Sometimes there's a fine line between reality and satire, and New Yorker and New York Times humorist Andy Borowitz isn't quite sure that he's crossed it. Borowitz's new book, The Trillionaire Next Door: The Greedy Investor's Guide to Day Trading (HarperBusiness, $30.95, hardcover), hits the stands next month.
Borowitz is no graduate of the Harvard Business School; he's a graduate of the Harvard Lampoon. And he spent just two months writing the compact 100-page volume. But he points out that, "in the day-trading universe, a month or two is an eternity." So, he concludes, "It's probably the most thoroughly researched and exhaustively written book on day trading ever."
As well, Borowitz isn't sure how different it is from other how-to books on the subject. "It was really hard for me to read those serious books and try to top them," he says, "because the advice in them is just so funny." For example, "They tell you when to buy and when to sell. When to buy and when to sell what?"
Charts in the book also help explain basic concepts. They're very simple, because day traders don't have much time to look at pictures, let alone read.