True Finance

Michael Ellsberg and Bryan Franklin think you've been fed a lie: that if you save for decades and invest in 401(k)s, IRAs, and a home, these investments will grow steadily over decades, allowing 20 to 30 years of secure, peaceful retirement. This might have been true at some point in the last century, but it is not true any longer. If you want to get ahead and enjoy a life of prosperity, the authors argue that you must invest in the most powerful source of wealth you'll ever know: your own earning power.

In December 2008, the world watched as master financier Bernard L. Madoff was taken away from his posh Manhattan apartment in handcuffs, accused of swindling thousands of innocent victims - including friends and family - out of billions of dollars in the world's largest Ponzi scheme. Madoff went to jail; he will spend the rest of his life there. But what happened to his devoted wife and sons?

In the spirit of Evicted, Bait and Switch, and The Big Short, a shocking, heart-wrenching investigation into America’s housing crisis and the modern-day robber barons who are making a fortune off the backs of the disenfranchised working and middle class - among them, Donald Trump and his inner circle.

Jake Halpern introduces us to a former banking executive and a former armed robber who become partners and go in quest of "paper" - the uncollected debts that are sold off by banks for pennies on the dollar. As Halpern shows, the world of consumer debt collection is a wild and unregulated shadow land, where operators may misrepresent a debtor's situation, make illegal threats, and even lay claim to debts that are not theirs to collect in the first place.

As cryptocurrency rose in popularity during the pandemic, new converts bought into the idea that crypto would not only make them rich, but would usher in imminent revolutions across art, finance, politics, and gaming. Cryptocurrency caught the zeitgeist through figures like FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, who only two years later would be convicted of one of the most calamitous acts of financial fraud in US history. Now, Cryptomania unfolds the tumultuous twenty months inside this male-dominated, overhyped industry that led to its downfall.

When the head of Columbia Pictures, David Begelman, got caught forging Cliff Robertson's name on a $10,000 check, it seemed, at first, like a simple case of embezzlement. It wasn't. The incident was the tip of the iceberg, the first hint of a scandal that shook Hollywood and rattled Wall Street.

What if everything they've told you about how to make money and get the things you want is wrong? What if "getting ahead" financially were not only easy, but fun? What if the process of improving your own financial position could actually make the world a better place? In fact, what if it were required that you make the world a better place while improving your own financial position? In this important new work, Kerry O'Hallaron explores each of these questions and more.

Den of Thieves tells, in masterfully reported detail, the full story of the insider-trading scandal that nearly destroyed Wall Street, the men who pulled it off, and the chase that finally brought them to justice. Pulitzer Prize winner James B. Stewart shows for the first time how four of the biggest names on Wall Street - Michael Milken, Ivan Boesky, Martin Siegel, and Dennis Levine - created the greatest insider-trading ring in financial history and almost walked away with billions.

The greatest challenges facing humankind, according to Deirdre Nansen McCloskey, are poverty and tyranny, both of which hold people back. Arguing for a return to true liberal values, this engaging and accessible book develops, defends, and demonstrates how embracing the ideas first espoused by 18th-century philosophers like Locke, Smith, Voltaire, and Wollstonecraft is good for everyone. In McCloskey's view, liberalism leads to equality, but equality does not necessarily lead to liberalism - and the fixation of the left on inequality is counterproductive.

It’s the 21st century yet we are far from living in an equal world. The responsibilities, struggles, and society's image of women differ greatly and this is taking a colossal toll on our lives! You shouldn’t be living your life to others’ standards–it’s time to take things into your own hands and start leading the life you deserve!

Der Financial-Times-Journalist Dan McCrum hat getan, wofür eigentlich Wirtschaftsprüfer und Finanzaufsicht zuständig sind: Er hat den größten Betrug der DAX-Geschichte aufgedeckt. Die Geschichte klingt filmreif: Wirecard, neben SAP das einzige deutsche Tech-Vorzeigeunternehmen, wird gehypt und übertrifft sogar den Börsenwert der Deutschen Bank. Der bargeldlose Zahlungsverkehr von Onlinegeschäften und Kreditkarten scheint ein überzeugendes Geschäftsmodell, eine Banklizenz eröffnet weitere Möglichkeiten.

In today's ruthless world of organised crime, the best criminals aren't foolish enough to steal money out of banks. They wear tailored suits, carry briefcases, and discreetly slip money into banks. Bigwigs, oligarchs and crime syndicates running drugs, trafficking guns and people, arming terrorists and subverting government controls are desperate to put a legitimate face on their wealth. Washing dirty money, moving it around the globe, making it look legitimate is where the action is for both criminals and the authorities chasing them.

To write The China Price, Alexandra Harney has penetrated further and deeper into China's enormous ecosystem of export-oriented industry than any outsider before her. She uncover the disturbing truth about how China is able to offer such amazingly low prices to the rest of the world.

Media and law enforcement work at cross-purposes. Law enforcement want to solve a case as fast as possible and put the guilty behind bars. The media want a case to drag on as long as humanly possible and do all they can to extricate every last bit of drama, drop by bloody drop, in order to hold the attention of the millions of viewers who have gotten hooked. Law enforcement must abide by rules. The media make their own rules, and even then break them or find ways to work loopholes into them.

When a crisis occurs we tend to count on a few professionals—one of them being our financial advisor. We lean on these trusted relationships to help us navigate the storms of life. Although well-intentioned, some advisors don’t deliver true value. Too many still depend on outdated standards and strategies, creating collateral damage to investors and advisors. Tyson Ray saw this trend and created a compelling alternative.

There is growing evidence that Trump has spent decades cultivating ties to corrupt Russians and the post-Soviet state. In Trump/Russia: A Definitive History, Seth Hettena chronicles the many years Trump has spent wooing Russian money and power. From the collapse of his casino empire - which left Trump desperate for cash - and his first contacts with Russian deal makers and financiers, on up to the White House, Hettena reveals the myriad of shady people, convoluted dealings, and strange events that suggest how indebted to Russia our 45th president might be.

How did a high school dropout amass a portfolio of one thousand apartments? This rags-to-riches story could be your story. Learn the lessons they don’t teach you in school. Learn invaluable information about buying or owning rental properties, hard moneylending, foreclosure sales, starting a hedge fund by yourself, and much more. If I can do this, you can too!

Are you going in financial circles? Do you need directions? Finding your financial goals through all the options and dead-ends in today's marketplace can be confusing, and you might get lost without a map. In this audiobook, Howard Dayton provides a simple road map for organizing your finances through life and reaching your financial destination.

Outsmart the competition and learn inside tricks to enable you to own property and secure your future. How much money do I need for the right deposit? What do I do in a bidding war? How can I spot red flags in a potential home? If you have questions like these about buying your first home, you aren't alone. Becoming a homeowner can be the most challenging, but most rewarding, thing you can do in your life. With prices high and money tight, 40% of new homeowners believe buying a home is the ‘most stressful event in modern life’.

Imagine being able to invest your money the same way the nation's biggest institutional investors, pension funds and endowments invest. Ric Edelman shows you how to reduce risk, lower your fees, and improve your returns, just like the professional investors who manage billions of dollars: using time-tested, proven methods based on the latest academic research.