MBA Books - Good books to read prior to MBA [Merged]

Does anyone read Too Big to Fail?
any comments will be really appreciated

Great Ideas guys thank you very much. Please keep posting.
Here are great additions but some may be more suited to post-b school students (disclosure: poster is BBA accounting holder and CPA with interests in finance and IT management and returning to get MBA).

Books I loved with a lot of fresh ideas:

Lords of Finance, Interwar period history text mainly about central bankers and their effect on the depression and on both world wars.

Subprime Solution - Robert Schiller On the housing bubble and potential policy changes that would enhance stability in the mortgage market. Also I beg all of you to download Schillers Podcast of Yale Finance Course lectures circa 2008 available for free on Itunes. THis will give you a huge jump on your finance courses and he is a fantastic prof. (the students applaud his final lecture for the semester)

The Myth of the Rational Market - Mentioned before in forum, but honestly this is one of the best books listed on this forum imho. Will also give you a huge leg up in finance courses, including knowing which formulas you are taught may be totally irrelevant in modern times.

No one would listen - Financier turned forensic accountant who caught bernie madhoff, but who could not convince the SEC. Fantastic story which reads like fiction, but purportedly true. Ecxellent way to learn some law and accounting in addition to tons about finance Especially broker-dealers.

The Lords of Strategy - History of strategy consulting a la Boston consulting group interesting but somewhat technical read which is more in the style of myth of the rational market than lords of finance.

The big short - great inside story of the mortgage market and MBS industry proir to and during financial collapse. You will learn lots here about birth of new derivatives.

Basic Economics - Thomas sowell its all in the title, but this is really good

BTW ALL THESE available on audiobook or cd and many available at the overdrive library catalog

OTHERS books MENTIONED BUT WHICH ARE TRULY GREAT IMHO:

The Black Swan and Fooled by randomness - Taleb is awesome. True there is not a ton of application potential here, but the threat of Blowing up from fooled is an important one. See also his "barbells" investment strategy and the rise of "Tail Risk Hedge Funds"

The world is flat - boring and less than earth shattering, but your profs will mention the cliches and buzzwords here countless times.

Empire & The ascent of money Nials Ferguson, Fantastic world economic history books

OTHER BOOKS I AM LOOKING FORWARD TO:

More money than god - hedge fund related
Fault Lines
Never eat alone
The Halo effect
Atlas shrugged
THe Fortune at the bottom of the pyramid
Higher Aims to Hired Hands
Education of a Speculator
Animal spirits - George Akerlof
The innovators dilemma
A random walk down wall street - totally dated but in its upteenth edition and really influential

PLEASE POST MORE DEEP READS -

Thank you for sharing!
I wanted to read a number of these but I am cheap sometimes to spend $15-20 on a book I may not even enjoy, so I usually try it on the Kindle for iPad and get the first 1-2 chapters. If I like the style, I buy the full book or otherwise, move on to the next one.

haha I'm even cheaper.. I use my library card!

Just finished this:
The accidental investment banker - Jonathan Knee

Really good account of politics inside IB. Won't get into the nitty gritty of daily life of, say, a post-MBA associate, but will certainly give you an account of the corporate culture of both GS and MS (though the author himself admits that it may not reflect current times) and how (in his mind) IB has changed in the past 40 years or so. I'd certainly recommend it if you're thinking of doing IB for the long-term.

The best book you can read is TV Guide - you won't have time for it or its complimentary product once school starts.

Any books recommended for someone interested in IB/S&T but has little/no experience in finance?

I would like to mention Information Rules: A Strategic Guide to The Network Economy, by Carl Shapiro and Hal Varian. This book is considered one of the best in its field and its authors have excellent reputations. It's also a decent read (for the most part).

This text mostly focuses on internet economics, although the authors also discuss the video game and telephone industries. It relies on economic principles, so the book is still relevant today. With that said, it would be nice if we had a newer edition to learn about more recent developments.

Just started reading "The Prize: The Epic Quest for Oil, Money & Power" by Daniel Yergin. It's about the history of oil. Very interesting read so far.

Liar's Poker by Michael Lewis is a pretty fun book. You won't really learn about how to get in S&T, but it's a fun book to read nonetheless, written by a person who joined Salomon Brothers back in the 80's. Nothing too relevant in the new millenium, but a good start to dive into the investment world.

