Reviews (6)

Excellent book, but not perfect
This is an excellent book for beginners and intermediate traders. It explains TA in a deep but simple way. The real value of this book (for me) is that it explains what is happening, who is buying and who is selling during chart patterns. It also explains how to trade each pattern.

After reading this book i feel much more calm and confident about what is actually happening on the markets. I can now have my own ideas of market movements, despite news, newsletters and other bloated sources of information. This book will serve as a reference for years to come.

The section on chart patterns is deep and complete. It contains all needed informations, but keeping a focus on price action.

The section on indicators covers (well) the most common ones. I would have liked more indicators.

A TA good book but not amazing
This is a solid book but it is not a 5 star book. Probably closer to 3 1/2 to 4 stars. Lots of stuff about pennants, flags, support lines, etc. The author does walk you through using the indicators which is very helpful. A lot of TA books describe and indicators and fail to tell you what to do with it. The sections on RSI and stochastics are also good.

I have been using some of the ideas with powerinvestor.com's software and been very pleased. Their web site uses simple to use sector models that have returned 30% a year since 1996.

...

A fresh new book on technical analysis.
Bruce Kamich has written one of the best books on technical analysis that I've seen in a long time. Unlike most introductory books, it neither over simplifies, nor does it make it seem as if you need a PhD to learn how to use technical analysis. The book explains how and why technical patterns and indicators work in an entertaining way. On top of that, the examples of patterns in the book are not "text book". You actually get to see what these things might look like in the real world instead of the perfect picture you see in most books. This is invaluable. On top of that, the book is a bargain!

Solid Advice for Chartsists, Technicians of All Levels
Barron's named this book one of the best of the year - and for good reason. "How TA Works" is a friendly and easy-to-read (but not *too* simple) guide to charting and technical analysis. Instead of focusing on a single methodology, this book provides an arsenel of tools and explains how they're used for market timing, stock selection, and risk management.

Many of the studies and tools used in the book can be used for free or little $ at TA sites like Prophet ..., the source for charts in the book. It's definitely a good idea to learn from this book while trying it out with the online charts at the same time. That way, you can see how different studies, for example, work on different stocks.

Also, comparing the price to other books in this genre, "How TA Works" is a very good value. Highly recommended, the market not withstanding...

How Technical Analysis Works
As a student of markets and an industry employee, I've read numerous books. After reading Mr. Kamich's book, it's clear that he's put in a tremendous amount of effort and has leaned heavily upon his extensive experience. As a subscriber to a popular quote/news vendor that he works for, I know that he has successfully transalated some of his real life experiences into this book. A distinguishing feature of this book is the idea that the reader should think alongside the various examples. This is extremely helpful. Too many books give you the gospel - easy to chew through, but not helpful in real life. Trading is very much an individual pursuit, so having the reader think and react, not told, is quite refreshing. This is probably not a book for newbie's, but for everyone else, you'll be pleased. Let's hope a cequel is in the offing! ... Read more

Amazon.com

First published in 1930, The Art of Speculation by Philip Carret haslong been praised for its perceptive examination of the various ways that speculationimpacts the worlds of both business and financial trading. Now, almost seven decadeslater, a newly updated edition proves as instructive as ever on this and relatedinvestment topics such as short selling, government regulation, options, and arbitrage.Chapters on reading a balance sheet and an income statement remain classics. ... Read more

Reviews (7)

Classic
This is one of the books that I decided to re-read. There is a little something for everyone in this book. Technical analysis, fundamental analysis, investing and speculation. The thing that really strikes me about books like this that were written 70-80 years ago is how true they are today. Sure, when the author writes about railroads, you may have to replace that with optical equipment today, but the premise and outcomes are the same. If you want some perspective of what things were like in the 30s, with some practical application in the new century, this is a great choice.

