I've been reading "The Origins of the Crash" by Roger Lowenstein for the last little while, which details the sordid details behind the late 90's bubble. I was aware (in a vague sense) of all the corruption Enron and others got up to, but this book spells out just how incestuous the accounting, consulting and executive camps got (and undoubtedly still are).
As for me, I've been screwing around with the Hollywood Stock Exchange, which lets you invest pretend money on Hollywood stars and movies. Rather than just pick a bunch of stuff at random, I decided I'd use my (up to this point) pointless movie knowledge and combine it with principles laid out in "The Intelligent Investor," which basically says "grab something with a good future, and then sit on it while it goes up. Don't get suckered by the flashy stuff."
So I investeed in Alexander, Oliver Stone's new saga coming in November, Ghost in the Shell, which was dirt cheap, and Star Wars Episode III, which didn't come cheap but which will go through the sky come April 2005. I also made a pile of pretend money off of Resident Evil 2, which is sort of the equivalent of investing in a crappy chemical company you really don't like but which you know will make you a bunch of money. Anyway, I've made about $80,000 in not-coin with this approach. Don't think I'll be trying this with real money any time soon, but it's kinda fun.