Here are some of the books I can recommend, they are written in no particular order.
1-Bringing Down the House by Ben Mezrich, the movie 21 is based on this book. Is about the MIT black jack team that made a fortune out of Las Vegas.
2-Den of Thieves by James B. Stewart, is a great book about the insider trading scandal in the 1980s that involved junk bonds and Michael Milken.
3-The House of Morgan, very interesting book about the history of JP Morgan, and the creation of the united state banking system
4-Market Wizards (Interviews with top traders) by Jack D. Schwager, as the name implies is a series of very interesting interviews made to successful traders,
5-Liar's Poker by Michael Lewis, great book. Also by him, Moneyball that is about the statistics used in baseball , is a great book for the baseball fans and for the ones that would like to understand more the game.
6-Reminiscences of a Stock Operator by Edwin Lefévre, this is a must for any person that goes into trading, is easy to read, and very interesting
7-Barbarians at the Gate by Bryan Burrough and John Helyar, this is the first finance related book I read, I was studying Finance 1. I strongly recommend it, is about the takeover of Nabisco and the people behind it.

Hope you enjoy them,
From Venezuela,

Reynaldo

agree, very good book
after reading liar's poker, you should read "when genius failed: The Rise and Fall of Long-Term Capital Management by Roger Lowenstein"

I second the recommendation for "The Post-American World" by Fareed Zakaria. Insightful and easy read that talks about the changing dynamics of the major players in international politics.

I also recommend "The Fountainhead" by Ayn Rand. Very well written and was part of the inspiration for me to apply to MBA programs.

Some other ideas (note that I haven't read any of these, but received these from others who are planning to get their MBA or are in school now):

"Founders at Work: Stories of Startups' Early Days" by Jessica Livingston (good for those interested in entrepreneurship)

"Delivering Happiness: A Path to Profits, Passion, and Purpose" by Tony Hsieh (believe this is about how Zappos started and how it's operated)

"Ten-Day MBA: A Step-by-Step Guide to Mastering the Skills Taught in America's Top Business Schools" by Steven A. Silbiger

"Snapshots from Hell: The Making of an MBA" by Peter Robinson (similar to Ahead of the Curve I believe, about Mr. Robinson's life at business school)

"Winning: The Answers Confronting 74 of the Toughest Questions in Business Today" by Jack and Suzy Welch

"The Innovator's Dilemma: The Revolutionary Book That Will Change the Way You Do Business" by Clayton Christensen

"The Innovator's Solution: Creating and Sustaining Successful Growth" by Clayton Christensen

"Cartoon Guide to Statistics" by Larry Gonick and Woolcott Smith (a good way to brush up on statistics)

"Games Indians Play: Why We Are the Way We Are" by V. Raghunathan (I believe this is about game theory)

"Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind" by Al Ries and Jack Trout

"The Elements of User Experience: User-Centered Design for the Web" by Jesse James Garrett

"Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman" by Richard P. Feynman et al

"Microsoft Excel VBA Programming for Dummies" by John Walkenbach

"StrengthsFinder 2.0" by Tom Rath (good for those who aren't quite sure what they want to do post-MBA)

Here are some of mine:

1. Are You Ready to Succeed? Unconventional Strategies to Achieving Personal Mastery in Business and Life (Srikumar S. Rao)

The premise is simple: A person's ideal life, especially their career, can be carefully conceived and crafted. Based on Dr. Rao's popular course "Creativity and Personal Mastery" at Columbia University's Graduate School of Business, this book offers a series of readings, exercises, and lessons drawn from both spiritual and commercial situations that enable you to reconstruct and improve your professional world. This transformation will turn your life around and help you become exponentially more effective in your chosen career and thereby flourish in all aspects of your life. Whether you are questioning the value of money or the core values of your life, this book is a powerful tool that will help you to "discover the purpose that can suffuse your life and bring stars to your eyes."



2. Happiness at Work: Be Resilient, Motivated, and Successful - No Matter What (Srikumar S. Rao)

Learn to create resilience and happiness no matter what’s going on in your life

In these tough times, there are few people who are completely happy with the current conditions. From business executives to the everyday Joe or Jane, everyone seems to be going through a rough economic and personal crunch. But acclaimed business school Professor Srikumar Rao says that we can learn to create joy no matter what else may be going on around us.

Rao shows you that it isn't the negative thing that happens to you that causes your unhappiness, it's how you see it. Happiness at Work is a thought-provoking new title that moves the mind away from negativity and forces you to resist labeling situations as "bad", but rather seeing them as neutral.

