5 comments about Fire Your Stock Analyst!: Analyzing Stocks On Your Own.

1. How can one be completely confident in stock analysts who didn't see the current crisis coming? Now in an expanded and fully updated second edition, "Fire Your Stock Analyst! Analyzing Stocks On Your Own" is a guide for those who want to save money and have faith in themselves to make wise economic decisions. Harry Domash, a MSN Money investing columnist, comes to readers with wise advice on stock trading, stating that with a little research, anyone can play the stock market on their own, without an analyst leeching their dollars. "Fire Your Stock Analyst!" is a choice and very recommended pick for those who look for financial success in stocks.



2. How many people do you know who have their own stock analyst? Probably not many, but how many have stock brokers? A lot. That's why this book should be titled Fire Your Stock Broker. This book is about analyzing stocks based on the author's experience and conversations with top money managers.
   
   The author places a lot of emphasis on investors being able to do their own research. Too many people rely on Wall Street analysts. The author says:
   
   "You won't fare well following analysts' buy/sell advice, but their recommendations and forecasts give you information about the market's enthusiasm for any stock and can help you qualify stocks as viable value or growth candidates."
   
   This book is pretty long, and some may find it too difficult to read. It should not be read in one sitting. This is a reference book that can be used by investors while analyzing particular companies. I recommend it to investors who pick their own stocks.
   
   - Mariusz Skonieczny, author of Why Are We So Clueless about the Stock Market? Learn how to invest your money, how to pick stocks, and how to make money in the stock market



3. the best book to anderstand the fundamental ANALYSIS
   soo soo easy to use



4. Once I picked the book up I could not put it down. The book is well organized and fairly easy to follow. All the Websites are fairly up-to-date (meaning if he says yahoo is a good source for this information, it still is). I do recommend making a list of the criteria he goes through and listing the websites as you do it, that way you don't have to go back and reread the entire book.



5. Domash has done it. This is the book that covers everything you need to know abaout analyzing a stock. And that is what makes the book "the best" book on stock investing. Many say that Graham's Intelligent Investor is the best, but I think it is not, since although valuable all it does is giving you a bunch of screening criteria at the end of the day. This is coming from a person who knows the CFA curriculum inside out!!
   
   The book covers many areas from equity valuation to detecting financial shenanigans, from Porter's five forces to technical analysis. Of course, all of these subjects can not be covered in detail in a 300 page book, but beginners will find most of these information quite interesting and valuable. Experts and professionals, on the other hand, will not find a new info on this book, but they will still benefit from the presented methods and the system on analyzing stocks.
   
   If I have to add few negative comments here they are:
   
   1- Domash stirictly differentiates between a "value stock" and a "growth stock". So a stock can't qualify to be both. I don't believe any stock investment can be so black and white.
   
   2- Target price forecast: I would like it if Domash also covered DCF valuation models like FCFE and FCFF. But then it would be necessary to explain the concepts such as equity risk premium, WACC, growth assumptions, terminal value. It would have added maybe 30 more pages. Links between balance sheet, income statement, book value, dividends so on.. is not explained. A beginner may find some lose ends reading the book.
   
   3- Forecasting sales and margins requires a little better research I think. By just looking at the trend, analyst forecasts and saying "I am assuming that the company will not grow in 2002 but it will resume its growth in 2003" is not very well justified. But the idea clear only you have to do a better research.
   
   4- I would also like to see financial models done on a spreadsheet for demonstration.
   
   This list could go on but then I would be unrealisticly expecting too much from a 300 page book. So I will stop here. Nontheless, I don't say this cliche often, and I say it now. This is a MUST READ for any non-pro individual who is interested in equity analysis.

3 comments about The Great Deleveraging: Economic Growth and Investing Strategies for the Future.

1. As with Sergeant Friday, the authors search for the facts, present them and interpret them. That makes this book a useful compendium -- and a useful primer -- for any investor. Furthrmore, the authors in remain pretty objective, recognizing that debt has a time and a place, and deleveraging in turn have their times and places.



2. The authors have written an insightful, must read, book for any executive involved in global business strategy. Understanding the projected demographics and growth drivers globally - particularly for emerging economies - is critical to developing business strategies and the authors argue convincingly that to succeed in the coming decades business leaders will need to be ahead of the curve and their competitors in understanding this rapidly changing landscape. Further, the authors compellingly describe the unfolding great deleveraging of the global public sector and how it will fundamentally challenge how Americans and Europeans are served by their respective governments. Hang on to your seat, it will be a thrilling ride.



3. I found the history of the stock market very interesting.
   
   Topics such as the US plunge into massive debt were well researched and presented.
   
   I feel much more confident about making long term investments given the opportunities they discuss in the emerging economies.
   
   Well done.

5 comments about The Intelligent Investor: The Definitive Book on Value Investing. A Book of Practical Counsel (Revised Edition).

1. A must read for any value investor. Finding companies that fit Graham's criteria will be nearly impossible in today's market, but still well worth the read.



2. Brothers and cousins and Uncles had often referred to Graham style of investing - as if it was expected that everyone had read and understood this book. I finally decided that maybe I ought to read it. And I am glad I bought the book to have!



3. I am a new investor and I think this is a great book to get started. Wonderful insight into the functioning of markets and investments.



4. I just finished Chapter 1. Anyhow, I like the book. It's like the author is talking to you honestly about his experience and thoughts. He does not overcomplicate things. He differentiates clearly the difference between investors and speculators. It made me realize that I was one of the speculators since I liked to watch stock quotes daily.



