Playing the market

[Conor Friedersdorf]

Soon I'll run out of links to the best financial stories I've ever read, since I don't read financial stories very often, but another gem is this piece by Michael Lewis, who is the kind of crazy genius that can make anything seem interesting -- even the career of a middle-aged investment consultant.

Here is a sexy excerpt:

Then he caught a break. He met a girl who liked him. The girl went and told a friend about him. That friend was the business manager for the Rolling Stones. One thing led to another, and the Rolling Stones handed him $13 million to invest.

The argument in the piece is that you shouldn't ever give $13 million -- or even $1,300 -- to anyone to invest in the stock market for you, because the whole profession is a dishonest racket where arrogant con men get paid ridiculous sums to perform work that is of no value to their clients or society.

There is another Michael Lewis piece that I can't find online -- anyone have a link? -- about how hot his wife is and what it is like to be married to someone that beautiful. He loves her a lot.