Happiness at Work provides:

Surprising ways of looking at change and problem-solving
Exercises that shift one’s perspective

Learn the vital wisdom necessary to achieving a joyful, successful life as you define it through greater resilience and a strong inner core. Get it now with The Happiness Choice.

Thank you!
I getting the second one, Happiness at Work - could definitely use some stress management.

The Goldman Sachs Suggested Reading List

Industry Background and Flavor

Understanding Wall Street by Jeffrey Little & Lucien Rhodes
The Global Bankers by Roy Smith
The Money Masters by John Train
The New Money Masters by John Train
Money Masters of Our Time by John Train
The Intelligent Investor: The Classic Text on Value Investing by Benjamin Graham
The Visual Investor: How to Spot Market Trends by John J. Murphy
The Essays of Warren Buffett: Lessons for Corporate America by Warren Buffett
Buffettology: The Previously Unexplained Techniques That Have Made Warren Buffett The Worlds by Mary Buffett and David Clark
The Warren Buffett Way: Investment Strategies of the World’s Greatest Investor by Robert G. Hagstrom Jr.
The Alchemy of Finance: Reading the Mind of the Market by George Soros
Bill Gross on Investing by William H. Gross
Capital Ideas: The Improbable Origins of Modern Wall Street by Peter L. Bernstein
Extraordinary Popular Delusions and The Madness of Crowds by Charles MacKay
Greed and Glory on Wall Street: The Fall of the House of Lehman by Ken Auletta
The House of Morgan: An American Banking Dynasty and the Rise of Modern Finance by Ron Chernow
The House of Nomura: The Inside Story of the Legendary Japanese Financial Dynasty by Albert Alletzhauser
The New Crowd: The Changing of the Jewish Guard on Wall Street by Judith Ramsey Ehrlick & Barry J. Rehfeld
One Up On Wall Street : How To Use What You Already Know To Make Money In The Market by Peter Lynch
Beating the Street by Peter Lynch
“Our Crowd”: The Great Jewish Families of New York by Stephen Birmingham
Reminiscences of a Stock Operator by Edwin Lefevre
Secrets of the Temple: How the Federal Reserve Runs the Country by William Greider
Soros on Soros: Staying Ahead of the Curve by George Soros, Bryon Wien & Krisztina Koenen
Guerrilla Investing: Winning Strategies for Beating the Wall Street Professionals by Peter Siris
The Battle For Investment Survival by Gerald Loeb
Money and Power: The History of Business by Howard B. Means
The Great Game: The Emergence of Wall Street as a World Power: 1653-2000 by John Steele Gordon
Toward Rational Exuberance: The Evolution of the Modern Stock Market by B. Mark Smith
100 Years of Wall Street by Charles R. Geisst, Richard A. Grasso
A Random Walk Down Wall Street by Burton Gordon Malkiel
Common Stocks and Uncommon Profits and Other Writings by Philip A. Fisher
The Go-Go Years: The Drama and Crashing Finale of Wall Street’s Bullish 60s by John Brooks
Against the Gods: The Remarkable Story of Risk by Peter Bernstein
Extraordinary Popular Delusions and The Madness of Crowds by Charles MacKay, Martin Fridson, Joseph de la Vega
Manias, Panics, and Crashes: A History of Financial Crises by Charles Kindleberger
The Big Board: A History of the New York Stock Market by Robert Sobel
The Chastening: Inside The Crisis That Rocked The Global Financial System And Humbled The Imf by Paul Blustein
From Here to Economy: A Shortcut to Economic Literacy by Todd G. Buchholz
After the Trade Is Made: Processing Securities Transactions by David Weiss
The Crisis of Global Capitalism: Open Society Endangered by George Soros
Martin Zweig’s Winning on Wall Street by Martin Zweig
Money Game by Adam Smith
The Fed : The Inside Story How World’s Most Powerful Financial Institution Drives Markets by Martin Mayer
Maestro : Greenspan’s Fed and the American Boom by Bob Woodward
The Quotations of Chairman Greenspan: Words from the Man Who Can Shake the World by Larry Kahaner

The following popular works are, of course, exaggerated depictions of the darker side of the industry. However, they do provide some of the flavor of life on “The Street.”