5. I had been reading this book since the same time I was initiating my investment life in stocks. With it i discovered some mistakes I had been doing then correct the course of my investments. It was enlightening to discover my behavior was playing against me and I should control myself in order to avoid more losses. Thanks to this book now I have proffits.

5 comments about Liar's Poker.

1. Great bookLiar's Poker. It teaches a lot about the bond market, how the market works, and what bonds are all about. The book talks about market fools, and how the pros in the bond and equity markets make money off the market fools. Until I read this book, I didn't realize that I'm a market fool. This book has changed the way that I look at investing.



2. This book is an excellent look at the culture of the 1980's investment bank, primarily, the now non-existent, Salomon Brothers. This book takes the reader through the training program at SB with the author Lewis. Liar's Poker does a great job describing the characters in this investment house as well as the insanity that occurs on a daily basis at the trading desks and the woeful decisions by the CEO's of these banks.
   
   The look at SB was hilarious in its time, but now it is an excellent view of the creation of the Mortgage Backed Security and the large market of home loans that was created. This gives the reader a firsthand view of events that would eventually lead to the credit crisis of 2007-2009.
   
   In standard Lewis fashion the reader is given an easy to understand explanation of complicated financial transaction and markets, even the unsophisticated person can read this book and understand the happenings of the markets.
   
   I recommend this book; it is a great way to become familiar with Wall st and its interworkings.



3. I don't like buying abridged editions, and only did so here because I didn't see an unabridged CD of this book. This one proves why: too short and choppy, and you can tell that much is being left out. In addition, while the stories are interesting, the author's voice is quite incompatible with the material he's reading, and therefore a distraction. (If you want to hear the perfect Audio CD, try the unabridged Angela's Ashes, read by its author Frank McCourt ... pure magic. I'd venture to say you cannot truly understand from any other format what this incredible storyteller is trying to convey. You'll want to start it over as soon as it ends.)



4. This book had me after the first chapter, which left me with the hair on the back of my neck tingling with excitement. Michael Lewis is a great story teller and since he was on ground zero for Salomon brothers during their early years it gives him a massive amount of insight. This book is hilarious to read because it documents the mortgage trading culture wonderfully during its infancy...and explains how salomon bros sowed the seeds of it's own destruction early on with poor business practices while simultaneously creating the dangerous market of mortgages and derivatives. Excellent to read, complex but in layman's terms, and most importantly it is organized like a good novel: complete with beginning, middle, and end. I highly recommend this book for not only its informational value, but for its entertainment value as well.



5. Not a bad book about bond trading back in 1980s at Solomon. Couple of funny places that made me laugh. However, in general, it'd probably only be really interesting for those who are into bonds.

2 comments about Essentials of Investments with S&P card (The Mcgraw-Hill/Irwin Series in Finance, Insurance, and Real Estate).

1. The book arrived way before the arrival date and the book condition is perfect.
   I would definitely return to this endor. Thanks!!



2. Book came well packaged. Was advertised to have an online access code but when code turned out to not work, company was prompt about refund. Overall good customer service and quality product.

5 comments about Trading from Your Gut: How to Use Right Brain Instinct & Left Brain Smarts to Become a Master Trader.

1. Curtis Faith has an interesting writing voice, particularly for a trading book author.
   There's none of the loudmouth, faux-streetwise braggadocio that makes you want to
   throw some trading books against a wall (or through a TV screen).
   
   (Disclosure: I worked around Wall Street in the 80's, hung out in bars with the likes of these guys and generally found them to be as obnoxious then in their twenties as many of them still seem to be now in their fifties.)
   
   In refreshing contrast, Curtis Faith uses jarringly simple and direct language in a prose style that reads so relaxed you might start to wonder if he's some kind of naïve trading savant or a satori-infused Zen monk of the markets. Rest assured Faith has the rational/analytical side of trading covered; what he's presenting to us is his personal viewpoint informed by the ups and downs of life since his early success as a Turtle.
   
   In "Trading From Your Gut", Faith applies the popular Right/Left Brain metaphor to what he regards as the yin and yang approaches of a large majority of traders. The left-brainers are the quants, the technicians who tend to be either strict followers of one or more trading systems, or are certain that any trade they make can be justified by analysis. On the right side are the intuitive traders who are all about feel, emotion, and the psychology of the market - on the surface the very antithesis of the quant worldview, but Faith suggests there's plenty of common ground to be cultivated.
   
   With a title "Trading From Your Gut", Faith is obviously focusing on readers who lean toward an analytical, technical approach and could use some loosening up of their intuitive side.
   
   As an aside, I first encountered the Right/Left Brain metaphor in Betty Edwards' classic, "Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain" - still in my opinion one of the most effectively organized instructional books I've ever read on any subject (there's a review for you).
   
   I've also read that over the years aspects of Roger Sperry's initial brain research have been challenged and it's now fairly well-established that - yes - there certainly are different areas of the brain that handle different functions but - no - they're not quite so cleanly and discretely partitioned into hemispheres and they don't perform quite so independently as first thought.
   
   Regardless, Right/Left Brain is a vivid metaphor that's ingrained in our culture and there's little popular itching to replace it.
   
   Having read Faith's previous book, "Way of the Turtle", I found it hard at first to regard him was anything but a dyed-in-the-wool left-brainer. In "Trading From Your Gut" however, he claims upfront that he was always of both minds - rational and intuitive - as was his Turtle mentor Richard Dennis.
   
