Fifty Years in Wall Street

by Henry Clews

MP3 CD Format Fifty Years in Wall Street was published in 1908.  In its original form, the book stretched to over 1000 pages, covering a wide assortment of events, people, and issues from 1857, when Clews began his Wall Street career to the early part of the 20th century.  This abridged version captures the heart of the book, bringing this rough and tumble era on Wall Street to life through the words of an actual participant.  Clews writes eloquently about the markets ups and downs and how only the most savvy investors are able to avoid the madness of the moment and buy when everyone else is in panic and sell when everyone else is in a buoyant mood.  With first-hand knowledge, he discusses the careers of Wall Streets most important speculators and financiers.   And in these stories, he illuminates the brilliant decisions that built fortunes and disastrous mistakes that brought on financial ruin.  As a major figure on Wall Street, Clews was involved in politics and he writes about attempts by Wall Street to influence elections and how a group of Wall Street financiers were able to thwart the influence of the notorious Boss Tweed on the financial markets. 

Genres: Finance, Business, History

1062 pages, Hardcover

First published February 2, 2006

Reviews

[Henry · Rating 5 out of 5]

- (Fantastic memoir of Clews, an Englishman, who had a great authority over the Wall Street in the 1800s. It's a fascinating read because as Clews mentioned repeatedly, that history always repeats itself in one way or another. And all the major themes in Clews' stories are as boringly relatable today as in say, the Netherlands' Tulip Mania in 1600s or the South Sea Bubble in 1700s)

- Clews came into power on Wall Street as a discount broker of yesterday (like Schwab & E-Trade taking over the old guard, and Robinhood taking over Schwab & E-Trade by commission-by-orderflow)

- Due to the habit of people on Wall Street, ones who don't know how the game is played gambles, and "rich will get richer, and poor poorer"

- Clews observed that there are indeed the very minority of men who posses vast mental capability to speculate and continue speculate well, but such men are rare and not for the general mass

- Clews see "information" as dangers, particularly the media whose job is to mislead the public by selling incomplete news: "Speculators lose because the information on which they base their operations is insufficient; more because it is false; and others because, while their information is correct, they do not know how to turn it to account'

- "Circulation of pseudo news is the frequent cause of incalculable losses"

- Clews noted that there are always losers who are either "permabulls" or "permabears". Market turns all the time, thus strategy must be adaptive and not perenment

- Stagnancy sometimes runs for a long time. Clews noted that a wise speculator simply leave during those times and enjoy their families

- Wall Street saved the US government several times as default/civil war loomed. Ironically, at the time private property loans were seen more stable than governmental loans

- Before the looming civil war, few saw it would last that long

[Jim · Rating 3 out of 5]

Originally published in 1908, this classic is Wall Street icon Henry Clews' personal account of some of the big names and events that helped shape America's financial markets in the second half of the 19th century. This isn't just a retelling of things already widely known and reported. Instead, theres are Clews' personal thoughts and insights into the personalities of many of the major Wall Street players of the time themselves, including Vanderbilt, Drew, Keene, Gould, and the Tweed Ring. Clews also gives his views on the causes and results of panics, speculation, and attempted corners. Reading these accounts reminds the reader of how less regulated the American stock market was during that period compared to modern day and how fortunes could be made and lost in mere days based on behavior that would today be deemed unethical and sometimes criminal. Overall, it's a fun and insightful look behind the curtain from someone who was a contemporary of those he writes about.

[Derek Wong]

Good

[Yushi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Slightly difficult to read initially as the operators were mostly from the 1800s. Good recollections of the spectators' fervor. Also reminded me of GRE vocab.

[Dan Zwirn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Essential reading not only for those interested in Wall Street history but those who are active in trading markets today.

[Aharon · Rating 3 out of 5]

A worthy addition to the burgeoning genre of memoirs about selling bond during the Civil War.