Rating: 
Summary: Not enough about the markets
Review: This book is not about speculating at all. It is about how Victor plays checkers with a 90 year old, how to play squash, handball, tennis etc... Then if he wasn't talking about games he was talking about Brighton Beach, NY then about Artie (his dad). I am sure his dad was a great guy but I don't want to read about how his mother and father met and got married. Then every once in a while he will throw in something about the markets and some study that he has done. The studies and the text after them are really good if he would have stuck to that topic it would be a decent book. Also it is very hard to read. In one paragrah he would be talking about his uncle Howie's strategy in handball and then burst right into speculating the next paragraph without really even trying to connect the two. When he does talk about trading he does talk about his losses which most authors don't and I found that refreshing. Overall though don't waste your money on this book. There are tons of other books much better about the markets and personal stories about speculating.
Rating: 
Summary: A truly great book
Review: For anyone who is serious about trading this is the best book on the market. Niederhoffer explains through lessons learned in life and on the sports fields, the qualities required to be a good trader. Niederhoffer was rated the best futures trader for ten years before his fund blew up in 1997. He was also a national Squash champion. The reviewers who have critisized this book, are people who want to be given a system that will constantly beat the market. Such things are not sold for...This book shows you the mindset of one of the greatest traders ever, and is unusually generous with the insights provided. Neiderhoffers trading style is very statistically oriented, and he writes about the markets like a gambler writes about a sports event, talking more about probabilitys of success than strict fundimentals. His new book Adventures in Speculation is coming out in March, and I would advise pre ordering it.
Rating: 
Summary: Great book
Review: If you've been trading and understand the market then you will appreciate this great book.
Rating:
Summary: Definitely one of the best I have read!
Review: I am quite surprised by the negative reviews. This is one of the few opportunities we can get so up close and personal with a renowned speculator. Come on give that guy a break, just because he blew up his account doesn't mean there's no merit in what he says. In fact, this book, along with market wizards, is one of my favs on finance and investment. This book is about the life of a speculator! And we all know that trading is not just about methodology and psychology.To be good at it, it has to be as large as life itself. Vic brings us through the world from his perspective as a speculator. I haven't seen another book that approaches financial speculation from such a multidisciplinary perspective. This book is definitely one of those that deserves to be read over and over again...as I'm sure new insights will be gained with each reading. For those who have put away the book without appreciating the life of a speculator, u don't know what u r missing!
Rating:
Summary: Out on a ride
Review: After 100 pages of strenuous lecture came the real pain of discovering that I was taken for a ride and contributed 18 bucks to the Niederhoffer hedge fund. This book is a collection of childhood and youth memories from a New Jersey infancy, some Harvard years, a dash of tenure at Berkeley, and a strong interest for gambling (runs in the family, we learn), all interspersed with sports analogies from squash and tennis (I found this particularly annoying). As my confusion grew bigger and bigger while reading and trying to figure out his real approach to the markets, in the mixture of probability and wild chances in the futures markets he claims he took, his strategies after 500 pages are still a mystery. Although I didn't expect to really find the secrets of futures trading, I found out much more on the subject of belle arts, music, chess, checkers, philosophy of poker, evolutionary theory, sexual education, not to forget his mamma, papa, uncle and grandparents, as well as various intellectual hairsplitting but basically very little about what the title leads us to believe this book is about. I cannot but draw the conclusion that the book was written in some kind of trance or delirium induced by some terrible news in the marketplace while Niederhoffer had bet his house and dog on a position that turned sour, veeery sour. With the present title, the book gets an F, sorry about that.
