Weekly thoughts #13
Best finance books read in 2024
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In general, I like to focus on quality versus quantity in many areas of life. Reading is no exception. In fact, I have an article pending regarding the existing abuse of books that are redundant in content and substance, mainly in the fields of fitness, personal growth and finance.
Today I want to recommend three books that I read in 2024 and that I found very interesting.
Confidence Game
In 2002, Bill Ackman used credit derivatives (and shorted stock) to place a “short” bet against MBIA, the largest of the municipal bond insurers.
Confidence Game is a fascinating story about one of the most exciting chapters of the American credit crisis, and how greed and arrogance can be the worst enemy when they become widespread in the system. Nobody believed that a very young Bill Ackman could be right about the security and strength of bond insurers (commonly known as a Muni's). However, Ackman later made his investors more than $1 billion when bond insurers kicked off the collapse of the credit markets.
About the author.
Christine S. Richard is a financial journalist with extensive experience covering the bond market. She was a reporter with Bloomberg News and covered financial markets from Washington, Hong Kong, Singapore, and New York.
Why did I read it?
I always had a special interest in the history of the financial industry. In addition, Bill Ackman, one of my favorite investors, is a protagonist in the story. Perfect combination. Richard tells the story brilliantly, with a marked journalistic style. For finance lovers, it does not disappoint. It is worth it.
The lesson here is “Do your job, do not take anything for granted and rely on exhaustive research.” The other lesson is “Try to do it like Ackman, even if you do it at least half as well, you will already do it better than 90% of the people.”
“Bill Ackman´s battle with MBIA will be remembered as one of the great epics of Wall Street history, and no one followed the story more closely than Christine Richard”. Bethany McLean, coauthor of The Smartest Guys in the Room.
The Bitcoin Standard
The Bitcoin Standard addresses the history of money and explores the role of new technologies in the current monetary scenario. Furthermore, the author clarifies the advantages of bitcoin technology in today's society through its benefits that provide the individual with enormous potential for freedom and prosperity.
About the author
Saifedean Ammous is a professor of Economics at the Lebanese American University, and member of the Center on Capitalism and Society at Columbia University.
Why did I read it?
For me, who knows the concept, but not so much the technology, it was very useful to immerse myself in less obvious or general concepts. Bitcoin is not the future, Bitcoin is the present, and those who do not understand it live in the past.
“Bitcoin has no owner, no authority that can decide on its fate. It is owned by the crowd, its users. And it now has a track record of several years, enough for it to be an animal in its own right. Its mere existence is an insurance policy that will remind governments that the last object the establishment could control, namely, the currency, is no longer their monopoly. This gives us, the crowd, an insurance policy against an Orwellian future.” Nassim Nicholas Taleb.
The Outsiders
The author explains, with nine cases of successful CEOs, what exceptional performance means: returns for the company's shareholders in the long term. Some cases studied are those of Warren Buffett, Dick Smith, John Malone or Henry Singleton.
About the author
William Thorndike, Jr. is a graduate of Harvard College and the Stanford Graduate School of Business. He is the founder and managing director of Housatonic Partners, an investment firm with office in Boston and San Francisco.
Why did I read it?
The Outsiders is a book that helps understand the importance of management excellence in the success of a company. For me, who focuses on small and unknown companies, whose key person is usually an outsider, this book has been very useful. I would highlight the checklist attached in the epilogue as a perfect summary of what an outsider manager means.
“Thorndike wants to give any manager or business owner the confidence to occasionally do things differently…to make the most of the cards they’re dealt to delight their shareholders”. Financial Times.
Greetings and have a good week.
Eloy.
