Investment industry outputs (films, literature, articles...)

Entertainment
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YouTube’s algorithm recommended to me a 25-minute documentary about the 2010 Flash Crash. It was such an interesting case from the perspective of the crash’s main architect (and the personnel themselves) that I thought I’d share it with the public.

A search didn’t seem to find a thread on the topic, although in the Investment Literature thread, works in the field are discussed from the perspective of factual/textbook-like literature. In this thread, I think we could share recommendations and discuss works related to the field, from documentaries to movies, literature, and news articles.

Have any forum members come across exceptionally excellent recommendations?

I could start by throwing out a few recent recommendations:

  • The Bad Blood book about Theranos’ rise to become a unicorn in the startup world and the subsequent collapse behind the scenes. This investigative journalism-based startup thriller is hard to put down. I believe it was among Bill Gates’ top book recommendations a few years ago. For audiobook lovers, a version is available on most services, and for the lazier ones, HBO’s The Inventor documentary is a pretty decent depiction of what happened (though it doesn’t compare to the book). A Hollywood film adaptation is also reportedly in the works.
  • Hulu’s WeWork documentary was just released a week or two ago. As a documentary, it’s not groundbreaking, but it’s a very educational story, for better or worse, about the startup world and the absurd valuation multiples of the tech boom. Adam Neumann’s sales skills and cult-like reputation also somewhat resemble the hype surrounding Theranos’ Elizabeth Holmes.

In terms of literature, Nassim Taleb’s Fooled by Randomness, alongside The Black Swan, is quite familiar material, but worth mentioning if, and since, several others here probably appreciate these contemplative, semi-educational entertainment works combining economics, mathematics, behavioral sciences, and philosophy. The link leads to an audiobook uploaded to YouTube in 2017, so it requires no effort if you want to check it out.

Currently on my reading list are, among others, James Gleick’s Chaos (chaos theory), The Smartest Guys in the Room (case Enron), Super Crunchers, and The Man Who Solved the Market (Jim Simmons a’la Medallion Fund). Unfortunately, audiobooks for these are not available on basic Storytells and similar services, so I’ll have to find a new, easy, and user-friendly way to listen.

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Inderesin kahvihuone (Osa 8)
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The Tampere Workers’ Theatre (Tampereen työväen teatteri) will be staging a play related to the stock market.

“Many people follow stock prices, but how did the stock market originate? The twists and turns of economic history are understood in the Lehman Trilogy (Lehman-trilogia), but at its core is a multi-generational story of an entrepreneurial family, with its successes and failures.”

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The World’s 50 Most Dangerous Companies | Otava
The book was published in January 2021, but it’s still relevant for investors.

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I’m thinking of movies worth watching that deal with money, investing, and building wealth. The first ones that came to mind were, for example, The Big Short, Citizen Kane, The Wolf of Wall Street, The Great Gatsby, etc. Would you like to list some more? You can also provide reasons for your recommendations if you’d like.

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Dumb Money tells the story related to the GameStop stock and Reddit. I haven’t watched it myself yet, but it’s on my watchlist.

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The 80s classic Wall Street, of course, and my personal favorite set in the world of finance is definitely Margin Call from 2011. It’s about the collapse of a fictional bank in the early stages of the financial crisis. The bank at the center of the events in Margin Call bears a not-so-coincidental resemblance to Lehman Brothers; for example, the CEO is named John Tuld vs. Lehman’s Dick Fuld.

The movie begins when analyst-level guys within the firm realize that things are hitting the fan fast regarding risk management. Increasingly senior bosses from within the company are brought in as the true scale of the problems begins to be revealed. I particularly remember this great line from the CEO played by Jeremy Irons, when the firm’s complex investment schemes aren’t clear even to the CEO himself.

The film also explores the effects of the financial crisis more broadly on a societal level and from the perspective of individuals. It’s currently available to watch on, for example, Viaplay and MTV Katsomo.

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Wall Street is also remembered for this. Wall Street - Greed, for lack of a better word… is good. Greed is right. Greed works (youtube.com)

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Do you have any tips for investment books for a slightly younger reader? I was thinking of getting something for my 16-year-old son for Christmas, as investing seems to interest him.

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I might start by buying Esa Juntunen’s Vaurastu Viisaasti. It’s such a comprehensive book about financial skills in general that it could be good for a 16-year-old to read it – they might avoid many pitfalls later in life.

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An investment podcast mentioned a documentary produced by Dimensional Fund Advisors, Tune Out The Noise, which tells how the company got its start at a time when market research and the utilization of data in investing were taking their first steps. It’s available for free on YouTube, but not viewable from Finland; it can be watched with a VPN.

If the company’s name doesn’t ring a bell, their investment philosophy is directly based on the findings of Eugene Fama’s and Kenneth French’s research. The gentlemen are also on Dimensional’s board and featured in the documentary.

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Here are Aki’s thoughts on Vesa Puttonen’s new book :slight_smile:

My thesis supervisor, Vesa Puttonen, must have known while typing up his book that there would be shouts from below the mega-series: “We’d definitely know how to spend a million.” This perhaps reveals the most important reason why they haven’t accumulated a million euros. Wealth rarely accumulates for those who spend money without any difficulty.

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