5 comments about Payback Time: Making Big Money Is the Best Revenge!.

1. Phil Town did it again! Rule #1 was an absolute God send for me at a time when I needed some investment coaching. It really got me started in actual trading and combining the fundamental and technical aspects together. The best part of the book was it was so easy to read.
   
   The same can be expected of Payback Time. I couldn't wait to read it. It also proved to be an easy read and very easy to understand. Perfect for the person who would rather take the "long term" view on wonderful companies. After reading Payback Time and Rule #1 three times, I believe I will use the knowledge I have gained, and apply a combination of stategies. Trade the wonderful fast growth businesses so I can "stockpile" the wonderful high yielding/growth businesses.
   
   Thanks Phil, for the great education!
   
   Bryan Knepper
   Roanoke, Va.



2. I've read Rule # 1 back when it first came out and I thought it was excellent. I'm about halfway done with Payback Time and so far 90% of the information is simply rehashed information from his first book. The one thing that appears to have changed is that MSN now apparently gives 10 year data for free, which was not available when Rule # 1 came out (back then you had to pay a third-party company to obtain 10-year data about a stock and MSN and Yahoo only offered 5-year data if I remember correctly). So if you haven't read either book and are wondering which one to pick up I would say go for the second one (Payback Time). If you've read Rule # 1, reading the second book certainly won't hurt for repetition sake, just don't expect any major new information. The concept of stockpiling is nothing revolutionary. Simply buy more shares when the price goes down. Wow. The one thing I did not like about Payback Time is how Phil is constantly directing the reader back to his website for every little piece of extra information. And he doesn't tell you what link on his site to click on for each piece of information so you end up randomly clicking on his site until you find what you're looking for (not to mention the fact that you have to register in order to use the site in the first place and it keeps on logging you out every few minutes for some reason).
   Having said that, I still have to give credit to Phil for his clear writing style. He has a special ability to take complex information and making it understandable to the average person. I also like the fact that he gives his email address in the book and encourages readers to contact him with any questions. I like that type of service. I will update this review as soon as I'm done reading the book.



3. Most of these reviews only have a single review - the review for Payback Time.
   
   I don't like being toyed with. Your books are good, Phil - this was not necessary.



4. I bought the book (Kindle version) on Mar 2nd...Just finished reading it. This is nothing more than a rehash of Rule #1.
   It's very easy for people like Phil to say 'find a company that you understand and buy it cheap...'. Tell that to people who actually worked in the companies that blew last year.
   I liked the Rule#1 but did not find anything useful in payback..
   Same M's, same Safety of Margin and on and on.
   Do yourself a favor , buy Rule#1 and read this one (if you really are curious) at book store and invest the money you save in a stock.



5. All these reviews sound like they're written by the same person -- and there's no substance whatsoever. Reading the reader reviews has given me the impression that this is a scam book -- too much hype, not enough substance. How can this be a best-seller with so few reviews, and the reviews that are here just sound like PR Hype.

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

1. Ben Graham is a born genius! If you want to learn about stocks from anybody it would be from 4 people - Ben Graham (The Intelligent Investor), Warren Buffet, Philip Fischer (Common Stocks and Uncommon Profits), and Peter lynch (One up on Wall Street). This book contains the framework and the foundations of stock investing. If your in the market and you did not read this book GET OUT and dont go back in till you read it! This book is essential. I cant stress it more. I must warn you though, Alot of it will be very boring but hey, something just cant be simplified. There is a commentary by Jason Zweig who makes it a bit simpler and using modern day examples.
   
   In short BUY THE BOOK!!!



2. I've just taken over the management of my investment portfolio from the brainless bank that let it lose 40% of its value in 2007 - 2009.
   
   For years I had heard of Graham as the "nec plus ultra" of all writers on investments, so this book was high on my reading list as I set to my new task.
   
   Unfortunately, the financial markets of 1972 (when Graham wrote this book) are far different from today's, despite the chapters written by Jason Zweig (interleaved with Graham's) which try to update and explain Graham's ideas in terms of the market environment of 2003. Read in 2010, Zweig's updates also seem quite dated.
   
   To achieve a prudent level of diversification today, most individual investors will use at least mutual funds, if not ETF's. The analysis of individual stocks is too time consuming. First one is up against professionals who do it for a living. Secondly, the complexity of today's markets for goods and services requires huge amounts of study before even looking at a company's financials. Thirdly, one should probably expect to analyse at least 20 companies before choosing one to invest in.
   
   If one wants to undertake individual stock picking, why not read this book before turning to Graham's "Security Analysis".
   
   If not, the purchase of a cheap second hand copy of the book can be justified, but primarily on the grounds of being able to skim it to see if one agrees with the words above.



3. Two of the core types of investing are value and growth investing. Value investing looks to find commodities at a price lower than their value while growth investing looks to find commodities with the potential to become larger. If you're interested in learning about value investing, this is definitely a book to check out.
   
   Originally published in 1949, the Intelligent Investor helped paved the way for value investors like Warren Buffet, who writes a preface for this revised edition. Even though II was created over 60 years ago, it's core concepts are still useful and true today.
   
   The biggest negative about this book is that it's relatively old. It was revised by Graham as recently as 1973 and includes updates by Jason Zweig but the majority of the content in the book was written over 40 years ago. Another downside is that it can be kind of grueling to read. That often comes with this subject matter but readability would help. At any rate, despite these shortcomings, the Intelligent Investor is a core book to learn about value investing.



4. Warren Buffett always refers to chapters 8 and 20 on market volatility and margin of safety, so I read those with extra attention, but Benjamin Graham had a confidence of purpose and clarity of explanation that makes it easy to see why he developed such a (mostly posthumous) dedicated following. Investors (The Superinvestors of Graham-and-Doddsville for one famous example) who follow the philosophies that Graham touts in this book have become consistently successful. Classic.



