Rating: 
Summary: Playing with the Devil??
Review: +++++
This extremely well researched book, by historian Edward Chancellor, is about the history of financial or stock market speculation. The line distinguishing investment, financial speculation, and even gambling is not absolutely clear:
"[S]peculation is the name given to a failed investment and...investment is the name given to a successful speculation...The psychologies of speculation and gambling are almost indistinguishable: both are dangerously addictive habits which involve an appeal to fortune, and often [are] accompanied by delusional behavior and are dependent on success for the control of emotions."
The title of this book "Devil take the Hindmost" comes from a phrase in the 1720 writing of an "anonymous pamphleteer." This phrase means "Let every person follow self-interest, leaving others to fare as they may."
Chancellor takes us through significant periods of stock market manias or "speculative manias or bubbles." Some examples include:
(1) the Dutch Tulip Mania of 1637
(2) the British South Sea Company Bubble of 1720
(3) the U.S. bull market of the 1920s
(4) the U.S. bull market of the 1980s
(5) the Japanese Bubble Economy of the late 1980s.
All of the above events have one thing in common: the mania is always followed by a collapse, or more eloquently, the bubble eventually bursts. But as you read this book, you will discover that investors and speculators don't seem to learn from the lessons of the past. Why? Because as Sir John Templeton stated, there is this manic belief that "this time it's different."
Throughout this book, you'll come across words such as these:
mania or euphoria, bubble, crash or collapse, suicide, lotteries, gambling, speculation, irrationality, political influence, corruption, fraud, bankruptcies, bank failures, greed, profit, wealth, power, illness, anxiety, nervous breakdown, insider trading, capitalists, materialism, risk, murder, debt, and market manipulation.
Chancellor also provides other interesting historical information in his narrative besides just historical information about speculation. For example, he tells us the true story of where the stock market terms "bull" and "bear" came from and what Mark Twain thought about investing and speculation.
Contrary to belief, this book is not biased. In the epilogue of his book, Chancellor tells us the benefits that come from speculation. However, from reading the initial chapters of this book, it seems to me that these benefits come at a very high human cost.
The only problem I had with this book is the plethora of footnotes. They occur on every second page or so. While some of the information in these were very interesting, I found that I got tired of being continually distracted by these footnotes and so I eventually gave up reading them.
Although not completely necessary, it would be helpful to know some basics about the stock market and investment when reading this book. Chancellor does a good job explaining most things but he also assumes that the reader knows some basics.
Finally, this is a unique book that thoroughly explains the history of financial speculation. Whether you're an investor or not, you'll learn a lot especially about human nature.
RECOMENDATION: Invest in this book!!
(first published 1999; preface; 9 chapters; epilogue; notes; references, acknowledgements; index)
+++++
Rating:
Summary: Outstanding!!!
Review: A must read for anyone who wants to understand what is really going on in today's equity markets.Unfortunately, few people will read it, and even fewer will actually learn from it. It will be their loss.
Rating:
Summary: This Time is Never Different
Review: A wizened wag at an investment firm once warned me to start looking for the sell tickets as soon as I heard the words "This Time is Different." In my short experience as an investor, it was some of the most sage advice I have received. Edward Chancellor book arrives at the same conclusion but provides more foundation to recognize the bubbles of speculation. Investment bubbles never change. Yet, for the investor or trader caught up in one, they remain difficult to identify. According to modern economic theory, markets are efficient and speculators are rational opportunists intent on maximizing their wealth. Chancellor, a former investment banker and historian, disagrees. More than fear and greed drives speculators, they motivated by deeper compulsions and aspirations. Speculation, he says, can only be understood within a social context and that its history cannot be a simple description of economic affairs. It is important to understand the behavior and attitudes of politicians, since the laws governing markets are written and enforced by governments. He traces the origins of speculative fever back to ancient Rome and follows the thread through Holland's tulip mania in the 1630s and London's stockjobbers 70 years later. The book ends with an insightful analysis of the Junk Bond era here in the United States, the Japanese bubble and the near collapse of Long Term Capital Management. It is a must read for every serious investor.
Rating:
Summary: Started a little slow but ended with a bang
Review: At first, I sort of waded through this, but as it moved into the 20th Century, it really got interesting. I highly recommend the book. You realize that the latest boom, from the internet to Enron is nothing new; use useless collateral (stock/land) to finance spurious schemes, pump the price, and watch the suckers pore in. The section on Japan is awesome.
Rating:
Summary: Are markets rationale?
