大投机家2（ 一个投机者的智慧）

安德烈 科斯托兰尼（Andre Kostolany）。。。【一个投机者的告白】（内地出版商把它翻成大投机家1～ 一个投机者的告白）已经够吸引我了。从那时开始，在恒河网就订了他的其他五本作品。现在这五本书都顺利的上了我的书架。所以，接下来的几个星期应该都是关于安德烈 科斯托兰尼（Andre Kostolany）的作品。先来看一看【大投机家2】吧。。。

一直以来，看书或看电影都有这个问题。。。续集往往不如第一集来的好。【大投机家2】也抛不开这个宿命。。。没有了第一集的投机精髓，换来的是罗哩罗嗦的成长过程。没有了第一集的连贯性，换来的却是乱七八糟的排序。我看着看着好像在看一本历史书，但中间又冒出一些些投机智慧。偶尔觉得过瘾时，怎么又回到了欧洲历史上。简单来说，整本书就是穿插在历史与投机之间。但，连贯性又不足。好纳闷噢！！！

本人不太推荐这本书。评分十分满分顶多也只值那两分。说真的，太失望了！！！！真期待大投机家3可以为作者争回点面子。

以下是几句还不错的语录。。。

给投资家们提个建议。。。去药店买点安眠药，蒙头大睡。把闹钟上到三年后，任窗外电闪雷鸣，尽可闲庭信步。到那时投机商们睡狮猛醒，会意识到他们将面对一个美妙的惊喜。

钱多的人，能做股票；钱少的人，不可以做股票；没钱的人，必须做股票。

几乎任何一个股民，在他的一生之中，迟早会当一次投股专家，因为他总是能对一把的。

我的大儿子一定是一个音乐家；二儿子是个画家；三儿子是个作家；四儿子一定要当个股票商，为的是养活其他的兄弟们。

开车教练对我说：“你永远不可能真正学好驾驶，因为你总是看发动机罩。你抬起头来，看看远方的地方吧。” 。。。我建议经济学家们抬起头来看着远方，不要喋喋不休的谈论明年的增长指数。。。对于投机商来说，好与坏的经济形势都要冒同样的险。

一些股票交易所的顶尖人物对金融市场却知之甚少。

中国财富圈

一本书看得快不快除了本身有时间以外，也取决于这本书好不好看。我最近是多了点时间（就那么一点点），而偏偏这本书也蛮特别的～～～既不好看但也挺好看的。。。哈！

这是本揭露富豪俱乐部以及财富圈里点点滴滴的一本书。偷窥本来就是人的本性（不信？问一问肥佬黎！！！）。偷窥富豪嘞？怎么可能不吸引呢？？？但，偏偏本人就觉得作者好像一直在对号入座（包括序篇的言论）。。。是也讲一通，不是的也讲了另一大通。如果富豪们的每个商业决定都得通过富豪俱乐部来进行，那第一个富豪肯定是搞俱乐部的同志们！！！哈。。。

再来。。。富豪们难道就不能把俱乐部当作休闲地方吗？？？根据作者的言论，俱乐部好像就是所有伟大商业思想的起源地！每一个危机好像都要通过俱乐部才能研发出解决方案似的。一切的一切好像都那么的团结。但，商业往往不是存在着最多的不妥协吗？？？

好，因为我不是富豪；所以我未必能明白俱乐部对于富豪们的帮助。所以，这本书还是有它的价值。比方说，蒙牛事件如何通过俱乐部或所谓的富豪圈而得到应有的援助，我的偶像史玉柱如何通过泰山会东山再起，华夏同学会如何传授各种商业秘史等等。整体的可信度虽然值得怀疑，但窥探的满足感是有的，哈！

本人超喜欢最后第十一章关于中国财富圈百年流变的解说。有晋商乔家大院，徽商胡雪岩，宁波舟山港通商的轮渡，潮汕人下南洋的帆船，二十世纪至今的历史解说。整章一气呵成，好不罗嗦却又不失细节。赞！！！

整体来说，抛开以上的‘对号入座’言论。。。还是值得捧场的。但，如果有其他选择，这本书就肯定不是我的首选。当初纯粹是被它的标题给吸引，但读后完全找不到我要的东西。10分应该就给5分吧。