5. Deep dyve into investing, but clear and easy to follow. Shows a clear and logic way to approach investing in public companies that also can be used to invest in private companies

5 comments about Rich Dad Poor Dad: What the Rich Teach Their Kids About Money-That the Poor and the Middle Class Do Not!.

1. It's truly shameful that this subject is not taught in school.
   
   How many lives are unnecessarily blighted because people don't learn to handle money (my own included).
   
   Intead of living in deep debt, constantly worring about paying the bills and dreading the mailman's visit every day, we could all be living the good life, happy and prosperous, exploring our talents and desires to the fullest.
   
   Instead, we find a nation full of debtors, with bottom feeders living off of the ignorance of the vast majority, by keeping them indebted and enslaved.
   
   But you have to start while you're young. That's why it should be mandatory to be taught in school. When we are young, and our heads are full of thoughts of anything but learning, we only learn what is absolutely pounded into our heads, so why not put something in there that makes sense, and will help us actually live our lives prosperously, instead of forever treading water, financially, all our lives?



2. It makes sense...make money work for you, not you work for money. However, 95% of America doesn't get it. This book teachers the basics of financial literacy, and makes it "click." I can safely say this book changed my life. Don't hesitate; get this book and read it cover-to-cover.



3. Rich dad-Poor-Dad is really a MAsterpeice, that could very well go down as one of the All-time classics. Ideas after ideas of common sense, as well as why so many people dont actually achieve their financial results, be it fear, ignoarance or both, will help you find these negative factors in you, eliminate them, and will encourage you to go after increasing your financial Intelligence! Then be ready to unlock your financial genius and live a life of Financial Independence, leading up to Financial Abundance (If you stay focused for longer periods of time, i.e, ofcourse.. :), A Must-Read for every human being!



4. I enjoyed this book.
   
   I come from a lower-middle class background and hope to succeed financially.
   
   My mother, to this day, has the "poor dad" mentality, even after I sent her this book. Now she says, "It's too late...", "I'm too old...", "I don't know how to..."
   
   Her money does not earn any interest in her checking account.
   
   She refuses to take any risk or try expanding her finances.



5. *MONEY AS AN END IN ITSELF*
   One thing I saw as a big problem with this book is that it largely does not address _why_ you should listen to him. He does say that he wants to make money to stay out of the "rat race", but that does not translate into being Warren Buffett, Bill Gates, and Donald Trump, which are people he says we should strive to study and emulate. Robert is presenting this book from the paradigm that money is the goal in and of itself. Why should you try to be rich? Because then you'll be rich! A circular argument that he feebly defends by equating being excessively rich to not being in the rat race. To him, being taught from a young age by his rich dad, he sees richness as an obvious premise to life, but he fails to adequately defend this paradigm that underlies the entire book.
   
   *MONEY IS EQUAL TO WORTH*
   Robert constantly criticizes poor people, and people who don't make the decision to be rich. He criticizes people who realize that to do what he does, they would have to do things they feel are destructive, or too risky. While I don't think he ever states it explicitly, he does constantly equate a person's worth (as a person) to their balance sheet. This is the justification he uses for BLAME THE VICTIM (below). It doesn't make sense to see punishing poorness with job insecurity, inadequate medical care, etc etc, unless you see poorness as being worthy of punishment. I don't remember him using the word punishment, but he does express that this is a deserved negative consequence. He could defend this by saying that poorness is merely a reflection of worth, not that they are punished _for_ being poor, but that they are punished _with_ being poor (ie poorness _is_ the punishment), that would still be a misdirection. According to his book, the poor are poor because they don't generate assets, they generate liabilities. They put their money in the expense column before the income column. Is this worthy of punishment? Why is struggling to put food on the table a legitimate punishment for behaving in ways that aren't monetarily conducive? In other words, the money system is self-referential. You have money because you are good at making money. You lose money because you are good at losing money.
   
   If we take monetary worth to be an indicator of anything other than one's ability to succeed at making money, then we are deluding ourselves. Worthwhile behaviour does not translate into money, detrimental behaviour does not translate into poorness. Slavery ended about 150 years ago, plantation owners were upset because slavery is free labour, a very profitable way to behave even though it abuses a huge portion of our society. And many people who produce value for our society are poor, consider open source authors and teachers, for example. Money and lack thereof cannot be equated to true worth or value to the society. In an anecdote from the book, he points out that he is a "best-selling author", because he understands sales and marketing, while a woman he meets with is a "best-writing author" who can't sell any books. In this example, her admittedly good writing doesn't generate money, while his book does. So in this case, money did not select the better book, but rather the better marketed book. So clearly we cannot take money as equivalent to inherent worth.
   
   *BLAME THE VICTIM*
   Robert admits that the poor are victims, he talks about it constantly, calls it the rat race, talks about the many ways they are taken advantage of, such as with taxes. He admits the reason for this is their lack of financial literacy, they are doing what they are taught to do, and says this can be perpetuated throughout many generations. He says their schools and parents and society teach them to behave the way they do which places them into this poor and middle class brackets where they are the victims. They think going to school, getting a job, having a family, buying a house will make them rich, but it just puts them at the bottom, in debt, living paycheck to paycheck. So they are victims because they were trained to be victims. He constantly talks about mindset (one thing I agree strongly with him about), suggesting that a major part of becoming rich is the decision to be rich. To think like rich people do (for a criticism of this, see CAPITALISM IS A ZERO SUM GAME, below). Something these people do not do, because they were taught to think like poor and middle class people do. Then he proceeds to blame them for being poor. Says that they are poor because they are afraid, ignorant, and indecisive. He sees capitalism (as most capitalists do) as a system of rewards and punishments for selecting people and ideas with the best value and worth.
   
