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Take on the Street: What Wall St. and Corporate America Don't Want You to Know / What You Can Do to Fight Back
Examines how investors are being exploited and deceived by both financial institutions and corporate America, discussing such topics as broker compensation, fair disclosure, and 401(k) investments.
352 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2002
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
November 30, 2019
Good book on financial regulation and how investors can protect their interests.
September 30, 2018
Levitt is a good writer, and his concern for doing what is right permeates his work. He is honest and not afraid to highlight his own participation in questionable financial practices. This book highlights that importance of ensuring that incentives and compensation of financial professionals lines up with their responsibilities to everyday investors. He highlights problems that exist and the solutions that have been proposed or applied and what still needs to be done. There are some real gems of information in this book, but being from 2002 much of it is outdated. Some of the things he warns about have been mostly stamped out, while other new pitfalls have since emerged. People interested in Levitt himself or in a history of conflicting interests will find this a worth while read, but people looking merely for investment advice would do better to look for more up to date information.
March 11, 2025
I am likely not the intended reader, complicated by the fact that the book was written more than 20 years ago. I found the book very basic and outdated.
February 6, 2017
I think it's a good book. It covers a broad range of financial topics from basic (how to pick a financial adviser / if at all) to complex (plumbing of the financial system). Arthur Levitt is perhaps the last competent SEC Chairman who gave a damn (through 2016) about investors' rights, auditor independence, and corporate disclosure.
My favorite thing about the book is his perspective on perverse incentives inherent to the financial system. Advisers' choice of financial products for clients, brokers' choice of market centers, and corporations' relationships with auditors -- to name just a few -- are all sub-optimal arrangements for end-customers, i.e., the investors.
Another favorite is the discussion of different ways companies can game financial statements in the Beware of False Profits chapter. Pro-forma statements that add-back the bad and keep the good (with Trump Hotels used as an example; hmmm can't wait for selective White House disclosures); restructuring charges that front-load recurring expenses; "cookie jar reserves" and "channel stuffing" aka "bill and hold" that inflate profits (where "Chainsaw" Al Dunlap finally cut his teeth); write-downs and reversals; vendor financing (some customers may not pay you back after all, Motorola); goodwill gaming; in-process R&D; and early revenue recognition (hello Microstrategy, you and your scumbag CEO Michael Saylor are still around after all these years). What's appalling is that more often than not, the consequences to such corporate misbehavior are immaterial to perpetrators -- cease and desist letters, fines, and perhaps an occasional short jail sentence.
Bottom line: you have to be very careful who you trust and how you interpret the information provided to you. The devil is in the detail... and understanding everyone's incentives. Assume you will be taken advantage of.
My favorite thing about the book is his perspective on perverse incentives inherent to the financial system. Advisers' choice of financial products for clients, brokers' choice of market centers, and corporations' relationships with auditors -- to name just a few -- are all sub-optimal arrangements for end-customers, i.e., the investors.
Another favorite is the discussion of different ways companies can game financial statements in the Beware of False Profits chapter. Pro-forma statements that add-back the bad and keep the good (with Trump Hotels used as an example; hmmm can't wait for selective White House disclosures); restructuring charges that front-load recurring expenses; "cookie jar reserves" and "channel stuffing" aka "bill and hold" that inflate profits (where "Chainsaw" Al Dunlap finally cut his teeth); write-downs and reversals; vendor financing (some customers may not pay you back after all, Motorola); goodwill gaming; in-process R&D; and early revenue recognition (hello Microstrategy, you and your scumbag CEO Michael Saylor are still around after all these years). What's appalling is that more often than not, the consequences to such corporate misbehavior are immaterial to perpetrators -- cease and desist letters, fines, and perhaps an occasional short jail sentence.
Bottom line: you have to be very careful who you trust and how you interpret the information provided to you. The devil is in the detail... and understanding everyone's incentives. Assume you will be taken advantage of.
October 16, 2012
There was lots of great information here. Some of it was a bit over my head but I could tell it was directed at novice investors like myself and was just too technical to break down any better. I found he would switch every chapter between talking about the industry and talking about consumer relevant strategies. Sometimes they dovetailed well, sometimes they were nonsequiters. The biggest downside was his self absorbed martyr first person didactic but still good info and worth reading.
October 16, 2007
first i though it would be a boring book :) but after i read it ,, i want to recommend it to my friend " ISMAIL " so much ,, he would love it :) i think
January 14, 2013
here's where you can download the book for free
http://www.4shared.com/office/MbEtB6b...
http://www.4shared.com/office/MbEtB6b...
January 14, 2015
The information in this book is dated. I would recommend this book only to someone who is interested in the history of the regulation of the stock market.
June 2, 2016
dated information, but still valuable. tge mentality never changed.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews