If you're looking for a history of oil and gas check out The Prize, and The Frackers covers the more recent energy revolution. Oil 101 and Fundamentals of Investing in Oil and Gas deal more with the technical side.
i said that he didn't need to have any business knowledge, his fortune was made off of a technology that none of his competitors had, which gave him an absolute edge - it's like being able to buy stock at a 50% discount and then sell it at full value on the open market.
one of the last things i mentioned was that fred koch was a great businessman and chemist - my intention was to insinuate that failure was nearly impossible under that set of circumstances. he was in an almost constant legal battle with the enormous e&p monopolies of the time, he brought his technology to the ussr when he couldn't use it stateside, and he created the platform for an oil services/technology company in probably the best time in early american history to do so. he was booming while the stock market was crashing and his innovations in using lighter napthas to create more gasoline out of the same amount of crude oil made rock island oil into the empire that it is now.
if i'm being candid, i wasn't expecting to be asked for sources since people post complete bullshit here all the time, and my original post is clearly littered with my opinions and isn't intended to be an academic exercise..
i'll give you a list but you might have to go to the library or hit up amazon
sons of wichita - dan schulman (the book's alright but gives insight to the early generations of the koch family rather than brothers)
oil 101 - morgan downey (describes the oil industry from top to bottom in a digestbile and interesting way, totally recommend if you're even sligthly interested in learning about the industry - describes cracking as it relates to refining business)
you can easily google the history of koch industries too, as well as excerpts from the books.
Oil 101 by Morgan Downey is a good overview of all parts of the industry. I recommend reading that before getting in depth with other resources recommended here.
The answer to the headline question is no, a thousand times no.
Even Citi's vice chairman Robert Rubin was blind to e.g. 'liquidity puts' on massive off-balance sheet liabilities, which drastically changed Citi's economics to put in mildly. If Citi doesn't understand their own balance sheet, what chance have you got?
Even Warren Buffett sometimes gets blindsided. For instance, Amazon's cloud is eating IBM's lunch of running corporate IT departments and data centers, commoditizing what used to be a high-ticket, high-margin service business.
Even Warren Buffett puts a lot of stuff (most stuff?) in the too hard pile. Especially Warren Buffett.
You don't have to understand how to drill an oil well (although it helps, see e.g. http://amzn.to/24hNwlw , http://amzn.to/1sIYV22 ). What you have to understand is whether we're going to keep drilling oil wells, whether the guys who own and drill wells are going to keep needing Halliburton, and whether Halliburton can keep earning, growing and making a good return on capital re-invested.
It's Nial Fergesuon, who has had his own series of dramas and dumb stuff. The Ascent of Money has a SLIGHT libertarian tinge... but it wasn't bad enough that I didn't enjoy it. I consider it a history book, and he attempts to write it like one.
I have an eccentric obsession with the oil/energy industry. Some of these books were mentioned already, but below are my absolute favorites:
If you're looking for a history of oil and gas check out The Prize, and The Frackers covers the more recent energy revolution. Oil 101 and Fundamentals of Investing in Oil and Gas deal more with the technical side.
i said that he didn't need to have any business knowledge, his fortune was made off of a technology that none of his competitors had, which gave him an absolute edge - it's like being able to buy stock at a 50% discount and then sell it at full value on the open market.
one of the last things i mentioned was that fred koch was a great businessman and chemist - my intention was to insinuate that failure was nearly impossible under that set of circumstances. he was in an almost constant legal battle with the enormous e&p monopolies of the time, he brought his technology to the ussr when he couldn't use it stateside, and he created the platform for an oil services/technology company in probably the best time in early american history to do so. he was booming while the stock market was crashing and his innovations in using lighter napthas to create more gasoline out of the same amount of crude oil made rock island oil into the empire that it is now.
if i'm being candid, i wasn't expecting to be asked for sources since people post complete bullshit here all the time, and my original post is clearly littered with my opinions and isn't intended to be an academic exercise..
i'll give you a list but you might have to go to the library or hit up amazon
sons of wichita - dan schulman (the book's alright but gives insight to the early generations of the koch family rather than brothers)
oil 101 - morgan downey (describes the oil industry from top to bottom in a digestbile and interesting way, totally recommend if you're even sligthly interested in learning about the industry - describes cracking as it relates to refining business)
you can easily google the history of koch industries too, as well as excerpts from the books.
Oil 101 for any of you autists who want to learn more about pricing. the global supply and how it all works.
