Product Description: If you're a PowerSeller on eBay, or a real-estate agent showing houses to your client, or a sales rep in any field (as more than two million Americans are), you're not just pushing products. If you're worth your salt, you're a Certifier, staking your reputation on the quality of the goods you represent...read more

“Commodity players are a shrewd and indomitable lot. And the contracts they trade are still so loosely regulated that the correct combination of money and skill creates irresistible opportunity. That’s why I’m only half joking when I call them the secret club that runs the world.”When most people think of the drama of global finance, they think of stocks and bonds, venture capital, high-tech IPOs, and complex mortgagebacked securities. But commodities? Crude oil and soybeans? Copper and wheat? What could be more boring?That’s exactly what the elite commodity traders want you to think. They don’t seek the media spotlight. They don’t want to be as famous as Warren Buffett or Bill Gross. Their astonishing wealth was created in near-total obscurity, because they dwelled either in closely held private companies or deep within large banks and corporations, where commodity profits and losses weren’t broken out.But if the individual participants in the great commodities boom of the 2000s went unnoticed, their impact did not. Over several years the size of the market exploded, and so did prices for raw materials—raising serious questions about whether the big traders were intentionally jacking up the cost of gasoline, food, and other essentials bought by ordinary people around the world. What was really driving all those price spikes?Now Kate Kelly, the bestselling author of Street Fighters, takes us inside this secretive inner circle that controls so many things we all depend on. She gets closer than any previous reporter to understanding these whip-smart, aggressive, and often egomaniacal men (yes, they are nearly all men). They work hard, play hard, flaunt their wealth, and bet millions every day on a blend of facts, analysis, and pure gut instinct.Kelly’s narrative focuses on one of the most extraordinary periods in financial history. Though the practice of gaming out price changes in commodities goes back to ancient Mesopotamia, it had never before reached the extremes of the early to mid-2000s. Kelly exposes the role of the hedge funds, banks, brokers, and regulators in this volatile market, through fascinating stories of “secret club” members such as…•Pierre Andurand, a self-made multimillionaire who generated the winningest annual performance ever for an oil trader in 2008 and hired Elton John to perform at his wedding.•Ivan Glasenberg, whose secretive Swiss commodities giant, Glencore, founded by the infamous American fugitive Marc Rich, orchestrated a massive merger with the help of former UK prime minister Tony Blair.•Jon Ruggles, a brash know-it-all—recruited by Delta Air Lines to revitalize the airline’s fuelhedging business, he continuined to make trades in his personal account, a questionable practice given his position.Drawing on her exclusive access to the secret club, and following the trail from New York to Houston, London, Dubai, and beyond, Kelly reveals the immense power in the hands of a few, and the so-far contentious efforts by the Obama administration to rein in the cowboys.

Product Description: “Commodity players are a shrewd and indomitable lot. And the contracts they trade are still so loosely regulated that the correct combination of money and skill creates irresistible opportunity. That’s why I’m only half joking when I call them the secret club that runs the world...read more

The author of the best-selling Liar's Poker offers a witty, trenchant analysis of the world of high finance in the 1980s and the cult of wealth that produced such moguls as Michael Milken and Donald Trump. Reprint.

The classic warts-and-all portrait of the 1980s financial sceneThe 1980s was the most outrageous and turbulent era in the financial market since the crash of '29, not only on Wall Street but around the world. Michael Lewis, as a trainee at Salomon Brothers in New York and as an investment banker and later financial journalist, was uniquely positioned to chronicle the ambition and folly that fueled the decade.

An informative primer on the new landscape of leading prime brokers Before the recent financial crisis, both regulators and market participants disregarded the complex and dangerous nature of the relationship between prime brokers (the banks) and their clients (the funds). In When Prime Brokers Fail, J. S. Aikman examines the convoluted structure of this relationship, the main participants, and the impact of the near collapse of prime brokerages on the financial world. Filled with in-depth insights and expert advice, When Prime Brokers Fail takes a close look at the unheeded risks of prime finance and lays out the steps required for managers to protect their funds and bankers to protect their brokerages. Examines the challenges, trends, and risks within the prime brokerage space Discusses the structural adjustments firms will need to make to avoid similar disasters Analyzes the complex relationship between hedge funds and their brokerages and the risks that multiply in extraordinary markets Covers new ways to manage an inherently risky business and the regulations that may soon be introduced into this arena Engaging and informative, this timely book details the intricacies and interdependencies of prime brokerages and the role that these operations play in our increasingly dynamic financial system.

Product Description: Selling techniques. Perfect for financial professionals.

Offers advice on selling securities and financial services, discusses cold calls, new prospects, seminars, and closing techniques, and looks at broker-client relations

Tells the story of Marc Rich, a commodities broker who earned over ten billion dollars in the metals market, was convicted on thirty-eight counts of tax evasion, and fled to Switzerland

Offers an inside look at the fast-paced world of stockbrokers, portfolio managers, bank traders, and investment counselors, combining expert financial advice with lively anecdotes of the profession's most outrageous characters

Tells the story of Marc Rich, a commodities broker whe earned over ten billion dollars in the metals market, was convicted on thirty-eight counts of tax evasion, and fled to Switzerland

Explains how to set personal financial goals, plan investments, select stocks, choose a broker, and take advantage of tax breaks

Explains how to set personal financial goals, plan investments, select stocks, choose a broker, and take advantage of tax breaks