Changing the Rules: Adventures of a Wall Street Maverick

Book Description

When Mickie Siebert arrived in New York in the mid-1950s, she had $500 in her wallet and drove a used Studebaker. Almost fifty years later she is known as the "First Woman of Finance," the only woman to head a publicly traded national brokerage firm.

Pithy, vastly entertaining, and full of behind-the-scenes anecdotes, Changing the Rules reveals how Siebert forged her phenomenal success in the chaotic and cutthroat world of Wall Street. Three four-letter words are behind Siebert's career success: One is work -- she learned everything there was to know about a company before recommending its stock. The second is luck -- as an analyst in training, she had the good fortune to follow a fledgling industry that nobody else wanted. (The "dog" industry was airlines.) The third word is risk -- she knew how to assess liability and make a decision.

Siebert recounts the resistance of the good gray Stock Exchange when she dared to infiltrate the boys' club, threatening to have a Port-O-San delivered to the NYSE luncheon club if they didn't add a women's bathroom. She reveals the backstage stories about saving Lockheed and selling Conrail (at the time, the largest stock offering in Wall Street history), as well as the changes on the Street that led to May Day, 1975, when she was first in line as a discount broker (and considered a pariah by industry standards).

She tells of her memorable encounters with such legendary figures as Captain Eddie Rickenbacker, the World War I flying ace who ran Eastern Airlines, and Robert Brimberg, the iconoclastic "Scarsdale Fats" whose investing acumen was the envy of the Street. Writing with equal candor about the politics of finance and the finance of politics, Siebert recalls her five years as Superintendent of Banking for New York State -- when she helped to prevent a national fiscal crisis during the Iran hostage situation -- and her experiences as a pro-choice Republican senatorial candidate. Siebert's reputation for rocking the boat is legendary, and Changing the Rules is both a fascinating biography of a true pioneer, and a valuable strategic and informational tool for anyone who deals with or dabbles in the money game.

Customer Reviews:

Giving back.......2003-10-06

_Realising I was underpaid gave me the gumption to move on_. wrote Ms Muriel Seibert describing some of the frustrations she faced as a gender-pioneer on Wall Street in this fascinating first-person account, CHANGING THE RULES.

Ms Siebert begins her journey, _When I left Cleveland with five hundred dollars and a used Studebaker just before Thanksgiving 1954, I had been away from home and family only once...But that one trip the previous summer was a vacation in New York City with two girl friends_. Nearly fifty years later, she is presenting her views on how to improve 401(k) retirement plans and individual retirement accounts (IRAs) directly to top goverment leaders in Washington D.C. and on 13 August 2002 at President Bush's Economic Forum in Waco, Texas, USA.

In between, Ms Siebert had an awe-inspiring career. Briefly, the highlights include first woman to purchase a seat on the NYSE (#2646, 28 Dec 1967) and first female Superintendent of Banking for the State of New York. as well as running her own brokerage firm to become the first self-made woman Billionaire for a day in February 1999.

Even with these lofty accomplishments, Ms Siebert presents a down-to-earth and pragmatic review of her career. Her dogged determination and unrelenting persistence is highlighted as she recounts the obsticles she overcame. Being first is not without its share of problems. As history has shown on innumerable occasions, an established majority is resistant to accept the usurping minority culture. Ms Siebert's challenges were primarily experienced through prejudices involving gender and religion (anti-semitism).

It is inspiring for me to read about her coping methods. Whether it is a humourous Hallmark Card or storming a table at a posh restaurant, Ms Seibert is standing up for what she believes. Yes, she does learn to choose her battles and to have another job before she threatens to quit, however, she makes modifications without jeoparding her integrity or her spiritual commitment.

I have learned that the one spiritual value that cannot be imitated is the act of giving. Ms Siebert writes that _Giving is more than an obligation, it's a privilege_. She backs up these words with a lifetime of giving: volunteer time at the Henry Street Settlement on Manhattan's Lower East Side early in her career, and a continuous record of providing financial opportunities throughout her business life. For example, she has established the Siebert Entrepreneurial Philanthropic Plan (SEPP) which contributes to charities 50 percent of the selling concession after clearing costs that she earns on new securites. In many cases, Ms Seibert explains, _the client choses the charity. It's a chance to share profits from this business with organizations serving the communities from which we receive new opportunities_.

In a time when the Attorney General of her own state is now revealing an unprecedented level of corruption and bankruptcy of ethics in the Mutual Fund Business, it is refreshing to read of a person on Wall Street who, after 50 years in the Business of Financial Services can write, _I sleep well at night, knowing that I've been competitive but honest, tenacious but scrupulous, tough, but fair_.