Review: Best finance book that I have ever read. It walks through the history of speculation & the development of the different financial instruments (stocks, derivatives, etc..) Chancellor does a great job in both giving a historical perspective on the financial manias that have occurred and extrapolating out the common characteristics of what created the mania and deflated it. With a lot of evidence, he builds a very compelling case to question the commonly held belief that financial markets are both efficient and rational. Definitely worth a read.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent social-economic history of finance
Review: Chancellor is a rare breed: an economic historian well versed in both the nitty-gritty of financial analysis, and in the "reading" of social and intellectual history. This book presents plenty of both. Its author is extremely well-read ("seems to have read everything," as one professional reviewer wrote) on both fronts, and interweaves the two methods of argument admirably. Plentiful first-person quotations -- some from famous writers and intellectuals who speculated in financial markets of their time -- provide solid evidence for Chancellor's argument, as well making very entertaining reading about the personal financial activities of figures such as Alexander Pope and Daniel DeFoe. Chancellor also stakes out his territory intellectually and academically. This is not just a ho-hum journalistic history book. It is well supported with theory, argument, and analysis. For example, Chancellor attempts to discredit economic historians who sit too far in the "social history" camp, as well as those who sit too far in the "rationality" camp. For example, Chancellor gives the "tulipmania apologists" (rational-expectations theorists who claim there was nothing irrational about tulipmania) quite a thrashing. On the other hand, he does draw upon theoretical tools such as liquidity premiums and moral hazard to explain some financial manias, and is well versed in all forms of financial analysis. I failed to be entirely convinced by many of Chancellor's arguments, but nonetheless, I found them stimulating and thought-provocative. Because "financial speculation" encompasses almost all financial activity, this book encompasses enough to be a standalone primer on the history of financial trading. As an added bonus, Chancellor is a very readable, and even clever and amusing, writer. His occasional tongue-in-cheek remarks add life to some (necessarily) dry discussions of the history of financial instruments. This is an excellent history of finance, not just of financial speculation. Although I read this book for pleasure, not as an "investment book," it also has some wise lessons for investing, although the comparisons of internet stocks to Dutch tulips are by now a tired cliche (and, mercifully, Chancellor doesn't dwell too heavily on those comparisons).
Rating:
Summary: Pop Go the Weasels: On Market Bubbles and Skullduggery
Review: Chancellor's book is a highly entertaining history of market speculation taking in everything from the Tulip Mania of 17th century Holland and the English South Sea Company bubble to Japan in the '80s, the Savings and Loan Rip Off, Michael Milken's Junk Bonds, the Long Term Capital Management fiasco and the Internet craze of the late 1990's. Chancellor even covers the 90's art market. One constant stands out about market piracy: what is new is old - only the names and games have changed. Markets have always been manipulated and always will be. The reforms that follow in the wake of each bubble plant the seeds for the next. Often because the legislators who enact the reforms are beholden to those positioned to benefit from the loopholes. There are several phrases that seem to pop up with every bubble:
"This time it's different."
"It's too big to fail."
"The business cycle is no more," or some nonsense about reaching a plateau of permanent prosperity. Reading this book will make you think twice about investing in the market.
It'll make you doubt the foundation of the efficient market hypothesis.
It'll show how often the experts are wrong.
It'll show how often Nobel Laureates in Economics turn out to be fools. It will make you think three times about investing in Japan.
Four times about investing in Latin America. And you'll run away screaming from derivatives of any stripe.
In fact, one wonders why the whole shooting match hasn't imploded yet, ala Baring's Bank or LTCM. Devil Take the Hindmost is a fun read. More important, the next time a Mania strikes - and it will - this book and a general understanding of the history of speculation just might just save you from rushing over the cliff with all the other lemmings.
Rating:
Summary: Pop Go the Weasels: On Market Bubbles and Skullduggery
Review: Chancellor's book is a highly entertaining history of market speculation taking in everything from the Tulip Mania of 17th century Holland and the English South Sea Company bubble to Japan in the `80s, the Savings and Loan Rip Off, Michael Milken's Junk Bonds, the Long Term Capital Management fiasco and the Internet craze of the late 1990's. Chancellor even covers the 90's art market. One constant stands out about market piracy: what is new is old - only the names and games have changed. Markets have always been manipulated and always will be. The reforms that follow in the wake of each bubble plant the seeds for the next. Often because the legislators who enact the reforms are beholden to those positioned to benefit from the loopholes. There are several phrases that seem to pop up with every bubble:
"This time it's different."
"It's too big to fail."
"The business cycle is no more," or some nonsense about reaching a plateau of permanent prosperity. Reading this book will make you think twice about investing in the market.
It'll make you doubt the foundation of the efficient market hypothesis.
It'll show how often the experts are wrong.
It'll show how often Nobel Laureates in Economics turn out to be fools. It will make you think three times about investing in Japan.
Four times about investing in Latin America. And you'll run away screaming from derivatives of any stripe.
In fact, one wonders why the whole shooting match hasn't imploded yet, ala Baring's Bank or LTCM. Devil Take the Hindmost is a fun read. More important, the next time a Mania strikes - and it will - this book and a general understanding of the history of speculation just might just save you from rushing over the cliff with all the other lemmings.
Rating:
Summary: Fun, correct, readable, erudite -- A WINNER
Review: Devil Take the Hindmost contains information essential to every person. Furthermore, Edward Chancellor has written a book which is readable by anyone. He has made the topic of financial manias accessible and fun without sacrificing even an ounce of accuracy. The result is a book of amazingly good value -- in just a few entertaining hours, you will learn something that will make your life better. Well Done! Terry Burnham
Rating: 
Summary: Good primer on financial bubbles & crashes
Review: Edward Chancellor's "Devil Take The Hindmost" should be required reading for all stock market investors. For the last 400 years, stock markets the world over have intermmittently gone from boom to bust. The amazing thing about these cycles is how similar each is to those preceding it. For example, the 1990's "bubble" economy was very similar to the 1920's bubble economy. In other words, we just don't seem to learn our lessons very well. This book is a historical analysis which summarizes the effects of speculation on economies throughout recent history. No particular speculative event is given more emphasis than the others.
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