Rating: 
Summary: Good Insights from a Financial Guru
Review: 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.
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Summary: The Life & Times of Convicted InsideTrader
Review: George Soros was convicted of inside trading in December 2002. He engaged in inside trading of Societe General stock. "Mr Soros and three other defendants, the court found, bought Societe Generale stock when it was cheap, and cashed in their investment when the price rose after the bid became public. Two other businessmen implicated in the scandal - Edmond Safra and Robert Maxwell - have since died." Maxwell killed himself after his billion dollar scam/business was exposed. He dove off his huge yacht off the coast of France. He left behind billions in debts and thousands of British workers lost their pensions. Soros is known by the people he associates with. It is not to hard to "stay ahead of the curve" when you trade with inside information. For more details - go to the BBC news web site and search for Soros insider trading or Google and type Soros BBC insider trading.
Rating: 
Summary: There must be some value...I think
Review: I didn't like this book. I respect Soros and have read various other books on him that I found enjoyable. This just didn't happen to be one of them. I have been trading futures for 11 years and I have written three books on the topic, but I would never use such a gradiose title for any of my books, much less bore readers to death with a lame question and answer style. It was difficult to read and what ever gems that were available were lost in the format. Soros is good. Book is bad. Fini.
Rating: 
Summary: GOOD MIND GREAT VIEW FOR BUSINESS
Review: I work for Merrill Lynch and I can tell you that his opinions are hear very much in the market. Soros is number 1, and the book easily see it's
Rating:
Summary: A real example of " How to make money!"
Review: It's a great chance to read this book and to understand why some poeple win !
I recommend this book to all of you ( between 15 and 85) as a lesson of financial succes.
If you start to read this book, your whole life will be different!
Try it
Rating:
Summary: Insightful!
Review: Like a 21st century physicist, George Soros is looking for the universal theory, the theory of everything. In Soros on Soros, he tries to express his vision of that theory, that one formula that will link his insights into markets, group dynamics and the historic and political evolution of mankind. While he never succeeds, you'll get a full education in Soros-think as you watch him lurch through a series of anecdotes, observations and philosophic lunges. Soros is an investor and self-proclaimed failed-philosopher, not a wordsmith. The power of this book lies in its ideas, not its art. He has learned from his role as the world's most powerful investor that mere thoughts - whether correct or incorrect - can move markets, motivate people to action and alter the course of history. For that reason, we [...] recommend this book to all investors, executives and students. After a series of financial defeats since 1998, Soros might not be what Soros was, but his ideas and beliefs still sway markets and shade international policy in a manner that few people on the planet can match.
Rating:
Summary: Thinking does help! If you're good at it!
Review: Many people insist that one can't beat the market. They tell you: don't even try. Heaven forbid you pick out a few stocks which you think will go up (they'll tell you you'll almost certainly be wrong) but instead buy all sorts of stocks (stocks you think will go up, stocks you think will go down, and stocks you think will go sideways (to make this easy just buy some index))in an attempt to insure an average return. And while many people believe this, there are also many (with some overlap) who still try to outsmart the market. Please don't expect a formula, cookbook, or road map. You won't find a list of stocks to buy here. Soros can't tell you: always buy stocks with a P/E below this, or sell stocks when the moon is full, or they fall 8% from where you bought them (Is it 8% or 9%? It's all so arbitrary isn't it? What does it matter what price you paid, the earth doesn't revolve around you and neither does the future of any stock. Soros can give you some perspective and teach you that you may actually have to think, and think well, with each decision! And THIS, is far better than presenting a bunch of false rules!
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Summary: THIS BOOK TELLS YOU WHO IS THE REAL GEORGE SOROS
Review: Many times people readf bias media reports about big traders are bad and probably useless to society. I was somewhat surprised and quite happy to learn of the many useful things that Mr. Soro is doing to help other people through his various charitable works. Mr. Soro is often portrayed as the man who broke the Bank of England, but unfortunately, the media never reports his other activities. To me this has been the most striking aspect of the book.
Rating:
Summary: THIS BOOK TELLS YOU WHO IS THE REAL GEORGE SOROS
Review: Many times people readf bias media reports about big traders are bad and probably useless to society. I was somewhat surprised and quite happy to learn of the many useful things that Mr. Soro is doing to help other people through his various charitable works. Mr. Soro is often portrayed as the man who broke the Bank of England, but unfortunately, the media never reports his other activities. To me this has been the most striking aspect of the book.
Rating:
Summary: What you'd expect from an assisted autobiography.
Review: Parts of this book are very interesting, particularly where they deal with Soros' marginal experiences prior to starting his famous hedge fund. It lends a human picture with a past to this powerful person.However as you make your way through the book, it begins to sound like many other books written by famous people at similar points in their lives. There seems to be a need to prepare oneself for a certain kind of statehood existence, and this is no exception. The last third of the book was a little bit tiresome. I would reccommend the biography as a companion to this book. In fact, sometimes it seems like this book was written as a reaction to the biography which was published at about the same time.
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