The Fortune Tellers: Inside Wall Street's Game of Money, Media, and Manipulation

by Howard Kurtz

Book Overview

From the author of the New York Times bestseller Spin Cycle comes this engrossing, entertaining expos of how the media -- from television to newspapers to the Internet -- drive the financial markets... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0684868792
• ISBN13: 9780684868790
• Release Date: September 2000
• Publisher: Free Press
• Length: 352 Pages
• Weight: 1.30 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 6.4" x 8.3"

Customer Reviews

excelent summary of the financial history of the early '00

I read this book years ago when it was a best seller. I bought it on the strength of the reviews of the people written about in this book like Kramer, the CNBC Squakbox people, numerous high profile analysts. They had a positive review of how the book came out, and so I bought and read it. I don't read the Wall Street Journal all the time so the content of this book was educating for me. Howard Kurtz has a show in CNN, he is a media critic, so his take on the financial media and players in it has a degree of credibility. However this book is dated now, there have been many developments since this book hit the bookstores. The time I read this I thought it was wonderful that a summary of the recent financial past was available in a very well written book.

Excellent Media Critique

Easy read, entertaining, yet informative. Vital information for retail investors who otherwise might put more emphasis on the media or analysts than is deserving. Granted this is just one piece of the pie, but a very important one. Many investors still got caught up in the talking heads and the big 4th quarter rally that never was. I confess I am holding things in my portfolio that I held in anticipation of that rally. There is an overwhelming amount of information to decipher for new investors, and being a newbie myself (about 1.5 yrs)I appreciate an evaluation which allows me to prioritize the information overload. Instinctually, I suspected the information presented on CNBC and saw nothing rational happening with the analysts. But having read this book gives me much more conviction to act based on my own instincts. In addition to learning, I found the book entertaining so it was a double bonus. Kurtz does an excellent job with his descriptions of the personalties. He was right on and I found myself smiling as I read. The details were amusing and they humanized the folks behind the cameras or keyboards. The level of self-disclosure is a testament to Kurtz ability to engender trust in his subjects. Good job. And what the heck, I am a great fan of the wild man, Crammu. Read him everyday. I am off to get a copy of SPin now.....

Truth Be Told

I've been following the financial arena for about 3 years now. Basically ever since my roommate pointed me in the direction of the Motley Fool. My father has been preaching exactly what this book says. I really have enjoyed this book. Easy to read, very well put together and it's full of fact not some theory or predictions. Just cutting thru the blizzard and getting right to the point. The author does an excellent job. I would recommend this book to anybody who's the least bit interested in finances. Really points out the power the media and individuals have over the direction of a stock and the market regardless of fact. Excellent read.

Better than Fiction

Any one who still thinks Wall Street is a dull and dusty place only has to pick up this book. It reads like a character driven novel, bearing out the truism that truth is often harder to believe than what passes for fiction. Hard to put down and absorbing, the reader comes back to earth with a crash when remembering that what all these "characters" are so glib about is really the billions of dollars Americans have invested in reitrement and their children's educations.