The Devil’s Financial Dictionary

“Jason Zweig has long been a brilliant financial journalist. People who have listened to Jason have shielded their assets from the purveyors of costly and useless advice. In The Devil?s Financial Dictionary, Jason turns his wit and insight to arming us with an understanding of the financial terms that too many professionals use to intentionally baffle investors.” —Max H. Bazerman, co-director, the Center for Public Leadership, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University; author of The Power of Noticing

“Jason Zweig, one of the great truth-tellers in financial journalism, is the spiritual heir to Ambrose Bierce, one of the great satirists in American letters. Both use piercing wit to reveal important truths.” —Gary Belsky, coauthor of Why Smart People Make Big Money Mistakes and How to Correct Them

"Broad experience, thorough conversance with history, unusual insight, and dashes of humor and cynicism. This is what you need to understand the world of investing, and this is what you?ll find in The Devil?s Financial Dictionary by Jason Zweig." —Howard Marks, Co-Chairman, Oaktree Capital Management, L.P.; author, The Most Important Thing: Uncommon Sense for the Thoughtful Investor

“Someone had to write a short, punchy book on the fibs and fables of Wall Street during this second Gilded Age for the extravagantly-paid manipulators of our financial system. Happily for readers—whether wise, naïve, or victimized—journalist Jason Zweig picked up the challenge, and ran for the winning touchdown with it. Laugh, cry, and learn as you enjoy the sparkling Devil?s Financial Dictionary.” —John C. Bogle, founder of The Vanguard Group; author of Common Sense on Mutual Funds

“A delightfully humorous and stunningly irreverent Ambrose Bierce for financial markets. This satirical critique of what passes for wisdom on Wall Street belongs on the bookshelf of every serious investor.” —Burton G. Malkiel, professor of finance emeritus, Princeton University; author of A Random Walk Down Wall Street

“Open this wonderful book to any page. Try not to laugh. I dare you.” —James Grant, Grant?s Interest Rate Observer

“Jason Zweig?s book is absolutely marvelous. It combines wicked humor, scholarly etymology, and superb advice. If you have money invested, you must read this book; if you don?t, read it anyway for pure fun.” —William F. Sharpe, emeritus professor of finance, Stanford University; Nobel laureate in economics

“Wall Street frequently uses complex terminology to keep its own customers in the dark. That is why Jason Zweig?s The Devil?s Financial Dictionary is so refreshing. Zweig, who has a lifetime of experience covering finance, exposes the language of Wall Street with sharp wit, historical perspective, and a skeptic?s eye.” —Tadas Viskanta, founder and editor, Abnormal Returns, and author of Abnormal Returns: Winning Strategies from the Frontlines of the Investment Blogosphere

“THE DEVIL?S FINANCIAL DICTIONARY, n. A compendium of financial jargon observed to induce in its readers nearly continuous spasms of raucous laughter. Has also been known to produce near-fatal episodes of cognitive dissonance in brokers, advisors, and money managers, who should consume its contents with care. Normal individuals, in contrast, may incur a deepening of financial wisdom, a fattening of the wallet, and an uncontrollable urge to steal entire passages for later use.” —William J. Bernstein, author of The Four Pillars of Investing</i. and A Splendid Exchange

“If finance were stand-up comedy, Jason Zweig would be its Groucho Marx—a serious man with a wild sense of humor: `Dog: A stock that obeys no command except DOWN?…need I say more?” —Laurence B. Siegel, research director, CFA Institute Research Foundation