From Publishers Weekly
Financial journalist Mahar offers a thorough and accessible history of the explosive 1982-1999 bull market that is illuminating as well as sobering from the current bear market perspective. She notes that most people swept up in the euphoria of this latest market surge failed to recall the lessons of 1929-1934 and 1970-1974, when earlier bubbles collapsed and investors lost heavily. Citing studies by esteemed economists John Kenneth Galbraith and Charles Kindleberger, Mahar reminds readers that this self-blinding euphoria is a regular feature of every bull market. In vivid detail, she documents the trends and outsized personalities that fueled this particular bull market, including the surge of leveraged buyouts of 1984-1987, the mania for junk bonds, falling short-term interest rates, the rush of individual investors into 401(k) retirement plans, the power (and appetites) of mutual funds and the media frenzy that lent an unlikely allure to quarterly corporate earnings reports. As the runup in stock prices gained momentum in the late 1990s while evidence of corporate accounting shenanigans mounted, Mahar's account assumes the compelling power of an oncoming train wreck. Survivors of the recent market meltdown can profit from Mahar's assertion: "Ultimately, secular bear markets teach investors to learn to manage risk in a different way, focusing not on the odds, but on the size of risk." Individual investors will also gather that they need to be more skeptical of some sources of "information" and to be much better informed not to be burned again. Charts.Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Booklist
Mahar, a journalist, explores the intrigue and implications of the famous 1982-99 bull market. We are introduced to money managers, stock analysts, and market timers who played critical roles, as well as an unprecedented number of average men and woman (called "main street investors") who poured their retirement savings into mutual funds--money most of them could not afford to lose. Small investors were not advised of the inherent risks in their investments, says Mahar, and the media hype was so great and the news was so good that thousands upon thousands gave Wall Street their confidence. The book concludes with the author's thoughts on topics such as the "buy and hold" strategy; managing risk in a bear market; strategic market timing; and commodities, gold, and the dollar. The 1982-99 run of the bulls on Wall Street was part of a longer cycle that governs the stock market, and Mahar teaches many valuable lessons in this excellent history and analysis. Mary Whaley
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved


Jane Bryant Quinn
"I loved this book. Couldn't put it down. . . tells the 21st century investor how to make a new beginning."


Marc Faber
"Fabulous. What makes it so astounding is Maggie Mahar's narrative style, thorough analysis, and accounts of leading financial personalities."


Jim Chanos
"A tour de force! The definitive 'long-and-short' account of the greatest financial boom and bust in history."


Steve Leuthold
"No dry history here as the author goes one-on-one with perpetrators, victims, and even a few heroes."


Laurence A. Tisch
"If you're looking for help making sounder investment decisions over the next twenty years, BULL! is the book for you."


Book Description

In Bull!, Maggie Mahar tells the sweeping tale of the Great Bull Market of 1982–1999, a legendary run-up that pulled the entire nation into its gravitational field.

Mahar lays out the origins of the boom and takes the reader behind the scenes, on Wall Street, on Main Street, and in Washington, letting him see the story through the eyes of the fund managers, market gurus, analysts, politicians, business journalists, and 401(k) investors who, together, helped create the longest-running bull market in U.S. history. Some were touts; others were true believers. On the sidelines, a Greek Chorus of seasoned professionals tried, vainly, to describe the emperor's new clothes.

Filled with colorful portraits of many of the central figures of the boom years -- Alan Greenspan, Henry Blodget, James Cramer, Abby Joseph Cohen -- Bull! draws together a complex cast of characters, illuminating the web of relationships that kept the market aloft.

More than a financial history, Bull! is a lively, often witty social history of the stock market that became a part of popular culture. It is also the tale of individual investors, which chronicles the intimate stories of ordinary people -- housewives and college professors, salesmen and waitresses -- who got caught up in the excitement and then watched their life savings drain away.

How did it happen that the very real risks of investing in stocks were forgotten? Mahar explodes the myth of "stocks for the long run," explaining how the market's promoters crunched the numbers to create the illusion that if an investor stays in the casino just a little longer, he is guaranteed to come out a winner. Casting Warren Buffett in a new light, she explains how a value investor is, in the end, a long-term market timer who understands that success depends on how much you pay when you get into the market -- and when you get out. By putting the bull market of 1982–1999 in a larger historical context, she shows how, over time, longtime bull markets beget longtime bear markets.

The future defies prediction, but the history of financial markets makes one thing clear: markets always revert to a mean. Taken as a single story, Bull! is both an illuminating history and a cautionary tale about investing. Analyzing the economic and psychological forces that drive financial cycles, Mahar shows how an extraordinary influx of cash and credit, combined with the obsessive attention of a new financial media, created a cult of equities. Challenging the notion that stocks always outperform all other investments, she reveals why many of Wall Street's most experienced investors believe that the 21st-century investor needs to throw out the old rule book and make a new beginning as he plans for his financial future.

No investor should keep his or her money in the stock market without first reading this book.


