Dear Dagen: Financial Firms' Reading Lists Heavy on Boss' Books, Backswings

You might've thought the folks at your mutual fund company or brokerage were sitting around reading Graham and Dodd.

Try Grisham and Clancy.

Amazon.com (AMZN) has started publishing lists of best-selling books by company. These "Purchase Circles," as Amazon.com calls them, are based on the domain name (i.e., thestreet.com, for example) of customers as well as zip codes that books are shipped to. With a few clicks of the mouse, you can browse the top-10 books at Merrill Lynch (MER) or Vanguard -- or many other companies, for that matter. (Sorry, Amazon.com hasn't compiled a Purchase Circle list for TheStreet.com.)

Of course, lots of people buy recreational items at work. Perhaps these financial services employees are reading their copies of Hannibal while sitting on the beach -- not while advising you on how to roll over your 401(k).

In any case, these lists offer a glimpse into the private lives of companies that often like to cover up their human imperfections. There are no serious conclusions you can draw from reading these lists. But it will be hard to think of Fidelity as impervious now that you know everybody's pouring through Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood (No. 6 on the fund company's bestseller list).

So just for fun, let's take a look:

Goldman on My Mind

For people working 18-hour days, you'd think the employees at Goldman Sachs (GS) would want to indulge in some lighter fare in their spare time. But they seem to like nothing more than reading about Goldman Sachs.

The top two books purchased by Goldman employees are: Goldman Sachs: The Culture of Success by Lisa Endlich and Long Term Greedy: The Triumph of Goldman Sachs by Nils Lindskoog.

That's either loyalty or self-indulgence.

The Boss Man

Either the folks at Fidelity believe in Robert Pozen's wisdom or it's just good politics to keep his book on your desk.

The No. 1 book purchased by Amazon.com customers at Fidelity is the textbook The Mutual Fund Business by Pozen, who is the company's president. Employees of Charles Schwab (SCH) are not quite as enamored of the boss' prose. Charles Schwab's Guide to Financial Independence: Simple Solutions for Busy People ranks just ninth for that firm.

Vanguard Softies

Vanguard's already got a hefty public relations problem thanks to Jack Bogle's forced retirement from the fund company's board. But the firm might have an even bigger problem on its hands.

Its employees are reading Suze Orman.

Her books discuss the spiritual and psychological power of money and how investors should face these feelings and fears as part of investing. Orman's The 9 Steps to Financial Freedom is ranked ninth among books purchased by Vanguard employees.

This work seems to be a little out of place at a firm known for its practicality and pragmatism. Maybe the firm's employees are ripe for a spiritual awakening ... or a diet. Vanguard staffers do seem to be interested in shedding a few pounds. Two high-protein diet books appear on the Amazon.com list: Dr. Atkins' New Diet Revolution by Robert Atkins, No. 6, and Protein Power: The High-Protein/Low Carbohydrate Way to Lose Weight, Feel Fit, and Boost Your Health -- in Just Weeks! by Michael Eades and Mary Dan Eades, No. 8.

I wonder if the number of hamburgers being consumed in the Vanguard galley is on the rise.

Valley of the Traders

People love to read about money, scandal and greed.

And, not surprisingly, interest in Liar's Poker hasn't waned. Michael Lewis' book about Salomon Brothers is the quintessential kiss-and-tell tome about Wall Street, a Valley of the Dolls for the trading set. The book is at the top of the list for Lehman Brothers (LEH) and is also No. 5 on Goldman's list of frequently purchased books.

The former Salomon Brothers is now part of Salomon Smith Barney, a piece the global powerhouse Citigroup (C). Ironically, the book does not make an abbreviated top-six list for Salomon Smith Barney.

Merger Play

When the former Montgomery Securities was bought by NationsBank (now Bank of America (BAC), some critics carped that the newly rich partners wouldn't spend much time working.

The merger seems to be going OK, but some employees seem to be spending some hours working on their swing.

Employees at the firm, which Amazon.com still tracks under Montgomery Securities, are buying The Majors: In Pursuit of Golf's Holy Grail by John Feinstein, ranked No. 9, and Dave Pelz's Short Game Bible: Master the Finesse Swing and Lower Your Score, ranked No. 10.

At least these professionals aren't reading books on how to start your own Internet company.

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