Numbers 4 and 5 on the list:
Liar's Poker by Michael Lewis
Michael Lewis went on to write other best sellers, such as "Next" and "Moneyball," but "Liar's Poker" remains his most personal work--and his
funniest. He labored for Salomon Brothers as a bond trader for four years, from 1984 through the crash of October 1987, apparently taking copious notes along the way. The result is a first-rate account of how the bond-trading side of the investment-banking business works, but the reporting is spiked with wicked asides and telling observations. The book's title comes from a game that Salomon traders played involving the serial numbers of dollar bills instead of playing cards. A story that helped make "Liar's Poker" so memorable recounted how Salomon chairman John Gutfreund once challenged the company's top trader to one hand for $1 million--and then backed down when the trader upped the stakes to $10 million.
Anatomy of Greed by Bryan Cruver
Bryan Cruver was a 30-year-old MBA when he arrived at Enron in March 2001; nine months later, he and thousands of other Enron employees were out of work as the energy giant imploded. "Anatomy of Greed" is a prime lesson in the ways that even the best and the brightest can be fooled. Accountants, lawyers, rating-agency analysts and investment bankers who are constantly on the lookout for financial shenanigans sometimes don't see them until it's too late. The story of the "crooked E"--as Enron came to be known, thanks to its logo and its infamous shell-game business practices--is one more reminder to investors of why it's so, so good to diversify.
Read the full list.
--Marshal Zeringue
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