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Where Are the Customers' Yachts?: or A Good Hard Look at Wall Street

Fred schwed jr. , peter arno  ( illustrator ) , jason zweig  ( introduction ).

208 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1940

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where is the customers yachts

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Where Are the Customers' Yachts? or A Good Hard Look at Wall Street: 32 (Wiley Investment Classics)

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Fred Schwed

Where Are the Customers' Yachts? or A Good Hard Look at Wall Street: 32 (Wiley Investment Classics) Paperback – 22 Dec. 2005

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". . . one of the funniest books ever written about Wall Street." -- Jane Bryant Quinn, The Washington Post

"How great to have a reissue of a hilarious classic that proves the more things change the more they stay the same. Only the names have been changed to protect the innocent." -- Michael Bloomberg

"It's amazing how well Schwed's book is holding up after fifty-five years. About the only thing that's changed on Wall Street is that computers have replaced pencils and graph paper. Otherwise, the basics are the same. The investor's need to believe somebody is matched by the financial advisor's need to make a nice living. If one of them has to be disappointed, it's bound to be the former." -- John Rothchild, Author, A Fool and His Money , Financial Columnist, Time magazine

Humorous and entertaining, this book exposes the folly and hypocrisy of Wall Street. The title refers to a story about a visitor to New York who admired the yachts of the bankers and brokers. Naively, he asked where all the customers' yachts were? Of course, none of the customers could afford yachts, even though they dutifully followed the advice of their bankers and brokers. Full of wise contrarian advice and offering a true look at the world of investing, in which brokers get rich while their customers go broke, this book continues to open the eyes of investors to the reality of Wall Street.

  • ISBN-10 0471770892
  • ISBN-13 978-0471770893
  • Edition 1st
  • Publisher Wiley
  • Publication date 22 Dec. 2005
  • Language English
  • Dimensions 13.97 x 1.78 x 21.59 cm
  • Print length 208 pages
  • See all details

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"More than half a century on, Where Are the Customers' Yachts? Remains a fascinating read" ( Money Week , July 2006)

"... the book is a fun read and as relevant today as it ever was..." ( Investor's Chronicle , August 2015)

From the Inside Flap

". . . one of the funniest books ever written about Wall Street." —Jane Bryant Quinn, The Washington Post

"How great to have a reissue of a hilarious classic that proves the more things change the more they stay the same. Only the names have been changed to protect the innocent." —Michael Bloomberg

"It's amazing how well Schwed's book is holding up after fifty-five years. About the only thing that's changed on Wall Street is that computers have replaced pencils and graph paper. Otherwise, the basics are the same. The investor's need to believe somebody is matched by the financial advisor's need to make a nice living. If one of them has to be disappointed, it's bound to be the former." —John Rothchild, Author, A Fool and His Money, Financial Columnist, Time magazine

From the Back Cover

". . . one of the funniest books ever written about Wall Street." Jane Bryant Quinn, The Washington Post

"How great to have a reissue of a hilarious classic that proves the more things change the more they stay the same. Only the names have been changed to protect the innocent." Michael Bloomberg

"It's amazing how well Schwed's book is holding up after fifty-five years. About the only thing that's changed on Wall Street is that computers have replaced pencils and graph paper. Otherwise, the basics are the same. The investor's need to believe somebody is matched by the financial advisor's need to make a nice living. If one of them has to be disappointed, it's bound to be the former." John Rothchild, Author, A Fool and His Money, Financial Columnist, Time magazine

About the Author

Product details.

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Wiley; 1st edition (22 Dec. 2005)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 208 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0471770892
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0471770893
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 13.97 x 1.78 x 21.59 cm
  • 104 in Poker
  • 305 in Business Humour

About the author

Fred schwed.

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Where Are the Customers' Yachts?

  • or A Good Hard Look at Wall Street
  • By: Fred Schwed Jr. , Peter Arno
  • Narrated by: Mark Moseley
  • Length: 4 hrs and 2 mins
  • 4.4 out of 5 stars 4.4 (139 ratings)

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Publisher's summary

Humorous and entertaining, this book exposes the folly and hypocrisy of Wall Street. The title refers to a story about a visitor to New York who admired the yachts of the bankers and brokers. Naively, he asked where all the customers' yachts were? Of course, none of the customers could afford yachts, even though they dutifully followed the advice of their bankers and brokers. Full of wise contrarian advice and offering a true look at the world of investing, in which brokers get rich while their customers go broke, this book continues to open the eyes of investors to the reality of Wall Street.

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  • Categories: Money & Finance

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  • Story 5 out of 5 stars 20

Jorge Paulo Lemann, Marcel Telles e Beto Sicupira ergueram, em pouco mais de quatro décadas, o maior império da história do capitalismo brasileiro e ganharam uma projeção sem precedentes no cenário mundial. Nos últimos anos eles compraram nada menos que três marcas americanas conhecidas globalmente: Budweiser, Burger King e Heinz. Tudo isso na mais absoluta discrição, esforçando-se para ficar longe dos holofotes. Sonho grande é o relato detalhado dos bastidores da trajetória desses empresários desde a fundação do banco Garantia, nos anos 70, até os dias de hoje.

