Ugly Americans

Title: Ugly Americans
Author: Ben Mezrich

As I continue to read books by Ben Mezrich I picked up Ugly Americans at Barnes and Noble a month or so back. His books continue to entertain me and the length of the is perfect, fairly quick reads, and keep me interested to finish them amazingly quick.

Ugly Americans is about a young football player growing up in New Jersey. He plays great football and plays a game in Japan. After the kick butt in Japan they go out for drinks and he is introduced to a business man that works in the derivatives market in Japan. This guy will trade anything worth value. Not thinking a thing of it he takes the mans business card and shoves it in his pocket.

John Malcolm lands back in the USA and with no major football deals has to enter the "real world". Interview after interview with investment banks he jumps through a dog and pony show of Corporate America. Asking silly questions, dealing with a bunch of guys that think they are kings, he gets fed up and never gets the job offer he wants.

One day he sends his resume to the gentlemen he met in Japan and the next day he is on a flight flying to Japan to accept a job that he has no idea what the pay is.

He lands, meets another co-worker who turns out to be his best friend, and hits the ground running.

Bascially, he is the guy in Japan punching trades in a computer for the hot shots in various parts of the country. He excels, making gigantic trades, and starts working with one trader that nobody can understand how this guy is making such big trades.

Finally they find out, this guy was making fake trades, and lost BILLIONS of dollars for the company. John's company folds, he loses his job.

His former boss (the man he met in Japan), starts up his own firm, hires Malcolm, and he starts punching numbers again. Soon, he is making his own trades, making millions of dollars, and his life style turns to a life of luxury. Amazing motorcycles, amazing apartment, amazing girlfriend, you name it.

After making millions of dollars he finally remembers one thing, always have an exit strategy.

The game was risky in Japan, risking for his life. He left when the timing was right to move to a remote island with his girlfriend, start his own firm, and making smaller but still very powerful trades.

This is a great book, I give is a 5 of 5. I'm really into this author and eager to read more of his books.

Pick a copy up, you'll enjoy it.