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To: Lane3 who wrote (57)	11/24/2002 7:54:09 PM
From: Win Smith	Read Replies (1) of 603

'Take on the Street': Advice From a Wall Street Insider and Critic nytimes.com [ on an old topic from elsewhere, a review of Arther Levitt's new book ] Levitt and his journalist co-author Paula Dwyer have written a first-rate financial primer. The description of how stock markets actually trade stocks and his lessons on how to read financial statements are worth the price of admission alone. Yet there is a strange dissonance as various parts of the book undermine the sunny advice given in other parts. In one chapter Levitt recommends that Aunt Edna buy mutual funds. In the following chapter he details the ''seven deadly sins'' (hidden fees, portfolio churning, tax liabilities and so on) that allow these funds to make money at Aunt Edna's expense. He celebrates the ''information bonanza'' that technology makes available to investors, and then he devotes a chapter to explaining how this information is corrupted by corporate accountants. In the end he describes so many financial casualties and details so much corporate chicanery that the only place poor Aunt Edna will want to invest is under her mattress. The book presents itself as a Take Back the Night rally for small investors, who are exhorted not to leave Wall Street to muggers and stockbrokers. Vigilant investors, by demanding transparent balance sheets and narrow spreads, will make the markets safe again for little old ladies. While the good doctor Levitt is offering this advice, his book is detailing enough horror stories to scare the willies out of you. The scariest of all is the fact that not even the chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission knew half the mischief that was afoot on the dark side of the Street. [ sardonic aside: personally, I think "Glengarry Glen Ross" should be required viewing before investing in the stock market. ABC, always be closing. The idea that the investment "industry", at least at the retail level, is something other than a glorified sales operation is counterintuitive. ]

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