  • By Felipe Tadeu Stemler on 05-01-23

The Gone Fishin' Portfolio Audiobook By Alexander Green, Steve Sjuggerud cover art

The Gone Fishin' Portfolio

  • : Get Wise, Get Wealthy...and Get on With Your Life (Unabridged)
  • By: Alexander Green, Steve Sjuggerud
  • Narrated by: Erik Synnestvetd
  • Length: 5 hrs and 37 mins
  • Overall 4.5 out of 5 stars 91
  • Performance 4.5 out of 5 stars 66
  • Story 4.5 out of 5 stars 69

In The Gone Fishin' Portfolio , author Alexander Green details an effective yet simple approach to investing that embraces the uncertainty of financial markets, and reveals how you can generate exceptional results during both good times and bad. Discover how the "Gone Fishin' Portfolio" will allow you to earn superior returns, reduce risk, minimize taxes, and eliminate Wall Street's mountain of fees.

everything in this program can be said in 3 points

  • By Jeremy on 05-19-11

By: Alexander Green , and others

Enough Audiobook By John C. Bogle cover art

  • True Measures of Money, Business, and Life
  • Narrated by: Alan Sklar
  • Length: 6 hrs and 14 mins
  • Overall 4.5 out of 5 stars 320
  • Performance 4.5 out of 5 stars 231
  • Story 4.5 out of 5 stars 233

Throughout his legendary career, John Bogle, founder of the Vanguard mutual fund group and creator of the first index mutual fund, has helped investors build wealth the right way and led a tireless campaign to restore common sense to the investment world. Along the way, he's seen how destructive an obsession with financial success can be. Now, with Enough , he puts this dilemma in perspective.

Repetitious

  • By KansaKilla on 07-22-15

You Can Be a Stock Market Genius Audiobook By Joel Greenblatt cover art

You Can Be a Stock Market Genius

By: Joel Greenblatt

  • Narrated by: Jonathan Todd Ross
  • Length: 7 hrs and 1 min
  • Overall 4.5 out of 5 stars 329
  • Performance 4.5 out of 5 stars 257
  • Story 4.5 out of 5 stars 257

A comprehensive and practical guide to the stock market from a successful fund manager - filled with case studies, important background information, and all the tools you’ll need to become a stock market genius. Fund manager Joel Greenblatt has been beating the Dow (with returns of 50 percent a year) for more than a decade. And now, in this highly accessible guide, he’s going to show you how to do it, too. You’re about to discover investment opportunities that portfolio managers, business-school professors, and top investment experts regularly miss.

Good book if interested in the niche he discusses

  • By Amazon Customer on 02-23-20

What listeners say about Where Are the Customers' Yachts?

  • 4.5 out of 5 stars 4.4 out of 5.0
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars 4.6 out of 5.0

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Audible.com reviews, amazon reviews.

  • Overall 4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance 5 out of 5 stars
  • Story 4 out of 5 stars

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Comedy more than anything

Was a descent book, more comedy about wall street than anything else. Still worth a listen for entertainment only

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  • Overall 5 out of 5 stars

Profile Image for Luke

Great read after working with Private equity

most people on Wall Street aren’t any luckier or any smarter than the average person. After working with Private Equity I came to really appreciate the humor. Hit me at the right time

  • Story 5 out of 5 stars

Profile Image for Michael

Very entertaining!

I recommend this to anyone interested in gaining insight into investing in a light, easy manner. This was very entertaining indeed

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  • Anonymous User

Surprisingly good!

I was blown away by how entertaining and insightful this book is, considering how long ago it was written.

entertaining and enduring

markets and investors haven't changed much over last century. concise , insightful, and funny. recommended for anyone want to get an honest and piercing take and wall street

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Relevant Insights for today

Amazing to think this was written so long ago…. Demonstrates that Wall Street hasn’t changed much

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  • Srisai Vikash Akkineni

Keep reading and finish this book for a good laugh!

Funny, informative, and generally light on material and wisdom. This book was definitely worth a read for a couple of good laughs. And the author is not wrong. The world needs Wall Street. But nobody, not even those on Wall Street, can truly know what they are doing when it comes to investing due to psychological, social, and political forces.

1 person found this helpful

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Pretty funny

Very entertaining. I did get a few laughs out of it. Great advice in a not direct way.

Profile Image for David

Laughing at myself, most enjoyably

No one, having dabbled in active securities trading for longer than a year, should put off reading this book, even a moment longer. You owe it to yourself to take a good, solid look in the mirror and explore the mirth of seeing the absurdity of it all. I still trade and will still trade and will likely make a tradition of reading this book at the end of every fiscal year.

  • Overall 3 out of 5 stars
  • Story 3 out of 5 stars

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  • Kevin jarchow

Things haven't changed much since 1930. Yet they have

This book has a great title. And the title poses an interesting question regarding client market success. But it doesn't deliver on that. This is a light hearted poke and jab at Wall Street. You won't likely learn anything new from this book. it isn't insightful or profound, but it is fun in a Dad joke kind of way. You won't laugh out loud, but groans aren't part of the mix either.