   Faith also displays an admirable humility by admitting 1) the methods he used to great success as a Turtle - primarily trend-following breakouts - don't work as well anymore (presumably because so many institutional traders incorporate the strategy into their programs and systems). 2) Rather than claiming like others to have found the Holy Grail of Trading Approaches, his own decision-making continues to evolve as it embraces over time even more of an intuitive approach.
   
   Instead of applying his insights to a wide variety of trading methods, Faith selects a single, popular strategy, swing trading, and demonstrates how a "whole-brain informed" trader might approach it combining both intuitive and analytical tools. He chooses swing trading because the days-to-weeks time frame of an average trade provides sufficient opportunity for practice. And he believes practicing decision making with real money on the line is ultimately the only way to become truly comfortable doing it.
   
   A major point of the book is that to benefit from intuitive insight traders (and decision makers in general) have to reduce the fear and anxiety they often feel over the decision making process. Using fast-paced day trading to illustrate would likely have been inappropriate for most readers - including myself. (Although someone attuned and comfortable with the pace of day trading would certainly benefit from what Faith has to say.)
   
   Faith's right brain techniques include focusing on patterns in charts rather than the numbers they represent to develop a faster, more efficient way to sift for trading opportunities. At first glance this doesn't appear to be a particularly original idea, with pattern matching tools now standard on most broker websites. But Faith's point is that relying superficially on something such as patterns is just as limiting - and potentially risky - as being constrained by an overly analytical approach. The two sides must reinforce and continually nourish one another.
   
   The final few pages of the book, ironically the afterword, really ties together Faith's strongest points effectively - so much so that I wish he'd presented similar thoughts much earlier in the text. Here Faith discusses techniques to reduce the fear and uncertainty that keep many people from trusting their intuition and clinging instead to an oftentimes false sense of security in hard facts and numbers.
   
   As hinted at above, I have to say a weakness of the book is the overall organization of the material.
   
   Even preface-writer Van Tharp indicated he glossed over the early chapters on well-known examples of Behavioral Finance due to his own background in psychology. Frankly a lot of this will be very familiar to anyone who regularly reads books or articles on money management and investing. I felt a lot of it wasn't essential to Faith's argument and could have been omitted or shortened.
   
   While weighing in at barely 200 pages, the book took an unusually long time to read because the focus drifted between different aspects and examples of intuitive thinking. Perhaps this was inevitable with such a topic. But however interesting the various and sometimes lengthy digressions into brain functioning, grand prix racing, chess, and skydiving were, their ultimate purpose didn't materialize effectively until the end of the book. I got it by the time I reached the end; I just couldn't help at times wishing the book came with its own GPS.
   
   Another small criticism is the use throughout of extracted highlight quotes before they actually appear in the text - often immediately before. I don't know whether the author or editor is the culprit here, but it's a bizarre practice in a book and really gunks up the prose rhythm. If you want to extract quotes for reinforcement, in my opinion, do it after they've appeared at least once.
   
   One last small turn-off for me was being treated to a sneak peek of the next installment in Curtis Faith's "Art of the Trade" trilogy, namely a preview of the author's next book on trading FOREX. Perhaps I'm too much the purist but this kind of promotion at the end always detracts from the experience I've just had and feels like the literary equivalent of a telemarketing call after dinner.
   
   The above criticisms aside, there's clearly good stuff to be found in "Trading From Your Gut": valuable lessons that go far beyond trading, particularly for those who over-analyze decisions to the point of paralysis and are forever hesitant to go against "what the numbers say".
   
   Faith's key point is that rational/intuitive is not an if/else dichotomy. The rational inevitably informs the intuitive, as does the opposite. The more you understand the analytical side of what you're dealing with the more informed your intuitive hunches will be. That's as true of the jazz musician as it is of the athlete as it is of the trader.
   
   "Trading From Your Gut" is a calmly-paced meditation on the author's continually evolving attitude towards decision-making - not just for trading but in all aspects of life.
   
   It's worth a patient and thoughtful read.



2. This is a hard book to review. First, let me say right off, this is one of the best books on trading I have ever read. For me. The question is, is it for you? The reason I say this is that I feel if you are new to trading, or are more of an "investor" (long term style trader) it may not be as good for you. It would all depend on your experiences and background, I think, and how open you are to the ideas presented.
   
   In my fairly long trading career, I've paid my dues and struggled as most do. Made a lot, lost a lot, typical story. I took a few years off from trading and worked on my 'system' and thought about what was going right and wrong for me. Gradually, I eased back in to trading. But I went about things in a very different way. I discounted everything I had read and thought about trading and decided to do it "my way." I set my "system" aside and just traded. I simplified my approach and I trusted my instincts and intuition more. And, bingo! For me, it started to work better than ever before.
   
   Good news, but exactly why and how was this so? I thought about that a lot, but it wasn't until I read this book that I knew the answer. It was because I was now trading using both logic and intuition, in a holistic fashion, and not crippled by over reliance on my left-brain "system." And all that stuff I had "discounted" was stuff I had learned and absorbed and was still there to draw on. Like a baseball player who does not "think" about how to hit the ball, but just does it, I was not over-thinking my trading, I was just "doing it" putting all my hard won knowledge and skills to work and using my right-brain to put it all together and call the shots. (Well, it's hard to explain, but hopefully this gives you the gist. If it sounds like I'm a "hippie" trader...LOL..well, not so. Without the hard work, training and practice, it won't work. Can't just "be" there. You have to do the work.)
   