Oil 101 by Morgan Downey is a good overview of all parts of the industry. I recommend reading that before getting in depth with other resources recommended here.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/0982039204/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_2jZWDbFH6N89N
Oil 101 has good reviews.
The answer to the headline question is no, a thousand times no.
Even Citi's vice chairman Robert Rubin was blind to e.g. 'liquidity puts' on massive off-balance sheet liabilities, which drastically changed Citi's economics to put in mildly. If Citi doesn't understand their own balance sheet, what chance have you got?
Even Warren Buffett sometimes gets blindsided. For instance, Amazon's cloud is eating IBM's lunch of running corporate IT departments and data centers, commoditizing what used to be a high-ticket, high-margin service business.
Even Warren Buffett puts a lot of stuff (most stuff?) in the too hard pile. Especially Warren Buffett.
You don't have to understand how to drill an oil well (although it helps, see e.g. http://amzn.to/24hNwlw , http://amzn.to/1sIYV22 ). What you have to understand is whether we're going to keep drilling oil wells, whether the guys who own and drill wells are going to keep needing Halliburton, and whether Halliburton can keep earning, growing and making a good return on capital re-invested.
Nice, here are some more.
https://rbnenergy.com/
http://www.amazon.com/Oil-101-Morgan-Downey/dp/0982039204
http://belfercenter.ksg.harvard.edu/publication/24870/falling_short.html
http://www.theoildrum.com/node/2470
http://www.igu.org/sites/default/files/node-page-field_file/IGU%20-%20World%20LNG%20Report%20-%202014%20Edition.pdf
There is the occasional subreddit food-for-thought, like this
Just got this for xmas, but haven't read it yet... supposed to be good
If you're serious, start here for understanding Energy. Then something much more light weight about Oil
Then you can read light edutainment like The Prize with more gain.
/r/SecurityAnalysis maintain a decent reading list.
The following is taken from it:
History
I don't know of any that compare, but, the Napoleon's Buttons is SUPPOSED to be good.
http://www.amazon.com/Napoleons-Buttons-Molecules-Changed-History/dp/1585423319/
Other books, engineering related, that I liked are:
Norm Lieberman's Process Troubleshooting books, the guy cracks me up!
Working Guide to Process Equipment (3rd edition probably cheaper): http://www.amazon.com/Working-Guide-Process-Equipment-Fourth/dp/0071828060/
Process Equipment Malfunctions (not as good as the other one, some overlap, but still worthwhile, and covers more breadth for individual issues): http://www.amazon.com/Process-Equipment-Malfunctions-Techniques-Identify/dp/0071770208/
The Prize (mentioned above): http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1439110123/ref=redir_mdp_mobile/188-3799228-4803548
The Quest (Follow on to The Prize): http://www.amazon.com/Quest-Energy-Security-Remaking-Modern/dp/0143121944/
Oil 101: http://www.amazon.com/Oil-101-Morgan-Downey/dp/0982039204/
The Mythical Man Month (Not engineering directly as it pertains to software, but, projects and project management are huge in engineering, though this book is timeless): http://www.amazon.com/Mythical-Man-Month-Software-Engineering-Anniversary/dp/0201835959/
Piping Systems Manual (You can NEVER know enough about pipe!): http://www.amazon.com/Piping-Systems-Manual-Brian-Silowash/dp/0071592768/
Pumps and Pumping Operations (OMG it is $4, hardcover, go buy now! This book is great... did you know OSU didn't teach their Chem E's about pumps? I was flabbergasted, gave this to our intern and he became not a scrub by learning about pumps!): http://www.amazon.com/Pumping-Operations-Prentice-Pollution-Equipment/dp/0137393199/
Any good engineer needs to understand MONEY too:
The Ascent of Money: http://www.amazon.com/Ascent-Money-Financial-History-World/dp/0143116177/
It's Nial Fergesuon, who has had his own series of dramas and dumb stuff. The Ascent of Money has a SLIGHT libertarian tinge... but it wasn't bad enough that I didn't enjoy it. I consider it a history book, and he attempts to write it like one.
Have fun!
[Oil 101]
(https://www.amazon.com/Oil-101-Morgan-Downey/dp/0982039204)
isn't bad. [Masting the Grain Markets] (https://www.amazon.com/Mastering-Grain-Markets-Profits-Really/dp/1477582967) also isn't bad. Neither will teach you everything you need to know, that will only come on the job.
I haven't read it yet but Oil 101 was recommended to learn about the Oil industry.