Where Are the Customers’ Yachts?

Fred Schwed Jr., a former trader, wrote this slim, funny book in 1940 after the excesses of the 1920s and the crash that followed. Its title comes from an old joke about a visitor admiring the yachts owned by Wall Street brokers and asking where the customers’ yachts were. Beneath the humor sits a serious point about fees, conflicts, and the gap between what the financial industry promises and what it delivers.