   But will this book open this door for you? Possibly. But I think you will have to be "ready" and receptive. (So if you buy it and don't "get it" at first, keep it handy on your shelf. It may hit you differently later.)
   
   The author, after a basic introduction to fundamental technical analysis and trading, explains in a friendly and easily understood way, how we use our left brain and right brain in daily life and why both are important to our survival and decision making. And he details how we train ourselves through play and practice with the skills we need. Skills that the right brain can then bring to bear with its unique pattern matching and gestalt style processes. For me, this was a revelation and I suddenly understood what I had been through and why it was working for me. This is important, because this understanding gives one confidence and trust in ones methods.
   
   The book is easy to read and understand and I learned a lot of interesting things about how we think and make decisions. Fascinating stuff. Lots of entertaining anecdotes as examples. The book is not that long, but there is a lot of substance contained in it. Many very useful nuggets of trading wisdom sprinkled throughout. I think the book could have used a few more actual trading examples illustrating how the right brain can take the left-brain knowledge and apply it in "fuzzy" situations, perhaps, but it's all there. The sincere desire of the author to help comes through as well. All in all, a great book if you are ready for it.
   
   As trading books go, it's very reasonably priced and I recommend it highly to anyone who is an active trader.



3. Trading From Your Gut is Curtis Faith's newest book. Curtis Faith was one of Richard Denis's turtles, and has made millions in the stock market. I have the hope of one day making millions as well in the market and so I figured I'd give this book a read. It was a very interesting, unique, and informative read, though it's not ever going to be the last book you ever read. It's sound principles consist of removing your emotions from the market and don't fight the market.
   
   Other books I would reccomend are,
   How To Trade In Stocks by Jesse Livermore
   Trend Following by Michael Covel
   William O'Neil books
   The Intelligent Investor by Ben Graham
   Nicolas Darvas Books
   Trend Trading for a Living by Thomas K. Carr (THIS ONE IS ONE OF THE MORE IMPORTANT ONES I DO BELIEVE)
   
   These books have helped me turn a small pitance of 5,000 dollars into over 150 thousand dollars in the markets in the last year and a half. This book was a great contribution to my library and would be for yours as well.



4. For me, this book was so good that I wish I could give it more than 5 stars. I am a left-brained, systematic trader type, I have read his "Way of the Turtle" book as well as Michael Covel's "Trend Following" and "The Complete Turtle Trader" books, and have gone so far to have written several programs that show me that the Turtle trading rules still work great for stocks, ETF's and Mutual Funds.
   
   In fact, I probably spent time working on my programs just to avoid looking at the charts, since I had always found them "noisy", pushing me into information overload and only getting through the first few charts on the watchlist. When it comes time to entering or exiting my systematic program trades, I found I still had a hard time pulling the trigger.
   
   During this time, I have come to recognize a few indicators that actually do very well at telling me when the investment is bottoming, topping or beginning to trend, and actually would have gotten me into the same trades that my program would have entered, but often with better entries and exits.
   
   This book was a major breakthrough for me in recognizing that I have been blocking my right brain from wanting to help me do the right thing and protect me from danger and loss. I now recognize that my right brain (intuition) and left brain (systematic program trading) must be aligned and working together to make my trading most effective.
   
   I now to get through large watchlists in a short amount of time by looking for just a few patterns that my intuition has told me (and I've proven through enough left-brain studies) to work well. My mental chatter has dropped off considerably, my stress level has dropped and I really feel like my whole-brain is now working together rather than in conflict.
   
   If you are looking for a trading system or specific rules to use to become a better trader, check out the books mentioned above. This book is really focused on "getting your mind right" by recognizing that your right brain and left brain have complementary roles to play in investment decisions, and that the master traders have succeeded in aligning both and use their whole brain effectively.
   
   If you feel like you've got a solid trading methodology but still can't pull the trigger - something is holding you back from taking action, read this book! If you feel stressed while trading, it's likely to be right brain/left brain misalignment that's at the root of the problem. This book will help you recognize some of the signs of this misalignment, how to use each half of the brain for what it does best, and exercises on how to actually develop and strengthen the coordination of both halves into an effective "whole brain" approach to trading.
   
   Excellent book, Curtis!



5. This book attempts to ride the coat-tails of recent research findings about instinct that have been popularized by Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking.
   
   This is simply a rehash of basic trading principles wrapped in BS scrapped from the bottom of the pop psych barrel. GIGO.

5 comments about Investments + Standard and Poor's Educational Version of Market Insight (Irwin/McGraw-Hill Series in Finance, Insurance and Real Estate).

1. Not to mention the delay of shipment. I got a Indian Edition which is prohibited to sell in the US when I order this book. Besides, there is no so-called "return policy". I got an as-is even though I order a NEW one. Don't tell me that you bring this book from your country and sell here in the US. Come on~ Is there any law to regulate those who sells the book printed "prohiboted to sell in the US and Canada"?? What a good seller!!



2. This book remains a classic from my years at BU. However, later on i learned that you need to put the theory of it with real books from traders and hedge fund managers like Toby Crabel and Linda Raschke. They both are phenomenal personalities and their books are always out of print. You may be able still to find something on Ebay or Amazon. Good luck, this is a good book.