以下是本人挺喜欢的一些语录：

合作不过是喝喝茶的事情。

只要有想法，就会有做法，只要有看法，就能找办法。～～～ 关于牛根生。

不顾血本，渴求虚荣，恶性膨胀，人财两空，大事不精，小事不细，如此塞主，岂能成功。～～～ 对于史玉柱的批评。

从我们家来说，我爸妈是旧社会的富二代，但后来成为贫一代。我就是贫二代，但改革开放后我又成为富一代。～～～冯仑关于自己。

他们是所以热衷加入圈子。。。因为他们是经济上的巨人，权力下的侏儒。

有钱挣找兄弟，有困难也是兄弟帮忙，而不是找银行等专业机构。

Money Mavericks

Money Mavericks ~~~ A confessions by a Danish with a London based hedge fund, named "Holte Capital" ...The title itself is attractive to amateur like me ... and the description via the back of the book (as below) is good enough to seduce me into buying this book, LOL.

“I read this book cover to cover, and enjoyed every bit of it. The hedge fund industry is not known for its modesty, yet this book is not only full of fascinating information but is refreshing in this respect as well.”
Andrei Shleifer, Professor of Economics, Harvard University

“Without sensationalising, Lars tells it like it is – a no-holds-barred, warts-and-all account of what it’s like to try and set up and run a hedge fund.”
Neil Wilson, editor, Eurohedge

“A compelling and demystifying chronicle of hedge funds, and of hedge fund managers. Lars’ experience is by no means novel in the industry, but his perspective most certainly is.”
Drew Dickson, Managing Partner, Dickson Capital Management

"In a world where few understand their complexities, Money Mavericks provides a compelling and accurate insight into the secretive workings of a hedge fund."
Tets Ishikawa, author of "How I Caused the Credit Crunch

This book reminds me of "Hedgehogging", one of my favourite books... Relatively, "Money Mavericks" was more on the story-telling style with simple wording and minimal financial stuff. Take a look at some of the interesting points (or phrases) as listed below. You will surely enjoy it...

It is a story of naivety, rejection, hubris, bubbles quickly inflating, arrogance and occasional hatred. At the same time, it is one of success, ambition, friendship, courage and love.

When self-confidence becomes arrogance you deserved to be shot down.

Of all the things we needed six month before launching the fund, having a prime broker was the one we cared about the most.

Real managers don't sweat even when the kitchen gets hot.

The human side of constantly being evaluated on short-term performance numbers was a drain.

You are a number. Basically if you have bad performance numbers you are a bad person... If you have high assets under management and therefore rich, you might get a reprieve but only for so long...If you are small and perform poorly you think everyone from your mother-in-law to the postman is giving you a pitying look saying, "This is clearly a guy out of his depth", and you begin to be defensive and see humiliating ridicule in innocent comments from those around you. If you are at a dinner party and a friend at Goldman tells you he has been promoted, you take this to mean "At least I know what I am doing." One month I was down 4% in an up market and I thought everyone was looking at me thinking "How can anyone be so stupid?" It is not a happy place to be. '

Running a hedge fund was obviously a 24/7 proposition, but I was also guilty of being unable to disconnect.

Once potential investors have satisfied themselves that you are not a crook, the single question they most often ask is 'What is your edge?'

If a medium-sized firm... can generate $ 1.5 million in trade commissions every year, it becomes obvious why the banks and brokerage houses take you to the Super Bowl.

... the short term perspective of his investors left him no room to engage in a random market where there was no saying what stocks would do in the short run. "It's all a fucking lottery."

The more money you had invested, the more fees and attention you got.

On top of the nice phrases as mentioned, I myself particularly loves chapter 6 ~~~ "The Mickey Mouse Fund". Well, most traders went through such a period. So, it is no surprise at all for a beginner fund like Holte Capital. Credit must be given to the author for his willingness to reveal it. The best part is... he revealed it in a humour way too, LOL. This is then follow by the breaking through and how Holte Capital goes from a million funds into a billion funds (Mickey Mouse tag was finally removed! LOL).  Since "the more money you had invested, the more fees and attention you got" ~~~ the author Lar Kroijer was eventually a popular figure in the world of hedge fund and as a result...these were among the discoveries made about him:

1. Outstanding parking tickets from place he used to be...
2. Her wife did not paid her phone bill when she left Denmark...
3. Lar Kroijer did not renewed his Massachusetts driving licence and had not taken a new one in another US state.
4. Lar Kroijer almost moved to Mongolia...
5. Lar Kroijer lied about graduating from Harvard with honours
6. Lar Kroijer changed his name !!! ~~~ Alamak !!! LOL.