Rating: 
Summary: entertaining bio but little to no value for traders
Review: First let me say that I found this book entertaining, a good read because Niederhoffer is a colorful character, with viewpoints and conclusions off-beat enough to be worth reading about. So if you are reading this book out of curiosity to see how an interesting character ticks, or if you just want to be entertained, then your goals will be met. If you actually want trading knowledge, however, look elsewhere. In the chest of Victor Niederhoffer beats the heart of a gambler, not a trader. This is evident from his writing, as well as from his eventual exit from the managed money world (he blew up with a $70 million loss on short OEX puts in the Russian debt default crisis of 1998). His trading stories are those of the commando who runs screaming into the field of battle with no thought of self preservation in a take-no-prisoners type of attitude. Is it any wonder this guy blew up and lost all his clients' money? The irony is that in this book, written only a few years before he blew up, Niederhoffer recounts in various places how both Soros and his father expressed worries that the market would get him in the end- which it did. If I were a psychologist I would have to say Niederhoffer clearly exhibited in his writings a need to always push things to their limits, like the shrimp who is always picking fights with bigger and bigger guys because of an inferiority complex, and that in a certain sense Niederhoffer was subconsciously seeking out the tsunami loss that would do eventually do him in. Niederhoffer's tough guy mindset is made clear by the way he lovingly tells his trading stories, as well as the contents of those stories. He goes over his catastrophic losses with a sentimental air, as if they were old war wounds to take glory in rather than bad mistakes to be avoided at all costs. To make an analogy to the normal business world, this would be like the CEO of a major corporation chuckling over the various divisions that have crashed and burned under his or her leadership. One of the most potent stories comes early on, when Niederhoffer discusses staying up for two or three days straight watching the screen, red eyed and dying for sleep but afraid to even go to the bathroom because the entire net worth of himself and his firm is riding on a few ticks of fluctuation between the dollar and the Yen. This story seems designed to give the reader a sense of respect and awe for the risk and stress that the trader takes on. The trader risks it all, pushes it to the limit, takes no prisoners, bets the world and wins. This philosophy is idiocy, not to mention sadomasochism. Trading is about consistent profitability and minimizing risk. It is NOT about betting everything stupidly and feeling like a bigshot afterwards because fate was kind enough to delay the darwinian process another day. There is something about Niederhoffer that is crying out "hey, look at me, I need attention." It is evident in the way he writes, a self-deprecating style that is actually self aggrandizement in disguise. His "quirks," such as trading without shoes, never reading books less than a hundred years old, and not reading any media publications but the National Enquirer, seem designed to get the world to recognize him as the "maverick genius wunderkind" that he so clearly thinks that he is. His writing reminds me of a Calvin and Hobbes strip in which they are discussing the difference between "high art" and "low art," and Hobbes brings up the tongue in cheek idea of a painting of a comic strip, to see if Calvin can classify whether it is high art or low. That is what this book makes me think of- low art disguising itself as high art through avant garde self-criticism, an individual looking for praise and admiration but seeking to get it through reverse psychology. If you like reading biographies of interesting people written with wit and intelligence, buy this book. If you are looking for real trading knowledge and pompous people happen to be one of your pet peeves, pass it by.
Rating:
Summary: No Value
Review: The author offers nothing that is not already known. In the preface he even states "if I had decided to give away secrets and systems that I thought would have recurring value, [people who know me] would doubtless have prevailed on me not to spill the beans." So why would you want to read a book with no "recurring value?" Make sure you saved your receipt.
Rating:
Summary: My worst book investment till now
Review: If you expect something like Pit Bull, Reminiscences of a stock operator, market wizards (I&II), Trader vic, Investment Quotient etc etc, you will be worse off than even disappointed. This book takes you to anywhere but successful investment and trading. Talking about trading and investment there are plenty of good ones out there for you to pick instead of waiting the time and money on this. I dont understand how some reviews say it's a must for the traders or investors. Quite the opposite, as a professional trader, this one is excelletn to sell short.
Rating:
Summary: Did god create man in his own image? Or did Victor in his?
Review: This book reads more like the bible than something about trading info. He tells many proverbs that can apply to anything in life. But since he was a trader he thinks these stories are like trading wisdom. He relates his stories as if he was a father talking to his boy and telling him how the world works. I don't know if he is any smarter than anyone else or just thinks he is because he is so educated. Too many 50 cent words. The Webster definition of eloquince is to say a whole lot with few words. He is nothing of the sort. The books only use is for someone who traded the markets on feelings or coin tosses and needs to see why he lost as much as he did. Could be retitled spirit of a loser. A good reference book for those contemplating suicide after a bad trade or regular market losers. The reason I did give it a star instead of 0 is that there is wisdom buried deep within the stories. It would make and OK book for the bathroom but the paper might be a little course, but in a pinch!
Rating:
Summary: classic tome on trading and life
Review: I just read all the reviews previously posted, and I am amazed at how many negative ones were written. I have read a fair amount of trading literature, and although this is certainly not a technical book, it is surely a classic in the study of markets and life. His writing is humorous, extremely intelligent, honest and insightful. I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys the markets, and a good biography.
| 