   But how can he justify punishing the poor for being the way they have been taught to be? He had a "rich dad" to teach him the ropes, and while he did initiate that relationship, the vast majority of people do not have such a mentor, cannot initiate such a mentor (ie he grew up in a rich neighborhood, so while he capitalized on opportunity to find a rich dad, that opportunity itself is not available to most people, and becomes decreasingly probable the poorer one's parents are).
   
   Also, the most pervasive influence is society and culture, an image and worldview set in large part by magazines, movies, television, music, etc. Areas marketing people use to influence people into thinking and in turn behaving in the ways they desire. This marketing is purchased by the rich. They establish the behaviour that is causing the problem. If all the poor and middle class are excessive consumers, then the rich make money. So they encourage this mindset. They establish norms, the people on television live a certain lifestyle, this lifestyle is then associated with a certain group / bracket of people, even though that group / bracket cannot afford to live that lifestyle. The people see that, think that they are supposed to have those things and live that way, and so they do. They go into debt, not even realizing they are living outside their means. The poor / middle class mindset is thus not just taught from parents with the mindset to their children, but also from the rich in order to make greater profits at their expense.
   
   *USES EXPLOITING THE DESPERATE AS A JUSTIFICATION*
   Robert gives many examples of things he has done, and has seen others do (see OVER-RELIANCE ON ANECDOTE). These things largely result in exploiting poor people. For example, he waits for people to go bankrupt, or have banks foreclose on their property, and looks for houses that have been on the market long enough that he can offer significantly less than they are worth. In other words, he has trained himself to spot desperate people, and then capitalize on their desperation. He justifies this by saying that he is providing a service, or something of value, something beneficial, as evidenced in that these people pay him money. If he wasn't doing something good, they wouldn't have sold him a $70k property for $5k that he turns around and sells for $60k. But the reason they go along with this is not because he is providing something valuable, but rather, because their situation is so desperate that they have no choice. They are forced to take the offer, because they don't have any other options. He is not providing a service, he is exploiting the desperate. As analogy, if someone is desperately poor, they may feel forced to sell their organs for money. Thus we outlaw selling of organs, to prevent this exploitation. But if it were not outlawed, then his reasoning would imply that purchasing cheap organs off of desperately poor people is beneficial, to them, because otherwise they wouldn't have made the sale. Turning around and selling them for hundreds of thousands of dollars to people who will die if they don't get them is not extortion, but service, because otherwise they wouldn't have made the purchase.
   
   Because he justifies what he does by using their evaluation of the value of his deal, he also must ignore some of his foundational points in the book about how terrible these people are at evaluating the merit of such deals, as talked about in BLAME THE VICTIM.
   
   *OVER-RELIANCE ON ANECDOTE*
   This book is heavy with anecdotes intended to illustrate the points. Most of the anecdotes are personal experiences, and most of them deal with real-estate. This may seem pragmatic, but I think it hides serious problems. If the theory behind his points is wrong, then the anecdotes make it seem right. He believes that everyone can do the things he does (and to be fair, I agree with that), but his examples are mostly himself. If you did not have his experience with international law from piloting ships, leadership from the military, sales and confidence from selling xerox machines, knowledge from attending conferences and school, then your chances of replicating his success would be drastically reduced. His anecdotes are very heavily real-estate based, but that market has been largely tapped out. I can't help but wonder if he would still be "broke" (which he distinguishes from "poor") if not for having that wave to ride. He says his rich dad started teaching him when he was 9, but that he didn't become "[financially] free" until he was 47. If he had all these advantages and all this capability, then why did it take so long? The anecdotes don't address this, they get the reader excited and make his points seem valid, while sweeping potential issues under the rug.
   
   *CAPITALISM IS A ZERO SUM GAME*
   He claims to be selling financial wisdom, the lessons his rich dad taught him. He presents this as a laudable thing to do, he'll educate people about how to make money, and then they will be better capable of making money, making their lives better. So it seems like he is providing something valuable. But this is myopic, we cannot all be winners. There are a finite number of dollars, for every one that I acquire, that is one fewer that anyone else can acquire, thus capitalism is a zero-sum game. For every winner, there is a loser. Actually, with the way it works in practice, for every winner, there are about a thousand losers. In other words, if we all learned to think and act like he does, then no one could get ahead, and his lessons would be pointless. There could be no rich people if there were no poor people, so by adopting practices to make himself rich, he is adopting practices to make others poor. His model for how to get ahead is a model for how to put others behind, directly contradicting many of the justifications he gives for adopting his views and practices. He wants to help educate us to become rich, but this goal cannot be attained (if everyone is rich, then no one is rich).
   
   *THIS IS NOT A BOOK ABOUT RUNNING / STARTING A BUSINESS*
   It was marketed to me as a book about business, or at the very least, a book about wise financial thinking. But running a business is almost never talked about, instead he focuses on investment. If you have seen his chart of the four different groups of people who make up the world of business (not in "Rich Dad Poor Dad", but you can find it on the covers of several other books in this series, such as "Rich Dad's CASHFLOW Quadrant"), he breaks it into employees, self-employed, big business owner, and investor. This book focuses almost exclusively on the investor category. Even then, it is more about mindset than practices. One thing is sure, he spends very little time talking about how to own a business, it is all about choosing to own assets. (ie he would say that you shouldn't own and run a business at all because that is a job. Instead unless you have someone else running it for you, because then it is a passive income, and you can spend your time looking for other investments)
   
   *WHAT THE BOOK IS TRULY SELLING
   This book is aimed at eager capitalists, people who get excited about money, people who want to make money, people who want to start businesses, people who feel trapped in the "rat race", people who consider themselves savvy and intelligent and don't understand why they are not rich. Through marketing, it also pretends to be for parents concerned their children will wind up in the rat race like they are, but this is mostly cursory. So what does it give these people? What can they get from this book? What is Robert trying to convey? You might say it gives them hope, or a dream. I think it mostly just gets them excited, makes them revel in their financial desires, makes them feel that these desires are achievable, and that reading the book is helping them achieve them, somehow.
   