An abbreviated Graham & Dodd
There is alot to this book that makes the reader think...the beginning chapters on what is speculation and what is gambling, I found invaluable. As a full time trader I needed someone to explain to me why I wasn't just a river boat gambler, or for that matter why all the Brokerage & Banks weren't either, and Mr Carret did beautifully, putting speculation in its proper place in the trade annals of all mankind.
The bulk of the book gives one a short course in Graham & Dodd valuation & why the Internet stocks with no sales/no profits were bound to come to earth (sorry AMZN :-)
Yes he talks about mining and railroads but don't they still exist? Or their counterparts? Railroads are transports; mining is r/d semis and electronics, energy & of course minig. The ideas are the same. Do a little thinking & this book is sheer gold.
I will not say that I overstayed in the valuation parts but I do admit it was good to understand & what to look for whilst reading the various trade papers. Exactly why do profits matter?
Finally, the chapter on volatility...haven't we all been caught in volatility is priceless. It's helped me in my trading immeasurably.
I saw Mr Carret on Lou Rukeyser when he was in his 90's & still working. He impressed me then, vigorous in mind & body, & I was saddened to hear that he died at 101 just 2 years ago. This book like the man, is a time that is lost to all of us & thus with the Internet bubble we were condemned to repeat it.
I wish I had read him earlier. Honestly.
God Bless you Mr Carret & Thanks

Why is this a classic? Please help...
There are good bits and bad bits to Phillip Caret's classic. The bits on balance sheets, P&Ls and what makes the difference between investment and speculation are very good. His style is tight and unambiguous. The message is clear. The bad side is that I found it boring and not at all the 24-carat prose that is claimed in the introduction.

Wiley has many great books in its Investment Classics series. This isn't one of them.

I'm very disappointed...
When I think of a classic then I think of something that holds true regardless of time. This book is a bit outdated (it was written in 1930). A third of the book is concerning the analysis of mining and railroad companies.

Plus the book was very rudimentary in its writings. Not really a book on speculation as an introductary book for a 1930's investor. In my opinion not worthy of the term "Classic"

If you want a true classic read "Reminences of a Stock Operator" This is a true classic with truths that hold true today as well as 1923 when it was written.

Great Information - Difficult to Digest
Mr. Carret was a well-respected financier who spent a lot of time and thought putting to paper the ideas that helped him build a fortune for himself and his clients. The ideas that he writes on, value-investing, market forecasting, evaluating a company's R&D prospects are relevant to this day, and are valuable given the age of the text.

However, this is a somewhat difficult book to read, indeed arguably one of the most difficult to read texts in the Wiley Investment Classic series. With that in mind, I would only suggest it's reading to the dedicated financier who has already digested many of the other fine historical banking books that are available.

Again, this is a good book, but it's wording is old and often not very direct. The graphs and charts need further touching up as they are also somewhat difficult to decipher. ... Read more

Book Description

Housing equity, 401Ks, Pension funds.They all may be vulnerable to the next bursting bubble.John Calverley lays out the fundamentals of our asset-backed economy and explores the powerful implications for individuals, businesses, central banks, and policy makers. ... Read more

Amazon.com

Beardstown Ladies, move over. From the sassy, wisecracking wife of pro hockey player Phil Housley (and mother of four) comes an investment-club how-to for all those postboomer, pre-X women who not only bring home the bacon (in an SUV, most likely) and fry it up in a pan, but who want to find greater financial autonomy and profits than mutual funds can provide--and in the process do some "You go, girl!" bonding that would put those chatty gals of The View to shame. Granted, when you cut out all the schmoozing and gabbing in here, the actual take-home advice and guidelines on group online investing could be reduced to the size of a TV-listings blurb for Ally McBeal (to which Housley refers with near-obsessive frequency).

But having said that, it's admirably straightforward and explained in plain English, especially for a genre glutted with so-called "easy-to-follow" volumes that are nonetheless incomprehensible. And, since this is a guide to starting and maintaining a fun and social investment club as much as it is to mastering the stock market, it's got just as much kitchen-table advice on putting together a gang of gals, convening them via Internet bulletin boards, and keeping club communication and camaraderie alive as it does on picking the right stocks, finding a broker, following their progress against the S&P 500, and knowing when to buy, sell, and hold.Housley's writing style is caffeine-charged, bordering on insane, and the bulletin-board conventions and online meeting notes she shares from her own group are so full of references to maternity due dates, hectic suburban-mom itineraries, and free-floating cravings for everything from Quarter Pounders to Tom Cruise that you sometimes feel like you're trapped in a programming loop from the Lifetime Channel.