3. My order should be two books as advertised in their website, it is a package of two however, they only give me one book, they are not honest at all ..... Be careful when order things from them .......Cheater......!!!!!!!Investments



4. The book was in perfect condition as promised and the delivery was fast and without problems.



5. I have only read the first 4 chapters but it has a lot of information in it and I'm happy with the book so far.

5 comments about Trade Like an O'Neil Disciple: How We Made 18,000% in the Stock Market (Wiley Trading).

1. A very good book on CANSLIM. Read quickly once as I couldn't keep it down. This was on my long plan trip. Started the second round. I echo some of the other reviewers concern especially Chandra. A must read for CANSLIM followers. Why 4-STAR, not sure why these disciples didn't use DGO charts, it really annoyed me. The charts lacks RS line info at the pocket pivot point. Some of the paragraph are so confusing and I couldn't understand what they are trying to say or are they saying they are better than WON. The author says "my model" but it is basically WON's - CAN-"M"-SLIM. Which I can't accept. This book title might be misleading for newcomers to think making money is easy and an overnight rich scheme. It is not so. Lot of hard work, patience and most important market trend is needed. Otherwise it is one of my BEST books I love to read again and again...why, for CANSLIM believers, this book has several subtle details or read between lines to understand what goes through in your mind.



2. In a year around 40 to 50 books on trading are published, I read most of them, there are very few which have actionable trading ideas and can help you enhance your trading skills. Trade Like an O'Neil Disciple: How We Made 18,000% in the Stock Market is one of the best books I have read in recent years. I am already reading it second time and taking extensive notes.
   If you are growth/ IBD/ momentum/ CANSLIM kind investor you will find practical ideas and some new ways of entering and exiting trades. You will also learn how explosive returns are possible under right circumstances using those methods.
   The book also goes in to details of short selling and has couple of good short selling strategies.
   The book is not for beginners and those looking for simple methods without much effort, you need to have some foundation about growth and momentum investing before appreciating and understanding it.
   A must buy for growth/momentum investor who want explosive returns..



3. In 2010 we all know that the stock market is a challenging and financially dangerous environment. Trade like an O'Neil Disciple reminds us that with ongoing observation, we can capitalize on the opportunities in common stocks. Morales and Kacher deliver new insight and enhancements to CAN SLIM, the very best investment methodology as rated by the American Association of Individual Investors. I loved the all the charts of the great winners from 1995 through 2010. The "pocket pivot" and the selling techniques using the 10-day and 50-day moving averages are powerful refinements to the classic CAN SLIM buy and sell rules. Additionally, it's nice to learn that even the best traders have major mistakes, even with access to the resources of William O'Neil & Co. The list of best books on the stock market is a great help in pointing us in the right direction. If you want to be the best trader you can be, you should definitely reed this book.



4. This book is like a piece of art for those who make their livings trading. There are many new and fresh ideas that can be applied to a trading plan. I couldn't put it down and it is a fun read. A must have book!!!!



5. This book is an excellent addition to the CANSLIM literature. To understand this book's place in the grand scheme of trading literature, I have to digress first.
   
   If you have been trading for a few years and have read some of the classic literature on trading (e.g., Market Wizards series), you know that the vast majority of successful traders are trend followers. The objective of trend followers is to capture trends in markets with limited risk. The rules of trading that all trend followers stick to are letting profit run, cutting losses short, and manage risk.
   
   O'Neil is in his core a trend follower. He suggests cutting losses at 7-8% or less. Once he latches onto a big trend, he sits tight with the trend until the trend runs its full course (e.g., his trades in Chrysler, Syntex, Pic `N Save, Amgen, Charles Schwab, AOL, Sun Microsystems, EBAY, and more recently in AAPL). O'Neil also manages risk of his trades by rigorous stock selection, broad market timing, and position sizing.
   
   How good is O'Neil? According to some accounts, O'Neil has an average annul return of over 40% for nearly half a century (1962 - present). That's better than anyone else with such a long-term track record. His numbers are better than those of Warren Buffet's, Peter Lynch's, and even George Soros'. Some have argued that given O'Neil's great rate of return over such a long period, why then isn't he as rich as Buffet or Soros? The answers are: 1. Although O'Neil is indeed very rich (2 Billion plus according to some accounts), O'Neil doesn't put all his capital in the market. 2. O'Neil doesn't trade other people's money, thus he doesn't have the leverage that Buffet and Soros have had. 3. O'Neil started with five thousand dollars, while most other big guns started with a lot more money, either theirs, or other people's money. 4. O'Neil's trading style doesn't allow him to trade multi-billion dollars - imagine selling 1 millions shares of a small stock at the market when your stop loss is hit! So, for whatever reasons, O'Neil is not as rich as Buffet or Soros on paper. But what the dickens does that matter to you? If you are reading this review, chances are you are a small fish, most of you may just want to make a little extra money to supplement your regular salary, some more ambitious may want to make enough money consistently in the market so that you can "trade for a living", and still a few, like myself, strive to "make millions" - So, the fact O'Neil is not as rich as Buffet or Soros shouldn't bother you. Because in your and my league, that is, the league of traders who manage the amount of money ranges from thousands to a few hundred millions, the best long-standing player is William O'Neil.
   
