100 Minds That Made The Market is an interesting and educational look at some of the most influential men to ever play a role in shaping our nation’s stock markets. Some of these men were geniuses, some were successes and failures, and some were no better than crooks or thieves. But all are interesting.

Ken Fisher is probably one of the most qualified people in the world to write a book such as this. Fisher is the founder, Chairman, and CEO of Fisher Investments, which has over $40 billion dollars under management. He is also a renowned money manager and author, and is well known for his Portfolio Strategy column in Forbes Magazine. With these qualifications, Fisher is a exceptionally qualified to document and classify some of the stock market’s most historical and influential figures.

100 Minds That Made The Market is organized in several short sections to help classify these men. There are bankers, brokers, journalists and authors, innovators, crooks, economists, and more. Each biography is around 2-4 pages and highlights only the important things you might want to know about the individual including a little bit about their personality, how they affected the stock market, and their legacy.

Aside from the colorful and entertaining writing style, one of the things I really enjoyed about this book is that you can open it to any page and start reading. You do not have to read it straight through to enjoy it. In fact, I didn’t do that at all. I skipped around and let my interests take me where they may. Most biographies can easily be read in about 7-10 minutes, so it is a great book to pick up on a whim and set down shortly thereafter.

This book is also a great reference book for anyone interested in the stock market, especially those who are interested in the history behind it. It is very entertaining

To Buy or Not to Buy? I think that if you are the kind of person who is deeply interested in the American stock markets (especially the history) then this is a must own reference piece. If you have even a mild interest in stock market history then I would at least borrow this from the library and read it. You will learn a lot about some of our economy’s forefathers and be entertained in the process.

100 Minds That Made the Market: Book Review

by Patrick on November 26, 2007

{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }

1 Swim Upstream to Wealth November 27, 2007 at 10:29 pm: I can’t speak to the book, but I have my doubts about Ken Fisher. I think he did a great job of leveraging his name since his Dad, Philip Fisher, wrote one of the classic investment books, “Commons Stocks, Uncommon Profits.”

Fisher’s organization does a great job of marketing, but if you look at his spiel, he markets that he knows something that other investors don’t - meaning some inside, proprietary information. This is difficult to do in an efficient market.

This may be a great book, but don’t assume just because he manages $40Billion that he knows more about investing. He might know more about marketing. Remember, the best product doesn’t always win. Look at AOL. Shoddy product relative to the competition, but great marketing.

2 Patrick November 28, 2007 at 7:06 am: Investing is all about leverage isn’t it?

To be honest, I do not know much about Fisher’s fund, so I can’t readily endorse it. But I can endorse the book as being interesting, and well written.

You do bring up some valid points about marketing, which can make the difference between a successful product and one that fails.