The Fortune Tellers

From the author of the "New York Times" bestseller "Spin Cycle" comes this engrossing, entertaining expose of how the media -- from television to newspapers to the Internet -- drive the financial markets today.

The booming economy and mass investing have produced an insatiable demand for financial news and given rise to a group of "fortune tellers" eager to scoop and spread the latest intelligence. In this riveting, unsettling book, Howard Kurtz introduces the powerful journalists, commentators, and analysts whose reports -- too often based on rumor, speculation, and misinformation -- have a real-time impact on the rise and fall of stocks and on the financial health of millions of investors.

Focusing on such well-known figures as cable TV's Ron Insana, Maria Bartiromo, and Lou Dobbs; Christopher Byron and other print reporters who specialize in exclusives; and superstar analysts Ralph Acampora and Henry Blodget, "The Fortune Tellers" is an incisive, often amusing, and sometimes terrifying report by a journalist well known for his sharp-eyed observations and behind-the-scenes access. In a time of head-spinning volatility, "The Fortune Tellers" is essential reading for all of us who gamble with our savings in today's overheated stock market.