Barbarians at the Gate: The Fall of RJR Nabisco by Bryan Burroughs and John Helyar
Liar’s Poker by Michael Lewis
The Predators’ Ball: The Inside Story of Drexel Burnham and the Rise of the Junk Bond Raiders by Connie Bruck
When Genius Failed: The Rise and Fall of Long-Term Capital Management by Roger Lowenthal
Fiasco: The Inside Story of a Wall Street Trader by Frank Portnoy
Confessions of a Street Addict by James J. Cramer
Den of Thieves by James B. Stuart
Monkey Business: Swinging Through the Wall Street Jungle by John Rolfe and Peter Troob
Next: The Future Just Happened by Michael Lewis
The New New Thing: A Silicon Valley Story by Michael Lewis

Broad Industry History

Investment Banking: A Tale of Three Cities by Samuel L. Hayes III and Philip M. Hubbard
A History of Corporate Finance by Jonathan Barron Baskin and Paul J. Miranti, Jr.
Global Banking by Roy C. Smith and Ingo Walter
Wall Street Women by Anne B. Fisher
In the Black: A History of African Americans on Wall Street by Gregory S. Bell
The Last Partnerships : Inside the Great Wall Street Money Dynasties by Charles R. Giesst
The City of London, vol 1-4 by David Kynaston
The Rise and Fall of the Merchant Bank by Erik Banks
The London Stock Exchange: A History by Ranald Michie
The Death of Gentlemanly Capitalism by Philip Augar

Analytical and Reference

Periodicals

Wall Street Journal (daily, Monday through Friday)
Barron’s (weekly publication)

General

Dictionary of Finance and Investment Terms by John Downes & Jordan Elliot Goodman
The Intelligent Investor: The Classic Text on Value Investing by Benjamin Graham
International Economics: Theory And Policy by Paul R. Krugman
The Wall Street Journal Guide to Understanding Money and Investing by Kenneth M. Morris
The Irwin Guide to Using the Wall Street Journal by Michael B. Lehman
Financial Times Guide to Using the Financial Pages by Romesh Vaitilingam
The Atlas of Economic Indicators: A Visual Guide to Market Forces, and the Federal Reserve by W. Stansbury Carnes, Stephen D. Slifer
Wall Street Words: An Essential A to Z Guide for Today’s Investor by David Logan Scott

FICC & Equities

The Bond Book, Third Edition: Everything Investors Need to Know About Treasuries, Municipals, GNMAs, Corporates, Zeros, Bond Funds, Money Market Funds, and More by Annette Thau
The Most Powerful Bank: Inside Germany’s Bundesbank by David Marsh
Controlling & Managing Interest Rate Risk by Anthony G. Cornyn and Robert A. Klein
The Handbook of Fixed Income Securities by Frank J. Fabozzi
The Money Market by Marcia Stigum
Money Market Bond Calculations by Marcia Stigum
Pioneering Portfolio Management: An Unconventional Approach to Institutional Investment by David F. Swensen

Options/Derivatives

How I Trade Options by Jon Najarian
Options as a Strategic Investment by Lawrence McMillan
Options:Essential Concepts by The Options Institute
Options For The Stock Investor: How Any Investor Can Use Options to Enhance and Protect their Return by James B. Bittman
Trading Index Options by James B. Bittman
All About Options: The Easy Way to Get Started by Thomas A. McCafferty
How the Options Markets Work by Joseph A. Walker
Mastering Derivatives Markets: A step-by-step guide to the products, applications and risks by Francesca Taylor
McMillan on Options by Lawrence G. McMillan
New Financial Instruments by Julian Walmsley
Options, Futures and Other Derivatives by John C. Hull

IMD (Investment Management Division)

