one of the Wall Street Journal's best reporters gives readers a fly-on-the-wall account that details one of the more vicious high-stakes power struggle in the history of Seventh Avenue and Wall Street. Set against a backdrop of avarice, egotism, and boardroom battles, The Rain on Macy's Parade is the inside story of how Macy's executives launched the largest leveraged buyout in retail history and brought the company to its knees.

Knowledge and Decisions by Sowell, Thomas

A Newsman's Book
Trachtenberg was true to form. As anyone who read this book probably knows he is an editor at the Wall Street Journal and has been interviewed for television and radio on his expertise about the book business. This book, unfortunately, reads like a long newspaper article. There are dashes of poetry ". . .the words hung between them like a broken promise. . ." but a dash is just that. Knowing his vast knowledge you want to love the book. It has a great title, cover, and author. But I had trouble reading it as I am a bigger fan of non-fiction novels (In Cold Blood) or novel-like non-fiction (Stealing Time). All in all it is valuable, and worthy of the praise the research demanded, but it's more a book for someone like Steve Case or an entrepreneur with big aspirations that can see the value embedded in it.

Macy's is the unfortunate story of how one man's ego and belief that he can do no wrong, brought on the colapse of one of the 20th centuries great merchant companies.

If you are an investor, it is important to read this book, to gain an understanding of what to look out for in the world of investing.