.... and plenty more.... Series of hilarious jokes... but sounds familiar? Hmm...

Lastly, we had the real confessions when his partner, Brian decided to call it a day! This is the moment when all the pros and cons (to quit or to carry on) came out. Well, I love one of the reason to quit ~~~ "You are not changing the world" !!! Exactly... Capitalism might have creates tonnes of wealth. But, it is not changing the world like what Steve Jobs did !!!

Overall, this is a nice book although I must admit that I prefer "Hedgehogging".  To me, "Hedgehogging" gave more details and "Hedgehogging" was more 'ruthless' in presenting the whole picture. However, I salute and respect the author's courage to confess completely the whole ups and downs of a hedge fund. I personally appreciate this kind of books. It passes through success stories as well as the road down events... In view of that, I rated it 7/10. Why not 10/10? Well... simply because I love "Hedgehogging" more, LOL...

我是黎智英（从一元港币到五亿美金的创业传奇）

【我是黎智英】是在大众书局购买的。我曾经不只一次说过，我从来就不是大众书局的支持者。。。皆因大众是个很会做生意的书局，而一般上销售量好的书籍又不太吸引我。。。因此很难在大众找到自己心仪的书籍。那【我是黎智英】怎么会跑到我家里的书架呢？理由是，在大众翻了翻几页，觉得还挺过瘾的。

对于黎智英，我其实知道的也不少。但，他的传记我还是第一次读到。香港人习惯叫他‘肥佬黎’，一个很贴切却又不失体面的称呼。市面上一般的传记都很严肃，很少像肥佬黎那样把文法弄得那么的“随便”（哈哈）。。。但，这也是它吸引我的地方。说白了，我还挺喜欢这类说故事的文字方式。书名也确实够霸气，因为直接用了他的名字。当然，他绝对有资格那么做。整体来说，内容很直接，不卖弄文笔。教育性质或许不高（但也不低啦，哈），但绝对是娱乐性十足。整个感觉就像我们日常生活中看他的杂志一样。很想看，但有些情节就是会吐口水！而对于我。。。。。。至少打破了我个人标准～ 销售量好的书有些也挺好看的，哈！