Investment Analysis and Portfolio Management by Frank Reilly and Keith Brown

Written About, By or For Money Managers and Traders

Market Wizards: Interviews with Top Traders by Jack D. Schwager
The New Market Wizards: Conversations with America’s Top Traders by Jack D. Schwager
Stock Market Wizards: Interviews with America’s Top Stock Traders by Jack D. Schwager
Trader Vic: Methods of a Wall Street Master by Victor Sperandeo
Trader Vic II: Principles of Professional Speculation by Victor Sperandeo
Exceptional Trading: The Mind Game by Ruth Barrons Roosevelt
Trading to Win: The Psychology of Mastering the Markets by Avi Kiev
The Disciplined Trader: Developing Winning Attitudes by Mark Douglas
Stan Weinstein’s Secrets For Profiting in Bull and Bear Markets by Stan Weinstein
Trading in the Zone: Master the Market with Confidence, Discipline and a Winning Attitude by Mark Douglas and Thom Hartle
Trading in the Zone : Maximizing Performance with Focus and Discipline by Ari Kiev
Trading With Crowd Psychology by Carl Gyllenram
Pit Bull: Lessons from Wall Street’s Champion Day Trader by Martin S. Schwartz et al
The Master Swing Trader: Tools and Techniques to Profit from Outstanding Short-Term Trading Opportunities by Alan S. Farley
How to Trade In Stocks by Jesse Livermore
The Market Maker’s Edge: A Wall Street Insider by Josh Lukeman
The Super Traders: Secrets and Successes of Wall Street’s Best and Brightest by Alan Rubenfeld
Zebra In Lion Country by Ralph Wanger with Everett Mattlin
Technical Analysis of the Financial Markets by John J. Murphy
Hit and Run Trading: The Short-Term Stock Traders’ Bible by Jeff Cooper
Hit and Run Trading II: Capturing Explosive Short-Term Moves in Stocks by Jeff Cooper
Street Smarts: High Probability Short-Term Trading Strategies by Laurence A. Connors and Linda Bradford Raschke
The 5 Day Momentum Method by Jeff Cooper
The Real Holy Grail: Money Management Techniques of Top Traders by Eddie Kwong
Trading Connors VIX Reversals by Laurence A. Connors and Gregory Che

Written by Current or Former Goldman Sachs Employees

The Five Great Myths About China and The World by Jonathan Anderson and Fred Hu; PPP Company Limited; 2003
Exploring General Equilibrium by Fischer Black; MIT Press; 1995
Business Cycles and Equilibrium by Fischer Black; Blackwell Publishers; 1991
Managing Currency Risk by Fischer Black; Association for Investment Management & Research; 1989
Old Girls’ Network: Insider Advice for Women Building Businesses in a Man’s World by Connie Duckworth, Sharon Whiteley
Goldman Sachs : The Culture of Success by Lisa Endlich; Knopf; 1999
Beginning the Journey: China the United States and the WTO by Robert Hormats; Council on Foreign Relations Press; 2001
Global Aging and Financial Markets: Hard Landings Ahead by Robert Hormats; Center for Strategic and International Studies; 2002
The Boundaryless Organization: Breaking the Chains of Organization Structure, Revised and Updated by Steve Kerr
The GE Work-Out : How to Implement GE’s Revolutionary Method for Busting Bureaucracy & Attacking Organizational Proble by Steve Kerr; McGraw-Hill Trade; 2002
The Practice of Risk Management by Bob Litterman; Euromoney Publications PLC, 1998
Foundations for Financial Economics by Bob Litzenberger and Chi-fu Hwang Prentice Hall; 1998
Markets, Mobs & Mayhem: How to Profit From the Madness of Crowds by Robert Menschel John Wiley & Sons; 2002
Adam Smith and the Origins of American Enterprise by Roy C. Smith St. Martin’s Press; 2002
Wealth Creators : The Rise of Today’s New Rich and Super-Rich by Roy C. Smith; St. Martin’s Press; 2001
The Global Bankers by Roy C. Smith; BeardBooks, Incorporated; 2000
High Finance in the Euro-Zone: Competing in the New European Capital Market by Roy C. Smith; Pearson Education; 2000
The Money Wars: The Rise & Fall of the Great Buyout Boom of the 1980s by Roy C. Smith; BeardBooks, Incorporated; 2000
Cases and Readings in Markets, Ethics, and Law by Roy C. Smith; Simon & Schuster Custom Publishing; 1996
Street Smarts: Linking Professional Conduct With Shareholder Value in the Securities Industry by Roy C. Smith; Harvard Business School Publishing, 1997
Global Banking by Roy C. Smith Oxford University Press; 1995
Comeback: The Restoration of American Banking Power in the New World Economy by Roy C. Smith; Harvard Business School Publishing; 1993
Securities Markets in the 1980s: The New Regime 1979-1984 by Barrie A. Wigmore; Oxford University Press; 1997
The Crash and Its Aftermath: A History of Securities Markets in the United States, 1929-1933 (Contributions in Economics and Economic History) by Barrie A. Wigmore; Greenwood Publishing Group; 1986

Thanks for the list