   But, if you've looked at the people it is marketed to, you'll notice that they are mostly people who do not want to be poor, or who feel trapped or unhappy in some way. The book equates poor and middle class and rat race with extremely undesirable positions, and imparts that you should be getting out of them. This, in itself, builds the foundation of discontentment that the dreams rely on. That you can get to a better place than you are. In other words, you are not in as good of a place as you _should_ be. Once you are sold on this, it turns that "should" into a "can", and you are inspired. But you wouldn't need this inspiration if you didn't feel that you were in a bad place, a feeling the book goes to great lengths to ensure you experience. It manufactures discontentment, and markets it as the American Dream. Is the dream attainable? If you can truly learn to think like Robert does, then it is more likely to be attainable, sure. But it sets no paths to follow (see summary below), no set of steps. You'll be in the same position when you finish as when you started, you'll just feel more desperate that things aren't happening.
   
   SUM UP THE BOOK IN A SENTENCE
   If you think about money _all_of_the_time_; critically analyze what others and yourself are doing to be successful and unsuccessful; constantly look for money making opportunities; and strive to make money making decisions, then you will become rich.

5 comments about The Millionaire Next Door.

1. The theme of the book is to live below your means, pay off debt, then invest whatever is left. It is a great plan to follow, but I got the message after 30 pages.



2. This book is an excellent tool to empower you, your thinking on saving, investing and future success. This is a must read over and over again!



3. Great little book to get you thinking in the right direction to keep your money.



4. The book is still well maintained and I am satisfied with it. The delivery is in the stipulated period so I am satisfied with this too. Thanks.



5. I've always been frugal, but not good at getting money to really work for me. My husband and I are now putting any unexpected money into debt reduction and we haven't been living on credit for about 3 years. We're buying a bigger house out of necessity for our growing family, but stayed in our current small place 11 years. We have paid off our cars and don't want to ever have any loans except a house loan, and our goal is to one day pay off our house. I like Dave Ramsey and Clark Howard for financial inspiration, too.
   
   Most interestingly, I learned a lot from a section about siblings. My husband has a single sister and I have a single brother that are basically money pit's and probably will bleed our parents dry. My father-in-law had a 'talk' with me about who is going take care of my husband's older sister when they are gone (right after I read the book). I made it perfectly clear that we absolutely cannot financially support this 57 year old when we are much younger and should never have to bear this responsibility (even if we were older). My younger brother managed to squeeze quite a bit out of us over the years to the tune of thousands! Knowing and arming yourself against people who would like to separate you from you hard earned money is very important. Especially if they are charming family members and try to guilt you into it because they know you care about them. When I realized that my brother was continually asking me for money without regard for my debt, my future, or my children's future, I was done! Then I added up what we had done for him here and there and was furious at myself for being taken in for so long!
   
   I can't really do more than encourage my in-laws and parents to not 'spoil' our loser siblings. The parents try to keep it a secret that they are giving so much to these siblings. It really isn't fair, because my husband and I are working ourselves to the bone to get out of debt and have a healthy savings. I fully expect for these siblings to get the lion's share of inheritance because, as the book says, the parents might think they need it more. Sad that they [the siblings] would squander it in no time and the grandchildren would have nothing. I can't do much about passive parents, but I certainly would not reward one of my children for being lazy. Glad I was able to learn that from this book!

5 comments about Crash Proof 2.0: How to Profit From the Economic Collapse.

1. If you live in Connecticut and will vote in the coming senatorial elections, PLEASE read his first book to guage his ability as a fiscal prognosticator. Then read this one paying close attention to his advice on investment decisions. He was dead wrong then and he is once again dead wrong in this book. He just doesn't get it and yet never misses an opportunity to tell the reader how he got it right.
   
   His advice in version 1 was to short the dollar, short treasuries, buy European/non US stocks, buy gold(from a state bank in Australia to be precise) as a hedge against the disaster. Well this didn't work out so well for anyone who took his advice then, and if a reader were to look at this advice as it has played out in 2010, it's not looking much better today.
   
   Please, the congress is chocked full of knuckleheads whose only legitimate claim of authority rests in their ability to have and express forcefully an opinion, however wrong, however dangerous. We don't need one more, especially one who is so incredibly unaware of his own lack of understanding of financial markets.



2. Peter Schiff predicted the future of this country in 2006. It's a must read.



3. The first book for the first full week of 2010 was Crash Proof 2.0 by Peter Schiff. A very awesome book based around the most recent economic crash. Most fascinatingly, the book Crash Proof was written by Peter in 2006, predicting, at that time, the upcoming economic crash. Crash Proof 2.0 was released in 2009 with additions at the end of each chapter for the new threats facing our country's economic condition. Schiff is a very knowledgeable man on all things fiscal and if this book isn't proof (no pun intended) then I don't know what is.
   
   What is going to happen now? Good Question. Well since America, and by America I mean Bernanke, has decided to run the Greenback Printing Press non-stop the country is producing lots and lots of dollars which increases the money supply and ultimately devalues the dollars already in existence. And our Fed has nearly doubled the money supply since 2008. This is sure to cause inflation and lots of it, but it is very hard to pinpoint the catalyst of this impending massive inflation.
   
   I would say there are two major causes that can result in the inflation. One, the shift of our country from manufacturing to service coupled with trillions of dollars of debt to China and other nations. And two, the shear multitude of currency our country is producing on a daily basis that our Fed is unable to account for coupled with the fact we have no longer have a gold backed currency.
   
   Manufacturing to Service
   
   America has transitioned itself into a new country. From the 20th to the 21st century, we have rapidly transformed ourself from a manufacturing society to a service society. When we had manufacturing, we were a country rich in assembly lines and new products. We even had the worlds largest automobile manufacturing city, Detroit. Now, we are all service. We have marketing firms, worldwide restaurant headquarters, retail and more.
   