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A Wealth of Common Sense

10 Great Lines From ‘Where Are the Customers’ Yachts?’

Posted February 15, 2015 by Ben Carlson

Where Are the Customers’ Yachts by Fred Schwed was written almost 75 years ago. I only read this book for the first time a few months ago and it’s remarkable how well it still holds up after all these years. It’s probably the funniest investment book I’ve ever read (out of an admittedly small set of competitors).

Here are some of my favorite lines:

1. On using statistics to your advantage:  “One can’t say that figures lie. But figures as used in financial arguments, seem to have the bad habit of expressing a small part of the truth forcibly, and neglecting the other part, as do some people we know.”

2. On the value of “I don’t know”:  For one thing, customers have an unfortunate habit of asking about the financial future. Now, if you do someone the single honor of asking him a difficult question, you may be assured that you will get a detailed answer. Rarely will it be the most difficult of all answers – “I don’t know.”

3. On the cyclical nature of the markets:  “When “conditions” are good, the forward looking investor buys. But when “conditions” are good, stocks are high. Then without anyone having the courtesy to ring a bell, “conditions” get bad.”

4. On the usefulness of theories:  “All of these theories are true part of the time; none of them true all of the time. They are, therefore, dangerous, though sometimes useful.”

5. It’s a little different every time: “History does in a vague way repeat itself, but it does it slowly and ponderously, and with an infinite number of surprising variations.

6. On the emotions of losing money:  “Like all of life’s rich emotional experiences, the full flavor of losing important money cannot be conveyed by literature. You cannot convey to an inexperienced girl what it is truly like to be a wife and mother. There are certain things that cannot be adequately explained to a virgin by words or pictures.”

7. On second-level thinking: “Those classes of investments considered “best” change from period to period. The pathetic fallacy is that what are thought to be the best are in truth only the most popular – the most active, the most talked of, the most boosted, and consequently, the highest in price at that time.”

8. On leverage: “A man who borrows money to buy a common stock has no right to think of himself as a constructive social benefactor. His is just another fellow trying to be smart, or lucky, or both.”

9. On short sellers before the Great Depression:  “Before October 1929, nobody objected to short sellers except their families. The families objected to going bankrupt.”

10. On who’s to blame for poor advice:  “The burnt customer certainly prefers to believe that he has been robbed rather than that he has been a fool on the advice of fools.”

Source: Where Are the Customers’ Yachts

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[…] and commentary on today’s financial services industry as well as the economy and markets. This post presents the blog author’s 10 favorite lines from the […]

[…] Ben Carlson plucks a few gems from Fred Schwed (A Wealth Of Common Sense) […]

[…] paraphrase Fred Schwed, there are certain things that can’t be taught, but only learned through experience. Is […]

[…] the  best response to the sentence “A rising tide lifts all boats,” is “Where Are The Customers’ Yachts?”  For those who have not yet read this 75 year old classic – it’s still available, and […]

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MoneyWeek book review: Where are the customers' yachts?

An entertaining look at the realm of finance in New York in the early twentieth century shows just how little has changed since then

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Sometime in the early 1900s, an out-of-town visitor was being shown around New York's booming financial district. After touring Wall Street, he and his guide arrived in the Battery, where they saw dozens of expensive ships riding at anchor. "Look," said his guide. "Those are the bankers' and brokers' yachts." The visitor who was either extremely naive or extremely astute responded with the obvious question: "Where are the customers' yachts?"

Whether it's true or not, this story was part of Wall Street folklore during the roaring 20s, and inspired the title of this witty and elegant memoir of financial folly. Its author, the implausibly named Fred Schwed Jr, was a professional trader and seemingly a rather unfortunate one: his career began in 1927 and spanned the final excesses of the boom, the Great Crash and the Great Depression. "Shortly after that I left Wall Street, and I believe it was the next day that stocks began going up; they have continued to go up, with all but negligible interruptions, ever since," he noted wryly, some 15 years later.

Fortunately, he was more successful as a writer. More than half a century on, Where are the Customers' Yachts? remains a fascinating read and a potent illustration of how little has changed in the markets. Computer screens may have replaced ticker tapes, but greed, fear and stupidity still rule the roost, making Schwed's cynicism about the entire financial profession as justified as ever. "Wall Streetis a street with a river at one end and a graveyard at the other," he writes, repeating another vintage 1920s joke. "This is striking but incomplete. It omits the kindergarten in the middle."

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But this is an amusing, almost affectionate book rather than an angry one. Schwed was fascinated by Wall Street, and particularly the way in which people delude themselves about their own abilities. "Pitifully few financial experts have ever known for two years what was going to happen to any class of securities The majority are usually spectacularly wrong in a much shorter time than that." And his barbed prose often worthy of Twain, Mencken or Bierce effortlessly skewers some of the more absurd notions to which markets are prone; witness an incisive section on the then-nascent world of options.

In what is obviously a zero-sum game, it's often claimed that "the buyer does well, the seller does well and it is not necessary to stress the point that the broker does well enough. Many examples can be cited to show all three of them emerging from their adventures with a profit. One wonders why the problem of unemployment cannot be solved by having the unemployed buy and sell each other options, instead of mooning around on those park benches".

