Where Are the Customers' Yachts?: : A Good Hard Look at Wall Street

by Fred Schwed, Peter Arno (Illustrator), Jason Zweig (Introduction)

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.

208 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 10, 2022

Reviews

[Leroy Zumack · Rating 5 out of 5]

Do you want to smirk your way through a book? Try this one. As Mr Schwerd explains the facts and foibles of Wall Street you will read a lot of exaggeration and hyperbole. The footnotes are really hilarious. Even though written in 1940 he has enough illustrations about investing that you will chuckle along the way. Enjoy.

[Charles Lewis · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is about the 3rd time that I have listened to an audio or read a printed version of this book. Whenever greed tries to overtake me in my thoughts on the stock market, this book helps me to focus on the intrinsic value of a company, and to avoid mindless speculation.