   Since our country is no longer backed by the value of gold, the value of our currency is ultimately determined by the base value of what we can export to other nations. When we moved from manufacturing to service we lost a lot of our export value.... I picture societies and organizations as pyramids... The top are the CEOs or Presidents and the bottom are the majority of the population as the workforce. Where the base of our country's pyramid used to be cars, equipment, appliances, etc.... Now the base is the service of our working class... burger flippers and stockers. The only problem is that if the dollar's export value is based of the value of the bottom of our pyramid how are we going to trade? (I don't believe there is a large demand for a McDouble "made in the US" over in China) We can't and our dollars are increasingly becoming less valuable.
   
   As the dollar becomes less and less valuable the countries that own all of our debt get wise. They will realize that our money is able to trade for less and less and it is becoming a useless IOU. Their only option is to get rid of them. They will most likely use the trillions of dollars they have and use them to buy what they can within our country. So that means real estate and the products that we still produce. Following the law of supply and demand, if trillions of dollars are cashed in on lots and lots of real estate (since we don't have any laws establishing all US property must be purchased by US residents) and products are bought and less quantity is available for the general population... prices will spike... huge! And we have Humongous Inflation!
   
   A Currency Backed By Nothing
   
   The second potential cause for this massive inflation I would like to discuss is that the US no longer backs its currency with gold. I already have given the history lesson on this but I will recap again real quick with a timeline provided by [...]...
   
   1880-1914 - The US dollar was hard pegged to gold resulting in domestic price stability and virtually no inflation. The financial needs of WW1 ended this.
   1915-1925 -In order to "pay" for WW1 countries had to print a lot of paper currency which by necessity mandated a delinking from gold because there wasn't enough gold to support the paper.
   1926-1931 - The gold exchange standard was established wherein each country pegged its currency to the US dollar and British pound which were then supposed to be backed by the dollar. When the depression began countries tried to cash in their pounds and dollars for gold. That "run" on gold forced the end of the gold exchange standard.
   1931-1945 -Fiat currencies reign worldwide leading to huge economic imbalances from country to country and was of the major contributing factors to the beginning of WW2.
   1945-1968 - 1944 Bretton Woods (similar to gold exchange standard of 1926-1931) Two main currencies again, the US dollar and British pound. A run to convert pounds to gold collapsed the pound and began the end of the Bretton woods accord. It took 3 years while governments tried to salvage the system and also to determine what to do next. Kind of like having one leg on the boat and the other on shore. 1963 - New Federal Reserve notes with no promise to pay in "lawful money" was released. No guarantees, no value. This is also the year of the disappearance of the $1 silver certificate. Once again, a subtle shift in plain view.
   1973-?- August of 1971 President Nixon ended the international gold standard and for the first time no currency had a gold backing.
   
   As you can see... the US has a currency only worth as much as they say it is... so we are playing pretend. And the pretend value of our currency is decreased when more of that money is made... and the Fed decided to make trillions of new dollars last year alone... and where did that money go? They have no idea. This video speaks louder than anything I could say... it is Alan Grayson asking the Inspector General of the Fed where all the money they created went... and she doesn't know...
   
   
   
   What do we do now?
   
   Now that you can see that there is a problem it is time to protect your investments. I can't tell you when this economic collapse is going to happen, but I know it will. And the safest thing to do long term is to get your money into anything but the dollar. The longer our country holds debt with other nations and keeps printing money, the faster we turn our currency into toxic waste. Schiff outlines areas for investing in Crash Proof and I would love to expand on his ideas. He says you should invest in gold, silver and foreign stocks. I also love real estate investing and I will go into that as well. Hold on, this is going to get fun!
   
   Gold and Silver
   
   If you are a regular reader then you know its no secret how much I love precious metal investing. It's a wonderful commodity that hedges inflation and is very undervalued in terms of the dollar currently. More specifically, I love silver investing. I believe that silver is going to jump leaps and bounds in future years for several reasons. Silver is a commodity used for the backing and production of currency in many countries, it has tons of industrial applications: microchips, phones, cameras, etc.) and the mines for silver are becoming less plentiful everyday. Additionally, Silver is only about $17 a troy ounce compared to $1100 for a troy ounce of gold... so it is much easier to get into as a investor without throwing a lot of money into one basket. I recommend going to [...] and buy Silver Eagles so you have a coin that is exactly an ounce and silver content is .999.
   
   I wrote several months ago about Guide to Investing in Gold and Silver by Michael Maloney. Both authors, Maloney and Schiff, use the same techniques to come to their conclusions about the future of American economics. They are both members of the Austrian School, a specific school of economic thought. Other members of the Austrian School of thought include Lew Rockwell, Ludwig Von Mises, and Frank Fetter. I think it's a school of thought within economics that deserves more of my attention and you might just see a post in the future based solely on this subject.
   
   Foreign Stocks
   
   This is a great way to get yourself into a rising market and in two ways. When inflation hits the dollar the foreign stocks will be gaining in their respective currencies, so they will be making money against the dollar and if you have a good enough diversification you should be making money off the rising market too. I like index funds because they require a lot less work and the chances of beating the market longterm with stocks is nearly impossible. Foreign indexes can be purchased from a couple different sites... [...] both offer Foreign index funds with different minimum investments... Most likely around $10k.
   