Where are the Customers' Yachts? by Fred Schwed Jr is published by

John Wiley and costs £14.99

Cris Sholto Heaton is an investment analyst and writer who has been contributing to MoneyWeek since 2006 and was managing editor of the magazine between 2016 and 2018. He is especially interested in international investing, believing many investors still focus too much on their home markets and that it pays to take advantage of all the opportunities the world offers. He often writes about Asian equities, international income and global asset allocation.

Cris began his career in financial services consultancy at PwC and Lane Clark & Peacock, before an abrupt change of direction into oil, gas and energy at Petroleum Economist and Platts and subsequently into investment research and writing. In addition to his articles for MoneyWeek, he also works with a number of asset managers, consultancies and financial information providers.

He holds the Chartered Financial Analyst designation and the Investment Management Certificate, as well as degrees in finance and mathematics. He has also studied acting, film-making and photography, and strongly suspects that an awareness of what makes a compelling story is just as important for understanding markets as any amount of qualifications.

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where is the customers yachts

Novel Investor

Compounding investing wisdom...

Where Are The Customers’ Yachts? by Fred Schwed Jr.

Where Are The Customers Yachts by Fred Schwed Jr.

Fred Schwed delivers a cynical, sarcastic, insiders perspective on the business of Wall Street. His book stands as a timeless warning to investors and speculators alike.