In truth, though, it's that very jotty, gabby style that actually makes the book as least as much fun to read as Housley makes starting up a club sound like. And lest you're thinking only the wives of NFL hockey players have the spare cash for such hijinks, Housley actually gears most of the book toward women who can only invest as little as $50 a month. If you can't set aside that much toward your future financial autonomy, you're probably putting it all in the hands of some man who's gonna stiff you anyway, girl, Housley seems to be saying. And it's that blend of sisters-doin'-it-for-themselves practicality and pop-level empowerment that makes Chicks the kind of smart, fun group-investment guide that even some of us NYSE-illiterate roosters out there would do well to read. --Timothy Murphy ... Read more

Reviews (30)

Empowering, Fun Read of Interested Investor Wannabes
I wish you could read my review first. I fit right in with Chick Karin's target audience. I must, because I LOVED this book! Not only did I get easy to understand investment concepts, but also the author gave me bonus information on what tax forms are needed and how to do an investment club tax return. I mean, really, how much more could I want?!

Additionally, just when I needed a break from the technical stuff, (which again, was painless to read,) I got to meet the Chicks -- not face-to-face, but through the Chick Chat provided in each chapter. I found myself wanting to discover more about Chick Cheryl and Chick Jana's pregnancy rather than the Russell Index.

I'm hoping this review will help you decide to read the book. If you read the other reviews, from Amazon and Publisher Weekly, you'll see for your own eyes that everything you need is here, in a lighthearted, entertaining prose.

Truly, if you've wanted to invest and never have had the courage or personal belief, now is the time to do so. Buy the book, and then contact your friends and their friends. I know I'm going to do so - I'm ready to take control of my financial future, thanks to you, Karin Housley!

Chicks Rule!

Inexpensive, Fun Ways to Experience Stock Investing
Millions of investing books are bought or read by people who never get around to buying any stocks. Karin Housley, busy mother of four and wife of professional hockey player Phil Housley, found that the solution for her was to form an investment club with her friends across the country. Occasional face-to-face meetings would be supplemented by having a bulletin board on-line, regular e-mail, and now they have a web site where you can visit to keep up-to-date with them and share their results.

The book is the first simple explanation I have seen for how to take all of the little steps needed to start an investment club. By working together, individuals can have a good time, try their hand in the market, and get a lot accomplished with little money and time spent. If you like company when you make financial decisions, an investment club is much less expensive than a full service broker.

I graded the book down by two stars for two reasons. First, Ms. Housley strongly argues for trying to beat the market averages and crows about how easy it is. Seeing the club's stocks, I suspected that things had fallen down since the book was printed. As of April 10, 2001, the club's stocks had lost 16.56 percent while the S&P 500 had lost 7.27 percent. So the club members during the bear market greatly underperformed, having significantly outperformed during the waning days of the bull market. Only time can tell how they will do in the long run.

I think that most people should have almost all of the money they plan to invest in stocks in indexed, no-load mutual funds. Since this investment club is just a small part of the member's total investing, no harm is done.

However, do take the crowing here with a big grain of salt. Most people would not even claim to have outperformed the S&P 500 with a track record of less than 5 years. This club has been going for less than 3 years.

Second, the book is very badly organized, poorly written, and hard to follow. There are brief summaries at the ends of chapters, but the material is very circular. Brief lists of key points at the end of each chapter help. The book has a solid glossary. Now, I did not grade the book down more because any book by the typical head of a newly formed investment club would probably have similar problems.

On the other hand, I do recommend that you read the book if you find it hard to get started with stock investments. I think you will find the book helpful, and I do not know of a better book to steer you to concerning investment clubs. There is an organization you should know about, The National Association of Investors Corporation (NAIC) based in Michigan, which can help you get started as an individual or as part of an investment club.

Here are the book's strengths. First, it explains financial concepts reasonably clearly. Second, it suggests investing principles that some successful investors use (such as the Gardners, Warren Buffett, and Peter Lynch). Third, it has a fine glossary. Fourth, it is interesting to read about the women in the club, so there's a personal story line that adds zest. This also gives you a flavor of the personal benefits of being in a club, aside from your investing results. Fifth, the book doesn't assume anything. You get help with everything from purchasing a computer to figuring out who to invite into the club to how to file your tax returns. I admired the thoroughness of how the small details were handled.

The club was formed in part because Ms. Housley feels that women need to be able to handle their own finances and develop their own financial security. I agree. So the book is pro-female. The terms used make it sometimes sound like women are being put down. I don't think the book is intended that way, so give her the benefit of the doubt.