   Real Estate
   
   My favorite investment... Real estate is a great way to get your money out of the dollar with the use of OPM (Other People's Money) and it's a debt-backed commodity. First, you use OPM through a bank. You put down 10-15% and they put down the rest and then you have your commodity. Meaning, it costs a relatively low amount of money to buy a lot of property. Additionally, you are backed by debt! I know sounds bad, but it's actually really good. The real estate investing I am most interested in is multifamily real estate. You find a property, and if the rents you earn are higher than the mortgage you will pay, expenses, property management, taxes, etc.... then you are making a positive cash flow. The great thing about being backed by debt in this case is that it is "good" debt meaning that you are making more money on the property than the bank is making in interest accumulation. Another huge benefit of being debt-backed is that when the US has huge inflation you will be paying off that mortgage with cheaper dollars. For example, you find a duplex for $300,000 and you put down $50K (for simplicity's sake). You have a $250,000 mortgage. Then when we have a huge amount of inflation, it may cost $10,000 for a loaf of bread because the dollar just isn't worth as much anymore. Well, where a lot of things will increase with inflation, your mortgage will not. That means that it won't cost much to pay off the remainder of your $250,000 mortgage because you will be paying it off in "less expensive dollars." Pretty nice huh?
   
   I don't write these things to scare you, but to inform. There is plenty of time to change your current investing habits. Many people said that Peter Schiff was just preaching doom and gloom back in 2006, but they were clearly wrong. And now, when the same man who foresaw the last crash says that it's going to happen again, only worse... well... let's just say I am not going to be the one to criticize. Peter Schiff is currently running for the CT Senate spot and I hope for the sake of America's fiscal policies that he gets elected.
   
   I recommend this book to anyone curious about what is to come of America's economy. If you have any questions on the book don't hesitate to ask. I would be more than happy to help anyone that wants it.



4. The value of this book is not only on the position it exposes you want to be in the coming economic events
   but in the tremendous insight of the fundamentals of world economics.
   It is easy explained because the author easy understands it, demonstrated through his predictions of dot com
   and housing bubble.
   
   You want to learn what the hell is happening with the money, read this book.



5. This book is great. Even if you don't agree with every view from Peter Schiff, you will certainly finish the book with a much better understand of economics. Personally, I find that I do agree with his views. Crash proof 2.0 is an update to the original crash proof. The cool thing about this book is that the new material is at the end of each chapter. So you are able to see how accurately he was able to predict the housing crisis. the updates at the end of each chapter bring his predictions more up to date on future events. I have recommended book to every one of my friends. now I am recommending it to you.

5 comments about How to Make Money in Stocks: A Winning System in Good Times and Bad, Fourth Edition.

1. I read this at the urging of a friend. As background, I'm a retired professional investment advisor, have been through the Chartered Financial Analyst curriculum, and have decades of investing experience. I am therefore instantly suspicious of a book that promises on its back cover that "Anyone can learn to invest wisely with this bestselling investment system!"
   
   Granted, O'Neil clearly spends all his time with his charts, and otherwise must not get out yet. He comments that NASDAQ an OTC trading venue, not an exchange, when in fact NASDAQ gained exchange status in 2006. He thinks that air traffic accidents are investigated by the Civil Aeronautics Board, which lost its safety responsibilities to the FAA in 1978. Most tellingly, he writes, "Unfortunately, no original or thorough research on price pattern analysis has been done in the last 78 years." Even a brief perusal of the academic journals on investing and finance would have shown him that this isn't true.
   
   Much of the book focuses on chart reading. O'Neil includes many historical charts that clearly show his patterns. Unfortunately, many of the patterns are only clear in retrospect. For example, he describes a double-bottom pattern, shaped like a "W," where you should buy in as the right side moves up past the middle point of the W. Then he describes a double-bottom with handle, where the right side of the W is followed by a modest decline, and then you want to wait to buy until it reaches the top of the right side of the W. However, he describes no way to tell in advance whether the pattern will have a handle. By the time you know that there's a handle, you'll have already purchased on the right side of the W.
   
   As another example, he shows patterns for detecting market bottoms. However, you can look to the left of where he marks the bottom, and often see a false bottom that meets exactly the same criteria. I suspect that O'Neil, given his experience, has other ways to gauge the validity of these stock patterns. Unfortunately, if he can't describe them, it greatly reduces the value of the book.
   
   That probably explains why he adds the caveat that it takes years for someone to start reliably making money using his "system." Some people, with experience, will develop the same ability to figure out when the chart patterns are correct. However, it's very misleading to describe the book's contents as a "system," which in the investing world means a set of rules that can be strictly followed. Instead, it's a set of guidelines and philosophies on which you will have to add your own hard-earned experience to create a system.
   
   Which brings me back to the overinflated claim that, "Anyone can learn to invest wisely with this bestselling investment system!" It's absolutely false. So much is left to discretion that it will require someone with particular aptitudes to be successful at it. If you enjoy doing extensive analysis, have an innate skill at identifying visual patterns, and have the patience to study and learn chart reading, then you will probably be successful with O'Neil's approach. Someone who doesn't meet those criteria will almost certainly fail.



2. Good introduction to equity investing for retail investors. O'Neil's methods do not work for professional fund managers.



3. Some good thoughts mixed with some b.s. and a lot of self advertising for his business. The pro america agenda was unnecessary as was the views on politics and Iran.



4. I was really looking for a book on trading stocks (versus investing) and I believe that this book offers lessons applicable to both.
   
   When I first began trading stocks online, I made the exact mistakes that this book says not to do. When a stock jumped in price, I sold and took profits too early when I should have held on and purchased more. When a stock fell in price, I either bought more stock to bring my average cost down or held on to my losing stocks too long "knowing" that eventually they would have to come back up. I was wrong. These are the classic mistakes that according to the book, most traders make, which is why they end up losing their money. And this was the exact same thing that happened to me.
   
   If I had read this book before getting into the market, I may have been able to prevent the big losses and keep the small gains I had been able to make. I would definetly recommend this book to anyone interested in learning how to trade or invest in the stock market. I haven't tried out the "CAN SLIM" system taught in this book, so I can't tell you if it works or not or that I made money following it, but I can tell you that the system makes sense and is worth learning even if you choose not to follow it.