   In stock trading, the most reliable and confirming indicator suggesting lasting power of a leading stock with superior relative strength is that in its same industry group, there are one or more other leading stocks demonstrating similar superior relative strength (remember DRYS, TBSI, and TNH all moved at the same time, then POT, MOS, CF, TRA all moved at the same time, then FSLR, SPWRA, TSL, STP, CSIQ all moved at the same time?). Thus, using this analogy, if a host of traders out of the same group (O'Neil's group, in the broader sense, the trend-following crowd), using largely similar strategies, all achieved superior results, then there must be something special about this group. The only difference is that all the leading stocks will finally top out and become the best shorts while the best traders get better and spawn another crop of superior traders.
   
   Take a look at this long list of some of the best traders spawned by O'Neil's teaching: David Ryan (of Market Wizards fame, 1985, 1986, and 1987 US Investment Champion, with performance numbers of 161%, 160%, and 118% for those 3 years, respectively), Cedd Moses (1991 US Investing Champion, 379%), and Lee Freestone (1991 US Investing Championship, second place, 279%, 1992 US Investing Championship, second place again, 120%, and 1994 US Investing Champion - first place finally, 234%). Rumor has it that Mark Minervini (of Stock Market Wizards fame) also worked for or was [more likely] heavily influenced by O'Neil and David Ryan. According to Jack Schwager, Minervini's average annual compounded return between 1995 and 1999 was 220 percent, including his 155% first place finish in the 1997 US Investing Championship.
   
   Kacher and Morales, the authors of this book, are two more recent outstanding students of O'Neil's. Kacher's performance numbers: from 1996 to 2002, 110% per year for 7 years (could have been much higher had he decided to fully use his available capital, also remember he has included in the two and half years of the great bear market at the beginning of this century). Jil Morales' performance numbers: from 1998 to 2005: 80% per year for 8 years (excellent numbers given that a large chunk of this timeframe falls right into a once-in-a-life time bear market).
   
   So, Kacher and Morales' numbers speak for themselves - they are among the best. They are like the leading stocks from the No 1 industry group! So, their book is a must "long" for any serious trader.
   
   That's why I had placed a pre-order several months ago before the book was published and as soon as pre-orders became being allowed. So far, I have gone through the book only twice, and already liked it. The meat of the book, in my opinion, is Chapter 5 and Chapter 7. Chapter 7 discusses the Dr K's Market Direction Model, which is Kacher's formalization and refinement of O'Neil's concepts of using follow-through days to identify general market (a.k.a, broad market indices, such as the Nasdaq Composite and the S&P 500) bottoms and using cluster of distribution days to identify general market tops. Chapter 5 discusses entry points that are different from, and supplementary to, the classic O'Neil new high breakout of the nine or so O'Neil patterns (e.g., cup and handle, double bottom, flat base, and others). I don't know if these newly introduced "pocket pivot" are indeed very efficacious patterns with superior Risk/Reward ratio and reasonable reliability - but the concept is certainly interesting and one should check them out and back-test them thoroughly before applying these new concepts to his/her own trading. I find the buying-gap-ups entry more useful but once again I need to do more research myself before I can decide if or how I should incorporate it into my trading. I personally find the Dr K's Market Direction Model chapter most interesting, because I have been trying to do the same thing in the past few years. So, this chapter, plus Chapter 2, which Kacher describes how he made 180 times of his capital in 7 years using this model and individual stocks selection, will be most helpful to my evolution as a trader. Given any kind of decent seminar nowadays costs the trader thousands of dollars and more, and any mistakes in the market cost even more, I'd say the book is worth many times over its nominal price.
   
   Of course, the book is not perfect; nothing about the market is perfect because the market is not perfect. I agree with the previous reviewer's (Chandra Sekhar) comment that the writing can be improved. There are some inconsistencies of thoughts. For example, at the beginning of Chapter 7, page 226, the authors say that "while a market direction model may seem like a `timing model', we do not ascribe that term to it, since it does not adequately describe our approach in using such a model. A market direction model, in contrast to a timing model, should be... ". I bet anyone who is reading this would assume that the authors meant to say that market direction model is not equal to market timing model, however, the terms "market direction model" and "timing model" are used interchangeably throughout this Chapter and especially in Chapter 2, where the author would say "my timing model sheds much light on the character of the market" on one page (Page 35), and then one page later say "My market direction model is almost always on a buy signal during such times (Page 37). So, after having perused the relevant sections 3 or 4 times, I still don't know what the difference between "Market Direction Model" and "Timing Model" is. Overall after reading the book, I think they are the same, but the author seems to have especially pointed out they are not identical - I am still confused.
   
   Also, I wish that Kacher could have been more transparent and been less ambiguous about the rules and construction of his market direction model. But I assume that this model is proprietary and its full construction is not intended to be fully disclosed to the public.
   
   In addition, as the previous reviewer (Chandra Sekhar) hinted, Morales' trading of CUBE using a shipload of call options is not something that the readers of this book should aspire to. One of the most confusing aspects of the market is that in it, there are good trades, there are bad trades, there are wining trades, and there are losing trades. And they are not the same thing. A winning trade could be a bad trade. And in the case of Morales's hugely winning 1995 CUBE call options trade that increased his capital by 500% (not 1000% as the previous reviewer said) it was actually a bad trade. Why, because Morales could have lost all his money and would never be able to trade again. So from a long-term survival point of view, this trade is a bad trade, because he obviously overtraded, meaning, had he repeatedly position-sized like that(seems that he betted all his trading capital on that trade), very soon, he would have been wrong and could have lost everything. However, I am glad that Morales survived a potential disaster (partially based on skills, but largely due to luck), developed himself into a more disciplined trader (otherwise either his numbers would be astronomical or he wouldn't be here), and now can share with us his trading experience and techniques.
   
