Many books have been written about Wall Street's legendary pioneers, as well as present-day players who stand out above the crowd. Some have been made into films, giving the movie-going public some insight into the fast-moving world of high finance, where fortunes are made and lost in the blink of an eye. With a complex system that requires stringent regulation, and has some bendable rules, very few have avoided making some bad choices during their Wall Street careers and generally mistakes that are made become public knowledge at some point. These mistakes and bad choices, as well as noteworthy success stories, provide worthwhile lessons for anyone considering making a living on the stock market.

In a recently article published by HITC News it was noted that even some of Wall Street's true legends do not have unblemished track records. It went on to name thirty-eight people considered to have reached legendary status, including John Pierpont Morgan, Nathaniel Mayer Rothschild, Warren Buffet, Jay Gould, Michael Milken, Jesse Livermore, Charles R. Schwab, Sigmund Warburg, Pete Peterson and Bernard Baruch, as the top ten. Certainly, there is much to learn from high profile Wall Street investors, as well as from the manner in which regulatory bodies carry out their duties to ensure fair play in this often volatile environment. The ever changing face of technology also requires regulators and legislators to keep abreast of developments to ensure that there are appropriate rules and regulations to monitor stock market activity in a manner that ensures fair play.

A recent book written by Gretchen Morgenson and Joshua Rosner analyses the activities, and the people, that led to the unprecedented economic meltdown in the United States, rippling out to the rest of the world, in 2008. Under the title of Reckless Endangerment the book promises to expose How Outsized Ambition, Greed and Corruption Led to Economic Armageddon. In a recent interview on Bloomberg Radio, the authors were outspoken in naming specific people and linking them to events that whipped the security blanket off an entire nation, leaving them vulnerable. The authors, who are both seasoned New York Times contributors, noted that, although there have been a number of books based on these cataclysmic events, and there will no doubt be more in the future, Reckless Endangerment specifically identifies influential people who have not yet been brought out into the open, and it ties up previously unidentified links between critical elements and events. Because of the complexity of the situation, many Main Street Americans have been left feeling helpless, wanting to know who is actually responsible for the economic chaos that has led to job losses, home foreclosures and all the insecurity that goes with it. Authors such as Gretchen Morgenson and Joshua Rosner, who are unafraid to speak out, appear to be laying the blame at the feet of those responsible at last.