5. Absolutely this book is a classic!
   
   In his book, Bill O'neil calls his breakout trading system "CANSLIM". Each letter in the word C-A-N-S-L-I-M stands for one of the seven chief characteristics of great winning Growth Stocks at their early developing stages, just before they make huge profits for their shareholders. The explanation of each letter is as follows:
   
   * C = Current Quarterly Earnings Per Share
   * A = Annual Earnings Increases
   * N = New Products, New Management, New Highs
   * S = Supply and Demand: Small Capitalization plus Volume Demand
   * L = Leader or Laggard
   * I = Institutional Sponsorship
   * M = Market Direction: What is the overall Stock Market doing?
   
   This system works, and this book teaches you both fundamental and technical analysis.

5 comments about The Neatest Little Guide to Stock Market Investing.

1. I've got to say Mr. Kelly did an Amazing job with this book. I have been on a quest for knowledge for some time now and this was the Holy Grail...so far. Out of the half dozen or so books on investing that I have read in the past two weeks...this was the best.
   
   I like the approach Mr. Kelly took with stock tracking and also the explanation that went into calculating ratios and other items pertaining to growth and valuation.
   
   The only down side is that Mr. Kelly bases a large chunk of his research on the Value Line Stock Survey which is quite expensive (but it sure is handy)
   
   Thank you Mr. Kelly for this very informative yet easy read.



2. I cant recommend this book enough, even though I live in the UK and am dealing in the FTSE, the theories, strategies, references to sources of information are relevant.
   
   The book was written in a concise manner and understandable to anyone who is interested in stock market investing.
   
   Definately recommend this book to all and will be one that I pickup from time to time to refresh myself on potential strategies or ideas that I missed out on the first read!
   
   Thanks Jason Kelly for sharing your knowledge and experience!
   
   Avtar Singh



3. This book is a great book for anyone looking to invest money in the stock market. I have read many investment books and stock trading books and this is one of only 3 books that I would advise a new trader or investor to read.
   
   The author, Jason Kelly, starts by explaining "Why Stocks are Good Investments". Jason points to strong and true facts that show that owning stocks is one of the best ways of increasing wealth over time. He explains how you make money in stocks and goes into the difference between "total return" and "capital appreciation". Jason then explains why companies even sell stocks and how that works. If you are new to stock investing or trading and you do not have a clear understanding of this then you should read this. There is a quick section also about how to choose a broker to help you buy and sell stocks.
   
   Jason then goes into "How to Evaluate Stocks". He explains the difference between value and growth investing. Jason does a great job of defining and explaining all of the most common terms in evaluating the fundamentals of companies including: current ratio, EPS, ROE, Net Profit Margin, P/E, and P/S. Then he explains common terms for evaluating the technicals of the stock price including: SMA, MACD, RSI, relative price strength, and volume. Knowing and understanding these terms is a must for anyone who wants to invest or trade in individual stocks.
   
   After reading the 1st 3 chapters you will know half the things they teach you in a 4 year Business Degree. Believe me, I have a degree in Business.
   
   Then Jason tells you "How the Masters Tell Us to Invest". Here he summarizes how each of the best traders and investors of all time advise individuals to build wealth. He covers Benjamin Graham, Phillip Fisher, Warren Buffet, Peter Lynch, William O'Neil, and Bill Miller. You could read whole books about each one of these investors or you could just read these sections in Jason's book where he breaks down their main points. Jason then has a section where he finds the common points that all these investors share called "Where the Masters Agree". This section will be the backbone for the strategy of the author.
   
   Jason then explains "How History Tells Us to Invest". Here Jason explains some backtesting on various investing methods and shows that combining Value and Growth Investing is one of the best ways to build wealth over time.
   
   Then we get into the real meat of the book. Section 4 "Permanent Portfolios" introduces you to easy to follow strategies to beat the market over time. This is where both new and experienced investors who have not read this book before will be able to really benefit by reading this. If you are someone who wants to beat the market by only looking at and adjusting your portfolio for a few short minutes about 4 times a year then these strategies are for you.
   
   Jason also has the most exhaustive list of resources for stock research I have ever come across. When you read "Research to Riches" section you will have a gateway to all the best data on stocks available through many many sources.
   
   In "This Books Strategy" Jason explains how we will use the "Permanent Portfolio" to build our fortress of wealth and then create and maintain a watch-list of individual stocks that we will send out of our fortress of wealth when the time is right to bring back even higher returns. Jason thoroughly explains how and where to gather information and compare it to stocks you already have on your list so that you are not overwhelmed by all the data and stock gurus available. Jason explains when may be good times to buy and when may be good times to sell stocks. He also has a very interesting way of tracking your performance and reviewing your choices to learn from the past.
   
   And of course he has an investment website and "Letter" to compliment what we have learned in this book. The website is a great way to read his recent observations which he updates with new articles on a regular basis and is available to anyone for free. And he has the "Letter" which is a very affordable service (about $5.35/month I think) where he emails members on updates of his portfolios and his view of the market direction. I recommend at the very least to check it out on his website where you can find a sample "Letter" and see how his portfolios have performed against the "market".



4. This book provides a good basic education on stock investing. So if you are a beginner it is worth the read, if on the other hand you are already investing or trading skip to more advanced books.
   
   In the section on evaluating stocks the author advocates using classical measurements such as PE ratios, price/book etc. My experience has shown that PE ratios are not the cause of a stock performance but the result of it. That is, stocks already experiencing high growth tend to have high PE ratios and if you used PE ratios as one of your criteria you would have missed the best stocks in recent years. I have found that a combination of stock holders equity and retained earnings is a better measure of future performance. A steady increase in stockholders equity with 15% year over year growth in retained earnings is usually a better indication of future price advance.
   