以下是我个人蛮喜欢的一些黎氏录语：

钱财没了迟早会回来，得失不重要。但千万要记住，钞票买不到的东西一点一滴都不能浪费。～～～ 黎母灌输于肥佬黎的一句肺腑之言。

太过聪明的人不能创业。

没有人性的人才能做媒体。

我从来没有想过，为什么别人有的，我没有？因为我知道，别人有的，我都可以有；别人的成就不是我的诅咒。

高僧坐禅般的冥想怎悟得出发展生意的窍门？不从实践中探索，又怎么可以突破困难？

每一天他们都在走前人走过的路。他们是盯着照后镜驾车，车是在倒后还是向前呢？

当一个人还在追求机会的时候，他的心情是兴奋的；可是一旦他捉住了机会，他的心情就会沉重起来；因为随着机会而来的，是沉重的责任。

智慧是帮助你看破眼前利益的信念。要走智慧的路，就得舍弃方便之门。

如果人变得全知全觉，世上也就再没有要解决的问题，也就再没有赚钱的机会。钱是籍着解决问题赚回来的。

没有黑暗便没有缺点，那又何来进步的空间？没有进步的人生，不就像死亡般完美了。

当你踏足会议室去谈一宗大生意时，要是你看到墙上挂着的是什么画，地上的地毯是什么颜色，那么你是看到不应该看到的东西，你便是没有专注，你的交易大都会失败。

很多时候要问的问题是【还有什么可以不做的？】，而不是【还有什么可以做的？】

我认为要把生意做好，简单的方法比聪明的办法更重要。

工作没有系统犹如做人没有习惯，以致每发生一件事都要从新了解，从新思索解决的方法。不过我们要的是好的习惯，好的系统，否则反而会更累事。

成功不是免费午餐，它的代价是承担的勇气。

教训之为教训，并不是因为当中包含了什么大道理，而是这些道理令人感动。

【钱财是手中捉住的风。顺风时，呼风唤雨；逆风时，树倒猢狲散；那时才知道手中捉住的只是一阵轻风】～～～ 冯景喜先生对于钱财的定义

最大的智慧是运用别人激发出来和祖先遗留下来的传统智慧，而不是个人智慧。

追求成为天才，希望身后留名的都是极端虚荣的人。能够不枉此生，已是天大的幸运，何必又非分之想？

非常人自然会有非常人的人生。肥佬黎的这本书就有他那非常人的神韵和精神价值。看一看结尾的一段评语吧 ～～～ “想像一颗苹果可以改变世界。会是哪颗象征【最美丽的女人】的金色苹果，酿成众神纷乱和木马屠城？还是某个风和日丽午后意外K到牛顿头上的哪颗苹果？是改写白雪公主故事的苹果？还是由【欲望城市】的四个女主角重新演绎的纽约【大苹果】？二零零三年，来自香港的黎智英奉上一颗【苹果】，准确的扔向台湾媒体，改写了媒体生态，也改变了读者的想像与视野。仿若伊甸园里夏娃怂恿亚当摘下的哪颗苹果，开启了世间的是非八挂。。。。。。”～～～超棒的，赞赞赞！

整体来说这是本蛮值得推荐的书籍。评分方面10分至少都有7分。扣掉的3分在于文字方面虽然不卖弄，但也确实不够华丽。再来，作者还挺喜欢卖弄学问的。。。。。。但往往，卖弄了又不详细解说 ～～～ 气死我了！！！哈。

最后提醒一下：这本书在中国可是本禁书（不知现在解禁了吗?）。所以，别错过噢。。。。。。

晚清有个袁世凯

好久没看历史书了(尤其是中国历史)。前阵子一直在看毛泽东的东西，现在想到还真想吐，哈。。。

【晚清有个袁世凯】是作者赵焰“晚清三部曲”的第三部。第一和第二分别是【晚清有个李鸿章】和【晚清有个曾国藩】。老实说，单单听到李鸿章和曾国藩，就已经联想到看毛泽东书籍的感觉了（又想吐了，哈）。所以，最后只选择了第三部的袁世凯。。。理由很简单；毕竟关于袁世凯的书籍也不多，能够像赵焰般解剖袁世凯的书籍更是少之又少。

先提一提几个重点（本人从未听说过的袁世凯）。。。原来袁世凯家族就是三国时代袁绍的遗脉。很多学者惯性的把袁世凯联系到了三国时代的曹操。袁世凯出生地点与曹操家乡还真不远（别忘了，袁绍可是曹操儿时玩伴）。两人多变的性格再加上末代权臣的特殊地位还真容易让人把他两联想在一起。唯一不同的是，曹操面对的敌人都是自家人（汉人）。而袁世凯由始至终都有着个东洋敌人在旁从中作梗。作者本身也把袁世凯和曹操做了个对比。但作者认为袁世凯更像其远祖袁绍。曹操至少一生不称帝。袁绍与袁世凯就因为称帝，最后落得家破人亡。

作者解剖袁世凯的同时也不忘其短短政治生涯里的一些贡献。袁世凯上台之后推出了一系列整顿及深化金融改革的措施。比如说，收回各地乱发的纸币以统一货币，制定了银行和证券交易法规，各种证券和期货交易所的开发，降低税收，简化开办工厂手续等等。。。1914年和1915年，袁世凯政府还实现了财政收支平衡，并且略有盈余（约计每年可余二千万）。这样的状况，在晚清至民国初年，简直是个奇迹！！！

那到底袁世凯是英才还是枭雄？我个人偏向于把他归类为“治世之能臣， 乱世之枭雄”。无论如何，作者代后记关于历史的意义写的真好。作者说：“对待历史，放下天使或者审判者的架子，少一点人为的标签，多一份理解和明白。只有在明白之中，才能找到历史的真实路径。” 我非常赞同，所以我无权审判。而且，历史书本是应该帮助人们了解历史好让我们在过去与当下之间，寻找因果律的会通性。因此，对于袁世凯这号人物，我不多说。但，我个了蛮推荐这本书。理由是，笔者的文笔真不错。解剖方面也的确做到'放下天使或者审判者的架子'。整体内容除了知识性，也没一般历史书那么沉闷。10分满分，我应该都给8分吧。。。少掉的两分让我看多几本作者写的书，再给吧！哈。。。