  • The title of the book is in reference to a story that comes from the late 1800s. Friends of William Travers, a big short seller of the time, admired the beautiful yachts of the richest Wall Street brokers. Finally, one asks, “Where are the customers’ yachts?”
  • Wall Street is not in the business of making you money, it’s in the business of generating transactions.
  • “If you are not a skeptic, you are not an investor.” — Jason Zweig via the intro.
  • There are two types of books about Wall Street: admiring and vindictive. One comes out of bull markets, the other out of bear markets.
  • “One can’t say that figures lie. But figures, as used in financial arguments, seem to have the bad habit of expressing a small part of the truth forcibly, and neglecting the other part, as do some people we know.”
  • The countless financial clichés amount to an attempt to sound smart while saying nothing in numerous ways.
  • “It seems that the immature mind has a regrettable tendency to believe, as actually true, that which it only hopes to be true.”
  • One hope, that Wall Street never seems to outgrow, is the ability to predict the future. The ongoing search for a sign among the charts that foretells the rise and fall of markets never ceases.
  • Investors and speculators have a habit of wanting to know about the future. The demand is supplied by Wall Street — with full faith in their ability no less — which conveniently fuels transactions.
  • The realistic answer — “I don’t know” — is also the hardest response to get (and give) to any questions about the future.
  • “The broker influences the customer with his knowledge of the future, but only after he has convinced himself. The worst that should be said of him is that he wants to convince himself badly and that he therefore succeeds in convincing himself — generally badly.”
  • The hardest part of being bearish in a booming market — or just underinvested in a market — is seeing everyone but you make money as the market rises. Missing gains can turn bears bullish, with a risk of it happening late in the cycle.
  • Bankers lend conservatively during depressed times — lending to those who don’t need money — but lend liberally during prosperous times to anyone who wants money.
  • “Like most Wall Streeters, bankers suffer from the inability to do nothing. Your average Wall Streeter, faced with nothing profitable to do, does nothing for only a brief time. Then, suddenly and hysterically, he does something which turns out to be extremely unprofitable. He is not a lazy man.”
  • Everyone — from customers to Wall Streeters — is susceptible to buying high and selling low, because when stocks are falling conditions look bad and when stocks are rising conditions look good.
  • “When ‘conditions’ are good, the forward-looking investor buys. But when ‘conditions’ are good, stocks are high. Then, without anyone having the courtesy to ring a warning bell, ‘conditions’ get bad.”
  • “All of these theories are true part of the time; none of them all the time. They are, therefore, dangerous, though sometimes useful.” — Major L.L.B. Angas
  • “There have always been a considerable number of pathetic people who busy themselves examining the last thousand numbers which have appeared on a roulette wheel, in search of some repeating pattern. Sadly enough, they have usually found it.”
  • “History does in a vague way repeat itself, but it does it slowly and ponderously, and with an infinite number of surprising variations.”
  • Accounting is more art than science.
  • “Accounting is not even an art, but just a state of mind.”
  • What’s the objection to playing a roulette wheel with two zeros?
  • If you flip a coin four times and get heads four times in a row, what’s the most likely result for the fifth toss?
  • Assuming you answer #3 correctly, do you always resist making a draw in poker?
  • Is there any benefit to a shareholder when a stock is split to 2 to 1?
  • What’s the main purpose of a business?
  • Businesses exist to make money. That’s the only correct answer, but “to make money” is the least attractive answer compared to what CEOs tell themselves like to build a great product or service or hire great people or transform the industry or take care of customers.
  • The benefit to being a lazy investor is that an ambitious investor often tries to double their money as quickly as possible but ends up losing it all.
  • “Americans find margin trading a particularly attractive little invention. It parallels the American principle that the first thing a man should do with his home, even before moving in, is to put it in hock.”
  • Some lessons, like losing money, can only be learned by experience: “There are certain things that cannot be adequately explained to a virgin either by words or pictures. Nor can any description that I might offer here even approximate what it feels like to lose a real chunk of money that you used to own.”
  • “It is easy to take a small profit, but taking a small loss is frequently just a good intention. Eventually the customer finds himself throwing good money after bad, until there isn’t any good money left.”
  • The investors’ disease: fear of having cash. It’s the temptations to be fully invested in as many stocks as possible because a cash position is unbearable (what if stocks go up?). Schwed calls it rhinophobia.
  • “The man who chooses to take his money and churn it furiously…cannot in any way predict his fate, save for a single assurance. So long as any of the money still clings to the sides of the churn, he will not be bored.”
  • The sales argument for investment trusts (mutual funds) — an expert manager and diversification — doesn’t live up to the hype. Manager skill is inconsistent at best and a trust can still drop sharply in price.
  • Investment trust shares (fund shares) are created to be sold.
  • “The subject of choosing profitable financial investments does not lend itself to competence. There is almost no visible supply.”
  • Better to give your money to a smart crook than an honest bonehead. You have a better chance of getting money back from the crook (via legal means) than the bonehead.
  • “Those classes of investments considered “best” change from period to period. The pathetic fallacy is that what are thought to be the best are in truth only the most popular — the most active, the most talked of, the most boosted, and consequently, the highest in price at that time. It’s very much a matter of fashion.”
  • Buying the “best” stocks means buying the most popular — thus the highest priced — which tends to work out badly.
  • IPOs and other new issues also dependent on popularity. It’s easier to sell an IPO when similar issues are in fashion.
  • Nobody cares about bears and short sellers until a ton of people lose money. When it happens, investors want some one to blame, not some thing to blame for their losses.
  • “I must touch on the ancient human tendency to personify general misfortune in some human form. While “hundreds of thousands are being plunged into poverty” only the thoughtful ask, “What is happening to us?” The popular cry is “ Who is doing this to us?” and its satisfying sequel — “Just let me get my hands on him!””
  • Short selling is psychologically unnatural. The normal tendency is optimism — to see a stock rise in price. Few people think a stock might go to zero.
  • Banning short shorting won’t eliminate price crashes. Just have to look at real estate or illiquid issues.
  • “A man who borrows money to buy a common stock has no right to think of himself as a constructive social benefactor. He is just another fellow trying to be smart, or lucky, or both. Those who have hopes of living by the sword should not make too loud a fuss when they perish by the sword.”
  • The benefit of options to a broker is the dual ability to convince both buyers and sellers they can make money.
  • “Choosing the proper stock, at the proper time, for the proper move, is difficult. But the greater difficulty, I am grieved to report, arises after that has all been successfully done.”
  • “Booms go boom.”
  • “In our moments of sober thought we all realize that booms are bad things, not good. But nearly all of us have a secret hankering for another one.”
  • Who doesn’t want the chance to make up for their stupid mistakes in the last boom because now they have experience ?
  • The typical speculator sees stocks as ticker symbols and pieces of paper to play games with, not businesses with factories, workers, and products. It’s the inability to see things for what they are that leads to extraordinary risktaking and ruin.
  • “What do you think of the mentality of a man who goes down to Wall Street with very little and wins, by speculation, thirty millions, none of which he has yet lost? My own considered opinion is that he too is pretty much a loony. In order to make his second unimportant million he had to risk his first precious million.” Like Buffett’s take on risking what have and need for what you don’t need.
  • There will always be a few speculators who make money year after year just like there are always a few coin flippers who luckily hit on a long streak of heads. The longer it goes on, the more they both — speculator and coin flipper — believe they have some hidden skill.
  • Old school stock manipulation (new school too) is based on a behavioral trigger — people like to buy stocks that are “going up.”
  • “Speculation is an effort, probably unsuccessfully, to turn a little money into a lot. Investment is an effort, which should be successful, to prevent a lot of money from becoming a little.”
  • There’s a fine enough line between speculation and investing that the differences aren’t always obvious. One obvious difference is speculation attempts to get rich quick, investing attempts to get rich slow. The chance of success improves with the lengthening time horizon.
  • Defining “safe” investments brings loads of exceptions. Bonds may be “safe,” but some stocks prove themselves to be safer than bonds.
  • The stock doesn’t care you own it and that won’t change no matter how hard you “watch” it.
  • “When there is a stock-market boom, and everyone is scrambling for common stocks, take all your common stocks and sell them. Take the proceeds and buy conservative bonds. No doubt the stocks you sold will go higher. Pay no attention to this — just wait for the depression which will come sooner or later. When this depression — or panic — becomes a national catastrophe, sell out the bonds (perhaps at a loss) and buy back the stocks. No doubt the stocks will go still lower. Again pay no attention. Wait for the next boom. Continue to repeat this operation as long as you live, and you’ll have the pleasure of dying rich… It looks as easy as rolling off a log, but it isn’t. The chief difficulties, of course, are psychological. It requires buying bonds when bonds are generally unpopular, and buying stocks when stocks are universally detested.”
  • The above advice is difficult but a few people accomplish it because someone is buying stocks sold at detestable prices.
  • On Price and Value: Value is whatever you want to make it when you sprinkle in enough optimism or pessimism.
  • A potential risk when investing for an income is letting lifestyle creep dictate investment selection.
  • Two big investment mistakes are trying to earn too high of a return and playing it too safe.
  • Describing Wall Street: “…thousands of erring humans, of varying degrees of good will, solemnly engaged in the business of predicting the unpredictable.”
  • “The burnt customer certainly prefers to believe that he has been robbed rather than that he has been a fool on the advice of fools.”
  • Despite all of its problems, capitalism is the least worst system available. Best to accept the nonsense that comes with it, then try anything else.

