cover image Trendwatching: Don't Be Fooled by the Next Investment Fad, Mania, or Bubble

Trendwatching: Don't Be Fooled by the Next Investment Fad, Mania, or Bubble

Ron Insana. HarperBusiness, $24.95 (272pp) ISBN 978-0-06-008462-2

Insana has worked as a CNBC anchor throughout the stock market's boom and bust, sharing the good and bad news. But who knew the avuncular personality was such a history wonk? Insana's latest is a breezy overview of investment bubbles through the ages. Thankfully, the author has a skill for boiling down complex events-e.g., currency crises in Asia or the collapse of Long-Term Capital Management-into digestible nuggets. He apparently developed this talent from his television experiences, where he often has 30 seconds to talk about such mind-bending topics as Enron's off-the-books partnerships. Insana's not in the business of predicting bubbles, though, although he does hint that real estate may be in trouble. Rather, this is primarily a history book, and a timely one at that. Perhaps the best proof that Insana knows what he's talking about? He never left his plum CNBC anchor job during the dot-com bubble, even when it was considered old-fashioned to be collecting a paycheck.