In a column for Bloomberg.com, author Michael Lewis (of Liar's Poker and Moneyball fame) weighs in with his thoughts on how money managers and investors can beat the recession. In order to be at the right place at the right time when the economy turns around, you need to keep in mind three simple rules. Not only must you "commit them to memory," you must "take them to heart, and allow them to guide your every step."

After brilliantly describing the psychology of Wall Street and describing what types of money managers will do best in a difficult economic environment, he wraps up with Rule #3: "Hide your motives [and] minimize the appearance of financial interest." In other words, "don't tell anyone how well you're doing for yourself, for example, not even women you have just met. Recessions blow in with them a general backlash against worldly pleasures and material obsessions." 

There are two ways to read Michael Lewis' Bloomberg column, of course: as a breezy, witty take on the current state of affairs on Wall Street -- or as an insightful guide to interpreting the words and actions of talking heads, pundits and investors as they go about shaping public opinion. Just the other day, for example, legendary oilman T. Boone Pickens wrote a lengthy and impassioned op-ed piece in the Wall Street Journal about alternative energy and wind power.

[image: Michael Lewis]