PEACE

Book Description

Adopted at more than 70 law schools after its first year of publication, this supplementary text contains the litigation documents from Anderson v. Cryovac, the toxic tort case portrayed in the bestseller A Civil Action. Used in conjunction with Harr's book and any civil procedure casebook, A Documentary Companion to A Civil Action makes the first-year civil procedure class uniquely exciting and enlightening. The book can also serve as the sole text for an advanced litigation class. The authors have arranged documents from Anderson v. Cryovac topically to illustrate every phase of the litigation process, from notice to appeal. Their extensive notes and comments provide informative analysis of the legal, tactical, and ethical issues raised by the materials, as well as inside information about the case from extensive interviews with the lawyers. The book also presents thought-provoking questions to facilitate class discussion, as well as materials such as photographs, maps, newspaper articles, and excerpts from scientific reports.

Customer Reviews:

Parallel realities?.......2005-07-29

Do the events in this case and the history prior to it have anything to with the Whitey Bulger case?
In 1994 a man who worked for Grace appeared in a local newspaper story about his search for his unknown father and all the obstacles in his path. Not 6 months later Whitey vanishes and Harr's book comes out. The man had also written an autobiographical account in which early years in Woburn is mentioned prior to this book. As things heated up over the Bulger case AND in the movie adaptation of Harr's book, the man became mired in the resulting confusion and old 'friends' began exhibiting strange behavior.
Some of these friends appeared as possible plants to keep an eye on the boy(now a man) and to report back info to various parties for review and countermeasures, as of the boy was collateral against key players in the Bulger case with a link to the Woburn cancer tragedy discussed here.
Is it possible a child involved in the Woburn tragedy has been monitored and reported on by individuals directly or indirectly linked to one or more agencies with an interest in the Bulger case? If so, has such a child been targeted and to thwart any attention to such a possibility-- discreet,planned documentary evidence been fabricated to suggest otherwise, such as conversations steered to counter such charges then recorded without the man's knowledge or permission under a cloak of ComSec or other security provisions?
Far-fetched? Consider that many of the key players in the Bulger case hail from the areas affected by the Woburn case. It is alleged the man was also targeted for surveillance by an older man in his 50s(estimate) with TN license plates who claimed to work 'construction' around the time Barry Mawn was moved to the Boston FBI office AND is a Woburn native!

Not for the casual reader.......2005-07-22

Pay attention to the descriptions above so that you'll know what you're getting. This book is intended for law students or other legal-minded professionals, or only the most die-hard and detail-oriented of laypeople. The word "documentary" in the title will disappoint you if the documentaries that usually interest you are on the History Channel. This book is primarily a compilation of actual court pleadings... you know, those long, verbose, lawyer-written legal-brief-type arguments that have the party names at the top and usually begin with "comes now, Anne Andersen, Plaintiff, who alleges and would show this Court the following..." yadda yadda. Granted, you would never get to see this stuff if the author had not painstakingly gone through the court's casefiles and selected the best documents, but what you're reading is exactly that: the highlights of the court file. If you've never had the desire to show up at the federal courthouse, ask to see the casefile for Anderson v. Cryovac (assuming they'd let you), wait for them to haul the boxes in from the warehouse (remember the forklift at the end of the movie?) and then page through the documents one by one for days on end, then this book will probably not intrigue you. If the thought of paging through the history of these proceedings does interest you, then by all means, get this book. If nothing else, it will show the lawyer how much worse his/her life could be, it will show the law student how complex a case like this can be, and it will give the layperson an appreciation for just how much work can and does go into a lawsuit like this.

Excellent Teaching Tool.......2004-03-16

I have used this book very successfully to introduce business students to the realities of law. It's a particularly useful supplement for business law texts which tend to treat law as a set of rules to be memorized.

CCEL Classics CD: works by Saint Augustine, John Calvin, John Donne, Julian of Norwich, Brother Lawrence, Martin Luther, Saint Teresa of Avila, Thomas Aquinas, Thomas a Kempis, John Wesley, and more!