About the Author
Before becoming a financial journalist, Maggie Mahar was an English professor at Yale University, teaching 19th-and 20th-century poetry and prose. In 1982, she began covering financial markets, freelancing for Money magazine, Institutional Investor, and The New York Times, before joining Barron's as a senior writer in 1986. There, she wrote cover stories about Wall Street and Washington, specializing in profiles and investigative pieces. In 1998, she wrote a column about international markets and economics for Bloomberg.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

In Bull!, Maggie Mahar tells the sweeping tale of the Great Bull Market of 1982-1999, a legendary run-up that pulled the entire nation into its gravitational field.

Mahar lays out the origins of the boom and takes the reader behind the scenes, on Wall Street, on Main Street, and in Washington, letting him see the story through the eyes of the fund managers, market gurus, analysts, politicians, business journalists, and 401(k) investors who, together, helped create the longest-running bull market in U.S. history. Some were touts; others were true believers. On the sidelines, a Greek Chorus of seasoned professionals tried, vainly, to describe the emperor's new clothes.

Filled with colorful portraits of many of the central figures of the boom years-Alan Greenspan, Henry Blodget, James Cramer, Abby Joseph Cohen-Bull! draws together a complex cast of characters, illuminating the web of relationships that kept the market aloft.

More than a financial history, Bull! is a lively, often witty social history of the stock market that became a part of popular culture. It is also the tale of individual investors, which chronicles the intimate stories of ordinary people-housewives and college professors, salesmen and waitresses-who got caught up in the excitement and then watched their life savings drain away.

How did it happen that the very real risks of investing in stocks were forgotten? Mahar explodes the myth of "stocks for the long run," explaining how the market's promoters crunched the numbers to create the illusion that if an investor stays in the casino just a little longer, he is guaranteed to come out a winner. Casting Warren Buffett in a new light, she explains how a value investor is, in the end, a long-term market timer who understands that success depends on how much you pay when you get into the market-and when you get out. By putting the bull market of 1982-1999 in a larger historical context, she shows how, over time, longtime bull markets beget longtime bear markets.

The future defies prediction, but the history of financial markets makes one thing clear: markets always revert to a mean. Taken as a single story, Bull! is both an illuminating history and a cautionary tale about investing. Analyzing the economic and psychological forces that drive financial cycles, Mahar shows how an extraordinary influx of cash and credit, combined with the obsessive attention of a new financial media, created a cult of equities. Challenging the notion that stocks always outperform all other investments, she reveals why many of Wall Street's most experienced investors believe that the 21st-century investor needs to throw out the old rule book and make a new beginning as he plans for his financial future.

No investor should keep his or her money in the stock market without first reading this book.

SYNOPSIS

Financial journalist Mahar reminds readers of the inevitable cycles of stock markets, a lesson most are probably more willing to hear now that the "irrational exuberance" (to quote Alan Greenspan) of the 1990s is over. Writing in the style of popular history, she describes the origins of the booming bull market, focusing on the way investors, journalists, politicians, and others managed to ignore some of the most basic lessons of investing. The narrative frequently focuses on individuals in an effort to personalize the topic. Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

FROM THE CRITICS

Financial Times

Lays bare some of the fallacies of the bull market. Investors should lay it down, like a fine wine a reread it the next time a bull market is in full swing.

The New York Times

Mahar's focus is not on corporate corruption, but on the enablers who cheered on false business heroes and made the corruption possible. Though she tries to frame the book as an investment guide, it reads more naturally as an indictment of stock analysts and the financial media. What I learned -- something I didn't fully appreciate before -- was the extent to which the stock market bubble of the 1990's was supported by intimidation as well as exuberance. — Paul Krugman

Publishers Weekly

Financial journalist Mahar offers a thorough and accessible history of the explosive 1982-1999 bull market that is illuminating as well as sobering from the current bear market persspective. She notes that most people swept up in the euphoria of this latest market surge failed to recall the lessons of 1929-1934 and 1970-1974, when earlier bubbles collapsed and investors lost heavily. Citing studies by esteemed economists John Kenneth Galbraith and Charles Kindleberger, Mahar reminds readers that this self-blinding euphoria is a regular feature of every bull market. In vivid detail, she documents the trends and outsized personalities that fueled this particular bull market, including the surge of leveraged buyouts of 1984-1987, the mania for junk bonds, falling short-term interest rates, the rush of individual investors into 401(k) retirement plans, the power (and appetites) of mutual funds and the media frenzy that lent an unlikely allure to quarterly corporate earnings reports. As the runup in stock prices gained momentum in the late 1990s while evidence of corporate accounting shenanigans mounted, Mahar's account assumes the compelling power of an oncoming train wreck. Survivors of the recent market meltdown can profit from Mahar's assertion: "Ultimately, secular bear markets teach investors to learn to manage risk in a different way, focusing not on the odds, but on the size of risk." Individual investors will also gather that they need to be more skeptical of some sources of "information" and to be much better informed not to be burned again. Charts. (Nov.) Forecast: National broadcast and media campaigns (including a 25-city national radio and 15-city NPR) will grab the attention of investors, and Mahar's unblinking assessment of the self-delusions rampant during a bull market will help many understand how the golden egg they thought they held now has begun to smell rotten. Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

Library Journal