If you aren't familiar with a Dead Cat Bounce, Triple Witching Week or Naked Option, you'll learn all about these terms and more after reading this book. While these may sound funny, they all refer to real-life Wall Street concepts that both the seasoned investor and novice will undoubtedly encounter in their financial future. This book is like a travel guide through the Wall Street labyrinth, and it untangles complex ideas in a surprisingly straightforward way. Whether you utilize a broker or manage your money independently, this book will help you take control of your investments and maximize your financial success.

Nora Peterson says her book is designed to "stimulate the reader's curiosity, not overwhelm it," and that is exactly what she does. Many stock market shows are so fast-paced that all of the fancy verbeage is lost on people who aren't familiar with even the most basic stock market terms, and it can be frustrating to attempt to learn anything from them. It is also comforting to note that she herself is an experienced investor and knows what she is talking about. Peterson writes that she had trouble getting over the "intimidation hump," which is a feeling we can all relate to when dealing with the foreign language of Wall Street slang. By the end of the book, you'll be remarking to friends about the tremendous success of your latest Sleeper stock or how a Bear Hug squeezed a deal out of a certain target company.

This book was surprisingly easy to understand and follow. It's fun, and you can pick it up and put it down whenever you want. It doesn't require a huge time commitment but is invaluable for anyone involved in the financial industry. Not only is Peterson informative, but she has a fun and engaging writing style that makes you want to get started learning new terms and putting them to use right away. This is a great book for beginners such as myself, or for people who want to build upon previous market experience. I was expecting a dry read about technical and difficult financial terms, but instead found a jackpot of easily accessible terms and interesting information about how Wall Street works.

More than just a dictionary, this book gives in-depth, easy to read explanations of financial terms. We here the jargon everyday, on the news, talking to a broker or reviewing our portfolios; but, are we positive we understand what the lingo means. If you have been dabbling in managing your portfolio, are an avid business news watcher, or an amateur investor, this is one book that must be on your book shelf.

It is designed to be easy to read and understand. Although it is essentially a dictionary, it reads like a book. I found myself reading each definition in order because the terms flowed into each other. The author organized the book by category. Each word or phrase is followed by a clear 2 to 3 sentence description; in addition, any acronyms that apply are listed by the phrase as well as the correlating website. There is a glossary of acronyms, websites and an index of terms.

If you want to help understanding the common jargon used in the financial world today, Wall Street Lingo is the perfect place to start. Unlike other financial dictionaries, it is fun and easy to read. There is no doubt; it could be used as desk reference.

With such an exhaustive table of contents, you might assume this is an exhausting book. But the author prevents exhaustion, not only with a crisp writing style, but with a creative arrangement of the definitions. Yes, other dictionaries are strictly alphabetical. That's probably the reason that people read how-to books and novels, and they don't read dictionaries. But "Wall Street Lingo" organizes its definitions by category. Instead of hunting up and down the alphabet to define an unfamiliar word in another definition, the author puts all related terms together. Read a section, you'll understand a whole area of investing. Yet each piece is short, of course - definition sized - so you'll reach a stopping place before you get tired. For concepts that require more explanation, the author provides a brief, understandable summary. The result: you not only learn how Wall Street works, but how you can work Wall Street. The author provides simple explanations of rules and laws (and how they are bent, broken and enforced), basic finance and accounting, corporate structure, and types of investments. She even reviews common investment strategies, charting, and stock analysis. You'll learn about everything from the Dead Cat Bounce to the Ticker Tape Parade. A great general references for the investor.

In this book, the author takes what seems to be an overwhelming amount of information on the subject of Wall Street and organizes it into easy to locate sections and chapters. This fact, more than anything else, is what I think sets this book apart from many other financial reference books. While many reference books (particularly in the financial realm) that I have read lay out information alphabetically and join them with confusing financial jargon, this book does a good job of defining the many phrases and words associated with Wall Street and putting them into layman's terms. As a result, I would recommend this book to anyone starting out in the world of Wall Street. Since I have had no previous experience at all with investing on Wall Street, I must say that the sheer volume of the text was overwhelming. But the organization of the book really helps and I think it will be even more helpful to those who have already dabbled some in the stock market and are looking for an easy to understand reference tool.

Another aspect of the book I found particularly helpful was the various breakout boxes that accompanied the chapters. These breakout boxes, noted by the title "a closer look," essentially took some of the more complicated or important terms (such as momentum investing and initial public offering) and helped clarify them even more than they were in the initial definition. This style is also helpful because it immediately drew my attention to the most important thing on the page. All in all, I found this book to be full of extremely relevant and helpful information. However, it is important to keep in mind that this book is by no means easy reading. While the terms themselves are simply defined, the sheer complexity and wealth of information about the stock market and Wall Street requires more than one leisurely read. I would recommend that those interested in getting started in Wall Street investing read the book once, then keep it close by as a reference book and search tool.