Fortune's Formula: The Untold Story of the Scientific Betting System That Beat the Casinos and Wall Street...

— —

William Poundstone

Fortune's Formula

The Untold Story of the Scientific Betting System That Beat the Casinos and Wall Street

William Poundstone

$47.95

Paperback

Not in-store but you can order this
How long will it take?

Availability Information

We source books from suppliers in Australia and overseas. For books we don't currently have in stock, the time it takes to get them from our suppliers can vary widely - from a few days to a few months - so we check each book with each supplier to determine the expected time it will take to be supplied to us.

We then advise you accordingly. If the time taken to get any book is too long for you, you can let us know and we will cancel or adjust your order, and refund as required.

To find out the anticipated arrival time for specific items prior to ordering, please contact us by phone or email:

Phone +61 2 9264 3111, or 1800 4 BOOKS (1800 4 26657) if outside Sydney:
option 1 Abbey's Bookshop (Crime, History, Science, Kids & more) • info@abbeys.com.au
option 2 Language Book Centre (ESL & Foreign Languages) • language@abbeys.com.au
option 3 Galaxy Bookshop (Sci-fi, Fantasy, Romance, Graphic Novels) • sf@galaxybooks.com.au

QTY:

English

Farrar Straus Giroux
01 September 2006

Investment & securities; Mathematics & Sciences; Gambling: theories & methods

In 1956 two Bell Labs scientists discovered the scientific formula for getting rich. One was mathematician Claude Shannon, neurotic father of our digital age, whose genius is ranked with Einstein's. The other was John L. Kelly Jr., a Texas-born, gun-toting physicist. Together they applied the science of information theory--the basis of computers and the Internet--to the problem of making as much money as possible, as fast as possible.

Shannon and MIT mathematician Edward O. Thorp took the ""Kelly formula"" to Las Vegas. It worked. They realized that there was even more money to be made in the stock market. Thorp used the Kelly system with his phenomenally successful hedge fund, Princeton-Newport Partners. Shannon became a successful investor, too, topping even Warren Buffett's rate of return. Fortune's Formula traces how the Kelly formula sparked controversy even as it made fortunes at racetracks, casinos, and trading desks. It reveals the dark side of this alluring scheme, which is founded on exploiting an insider's edge.

Shannon believed it was possible for a smart investor to beat the market--and William Poundstone's Fortune's Formula will convince you that he was right.

By: William Poundstone
Imprint: Farrar Straus Giroux
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 208mm, Width: 140mm, Spine: 28mm
Weight: 340g
ISBN: 9780809045990
ISBN 10: 0809045990
Pages: 386
Publication Date: 01 September 2006
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

Reviews for Fortune's Formula: The Untold Story of the Scientific Betting System That Beat the Casinos and Wall Street

Seldom have true crime and smart math been blended together so engagingly. The Wall Street Journal An amazing story that gives a big idea the needed star treatment . . . Fortune's Formula will appeal to readers of such books as Peter L. Bernstein's Against the Gods, Nassim Nicholas Taleb's Fooled by Randomness, and Roger Lowenstein's When Genius Failed. All try to explain why smart people take stupid risks. Poundstone goes them one better by showing how hedge fund Long-Term Capital Management, for one, could have avoided disaster by following the Kelly method. Business Week (four stars) 'Fortune's Formula' may be the world's first history book, gambling primer, mathematics text, economics manual, personal finance guide and joke book in a single volume. Poundstone comes across as the best college professor you ever hand, someone who can turn almost any technical topic into an entertaining and zesty lecture. The New York Times Book Review