Soros on Soros: Staying Ahead of the Curve
Author: George Soros
List Price: $27.95
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ISBN: 0471119776
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons (04 August, 1995)
Sales Rank: 3,805
Average Customer Rating: 4.13 out of 5
Customer Reviews
Rating: 3 out of 5
The Man Who Moves Markets
This book covers many facets of George Soros's life- his investment philosophy, family history, quantum fund, his own theories of investing, philanthropy, diplomacy, and some of his selected writings. Mr. Soros talks about macroinvesting and how leverage has given the quantum fund greater flexibility than a two dimensional portfolio. He surprisingly admits that he is a very critical person who looks for defects in him as well as others- calls himself an insecurity analyst. Mr. Soros also talks about the tension between his parents and how the Nazi invasion of Hungary influenced him. I would suggest that one read his book, The Alchemy of Finance to learn more about his approach to investing. Classical economic theory assumes market participants act on the basis of perfect knowledge, his philosophy is based on imperfect understanding. The Alchemy of Finance talks in detail about the general theory of reflexivity and boom/ bust theory. Using the sterling crisis, Mr. Soros emphasizes the need for Euro. Karl Popper at LSE influenced him greatly and Mr. Soros invested millions on promoting an open society in Eastern Europe. His foundations have failed in China and Russia. He does not want anything but the Central European University to outlive him. Mr. Soros talks extensively how the west failed the Soviet Union and states that it would have been better had it not collapsed like Yugoslavia It is a must read for anybody interested in philosophy, diplomacy ,and business.
Rating: 4 out of 5
Good Insights from a Financial Guru
George Soros is unquestionably one of the finest investors of our time; his returns over the life of his Quantum fund have put the random-walk theory to shame. In this book, which is essential a long interview, Soros expounds on his market philosophies and political views. Personally, I found this book better structured and more informative than his previous book, "The Alchemy of Finance."As the book begins, Soros goes into the details about how he founded and runs his fund. He started as a trader, then an analyst, then created a model portfolio that he managed as a sales tool for when he talked to his clients. He left his firm and started his hedge fund at age 43, with $12M in 1973. In 1981, retired from active management and hired other fund managers to run the Quantum fund.
When running the fund, he is a macro investor, since he claims he's better at picking the tide rather than surfing the smaller waves in the markets. He tends to form an opinion on the direction of a currency, stock market, or interest rates, then trades within the view he set.
Soros also describes his market philosophy, which he described previously in "Alchemy of Finance." His concept, dubbed reflexivity, claims that market's movements influences people's perceptions, but since people trade based on their biased perceptions, they in turn influence the market. The result is that perceptions and market movements co-evolve, and may drift away from the fundamentals and, in some cases, change the fundamentals. The result is familiar boom-bust patterns, such as trend-following behavior in markets followed by crashes. As a result, Soros follows trends, but remains alert for signs of reversals.
Soros is also a major philanthropist, and has created foundations to spread open societies into Eastern Europe. There is a significant portion of the book devoted to his political work, however I found that less interesting, not because his views aren't valid or well articulated, but because I bought the book primarily to learn about Soros' work in finance.
Overall, I found this a good read in finance. Although you won't come out with 10 sure-fire stock tips for your 401(k), this book is certainly a must for Soros fans, or any intrigued investor who would like to learn from one of today's most successful financiers.
Rating: 4 out of 5
Self indulgent but interesting
This is a commissioned book. Basically, a self-indulgent pseudo-autobiography written in an interview style. "my own estimation of myself is more important to me than other people's" (P249)The interview style makes this work more accesable to the average reader by overcoming the intense, convoluted style of Soros' other writings. It also allows more topics to be covered in less technical detail.
If you want to learn a little about Soros, this is an interesting book with fascinating pearls of wisdom. But don't think of it as an autobiography; rather a rumination on various aspects of his character.
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