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CCEL Classics CD: works by Saint Augustine, John Calvin, John Donne, Julian of Norwich, Brother Lawrence, Martin Luther, Saint Teresa of Avila, Thomas Aquinas, Thomas a Kempis, John Wesley, and more!
Dr. W. Harry Plantinga
Manufacturer: Christian Classics Ethereal Library
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: CD-ROM

General | Christianity | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books

Product Description

The most important spiritual writings of Christian history are available on this Classics CD by the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) at Calvin College. It contains 118 Christian classics, including three versions of the Bible, several commentaries, Bible dictionaries, readings, spiritual guides, sermons, poems and journals -- all in a convenient, searchable form. Books are available in HTML and PDF formats. The easy-to-use CCEL Desktop software powering the CD enables users to browse and print books and install additional books from the Web. The top-of-class search engine can search for words or phrases in books, in authors works or in the whole library. In addition, it can search for dictionary definitions of words and commentary or references to scripture passages. The interface is a Web browser. The CD is compatible with Windows 2000+, Macintosh 10.3+, and most Linux versions.

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W.G.Grace
Simon Rae
Manufacturer: Faber and Faber
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

Cricket | Other Team Sports | Sports | Subjects | Books

Look Inside Sports Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books
ASIN: 0571195733

The Executive Guide to Improvement and Change

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The Executive Guide to Improvement and Change
G. Dennis Beecroft , Grace L. Duffy , and John W. Moran
Manufacturer: ASQ Quality Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Management | Management & Leadership | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Organizational Change | Organizational Behavior | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

General | Reference | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

General | Reference | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0873895797

Book Description

There are a variety of tools and techniques available to improve or change an organization, but how do executives and senior management decide which are right for their organization? The Executive Guide to Improvement and Change is designed to help managers and executives understand the many different approaches to organizational change and improvement, and then make an educated decision on which are right for them. The book explains that there is not one technique that works best for any organization, but rather that managers and executives need to develop their own strategies with a blending of different methods. The authors share the tools and techniques that they have used to successfully make changes and improvements in their own organizations, and include examples from manufacturing, healthcare, service, government, telecommunications, education, and more.

The Executive Guide to Improvement and Change was written to be a quick read for busy executives, and covers a variety of techniques and quality methods, ranging from auditing to teamwork, Six Sigma to customer satisfaction, and more. This book will help guide executives and senior management as they lead improvement and change initiatives within their organizations and the larger business community. The book will also help educate those who aspire to senior positions of leadership, and is an ideal text for senior management courses.

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Building Organizational Decision Support Systems (A RAND research study)
Grace M. Carter , M. P. Murray , and R. G. Walker
Manufacturer: Academic Pr
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Organizational Behavior | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
General | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
Decision-Making & Problem Solving | Management & Leadership | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
General | Science | Subjects | Books
General & Reference | Technology | Science | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0127320709

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CATHOLICITY A STUDY IN THE CONFLICT OF CHRISTIAN TRADITIONS IN THE WEST BEING A REPORT PRESENTED TO HIS GRACE THE ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY
H. J. CARPENTER E.S. ABBOTT , GREGORY DIX V. A. DEMANT , A. M. FARRER T. S. ELIOT , L. S. THORNTON F. W. GREEN , THE BISIOP OF SOUTHAMPTON A. G. HEBERT , C. H. SMYTH R. C. MORTIMER , and A. REEVES A. M. RAMSEY
Manufacturer: DACRE PRESS WESTMINSTER
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000JGCQ7A

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CRICKET
W. G. GRACE
Manufacturer: THE RELIGIOUS TRACT SOCIETY
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000SBQS2A

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Cricket
W. G Grace
Manufacturer: J.W. Arrowsmith
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
ASIN: B00087KT3I

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THE CRICKETING LIVES
W. G. GRACE
Manufacturer: SPORTSMANS
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000SBS9RM

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THE CRICKETING LIVES OF W G GRACE, C B FRY, MAURICE TATE AND DON BRADMAN
Unknown
Manufacturer: SPORTSMANS BOOK CLUB
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000S39JY2

Customer Reviews:

Excellent Visual Introduction to Thai Cinema.......2004-06-28

This book is beautifully presented using colour images of old movies posters, movie stars and general Thai movie information that is indespensible for the Thai cinema lover.
A great book and a must addition for those serious about their Thai cinema.

Way overpriced..........2004-06-06

..unless there's a typo somewhere in this listing.

Almost $60.00 for a *used* copy of a 62 page book? How many copies do you think they've sold?

