Shut Up and Keep Talking

Lessons on Life and Investing from the Floor of the New York Stock Exchange

By: Bob Pisani

Narrated by: Lyle Blaker

Bob Pisani is senior markets correspondent for CNBC and has spent the past 25 years on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange.

He has been on the front line of finance for all the major events of the last quarter century, including the Asian Financial Crisis, the dot-com bubble and collapse, the terrorist attacks of 9/11, and the Great Financial Crisis.

What was it like to witness these events firsthand, at the center of the financial world?

In Shut Up and Keep Talking, Bob tells a series of captivating stories that reveal what he has learned about life and investing.

These include encounters with a host of stars, world leaders, and CEOs, including Fidel Castro, Robert Downey Jr., Walter Cronkite, Aretha Franklin, Barry Manilow, Jack Ma, Joey Ramone, and many more.

Along the way, Bob describes how the investment world has changed, from brokers shouting on the floor of the NYSE to fully electronic trading, from investment sages and superstars picking stocks for exorbitant fees to the phenomenal rise of low-cost index funds that are saving investors millions, and from the belief that investors make rational decisions to the new age of behavioral finance, which recognizes the often-irrational nature of human decision-making and seeks to understand its role in the stock market.

Bob also considers what really moves stocks up and down and tackles the big questions: Why is stock picking so hard, and why is the future so unknowable?

Don’t miss this highly entertaining and revealing account of how financial markets have changed and how they really work, from someone who was there.

©2022 Harriman House (P)2022 Harriman House

Interesting trading floor history

Mixture of history, interactions with celebrities, general investing advice, and other thoughts on life in general

Good book on the history of the stock market

Not a stock market advice book except for the fact Bob said stop trying to time the markets.

Great Insight

Fun insight from the kindest of men; any other Wall Street stories are secondhand. Interesting from start to finish!!!

A fascinating blend...

Engaging, insightful, entertaining 👍
A quick journey through the history and mechanics of the stock market and the world nearby.

Good but odd book

This book is an unusual blend of autobiography, anecdotes from a reporting career and technical financial advice and descriptions.

First, the autobiography serves as a framework for the rest of the book. The author has been on CNBC for a couple of decades but it's nice to know that he is a '60s rock fan, he listened to WIBG when he was growing up in the Philadelphia area and he collects rock posters. There is one chapter in which the posters are particularly important.

Second, there are anecdotes about some people in the financial world such as Art Cashen, and there several encounters with famous showbiz types - Barry Manilow, Aretha Franklin, Joey Ramone, among others. Nice, light listening.

And, third, we have the financial chapters. The author likes index funds and he goes about explaining that is several different ways. Not a bad listen, including the chapter about the advice he gave his retired father.

One bomb of a chapter is the lengthy description of the transformation of the NYSE to modern technology. Kind of a yawn.

In sum, this book is a worthwhile listen although bit long for this type of autobiography.