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Fred Schwed: Where are the Customers Yachts? Summary

Post by captmorgan50 » Mon Mar 20, 2023 2:03 am

Re: Fred Schwed Where are the Customers Yachts? Summary

Post by captmorgan50 » Mon Mar 20, 2023 2:04 am

User avatar

Post by David Jay » Mon Mar 20, 2023 3:12 am

Post by David Jay » Mon Mar 20, 2023 3:19 am

Post by er999 » Mon Mar 20, 2023 3:37 am

Post by captmorgan50 » Mon Mar 20, 2023 3:40 am

Post by Carol88888 » Mon Mar 20, 2023 4:11 am

Post by captmorgan50 » Mon Mar 20, 2023 3:24 pm

Post by Bill Bernstein » Mon Mar 20, 2023 3:57 pm

Post by captmorgan50 » Mon Mar 20, 2023 7:43 pm

Bill Bernstein wrote: ↑ Mon Mar 20, 2023 3:57 pm Not to steal the OP's thunder, but here's my fave: In 1929 there was a luxurious club car which ran each week-day morning into the Pennsylvania Station. When the train stopped, the assorted millionaires who had been playing bridge, reading the paper, and comparing their fortunes, filed out of the front end of the car. Near the door there was placed a silver bowl with a quantity of nickels in it. Those who needed a nickel in change for the subway ride downtown took one. They were not expected to put anything back in exchange; this was not money – it was one of those minor conveniences like a quill toothpick for which nothing is charged. It was only five cents. There have been many explanations of the sudden debacle of October, 1929. The explanation I prefer is that the eye of Jehovah, a wrathful god, happened to chance in October on that bowl. In sudden understandable annoyance, Jehovah kicked over the financial structure of the United States, and thus saw to it that the bowl of free nickels disappeared forever.

Post by Harmanic » Mon Mar 20, 2023 8:56 pm

captmorgan50 wrote: ↑ Mon Mar 20, 2023 2:03 am • Rarely will it be the most difficult of all answers---“I don’t know.”

Post by Bill Bernstein » Tue Mar 21, 2023 12:10 am

Post by captmorgan50 » Tue Mar 21, 2023 1:48 am

Bill Bernstein wrote: ↑ Tue Mar 21, 2023 12:10 am Thanks for the kind words. I assume you're referring to VDE/VENAX having near zero foreign holdings. I guess I'm fine with that, I'm not willing to pay 30 more bp to get the foreign exposure from say, IXC.

User avatar

Re: Fred Schwed: Where are the Customers Yachts? Summary

Post by LadyGeek » Tue Mar 21, 2023 1:49 am

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Yacht giant MarineMax data breach impacts over 123,000 people

Sergiu gatlan.

  • July 17, 2024

Yacht

MarineMax, self-described as the world's largest recreational boat and yacht retailer, is notifying over 123,000 individuals whose personal information was stolen in a March security breach claimed by the Rhysida ransomware gang.

The company operates over 130 locations, including 83 dealerships and 66 marinas and storage facilities worldwide. Last year, it reported $2.39 billion in revenue and a $835.3 million gross profit.

While the Florida-based yacht seller initially stated in a March 12 SEC filing that no sensitive data was stored on the compromised systems, two weeks later, it said in a new 8-K filing that the attackers had stolen personal data belonging to an undisclosed number of people.

This Tuesday, in breach notification letters filed with the Offices of Maine's and Vermont's Attorneys General, MarineMax revealed that the data breach impacts 123,494 individuals. It added that the incident was detected on March 10, ten days after the attackers gained access to its network, and it only impacted a "limited" number of systems.

"Based on our investigation of the incident, we determined that an unauthorized third party obtained access to our environment from March 1, 2024 to March 10, 2024," MarineMax said. "Our investigation recently concluded, and it was determined that the unauthorized third party acquired some of our data, which contained your personal information."

MarineMax also told the Maine and Vermont Attorneys General that the attackers had stolen names or other personal identifier information. Still, it has yet to disclose what other personal information was exfiltrated from its systems and if the data breach impacted both customers and employees.

While the company didn't attribute the breach to a specific threat group, and it's still describing it as a "cybersecurity incident," the Rhysida ransomware gang claimed the attack on March 20.

MarineMax entry on Rhysida leak site

​The cybercriminals have since published a 225GB archive of files allegedly stolen from MarineMax's network on their dark web leak site, representing what they claim to be data they couldn't sell.

Rhysida also published what appear to be screenshots of MarineMax's financial documents, as well as customer or employee driver's licenses and passports.

