Book Review: 'Confessions of a Wall Street Analyst'

Retired research analyst Dan Reingold opens his story in a Manhattan courthouse, where he beholds a deflated Bernie Ebbers. Ebbers, the former WorldCom chief, has just been found guilty of masterminding the nation's largest corporate fraud. Reingold reflects on the lies, greed and ruin left in WorldCom's wake.

But somehow, a bigger villain emerges out of Reingold's tale of the telecom bubble: his rule-bending archrival, Jack Grubman.

Reingold's book Confessions of a Wall Street Analyst, released Feb. 7, chronicles his 14-year rise from MCI number-cruncher to top telecom research analyst. These, of course, weren't ordinary times. The stock market was on a tear, and investors armed with truckloads of money were hunting for growth stocks. This coincided with federal legislation that helped create hundreds of new phone companies. And advances in wireless technology, fiber optic networking and the Internet opened huge market opportunities. ...