In the book's comments, Ms. Housley refers to owning a mutual fund and trailing the averages as a bronze medal. Well, that's the level of performance they have now. She describes the indexed solution as the silver medal. Beating the market is the gold medal. I see almost everyone I know get bronze medal performance by trying for the gold medal. It's not easy to achieve gold medal performance. Less than one professinal investor in ten succeeds.

After reading this book, I suggest that you consider where else having friends to do things with would encourage you to get started. Exercise? Learning a new skill? Finding a better job?

The best way to learn is to get some experience. Start now!

Don't waste your money!
The first problem I had with this book was the incredibly condescending attitude by the writer. Just because *she* was completely clueless about their family investments doesn't mean the rest of the *housewives* in the country are. She continually talked down to her readers and spoke absolutely horribly about her children. Whether she was joking or not, I found her style extremely offensive. This breastfeeding, clothing diapering, homeschooling mother who happens to love her children didn't fit into ANY of the stupid examples she used.

But I muddled through those first few chapters to get to the meat of the matter - The Chicks Dozen. This is the all-knowing formula that one must run each potential company through before buying the stock. The problem? It worked fine when the bulls were running full steam last summer and they went with primarily tech stocks. Now? Their portfolio is a total loser and they were hit hard. I mean HARD. I notice they don't even publish the numbers on their site any longer.

As it is now, I don't think ANY company would fit into their standards and, in fact, they've changed strageties completely (I mean a COMPLETE reversal!) and are now going with mutual funds. There was page after page in the book BASHING mutual funds and now they've realized that putting all your eggs into single stocks in this bear market just doesn't wash.

They may have beat the men on Wall Street for ONE YEAR, but they sure aren't clucking now. So save your money and check out their website to see their current strategies because they've changed their tune. You'll also notice that one of the members has already left.

Didn't anyone at the publishing company *read* this book with it's hogwash advice before publishing it?

Great for Beginners
This book is written in a coffee klatch style, with great ideas and simple explanations. While there is a lot more chatting than content, it keeps the book from being dry and boring. And the content IS good, especially for those who are starting at the very beginning and need the basics explained. I recommend that you read the excerpts to see if her style is okay for you. If so then buy the book!

Chicks laying groundwork
It sounds to me like people either loved or hated this book. I'm in the middle. The content was excellent for beginning investors. Even though the math may have been a bit elementary, sometimes a refresher is needed! Skip over the examples if you have just graduated from Harvard.
I am going to be starting an investment club and have read a few books on it now. This one is very light-hearted, even if you don't think her humor is. It does, however, allow one to read more than one chapter without falling asleep, a problem I did have with another book.
What is comes down to is this -- this book is full of IDEAS, a place to start. Some of us ARE middle-class stay-at-home moms and some of us aren't. It really doesn't matter either way. She is showing us what worked for her and her club. It is up to us to decide which information we would like to use and which information we could care less about.
I would definitely recommend this book to anyone interested in forming an investment club, or just learning a few of the ways to go about researching, choosing and following stocks. ... Read more

Book Description

In an efficient market, all stocks should be valued at a price that is consistent with available information. But as financial expert Vijay Singal, Ph.D., CFA, points out, there are circumstances under which certain stocks sell at a price higher or lower than the right price. In Beyond the Random Walk, Singal discusses ten such anomalous prices and shows how investors might--or might not--be able to exploit these situations for profit. The author distills several decades of academic research into a focused discussion of market anomalies that is both accessible and useful to people with varied backgrounds.Past empirical evidence is supplemented with author's own research using more recent data. Anomalies covered include the "December Effect," "Momentum in Industry Stocks," "S&P 500 Index Changes," "Trading by Insiders," and "Merger Arbitrage."In each chapter, the author describes the particular anomaly, explains how it occurs, shows ways to take advantage of the anomaly, and highlights the risks involved. We learn, for example, that shares of stocks that have appreciated in recent months become scarce in late December, because investors wait until January before they sell (to postpone payment of taxes on profits). This scarcity drives the price up--the "December Effect"--and smart buyers can make the equivalent of 75% annual return on a five-day investment.Each chapter includes suggestions for further reading as well as tables and graphs that support the discussion. The book concludes with a preview of many other interesting anomalies and a section on how investor behavior might influence prices. Clearly written and informative, this well-researched volume is a must read for investors, traders, market specialists, and students of financial markets. ... Read more

Reviews (10)

A really useful book for practitioners
I am a (successful) practitioner who has been exploiting mispricings in the market for more than 10 years - in bad times and good times.

