals how his uncanny talent for knowing when to trade against the prevailing market trend-a talent that was not always appreciated by several erstwhile high-profile clients-resulted in many of his greatest successes. Here he provides detailed accounts of some of his most sensational coups-including his momentous decision, in 1981, to stake everything on bonds-and his equally sensational failures, such as his disastrous foray into global macro-trading in the mid-1990s.
At the same time, No Bull is the rags-to-riches story of a boy from Bensonhurst and his rise from the streets of Brooklyn to the heights of Wall Street. In a thoroughly engaging narrative, Steinhardt relates the early influences that shaped his attitudes toward life and success, as well as the beginning of his love affair with stock investing. Further, he chronicles his dawning awareness of the need for a purpose in life beyond the acquisition of wealth and how it led to his decision to retire and redirect his energies. We learn about his experiences as the chairman of the Democratic Leadership Council for nearly a decade, as well as his innovative thinking and ambitious projects to strengthen the Jewish community.
The inspiring true story of a Wall Street genius and world-class philanthropist, No Bull is an unforgettable read for finance professionals and students of human nature alike.
Michael Steinhardt is one of the most successful money managers in the history of Wall Street. He is also widely known for his philanthropic activities, particularly in the Jewish community-most notably as cofounder with Charles Bronfman of birthright israel, a program whose mission is to provide a free educational opportunity for every young Jewish person of the Diaspora to visit Israel.

If you want to know more about Mr. Steinhardt, his faith, family and philanthropy this book is for you.

If instead you want the keys to his phenomenal trading machine you'll want to look elsewhere.

I highly recommend this book. Mr. Steinhardt's thought process offers to any informed reader exactly what kind of internal dialogue produces great trading results. If you want to know what it takes to be a trader forget about books by people who don't have a clue because they never traded for a living. Read Soros, Steinhardt, Rogers, Abell, Koppel, Schwartz--traders who spent their careers trading.

Although I bought the book with the perception it would be a book on investing/trading techniques used by a well-respected investor, I liked it much more for what I did not expect to read.
The book is basically a biography, in which he describes how his father, his religion (even tough he calls himself an atheist) and his education have had an impact on his life, in private as well as in his work.
The way he writes is entertaining, and I found myself finishing the book within only a few days.

Not a book about investing. Don't buy it to improve your trading results!
Buy it for learning about the person behind stellar investment performance.

Unless you are interested in the life of a young Jew growing up in Brooklyn, or the name-dropping and meandering political thoughts of a megomaniac, this book is a complete waste of time and money. There is very little to no insight in this book on how Michael Steinhardt viewed or traded the markets (his Market Wizards interview has much more depth and detail).

A COMPLETE WASTE OF TIME