Fortune Tellers

Fortune Tellers PDF Author: Walter Friedman
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 0691159114
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 288

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Book Description
A gripping history of the pioneers who sought to use science to predict financial markets The period leading up to the Great Depression witnessed the rise of the economic forecasters, pioneers who sought to use the tools of science to predict the future, with the aim of profiting from their forecasts. This book chronicles the lives and careers of the men who defined this first wave of economic fortune tellers, men such as Roger Babson, Irving Fisher, John Moody, C. J. Bullock, and Warren Persons. They competed to sell their distinctive methods of prediction to investors and businesses, and thrived in the boom years that followed World War I. Yet, almost to a man, they failed to predict the devastating crash of 1929. Walter Friedman paints vivid portraits of entrepreneurs who shared a belief that the rational world of numbers and reason could tame--or at least foresee--the irrational gyrations of the market. Despite their failures, this first generation of economic forecasters helped to make the prediction of economic trends a central economic activity, and shed light on the mechanics of financial markets by providing a range of statistics and information about individual firms. They also raised questions that are still relevant today. What is science and what is merely guesswork in forecasting? What motivates people to buy forecasts? Does the act of forecasting set in motion unforeseen events that can counteract the forecast made? Masterful and compelling, Fortune Tellers highlights the risk and uncertainty that are inherent to capitalism itself.

Fortune Tellers

Fortune Tellers PDF Author: Walter Friedman
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 0691159114
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 288

Get Book

Book Description
A gripping history of the pioneers who sought to use science to predict financial markets The period leading up to the Great Depression witnessed the rise of the economic forecasters, pioneers who sought to use the tools of science to predict the future, with the aim of profiting from their forecasts. This book chronicles the lives and careers of the men who defined this first wave of economic fortune tellers, men such as Roger Babson, Irving Fisher, John Moody, C. J. Bullock, and Warren Persons. They competed to sell their distinctive methods of prediction to investors and businesses, and thrived in the boom years that followed World War I. Yet, almost to a man, they failed to predict the devastating crash of 1929. Walter Friedman paints vivid portraits of entrepreneurs who shared a belief that the rational world of numbers and reason could tame--or at least foresee--the irrational gyrations of the market. Despite their failures, this first generation of economic forecasters helped to make the prediction of economic trends a central economic activity, and shed light on the mechanics of financial markets by providing a range of statistics and information about individual firms. They also raised questions that are still relevant today. What is science and what is merely guesswork in forecasting? What motivates people to buy forecasts? Does the act of forecasting set in motion unforeseen events that can counteract the forecast made? Masterful and compelling, Fortune Tellers highlights the risk and uncertainty that are inherent to capitalism itself.

The Fortune Teller

The Fortune Teller PDF Author: Gwendolyn Womack
Publisher: Picador USA
ISBN: 1250099773
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 369

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Book Description
NOW A USA TODAY AND LOS ANGELES TIMES BESTSELLER From the award-winning author of The Memory Painter comes a sweeping and suspenseful tale of romance, fate, and fortune. Semele Cavnow appraises antiquities for an exclusive Manhattan auction house, deciphering ancient texts—and when she discovers a manuscript written in the time of Cleopatra, she knows it will be the find of her career. Its author tells the story of a priceless tarot deck, now lost to history, but as Semele delves further, she realizes the manuscript is more than it seems. Both a memoir and a prophecy, it appears to be the work of a powerful seer, describing devastating wars and natural disasters in detail thousands of years before they occurred. The more she reads, the more the manuscript begins to affect Semele’s life. But what happened to the tarot deck? As the mystery of her connection to its story deepens, Semele can’t shake the feeling that she’s being followed. Only one person can help her make sense of it all: her client, Theo Bossard. Yet Theo is arrogant and elusive, concealing secrets of his own, and there’s more to Semele’s desire to speak with him than she would like to admit. Can Semele even trust him? The auction date is swiftly approaching, and someone wants to interfere—someone who knows the cards exist, and that the Bossard manuscript is tied to her. Semele realizes it’s up to her to stop them: the manuscript holds the key to a two-thousand-year-old secret, a secret someone will do anything to possess.

The Fortune Teller's Kiss

The Fortune Teller's Kiss PDF Author: Brenda Serotte
Publisher: U of Nebraska Press
ISBN: 080324326X
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 246

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Book Description
This is the memoir of a Sephardic Jewish girl living among Ashkenazi neighbors in the Bronx. She comes down with polio just before her eighth birthday. She begins a fight against immobility set within a cultural realm where Catholic and Jew and Turkish Moslem once met. Where a beautiful aunt could be abducted into a Turkish harem and another aunt could still keep the 400-year-old iron key to the family house in the Cordoba of the Spanish Inquisition.