   So, despite the minor flaws mentioned above, all in all it is an excellent book. The book will help traders in general understand how other traders achieve their super performance and help CANSLIM traders in particular gain a deeper understanding of the O'Neil strategy. The authors share with us some techniques that they developed. By going through all the trading examples and trying to grasp the thought processes behind their writing and their trading examples, I've confirmed and validated some ideas that I independently came up with (e.g., there must be more ways to get into a trend than just O'Neil style base breakouts and 50-day MA entry), which are somewhat similar to the authors'. While the various gems throughout the text are valuable, the opportunities this book lends to confirming one's own ideas with the ideas of some of the world's top CANSLIM traders is invaluable.

5 comments about Who Can You Trust With Your Money?: Get the Help You Need Now and Avoid Dishonest Advisors.

1. Anyone considering hiring a financial adviser should read this book. The author, an experienced financial planner and media personality, was deceived by her own husband,a dishonest financial planner who stole from his clients and family. The book offers essential advice about how you can avoid people like him.



2. I highly recommend this book for a practical, common sense approach to investing. The Introduction and first chapter are an amazing personal account of the authors experience as the ex-spouse of Brad Bleidt, convicted of a Ponzi Investment scheme. She details how scammers rob their clients through a detailed web of lies and deception. She then presents a chapter by chapter "workbook" of tips, advise, strategy and glossary of financial terms that is easy to read and even easier to apply to your investing "plan". As non-financial professional, I found it a great practical, easy read......and a "must" to have in your bookshelf for quick reference !!!



3. This is the best book I have seen on this subject. Easy to read, interesting, focused, and extremely useful. If you only read one book about how to protect yourself from dishonest money managers this is the one to get. The author's personal story is also interesting, but does not get in the way of dispensing invaluable advice and information.



4. Excellent book, covering both the danger of Bernie Madoff type scams and the complexity of financial management. The need for competent and honest support in managing your financial matters and how to look for and acquire it.



5. Talk about betrayal. Not to diminish the impact of a man philandering on his wife, but to lie and steal from your mother, from your family, from your friends, from your colleagues, from your clients -- and, yes, from your wife -- is betrayal of the highest order of magnitude. Really, who can you trust?
   
   Bonnie Kirchner tells us who when it regards our money in Who Can You Trust With Your Money?; an important, necessary, and timely book. Just as only Nixon could open relations with China, only Bonnie Kirchner could write this book. Kirchner is a Certified Financial Planner practitioner, was one of New England's leading TV personal finance reporters... and was a casualty of her ex-husband's (Brad Bleidt) notorious Ponzi scheme.
   
   On November 10, 2004, I was on top of the world. My husband and I were commemorating a major milestone for the radio station we worked so hard to build. Finally we were taking programming twenty four hours, seven days a week. I couldn't have been more satisfied with my career, despite the grueling hours and the toll it was taking on my personal life. The morning after the celebration, our company's receptionist came to my office door with a package. It had my husband's writing on it, and I think we both drew the conclusion that it was an attempt by Brad to be romantic. "Too little, too late" was what I was thinking. Our marriage had been deteriorating since its inception five years prior... I opened the package and found a small recording device with a sticker pointing to the play button, which said "Press here" on it, once again in Brad's handwriting. I hit play. "Hello, Bonnie, it's me. Straight to the chase here. Tragic, tragic news..."
   (From the book's Introduction.)
   
   So this guy Bleidt is the largest Ponzi schemer in history (that is, until Bernie Madoff strides into the picture), and he lacks the courage to tell the truth in person, resorting to taped messages so he can continue to hide under his rock. Or fester in jail.
   
   Bonnie Kirchner obviously is a quick study. She offers many tips on how to spot the red flags that could alert you to dishonest financial advisors:
   * Do a "broker check"
   * Check references
   * Ask the right questions about any disturbing regulatory or disciplinary history on the part of the advisor or his/her firm
   * Be wary of any discrepancies you discover or a lack of a desire on the potential advisor's part to provide you with requested information
   * Don't accept vague explanations when it comes to investment strategies to be employed for your money
   * Verify where your investments will be held and what insurance coverage exists
   * Uncover potential compensation arrangements and determine whether or not they are in line with your expectations
   * Assess whether the advisor is overly eager to accept your assets and if so, why?
   
   Successful investing often confounds investors; Kirchner offers to her readers, in plain English, the answers she found to the questions posed above, and many others; her guidance helps investors of all types, shapes, and sizes.
   
   The true beauty of Who Can You Trust With Your Money?, though, is that Kirchner does not stop with discerning fraud perpetrated by financial advisors, but delves deeply into the topics of wealth management and estate planning. Her book offers no Holy Grail of successful investing, nor how to uncover the next Google/GOOG; it ventures neither topic. Kirchner's subtle message is that successful money management requires effort, just as with successful relationships; no paved road to easy wealth exists.
   
   Not what you want to hear, I am sure. Diligence and effort present their own rewards, though. As with all good things in life, the journey trumps the destination; Bonnie Kirchner shines a guiding light to help you on your way. In doing so, Who Can You Trust With Your Money? earns my highest recommendation; a book that belongs in every investor's library as handy resource, if not read frequently for the many insights it contains.

