The Alchemy of Finance: Reading the Mind of the Market (Wiley Audio) | 
 enlarge | Author: George Soros
Creator: Grover Gardner
Publisher: Wiley Audio
Category: Book
List Price: $18.95
Buy New: $10.26
You Save: $8.69 (46%)
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Rating:  32 reviews
Sales Rank: 1903481
Format: Abridged, Audiobook
Media: Audio Cassette
Edition: Abridged
Number Of Items: 2
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.3
Dimensions (in): 7 x 4.6 x 1
ISBN: 1560150424
Dewey Decimal Number: 332.6
EAN: 9781560150428
ASIN: 1560150424
Publication Date: August 2000
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Brand New. Delivery is usually 5 - 8 working days from order, International is by Royal Mail Airmail
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Product Description
Two cassettes. A fabulous investor, Soros is also a remarkably accessible teacher. He tells you he's really a philosopher who finds more pleasure in his abstractions than in making money, and he knows how to make his abstractions impressively clear. You hear them and, right away, the light goes on.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 27 more reviews...
 Classic Soros market reflections October 30, 2008
Rolf Dobelli (Luzern Switzerland)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This is a remarkable book by a remarkable man. Billionaire George Soros is one of the most notorious, successful speculators of the 20th century and one of the most freehanded philanthropists. Here he outlines a theory that leads to the conclusion that markets are not morally good, that the financial system is rigged to protect the interests of the rich and powerful, and that economics is a spurious science. Much can be said in criticism of this book. It is replete with logical fallacies, muddies the arguments of those with whom the author disagrees, sets up straw men, and does not take adequate account of work done by philosophers and psychologists in some of the areas the author explores. But, getAbstract finds that there is also a great deal of good that can be said. Soros is an original thinker, at his best when he is talking about his own direct experience. He is straightforward about how his ideas have changed, and about his trading and forecasting errors. And why shouldn't he be, when, as he says, his errors are the keys to his success?
 Wordy, Windy, but Valuable August 28, 2008
Xiane (Texas USA)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
It's funny to see the criticism of Soros and his book. I suspect much of it is politically driven, but there are fair comments to be made about his opaque and digressive writing style. He could have used a good editor, and probably a competent ghost. Since he's the king, however, that clearly didn't happen. The king doesn't need an editor. OK, so we know that about the book. Let me clue you in on a secret. Most financial writing that has any value at all (and most of it doesn't) could express all crucial points, with examples, in a 20-100 page essay. That's it. That's all that is necessary. But that isn't a book and no one would buy a 50 page essay, thinking it was too light on content. So 50 pages of real insight gets larded with 200 pages of anecdote, example and just plain silliness. This is the reality of books on many subjects, not just finance.
Here's another thing. George Soros is a self-made billionaire. You aren't. Neither am I. Some have commented that he had charges of insider trading against him. This is true. But what you may not know is just how much European securities and trading regulators hate him. He broke the pound, for God's sake. To dismiss him as "a criminal" is silly at best, reactionary at worst.
Even worse are the geniuses who say Soros is "shallow" "trivial" "obvious" or "invalid". These comments smack of utter arrogance, and likely, ignorance.
Look at the problems of today. They were caused by people applying "valid" academic financial theory and "sound" models. There is a veritable mountain of data and modeling supporting the catastrophe at hand. But the academics will handwave the actual result of application of theory with some phrase like "It wasn't properly applied. If only you'd asked ME!"
I myself wonder if the underlying error is in believing that finance is a scientific discipline, and that it will yield its secrets when the method is properly applied, like the production of industrial chemicals, or something like that. The tangible results of the application of increasingly complex models and theory are, to be mild, not encouraging.
In my observation, the greatest investors apply simple concepts with great discernment and acuity. They rarely, if ever, let even a well-understood "portfolio theory" tell them what to think, let alone how to invest. It might be that such investors really can't explain how they do it, it's simply a gift from heaven. That seems entirely possible. Lots of people try to be like Warren Buffet, no one succeeds at the same level, despite Buffet being quite open about his methodology and thought processes. But let's assume you can learn something from these sports of nature.
I find many of Soros' thoughts quite penetrating, despite his often baroque ornamentation. Applying them is hard, because you can't easily throw it into a model. You have to think, analyze and understand conditions with subtlety and precision. Then you have to be incredibly brave and believe in your analysis against the weight of the world's opinion and action. You have to accurately gauge the effect of a constantly altering, and self-referential decision loop on you positions and outlook. Soros is trying to provide a method for you to do that. He may not have succeeded, but dismissing him outright is the action of an idiot.