This relatively new ransomware-as-a-service (RaaS) operation surfaced almost one year ago, in May 2023, and quickly gained notoriety after breaching the Chilean Army (Ejército de Chile) and the British Library .

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) also linked its affiliates to attacks targeting healthcare organizations, while CISA and the FBI warned that the Rhysida ransomware gang is also behind many opportunistic attacks targeting organizations across various industry sectors.

For instance, it breached Sony subsidiary Insomniac Games in November and leaked 1,67 TB of documents on its leak site after the game studio refused to pay a $2 million ransom.

More recently, the Singing River Health System warned that almost 900,000 people had their data stolen in an August 2023 Rhysida ransomware attack.

where is the customers yachts

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Where Are the Customers' Yachts?: : A Good Hard Look at Wall Street

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Fred Schwed

Where Are the Customers' Yachts?: : A Good Hard Look at Wall Street Kindle Edition

It's amazing how well Schwed's book is holding up after fifty-five years. About the only thing that's changed on Wall Street is that computers have replaced pencils and graph paper. Otherwise, the basics are the same. The investor's need to believe somebody is matched by the financial advisor's need to make a nice living. If one of them has to be disappointed, it's bound to be the former." -- John Rothchild, Author, A Fool and His Money, Financial Columnist, Time magazine

Humorous and entertaining, this book exposes the folly and hypocrisy of Wall Street. The title refers to a story about a visitor to New York who admired the yachts of the bankers and brokers. Naively, he asked where all the customers' yachts were? Of course, none of the customers could afford yachts, even though they dutifully followed the advice of their bankers and brokers. Full of wise contrarian advice and offering a true look at the world of investing, in which brokers get rich while their customers go broke, this book continues to open the eyes of investors to the reality of Wall Street.

  • Print length 208 pages
  • Language English
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  • Publication date October 10, 2022
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Fred Schwed's Where are the Customers' Yachts? A modern-day interpretation of an investment classic (Infinite Success)

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  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0BHW54PXF
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Wiley. (October 10, 2022)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ October 10, 2022
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 14459 KB
  • Simultaneous device usage ‏ : ‎ Unlimited
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  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 208 pages
  • #2,405 in Stock Market Investing (Kindle Store)
  • #4,793 in Satire
  • #5,576 in Stock Market Investing (Books)

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  1. Where Are the Customers' Yachts First edition Fred Scwed

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  2. Where Are The Customers' Yachts? by Fred Schwed Jr. • Novel Investor

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  3. Where Are the Customers' Yachts First edition Fred Scwed

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  4. Where are the Customers' Yachts?

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  2. Where Are the Customers' Yachts or A Good Hard Look at Wall Street

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COMMENTS

  1. Where Are the Customers' Yachts?: or A Good Hard Look at Wall Street

    Of course, none of the customers could afford yachts, even though they dutifully followed the advice of their bankers and brokers. Full of wise contrarian advice and offering a true look at the world of investing, in which brokers get rich while their customers go broke, this book continues to open the eyes of investors to the reality of Wall ...

  2. Where Are the Customers' Yachts?: or A Good Hard Look a…

    For customers to own yachts, long term decisions are required that are careful and cautious. Also - as Schwed acknowledges - to make money is is necessary to have in the first place, through family wealth, or marrying into it.

  3. Where Are the Customers' Yachts? Or, A... by Schwed Jr., Fred

    "Where Are the C-C-Customers' Yachts? is a g-g-great read."—Charles Ellis, Managing Partner, Greenwich Associates "A delightful classic and reminder of excesses past and how little things change."—Bob Farrell, Senior Vice President, Merrill Lynch. Where Are the Customers' Yachts?

  4. Where Are the Customers' Yachts? or A Good Hard Look at Wall Street: 32

    Of course, none of the customers could afford yachts, even though they dutifully followed the advice of their bankers and brokers. Full of wise contrarian advice and offering a true look at the world of investing, in which brokers get rich while their customers go broke, this book continues to open the eyes of investors to the reality of Wall ...

  5. Wiley Where Are the Customers' Yachts?: or A Good Hard Look at Wall

    the customers could afford yachts, even though they dutifully followed the advice of their bankers and brokers. Full of wise contrarian advice and offering a true look at the world of investing, in which brokers get rich while their customers go broke, this book continues to open the eyes of investors to the reality of Wall Street. ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  6. Where are the Customers' Yachts? Or, A Good Hard Look at Wall Street

    Where are the Customers' Yachts? Or, A Good Hard Look at Wall Street. Fred Schwed. Fraser Publishing Company, 1985 - Business & Economics - 215 pages. One of the most amusing and penetrating views of Wall Street ever written. Enlightening and hilarious, packed with brilliantly funny anecdotes and astute observations on Wall Street and its players.

  7. Where Are the Customers' Yachts?

    Full of wise contrarian advice and offering a true look at the world of investing, in which brokers get rich while their customers go broke, this book continues to open the eyes of investors to the reality of Wall Street. ©1940, 1955, 2006 Fred Schwed, Jr. Foreword 1995 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Introduction 2006 by Jason Zweig (P)2012 ...

  8. 10 Great Lines From 'Where Are the Customers' Yachts?'