5 comments about More Money Than God: Hedge Funds and the Making of a New Elite.

1. More Money Than God is one of the top ten best selling investment books on Amazon right now. Half of the book is a history of the hedge fund industry while the rest of the book looks at their role in the investment world both good and bad. Although the whole book is written in a narrative style I noticed this pivot about half way through it.
   
   The author spent thousands of hours interviewing some of the top hedge fund players and his hard work shows. This is the best book I've read on the topic of hedge funds. It shows you how the industry started out with the first hedge fund created by Alfred Winslow Jones and continues up until the present day, with a penetrating discussion of the financial crisis, and interesting studies of the biggest and most successful hedge fund managers in between, such as George Soros, Michael Steinhardt, Julian Robertson, and Paul Tudor Jones.
   
   Mallaby asserts that hedge funds are not the big villain that people make them out to be. In contrast with the big banks that had to be bailed out hedge funds did not need to be bailed out in the financial crisis. Mallaby believes that the best and brightest managers run hedge funds and unlike banks they put the bulk of their own money into the funds themselves so that the managers interests are totally aligned with their investors. If their investors lose money than they will lose too.
   
   This stands in start contrast to the Wall Street banks which saw management awarded with giant bonuses even after the banks they supposedly were managing went under and even after the trillion dollar government bailout was rushed into law over a terrified and manipulated body politic.
   
   What is more hedge funds - except for the exception of Long-Term Capital Management - are never too big to fail.
   
   If you spend some time reading Mallaby's book you'll get a good idea of the secrets behind the most successful hedge fund managers. People look at them in awe and think of them as total genius, but one thing worth nothing is that none of them were right all of the time. All of them had a year or two when they were positioned incorrectly or else made the wrong bet at some time or another - and these are the best of the best. But what they all had was longevity and perserverance and knew how to take advantage of things when they were right.



2. As hedge funds increase in size, variety and number, they also exercise growing power over central banks and national governments, as well as companies and industries. Unfettered by a fixed investment philosophy, hedge fund managers bank on the flexibility to buy assets and sell them short as dynamic markets dictate. Some hedge funds have succeeded spectacularly and some have failed, such as those holding too many mortgage securities when the U.S. housing industry collapsed in 2007. But over its history, the hedge fund industry's performance has been remarkably good. Here, business journalist Sebastian Mallaby forcefully argues that hedge funds contribute to economic stability by chasing the true value of mispriced assets. His richly detailed book centers on the successes and occasional missteps of famous hedge fund managers, including such luminaries as Stanley Druckenmiller, Paul Tudor Jones II, Michael Steinhardt, Julian Robertson and George Soros. getAbstract recommends this book as a vivid introduction to hedge funds for those who are unfamiliar with them, and as a valuable, often entertaining, reference for financial professionals. And if you want to know even more, read the illuminating footnotes.



3. Not sure why others are fawning over this book. Mallaby spends 90% of the book detailing 12 or so of the most famous hedge fund operators and how they amassed their fortunes. While their stories are interesting, they have been well-told and are available in simple internet searches. I didn't feel Mallaby was bringing any new information to light.
   
   The author does touch on all the salient points as to why hedge funds are not evil (as the press would have you believe). Still, I was hoping for more from this book than just a history lesson on the industry's most famous participants.



4. A very well-written and throughly researched work, which debunks some myths (hedge funds don't outperform the market! Soros won the battle with the Bank of England singlehanded!), and points out the absurdity of the efficient markets hypothesis (by the way, the reviewers who say that "Warren Buffett proved that" are confused -- Warren could well be the coin-tossing orangutan, plus he manages his companies, and doesn't just hold stock in them, so is not playing the same game). The efficient market hypothesis is really the idiot's (in this case "the economist's") version of the second law of thermodynamics, the idiot/economist apparently incapable of understanding that systems TEND to an equilibrium, but that does not mean they are perpetually IN equilibrium.
   
   For people interested in finance, the book is very informative, though some of the information can be found verbatim in other books (the author is very scrupulous about attribution), and people interested in John Paulson's activity are better off reading The Greatest Trade Ever: The Behind-the-Scenes Story of How John Paulson Defied Wall Street and Made Financial History. No technical information is given on quantitative trading strategies (although the book has more information about Renaissance Medallion's trading than I have seen anywhere else), nor, really, on any other trading strategy, with the notable exception of "global macro" (as practiced by Soros and Druckenmillier), but since the author works for the Council on Foreign Relations, this is not exactly a shocker.
   
   I completely agree with the author that regulation is bad for hedge funds, but then again, I have austrian inclinations, and strongly believe that the current mix of the government providing a safety net for the big banks in return for imposing a heavy regulatory burden and permitting them to be grotesquely overleveraged is what is really toxic about the current environment. Unfortunately, this shows no sign of getting better.



5. If you have read "Too big to fail", "House of Cards", "Big Short", "Lords of Finance", "Fool's Gold", etc. you will like this book better. More wisdom based on incredible research and interviews. I was initially resistant to Mallaby's recommendations about financial reform, but he sold me based on reasoning well supported by evidence. The clearest, most readable and reasoned discussions of the efficient-market theory and Soros' reflexivity. If you don't know those terms, read this book anyway. He will at the end and you'll be glad whether you interest is investing or just voting. This is scholarship dressed up as popular non-fiction. On a par with Tom Wolfe and Malcolm Gladwell for brining non-fiction to a wide audience.