The Mind of Wall St: A Legendary Financier on the Perils of Greed and the Mysteries of the Market | Leon Levy, Eugene Linden

By Rachel Cole | Investment Analyst at NAOS Asset Management

As a psychology major and son of amateur economist, Leon Levy’s approach to investing was unique; centered around the understanding that investor mood and behaviour is just as important to markets as is information.

This understanding led him through a successful investing career, making his early fortune through Oppenheimer & Co, and going on to found Oppenheimer Funds in 1959 – now a global asset manager worth more than US$200bn.

This autobiography takes the reader on a journey through the life of this pioneering investor, through his clever analysis of notable market history and recounting his investing successes and failures over his career.

At the same time, the book offers many pearls of wisdom, revealing the psychological undercurrents of markets and the inherent biases that investors can be prone to.

An interesting and educational read regardless of your investing experience.

“Investors are very good at recognizing the moods of the past—for example, the Roaring Twenties, the Great Depression, the Swinging Sixties—but we tend to be oblivious to the mood of the present.”