   I was somewhat disappointed with the lack of depth in the section on technical analysis . These days holding times for stocks are becoming much shorter making technical analysis a major part of an investors decision on timing a stocks purchase.
   A major part of the book lists resources for investing. In my opinion this was somewhat of an overkill since these resources can be easily found just by doing a simple internet search.
   You can learn some basic investing information from this book but before acting on any specific stocks, I will be sure to read other more advanced books first.



5. It is occasionally easy to make money buying and selling stocks. This book tells you how to do just that! It gives good stock investment techniques for "home gamers" that are willing to do some simple research.

5 comments about Jim Cramer's Getting Back to Even.

1. While I have a hard time watching Mad Money on TV with all those "Booyahs" and noisemakers, Jim Cramer's writing style is very calm, clear and generally to the point. In Getting Back to Even, he gives a good overview of the market yesterday and today, followed by several strategies for getting ahead in a turbulent market. Truly a worthwhile read for beginners like myself, and maybe even for some hold hands.



2. This is a good book. It's a bit of a repeat of his show, but with more detail. I recommend reading this book, but be sure to read others on more technical detail on how to invest in the stock market. All in all, it's helpful.



3. In this book again, i catch myself reading and not trusting the author. Years ago I learned that the best way to invest is to read people that do it for living, this is why i always recommend the writings of Linda Raschke and Toby Crabel, both real traders and practicing hedge fund managers -now out of print but maybe if you check on ebay you may find them. Anyways, another read from Cramer, that suffers from the same thing as his show: integrity.



4. Getting Back To Even was a Christmas gift for my brother. He loves the book and it was a terrific purchase, arriiving quickly and in brand new condition.



5. Jim Cramer's "Getting Back To Even" can give you the keys to a money making machine. I have read other of his books and they all are worth many times the purchase price. Cramer's been there and done it, so he tells you what really works in an easy to understand way. He "gives back" so much. The Street. com is his comprehensive web site and he is on CNBC every trading day.
   Bill K

5 comments about Rule #1: The Simple Strategy for Successful Investing in Only 15 Minutes a Week!.

1. Good advice on what to look for, how to check and follow your investment and how to make decisions on buy and sell. Rather involved on finding stocks to invest and hard to find the numbers you need to review. Sounds easy but isn't when you do it. Probably a good, conservative approach if you are willing to put in the time. Directions on use of the web are outdated and should be revised for the value of the book.



2. The book arrived in a timely manner. It is in excellent condition, as advertised. I am happy with my purchase.



3. Ok, Its an easy to read, motivating book, based on fundamentals mixed with MACD, Stocastic and Moving Average.
   Sure, you can make a 15% a year, but in somehow I don't belive the sistem an here is why:
   
   1.- Let's assume you find a Wonderful Firm Stck
   2.- Let's assume the big 5 numbers are really great for the past 10 years, 5 and 1.
   3.- Let's assume you proyect the price with the equity groth bla bla bla.
   4.- Let's assume you calculate the MOS (margin of Security) and the market price is below that MOS.
   5.- LET'S BUYYYYY!!!!
   
   But.... How is it possible, if the sistem works, to find a bargain of under 50% MOS price if the company has gone so well in the past 10 years? Isn't it supose to have been increasing in a 15% compound during those 10 years if someone has bought it 10 years ago? The 5 big numbers say so. How is it going to work for the next 10 years if you have found it for a 50% discount?
   
   That is why I don't belive in the sistem!!!!



4. It's an easy read, but very informative. This was exactly what I was looking for and will be a Phil Town fan for years to come.
   
   Phil walks you through how evaluation is done, slowly and carefully, in addition to a simple how to guide for a novice investor.



5. I am a fairly new trader and I heard about Phil Town's method so I decided to buy the book. I am almost done reading it and now I am more excited than ever to start using this method. Great book!

5 comments about Rich Dad's Advisors: Guide to Investing In Gold and Silver: Protect Your Financial Future.

1. I was already convinced that owning gold and silver was a good investment but had heard from an internet source that this was a good guide to investing in metals, and saw that (at the time) ALL the reviews here were high praise.
   
   The book is called "Guide to Investing in Gold and Silver" but Maloney spends the first 154 pages of a 202 page book making a historical case for the strength of gold and silver vs currency and other investments. (Title page - pg 155: Part 4 - How to invest in precious metals)
   
   The final Chapter, 7 pages, returns to the history of metals investing and the opportunities it gives in todays economic climate.
   
   In the end, there are just 40 pages of actual investing advice (what to buy, where, pit-falls etc).
   
   Maloney's research is exhausting and initially I found it interesting but at the end of each chapter I'd turn the page hoping to finally get to the "guide to investing", only to find yet another chapter of history, charts and graphs.
   
   In my opinion, this is a book only for those not already convinced about buying metals...or for those who are but also really want a detailed history to go with their guide.



2. This book does an excellent job of laying out both the history and the details behind investing in gold and silver. Don't get pulled into the hype of precious metals investment services who rush you into buying before you educate yourself. This extremely readable book will set you on the path toward understanding your options for investment and the rationale. I have recommended this to countless friends already...and you as well!



3. The author starts out by taking you on a journey through time, explaining the history of precious metals. Then he reviews more recent events, what precious metals have done and may do. The final segment of the book is very informative regarding how to invest in gold and silver, the pitfalls to watch out for, and the possible tax and other ramifications of buying and selling. His website [...] is also very informative. This is a "must read" before you buy gold or silver!



4. I really enjoyed this book that I read it 2 times in the last 30 days. No way during my college years would I ever have attempted to read something like this, buy Mike Maloney has a great way of teaching economics 101. I loves his examples and how he uses history to back up his theory. Definite read if you want to survive the next economic downturn.



5. this is a must for anyone keen to survive this recession and come out on top. Great back ground knowledge and future predictions. A very good reference guide.