Can you read between the lines? May 22, 2008
K. Jimmerson
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Have read a lot of reviews about this book. Some complain that it rambles on. It does, and thats what I liked so much about it. Like Mr. Soros's explanation of reflexivity you really have to contemplate this book with "reflexivity". In other words, if you come to this tome thinking you are going to learn some of his billionaire secrets, forget about it. He is too smart for that. He is not going to spell it out for you. Hoewever if you can read between the lines and learn by doing so, then that is where your free education from Mr.Soros appears. A lot can be learned from words and patterns of speech, and to hear his perceptions of life and market conditions, one can walk away with valuable info about how to time the market and life correctly.
Wanted to listen to this book since hearing Mr O'Reilly (with whom I respect) harp about Soros so much nightly. If nothing else just want to hear the "fair and balanced" sake of the dispute.
If you like listening to things that are somewhat abstract, I recommend this book. If your trying to get detailed info about how Mr. Soros made billions in hopes of repeating his success, start by studying Finance and Economics at your local community college.
His words are like a beautiful Operatic Aria. His Political schemes a perk of success. And, you have to admire his freedom to do that.
"That which does not destroy us, only makes us stronger.
 WTF? January 23, 2008
L. Morgan (USA)
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
You cannot make a billion dollars without possessing some extraordinary skills. George Soros has such skills; that, no one can ever deny him.
Personally speaking, I've always considered my own command of the English language to be one of my stronger suits. Save for occasional scientific phraseology, it's been nigh a decade since I've encountered a word through the course of ordinary dialog, page or verse that I absolutely, positively did not understand. I think I encountered three such words within the first couple chapters of this book.
The thing is, it isn't that Soros is simply so many levels above everyone that we, the lowly rabble, cannot understand brilliance; no, too many other top-flight investors and achievers have written books detailing the methods behind their genius that everyone can comprehend. It's very apparent that, with "Alchemy", Soros is being intentionally verbose, to the severe detriment of a book that had so much potential. There's no question in my mind that Soros probably melted a half-dozen thesauruses by the time this abortion was submitted for publication.
Soros is a brilliant investor who is attempting to be a brilliant writer but unfortunately, fails to realize that brilliance in authorship doesn't come from being excessively digressive, constant use of unnecessarily complex descriptives and structuring ones thoughts in such a fashion that makes them almost impossible to read. This book is akin to an airline pilot attempting to be a chef, who masks his culinary inabilities by adding huge amounts of obscure ingredients, hoping no one will notice he sucks amidst all the confusion.
Pay no mind to the high-minded types amongst us who blather about this book as being some sort of brilliant insight into anything other than the bizarre mind of Soros. It isn't. Those are the same people who believe that the paintings of Jackson Pollock are infused with a deeper meaning that only they, by virtue of their elite sophistications, can understand. Sorry, folks. "Alchemy" is, for the most part, just a lot of drips and splatters on a canvas. This cigar is nothing more than a cigar.
Soros is a sophist-extraordinaire, which is about the only thing you will learn by enduring "Alchemy" from cover to cover. The fact that "Alchemy" is considered to be a "financial classic" in certain circles isn't a legitimate testimony to it's quality, but rather, another example of the strange human phenomenon that causes people to praise garbage in an effort to appear "cosmo". The worse it is, the more they love it...
Yes, there are occasional flashes of genius, yes, there is the infrequent insight that's useful and unique (which is why I give this nightmare two stars instead of one), however the chaff is so disproportionate to the wheat that I seriously question if the book is even worth reading. If you decide to buy and read this book, might I suggest laying in for a hefty supply of painkillers and booze for the journey. You're gunna need it.
The government needs to mandate some kind of warning label for this thing... WARNING- THE WRITINGS OF GEORGE SOROS CAN CAUSE SEIZURES, INTELLECTUAL PANIC AND SUICIDAL THOUGHTS. PREGNANT WOMEN ARE ADVISED TO AVOID READING THIS BOOK.
A Journal of Competitive Excellence May 17, 2006
Sushil Kedia (India)
2 out of 5 found this review helpful
Essential reading for the practitioner and even more critically required reading for the academically baked student of the markets. From living with frustrating ideas of Utopian equilibrium found in well-stocked university libraries this is a voyage of reading that changes lucidly the thought process into understanding the perpetuity of change in the markets.
It is critical to understand the significant role the size of markets play in the present day world as to how markets are driving the shape of events rather than focusing searching only the events that would drive markets.
Do not expect any recipes of magic that would turn stale ideas into profit machines here though. Instead be ready to be soaked in a process of thought that applies to not just markets but well in anticipating the outcomes of the human struggle for furthering competitive excellence.
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