Dollars And Nonsense

Earlier this week, a congressional committee asked the Justice Department to launch a criminal investigation into whether embattled "taste" maven Martha Stewart knowingly lied about not taking part in an insider trading scheme. The request, announced by House Energy and Commerce Committee chairman Billy Tauzin, cited the False Statements Act, which makes it a felony to make false statements in an investigation by Congress.

The controversy stems from a stock transaction that Stewart made on December 27, 2001. That day, Stewart sold nearly 4,000 shares of stock from a biotech company ominously named ImClone. On December 28, ImClone disclosed that the Food and Drug Administration had rejected their application for a new cancer drug called Erbitux, and their shares dove.

When congressional investigators started looking into ImClone's finances, Stewart's suspicious sale raised more than a few red flags. Stewart has repeatedly denied knowing any insider information, and claims that she and her broker had an agreement to sell if the stocks' price dipped below $60 a share.

Martha Stewart is the head of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia Inc., a hugely successful media empire based entirely around Stewart's style recommendations. In the spirit of domestic perfection…and possible financial indiscretions…we suggest these titles. They'll help you spruce up your stock portfolio AND your home!

Den Of Thieves
By James B. Stewart
The time is The 1980s. The place is Wall Street. The market is bull. Michael Milken, Ivan Boesky, Martin Siegel, Dennis Levine, and a parade of accomplices and cohorts form the biggest and most successful insider trading ring in Wall Street's history. Den of Thieves, a fiscal non-fiction pot-boiler by the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist James Stewart, traces the rise and fall of these white-collar criminals while vividly expressing the intensity and greed that drives the world's most famous financial institution.

The Market Maker's Edge: Day Trading Tactics from a Wall Street Insider
By Joshua Lukeman
Want to try your hand at electronic trading? Lukeman, a professional trader, offers a clear, succinct, and thorough explanation of the process. With his journeyman advice on stock selection and building portfolios, and his harrowing tales of fortunes won and lost, you'll hopefully make fewer mistakes when attempting to navigate the market. Don't get greedy!

Investing For Dummies
By Eric Tyson
Like all books in the Dummies series, Investing is a helpful, accessible, and practical guide for the hopelessly confused neophyte. Tyson, the author of four bestselling personal finance books, naturally starts with investing basics, and then coaches the reader up to the more complex and cryptic aspects of the process. Thankfully not content with covering Wall Street stocks and bonds, he also offers some typically down-to-earth advice on buying real estate and running a small business.

Martha Inc.: The Incredible Story Of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia
By Christopher M. Byron
From troubled working class beginnings, Martha Stewart rose to create a media empire based around her lifestyle advice that has made her one of the most famous and richest women in America. In Martha Inc., accomplished journalist Byron details Stewart's success, but doesn't gloss over the controversial aspects of her spectacular and momentous career. Through Byron, Stewart comes across as a complicated woman with the business savvy and drive to take opportunities and chances…and the ruthlessness to exploit talent and loyalty.

Entertaining
By Martha Stewart and Elizabeth Hawes
This is the book that started it all. Entertaining, Martha Stewart's first book, was first published 20 years ago. Curiously, it hasn't been updated all that much, but it still offers a veritable Martha Stewart bounty of ideas regarding all kinds of parties. Hundreds of recipes and pieces of decorating advice generously illustrated with lovely photographs will help you plan your next wedding reception, afternoon tea, Thanksgiving dinner, Christmas party, clambake, or shindig.