Book Description

Not long ago, Communists seemed to be everywhere: among our politicians, neighbors, favorite actors--even in our drinking water. Red Scared! is a wry tour of the frosty decades of Soviet and American adversity, when anti-Communist hysteria produced fairly hysterical pop-culture items. The voluminous propaganda that the United States produced to combat the Red Menace--not only officially, but in books, films, magazines, games, and more--is explored and vibrantly reproduced here. With a colorful text that serves as a useful historical overview, daring tales from government agents, plot synopses and lurid covers of unintentionally funny pulp novels, and much more, Red Scared! brings the Cold War back home again--this time around with humor (and relief)

Customer Reviews:

BEWARE, YOU FIFTH COLUMN PINKOS!.......2005-03-04

This is a highly entertaining little book. Our feelings about Russia and China have changed so much that seeing this overheated, red-baiting material is a shock. But it was a daily reality at mid-century. This book is copiously illustrated with photos, newspaper clippings, book covers and even "If the Devil Would Talk," the virulently anti-Communist comic book published by the Catholic Church in the 1950's. You won't go wrong with this one.

Nostalgic look at commie madness.......2004-02-25

I bought RED SCARED! several months ago, but idiotically shelved it for a long time. Finally I read it and regreted to have waited for so long reading it, because this book is fun.
RED SCARED! THE COMMIE MENACE IN PROPAGANDA AND POPULAR CULTURE details in an amusing way the troubled USA/USSR relation and the impact the cold war and the communist hysteria had on popular culture.
Beginning with the first red scare in the US in 1919, when a series of bomb explosions led to the deportation of 250 alien radicals, RED SCARED! explores the relation between Soviet Russia and the United States, from the alliance in the second world war to the cold war with its various conflicts. The focus however is on the influence of politics on popular culture and how changes in the political climate were reflected in mass media. Lavishly illustrated, never academic, written in a witty style, RED SCARED! entertains as well as educates.
Movies, TV-shows, novels, comics, pamphlets - all mass media felt the impact of the cold war. You surely know the charming film NINOTCHKA starring Greta GARBO or Stanley KUBRICK's Dr. STRANGELOVE but have you also heard about I MARRIED A COMMUNIST, INVASION USA, THE GIRL IN THE KREMLIN or I WAS A COMMUNIST FOR THE FBI? Or did you know that John WAYNE once played an HUAC investigator, examining red un-American activities on the beautiful island of Hawaii (BIG JIM MCCLAIN, USA 1952)? All the above mentioned films and many more are presented with hugely interesting rare stills, lobby cards and posters. Capsule reviews are provided as well. The authors also discuss the successful TV series I LED THREE LIVES. Debuting in 1953 this 117 episode series about an undercover agent infiltrating a communist cell ran until 1956.
Impressive illustrations feature comics (my favorite being a horror comic titled THE RUSSIAN DEVIL, where a demonic looking kommissar digs a corpse up from a frozen grave, while the balloon above the evil red reads: "Get up, Ivan! You can't escape us by dying! We're not thru with you yet!") and lurid pulp paperback novels (RED RAPE). There's also an excerpt from a trashy Mickey SPILLANE mystery, where private eye Mike HAMMER battles the reds. There were even romance comics concerning the cold war ("THE ROMANTIC CURTAIN")!!! Other chapters revolve around red-baiter and FBI boss J. Edgar HOOVER, the sputnik shock, mind-boggling quotes from political pamphlets and anti-Communist bubble-gum cards (!)

RED SCARED! is an hugely entertaining time capsule ride. However it is not without flaws: Author Michael BARSON wrote a similar book in 1992 (BETTER DEAD THAN RED! A NOSTALGIC LOOK AT THE GOLDEN YEARS OF RUSSIAPHOBIA, RED-BAITING, AND OTHER COMMIE MADNESS) and he uses some of the material again. Several of the illustrations and stories looked quite familiar to me.
I also found it disappointing that several topics are only briefly touched upon or barely mentioned. For instance I would have liked to read more about the HUAC investigations of Hollywood.
Nonetheless is RED SCARED! essential reading for history buffs and people with interest in popular culture.

Interesting compilation of anti-Communist propaganda.......2003-03-13

As the title suggests, this book deals with propaganda aimed at fighting the "Red Menace" (i.e. communism). Starting with the beginning of the Soviet state and going all through the Cold War, the authors, using a tongue-in-cheek style, show the variety methods used in the US to get the anti-communist message across. These methods ranged from pamphlets and posters to magazine articles and comic books. The book's only serious problem is the downplaying of how much of a menace the communist world was (and still is in the case of North Korea and the other Red holdouts).