The Fortune Teller's Guide to Success

The Fortune Teller's Guide to Success PDF Author: Valentina Burton
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780999780916
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 96

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Book Description
Unlock the sects to creating a wonderful career as a professional psychic reader! Author Valentina Burton leads you step by step through everything you will need to know, and illustrates each chapter with hilarious true stories. This book is an incredible resource of tips and tricks, plus clear, straightforward advice from a famous professional psychic reader. If you have ever considered divination as a career, or if you are a psychic reader who has found success elusive, this book is for you!

The Fortune-Teller's Bible

The Fortune-Teller's Bible PDF Author: Jane Struthers
Publisher: Sterling Publishing Company, Inc.
ISBN: 9781402752254
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
Languages : en
Pages : 404

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Book Description
FORTUNE-TELLING & DIVINATION. The Fortune-teller's Bible is the definitive guide to divination including numerology, scrying, face-reading and the I Ching. From palmistry to Chinese astrology and from the tarot to tea-leaf reading this book will help you discover the secrets of your own future and what the future holds for your family and friends. Featuring practical instructions together with the fascinating history of these ancient arts, this book is the essential reference for anyone who's ever wanted to gaze into a crystal ball.

The Golden Book of Fortune-Telling

The Golden Book of Fortune-Telling PDF Author: K.C. Jones
Publisher: Chronicle Books
ISBN: 1452158193
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
Languages : en
Pages : 370

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Book Description
A compendium of fun and entertaining ways to understand your future, taken from entries in the bestselling Fortune-Telling series. In this book lie the answers to your future. Reveal the meanings of your name, birthday, zodiac sign, and dreams. Unveil the significance of your color choices, friendships, and love interests. Discover what is foretold, learn to read auspicious omens, and divine the gift of attracting good fortune. Consult The Golden Book of Fortune-Telling and uncover the wisdom of the ages—and the power to shape your destiny.

The Fortune-tellers

The Fortune-tellers PDF Author: Lloyd Alexander
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780756797065
Category : Cameroon
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
"A carpenter in the West African country of Cameroon goes to a fortune teller and finds the predictions about his future coming true in an unusual way" -- Title page verso.

Plight of the Fortune Tellers

Plight of the Fortune Tellers PDF Author: Riccardo Rebonato
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 1400824370
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 303

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Book Description
Today's top financial-risk professionals have come to rely on ever-more sophisticated mathematics in their attempts to come to grips with financial risk. But this excessive reliance on quantitative precision is misleading--and it puts us all at risk. This is the case that Riccardo Rebonato makes in Plight of the Fortune Tellers--and coming from someone who is both an experienced market professional and an academic, this heresy is worth listening to. Rebonato forcefully argues that we must restore genuine decision making to our financial planning, and he shows us how to do it using probability, experimental psychology, and decision theory. This is the only way to effectively manage financial risk in a manner congruent with how human beings actually react to chance. Rebonato challenges us to rethink the standard wisdom about probability in financial-risk management. Risk managers have become obsessed with measuring risk and believe that these quantitative results by themselves can guide sound financial choices--but they can't. In this book, Rebonato offers a radical yet surprisingly commonsense solution, one that seeks to remind us that managing risk comes down to real people making decisions under uncertainty. Plight of the Fortune Tellers is not only a book for the decision makers of Wall Street, it's a must-read for anyone concerned about how today's financial markets are run. The stakes have never been higher--can you risk it?

Fortune-Telling Birthday Book

Fortune-Telling Birthday Book PDF Author: Chronicle Books
Publisher: Chronicle Books
ISBN: 081187074X
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
Languages : en
Pages : 205

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Book Description
Discover the meaning behind your birthday, identify your ideal mate, and more with this handy little guide. Forget cookies and crystal balls—this little book has a personalized fortune for you and everyone you love. Harkening back to the 1930s, the nostalgic illustrations in the Fortune-Telling Birthday Book accompany a perennial calendar for you to keep track of (and interpret) the birthdays of all your friends and family. Other traditions and folklore are also included—birthstones and their meanings, astrological signs, ideal mates, flowers of the month, and anniversary symbols.

The Fortune Teller's Daughter

The Fortune Teller's Daughter PDF Author: Susan Wilson
Publisher: Center Point
ISBN: 9781585472789
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 388

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Book Description
After years of moving from place to place with her fortune-teller mother, Sabine Heartwood finally has a home in Moose River Junction, a quiet New England town. But her peaceful life has suddenly turned itself upside-down. Sabine has fallen in love with Dan Smith who has returned to his hometown to deal with family affairs -- and plans to leave as soon as his business is concluded. Then Sabine’s mother appears, ready to discuss the family’s mysterious past. The last straw comes when the psychic gift Sabine has so vehemently rejected, revisits her in a vision she has about a painful family secret from which Dan is unable to free himself. Abounding in generosity and insight, The Fortune Teller’s Daughter is a powerful and moving exploration of the complexities of love.