以下是内容和作者简介：

晚清重臣，新政领袖，民国总统，恢复帝制的野心家，这是完全的袁世凯吗？这个河南人如何以自己的勇气和狡猾，不借助于科举的捷径登上了权力的巅峰？这个曾经被国内外寄予希望的“中国华盛顿”，是怎样在实验了一段民主共和之后，一步步重回专制的老路，又是怀有怎样的动机想当皇帝的？本书以贴身紧逼的方式触摸历史，从丰富的史料中寻绎出悖论式的连番提问，展开一代权臣袁世凯波谲云诡的一生，并以文化散文的方式透视其内心世界，写他的坚韧不拔，写他的大义凛然，写他的摇身一变，写他的委曲求全，写他的敢为人先，写他的阴险毒辣，写他的不识时务，写他的身不由己……这是作者“晚清三部曲”的第三部，把一个时代变迁大起大伏中注定牺牲的人物写得淋漓尽致。

作者简介：

赵焰，男，安徽旌德人，中国作家协会会员。出版有《晚清有个曾国藩》、《晚清有个李鸿章》、《蝶影抄》、 《行走新安江》、《千年徽州梦》、《思想徽州》、《男人四十就变鬼》、《夜兰花》等书十数种。

目录：
第一章 顽童，还是天才？
第二章 无私，还是抓权？
第三章 英勇，还是退缩？
第四章 练兵，还是抓权？
第五章 告密，还是无辜？
第六章 元凶，还是智者？
第七章 变法，还是投机？
第八章 立宪，还是抓权？
第九章 归隐，还是蓄势？
第十章 共和，还是宪政？
第十一章 专制，还是民主？
第十二章 虚伪，还是怀柔？
第十三章 元凶，还是无辜？
第十四章 英才，还是枭雄？

Notes To The Prime Minister - The Untold Story of How Malaysia Beat the Currency Speculators

"Notes to the Prime Minister"…. True, it is a book with record of discussions between Tun Dr. Mahathir and Tan Sri Nor Mohamed Yakcop during the Asian Financial Crisis of 1997/1998. Well, the title of “Notes” is appropriate… However, I am not so sure about “The Untold Story of How Malaysia Beat The Currency Speculators”… Are they beaten at the end? Hmm…. Foods for thought today…

Since I am not an expert, (If I am, Tun Dr. M might spot me walking down a street in Kuala Lumpur too, LOL) I am not going to dig much into the rational of peg and unpeg. Just a few obvious points…. First of all, as we can see, ringgit was pegged at a time when the great of Asian Crisis was already over. If Malaysia did not peg the ringgit in September 1998, the Ringgit would have gradually appreciated anyway (The movement of Rupiah and Won during that period will tell the whole story)…  Secondly, at the point the Ringgit was fixed against the USD in September 1998, I believe it had already settled around its long term equilibrium value. At the end, the so called “capital controls” failed to prevent capital outflow. At the same time, they were also imposed at a point in time where speculation was already dying away. Worse, the appreciation of the USD four years later made Malaysia’s exports completely uncompetitive… Finally, here is the man who was part of the team at Bank Negara which incurred huge exchange losses betting on the British Pound in 1992… Yet, Tun Dr. M spotted him walking down a street in Kuala Lumpur to teach him about currency and currency trading? Just an example… the issue of “Impossible Trinity” keeps on popping up in my mind when I read about his suggestions to lower down interest rates during the turmoil. With due respect, is he really the right man? Hmm…..


Forgive my sarcastic wording… I am just telling some facts based on my personal understanding. To sum it up, just take a peep at Korea and Indonesia (Thailand too despite the political turmoil). Obviously, the said countries are much better at the moment even though they accepted the so called “stringent conditions” from IMF! Want more evidence? Hyundai vs Proton? Not strong enough? Just check how many of you are using Samsung products at the moment, LOL.

Well, the good thing is… I am kinda fortunate that I am not in the political scene. Just read through the notes in the book… I would sum it up with one word: EXHAUSTED!!! Look at the time and schedule starting from walking on the Kuala Lumpur Street to the Argentina trip. Then, check through all the dates and times on the notes. It is really tough for two of them to work through the whole process. Like I mentioned above; I am not an expert. Hence, it is not fair for me to just criticize without appreciating their hard works. My final words on this two mighty political giant… taken the final results aside, I do believe they had did their part in their respective role. Big applaud on that…

Ok… summary on the book… Well, not a bad book to read… but, surely not an excellent book to recommend to book worms!!! LOL. In my humble opinion, this book is as good as” Doctor in the House” (which I did not bother to buy at all, LOL). Read it if you got time. If you are busy, there are plenty of better choices…. Rating? 5/10 with credit goes to the writing of author rather than the contents! LOL…