Trivializes the Real Dangers of Communism.......2003-03-05

The political cartoons published here would make this book worth five points. The political analysis given would make it worth zero. Hence the average is 3. As is the case with most liberals, the author Barson is blind to the nature of Communism and only condemns what he considers the "hysteria" produced by anti-Communism. This is rather like warning people to be afraid of firefighters and firetrucks while saying nothing about the dangers of house fires with people inside. Barson even asserts that the fear of Communism almost destroyed American free speech. That is utter nonsense. And, far from being a time of hysteria, the Fifties were a relatively quiet time in US history. Anyway, since when is fear of a mortal enemy a form of hysteria? Typical of liberals, Barson has more concern about McCarthyism, under which not a single person died than he does of Communism, under which tens of millions were murdered. And the involvement of Communists (mostly covert ones) in the US is well documented. The Hollywood Left is well known to this day. And it was the extensive network of Communists and fellow travelers in Roosevelt's administration that allowed Roosevelt to call Stalin "Uncle Joe" and to subject Poland and the other eastern European nations to a half-century of servitude under the Soviet Union. The chief flaw of McCarthyism was the fact that it came at least twenty years too late. One of the cartoons shows Nikita Kruschev saying "We will bury you." Does Barson suppose that Kruschev was only kidding? After all, to Barson, the threat of Communism was only imaginary.

Explain the Gulag.......2002-08-05

This text is a concerted effort to trivialize the opposition to the ruthless totalitarian system that took more than 100 million lives. Documents now available show that Lenin created the police state, which was imitated by Mao and Pol Pot. Readers are advised to read Gulag Archipeligo to find out what Communism was.
Barson and Heller would like us to forget the thousands of missiles created destroy not only America but the entire West

Book Description

This self-study guide for the Project Management Professional (PMP) certification exam from the Project Management Institute contains everything project managers need to pass the PMP Exam, including 44 processes, and 592 inputs, tools, and outputs. Exam topics are covered and insider secrets, complete explanations of all PMP subjects, test tricks and tips, hundreds of highly realistic sample questions, and exercises designed to strengthen understanding of PMP concepts and prepare managers for exam success on the first attempt are provided.

Customer Reviews:

Passed easily!.......2007-09-14

Not sure whether this book was the reason for me passing or the PM PowerTrac CBT tool by Management Concepts (the company I work for has multiple licenses for this). I didn't really do much of the sample questions, I left that to PowerTrac; the content is pretty good though and is readable. I think the key to passing is to understand the structure of the questions and do a few example exams. All in all, my preparation for the exam was about a month, and I wasn't very disciplined either!

If I had used this book first time I would have passed at frst try........2007-09-05

Yes I passed the exam at second attempt. One reason the exam has gotten tough do not expect the question to be as easy as those that are in exercise or simulation exam. For every question you really need to know the fundamentals(as per PMI principles!!). That leads to my second reason for failing, I used much popular Rita Mulacahy's PMP exam prep book. The real problem started when I used the even more expensive PMP fast Track by RMC, each simulation test question answer confused me further. I took the PMP exam and I answered most obvious question with wrong answer. My friend suggested me to forget all other material and focus on this book. This book clearly explains the fundamental behind each knowledge area followed by Input - tools & technique - output of process within this knowledge area. If you understand and remember these gudelines thoroughly you are ready for the exam. If you are lucky and get many math questions you can score up to 70% easily. One more book which helped me was Paul Sanghera's PMP in depth, if you are an IT professional then you may find reading paul's book quiet enjoyable. Good luck.

PMP Reference.......2007-08-26

A great resource for explaining why the answers chosen in their sample exercises are correct or incorrect. This book help to solidify the readers understanding of the PMBOK.

Great book to pass the exam.......2007-08-17

I took PMP earlier this week and pass on the first try. This is a great book, easy to understand but it has its own drawbacks. My exam was really tough. I hardly had any math questions and all the exam questions were really lengthy with lengthy answers unlike the practice questions that appear as excercise and final exam. It was like mini reading comprehension on each question. So expect to see much harder questions that what is in the book. Good thing is that with PM experience and reading this book from begin to end, it will not be a problem to pass eventhough there will be many questions outside of this book. I don't know if the exam is getting tougher day by day or it was just my luck to see those kinds of questions.

Passed the PMP on the 1st try.......2007-07-28

A well organized book that will indeed prepare you to pass the PMP the first time. I reviewed this book from cover to cover twice. I took each chapter test two times and the 200 question test at the end of the book until I scored a 89%. Worth the money if your serious about being PMP certified.

Accompanying course workbook for "The PMP Exam: How to Pass On Your First Try", used with 3-day class (Exam Prep Series)

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Accompanying course workbook for "The PMP Exam: How to Pass On Your First Try", used with 3-day class (Exam Prep Series)
Andy Crowe
Manufacturer: Velociteach
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Product Description

Memory maps, sample test, scoreing sheets for master text tests, etc.

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