Reddit mentions of The Number: How the Drive for Quarterly Earnings Corrupted Wall Street and Corporate America

http://www.amazon.com/Number-Quarterly-Earnings-Corrupted-Corporate/dp/0812966252

http://www.amazon.com/Bogleheads-Guide-Investing-Taylor-Larimore/dp/0470067365


Both are amazing.

"Knowing what I do now, if at age 21 I'd had my choice of $2,000,000 or the wisdom to understand the concepts in this book, I'd choose wisdom. "

To be honest I am in a similar spot as you right now. I am a 3rd year accounting student at university. I don't have any money to invest yet because my plan is graduating debt free, which I will. In another 2-3 years I will be ready to actually start investing and hopefully know enough to succeed.


That being said, my only suggestion is to learn and study over the next few years. You are young and don't need to rush into it before you are ready. Also my favourite book is The Number by Alex Berenson, I think it's a good book that teaches you some fundamentals before learning about different investment strategies.



http://www.amazon.com/The-Number-Quarterly-Corrupted-Corporate/dp/0812966252

> Not because the CEO is gutting the company and giving himself raises.

Uh....thats' exactly what executives do. Equity gets issued to insider's (in the form of sweet options, warrants, etc), diluting the total shareholder base. That's why shareholders get pissed. Read this.

> Also public opinion, again, has absolutely zero (as it should be) effect on the CEO of a multi-billion dollar, major, international, oil companies, pay.

When did I say that? The public isn't outcrying...it's the shareholders. Did you even read the article? This is straight from the article:

Proxy adviser Glass Lewis said in a report that it remains “concerned by the disconnect between bonus payouts and financial performance and the bonus scheme structure more generally”. As a result, both firms recommended shareholders oppose the remuneration packages in a vote at Shell’s annual meeting in The Hague next week.

In fact, shareholders are becoming increasingly vocal over executive pay amid a time of a hard all in earnings and commodity prices.

There is no public movement! The bottom line is coming from very large shareholders.

Mark Cuban has been critical about CEO equity pay schemes and their allegiance to Wall Street and the chase for quarterly profits.

> There is a game played by CEOs with the corporate issuance of lottery tickets. Otherwise known as stock. Stock can be issued in any number of ways, shapes or forms. Warrants, options, restricted or unrestricted stock. No matter what you call it, every CEO hired, is asking for equity knowing that their only goal is to hit the jackpot and create a pool of wealth that puts them in the “fuck you” wealth category. Thats enough money to buy or rent just about anything you can think of and put you in position to never have to work again. You just live off the cash in the bank.

> The only possible way to change this is to put CEOs in the cash zone. Make companies generate 100pct of their compensation in cash that is 100pct expensable in the quarter paid. Thats not to say they cant own stock. Hell yes they can own stock. But make them buy it either on the open market, or as part of the programs that make stock available to every company employee, on the same terms. They are getting paid enough in cash and if they believe in their ability to run the company, they can put their money where their mouth is. Eliminate all the free lottery tickets. Make them buy stock, options, warrants, whatever, on the same terms as everyone else can.

The Number by Alex Berenson provides a great insight into how Wall Street actually works and I'd consider it essential reading for anyone looking to invest.