    Rarely will it be the most difficult of all answers - "I don't know.". 3. On the cyclical nature of the markets: "When "conditions" are good, the forward looking investor buys. But when "conditions" are good, stocks are high. Then without anyone having the courtesy to ring a bell, "conditions" get bad.". 4. On the ...

  9. Book Summary Of Where Are The Customers' Yachts

    Summary. Some things never change - this book written in 1940 and is still relevant for investors in 2019. The biggest problem for most investors is their own emotions. The best portfolio is the ...

  10. MoneyWeek book review: Where are the customers' yachts?

    More than half a century on, Where are the Customers' Yachts? remains a fascinating read and a potent illustration of how little has changed in the markets. Computer screens may have replaced ...

  11. Where Are the Customers' Yachts? or A Good Hard Look at Wall Street (A

    The title of the book refers to the apocryphal story of some out-of-town visitors to New York. On arriving at the Battery their guides indicated some handsome ships riding at anchor and said "Look those are the bankers' and broker's yachts". "Where are the customer's yachts?" asked the naïve visitor.

  12. "Where Are the Customers' Yachts?"

    The title came from a story about a visitor in New York more than a century ago. After admiring yachts Wall Street bought with money earned giving financial advice to customers, he wondered where ...

  13. Fred Schwed's Where are the Customers' Yachts?: A modern-day

    The title of this 1955 book refers to a story about a visitor to New York who admired the yachts of the bankers and brokers. Naively, he asked where all the customers' yachts were. Of course, none of the customers could afford yachts, even though they dutifully followed the advice of their bankers and brokers.

  14. Where Are the Customers' Yachts?

    The theory presented here explains why the customers'. yachts were not more conspicuous when Fred Schwed wrote his famous book, and why they probably won't be. in the future. It also shows why bankers, brokers or. anyone else perceived as having valuable information. will just naturally attract money. l.

  15. Where Are The Customers' Yachts? by Fred Schwed Jr

    Friends of William Travers, a big short seller of the time, admired the beautiful yachts of the richest Wall Street brokers. Finally, one asks, "Where are the customers' yachts?". Wall Street is not in the business of making you money, it's in the business of generating transactions. "If you are not a skeptic, you are not an investor.".

  16. Where Are the Customers' Yachts?

    Of course, none of the customers could afford yachts, even though they dutifully followed the advice of their bankers and brokers. Full of wise contrarian advice and offering a true look at the world of investing, in which brokers get rich while their customers go broke, this book continues to open the eyes of investors to the reality of Wall ...

  17. Fred Schwed's Where are the Customers' Yachts?

    Here, Leo Gough's interpretation of Where are the customer's yachts illustrates the timeless nature of Fred Schwed's insights by bringing them to life through 52 modern case studies. This brilliant interpretation is an entertaining accompaniment to one of the most famous books on investment ever written. Show more. Publisher: Infinite Ideas.

  18. Where are the Customers' Yachts? A Good Hard Look at Wall Street

    Mark Hebner. Where are the Customers' Yachts? A Good Hard Look at Wall Street. Once in the dear dead days beyond recall, an out-of-town visitor was being shown the wonders of the New York financial district. When the party arrived at the Battery, one of his guides indicated some handsome ships riding at anchor.

  19. Where Are The Customers' Yachts?

    Summary. In the book Where Are the Customers' Yachts, Fred Schwed Jr. uses great writing, humor, and his experience to discuss the craziness of the markets. Warren Buffett, Michael Lewis, and ...

  20. Fred Schwed

    Fred Schwed, Jr. was an American stock broker turned author, known for his book on Wall Street, Where Are the Customers' Yachts? Background. Schwed was born in New York. Schwed's father, Frederick Schwed, was a member of the New York Curb Exchange (renamed in 1953 to AMEX). He was a ...

  21. Fred Schwed: Where are the Customers Yachts? Summary

    by Bill Bernstein » Mon Mar 20, 2023 3:57 pm. In 1929 there was a luxurious club car which ran each week-day morning into the Pennsylvania Station. When the train stopped, the assorted millionaires who had been playing bridge, reading the paper, and comparing their fortunes, filed out of the front end of the car.

  22. Yacht giant MarineMax data breach impacts over 123,000 people

    MarineMax, self-described as the world's largest recreational boat and yacht retailer, is notifying over 123,000 customers whose personal information was stolen in a March security breach claimed ...

  23. Can Superyachts Help Save the Oceans?

    The Archimedes, a 222-foot (68-meter) "adventure" yacht then owned by the late hedge funder James Simons, boasts a gym, a jacuzzi and an elevator. But between 2018 and 2020, Brewin was ...

  24. Where Are the Customers' Yachts?: A Good Hard Look at Wall Street

    Of course, none of the customers could afford yachts, even though they dutifully followed the advice of their bankers and brokers. Full of wise contrarian advice and offering a true look at the world of investing, in which brokers get rich while their customers go broke, this book continues to open the eyes of investors to the reality of Wall ...

  25. More than 123K hit by MarineMax hack

    Infiltration of MarineMax systems between March 1 and 10 enabled the exfiltration of customers' and employees' names and other personally identifiable information, said the major U.S. global ...