This is an excellent book - readable, comprehensive, and up to date.It is not a fool's book but the ideal book for an intelligent person. It describes the risks associated with each strategy.I particularly like the strategy with Fidelity Select Funds.

I hope the book becomes popular so that it can be reissued every few years with new insights and new data.

Well-written, convincing....if you are a trader...
This is definetly one of the better written books on the subject. Singal presents several "market anomalies" and discusses strategies as to how to benefit from them. However, most of them have holding periods of a couple of days to a few weeks at the most. A long-term investor may not find the strategies mentioned here very useful. Of particular appeal to mid-to-long term investors may be the discussion on SP500 additions and deletions, and mutual fund pricing. It may offer some tips on when to committ additional funds to mutual funds. However, the increased pressure on market timers and related activities, increasing redemption fees, trading costs, tax implications and the sheer amount of time required to monitor the strategies, the techniques of the author provide for good academic discussion and not as much as practical "tips". Nevertheless, the market situations, suggested techniques, evidence and possible explanations, citations are well presented and logically organized. A must-read for traders and investors alike, though for different reasons.

Beyond the random walk, the path is rocky.
This is a very interesting and clearly written book.From an academic standpoint, it effectively digs some dent in the Efficient Market Hypothesis.The author addresses ten classic situations, some of them well known, when markets are not efficient.

However, the author does not make a convincing case that retail investors can exploit these inefficiencies efficiently.In other words, the anomalies the author depicts amount to separate trading strategies which should potentially help you achieve the "buy low - sell high" optimum.However, these trading strategies are associated with much higher transaction costs and taxes than a buy-and-hold strategy of an index fund.Additionally, some of these strategies are very labor intensive and information intensive.These are added costs.Finally, these strategies will cause you to cash out of the market frequently.The holding of cash balances will further reduce your return compared to investors who remain fully invested.

When all is said and done, will you come out ahead exploiting these market anomalies after you factor all added costs?The author stated that he "generally" does come out ahead of the market.However, he does not support this vague statement with any documentation.Also, he adds that going forward his strategies may be less effective because of ever changing market conditions.Thus, once a market anomaly is exploited by a few investors, the market's ever evolving efficiency erases this anomaly.

Although the book is very interesting, it is no substitute to sound investment strategies based on the Efficient Market Hypothesis.It is a far safer and easier to profit from the market's overall efficiency than to attempt to profit from its few and fleeting marginal inefficiencies.

If you are interested in this subject, I strongly recommend the classics by Burton Malkiel: "A Random Walk Down Wall Street" and "The Random Guide to Investing."I also strongly recommend John Paulos excellent "A Mathematician Plays the Stock Market." These books all suggest that you are better off focusing your energy on proper asset class diversification that reflects your risk tolerance.And, in turn invest for the long term through index funds of these respective asset classes.

A Bit Deceptive
This book is more academic than practical, which is not a bad thing.I enjoyed reading it and found it to be well researched and very educational.Just remember, however, that any systematic strategy that makes money in the stock market will become ineffective as soon as it becomes well known (anyone remember "Beating the Dow" or its offspring, "The Foolish Four?").So read this book if the topic interests you, but don't expect to cash in by exploting these anomalies.

Also, A Random Walk addresses some of these anomalies and explains why, given transaction costs among other things, one cannot profit from them.

Detailed and Useful Trading Strategies....
The financial markets give investors a chance to make money when they work - and when they don't. When markets work efficiently they uncover the true value of an asset by pegging its fair price for informed buyers and sellers. When for a variety of reasons markets are inefficient they misprice assets. When the specific circumstances of that mispricing are recognized and persistent (viz. predictable) it is an anomaly. The regularity of anomalies offers investors, at least in theory, the opportunity to profit by taking a position that recognizes the temporary nature of the mispricing before it rights itself. These anomalies are the subject of Singal's study which takes its title from the updated 1970's classic exposition of the efficient market hypothesis by Princeton Economics professor Burton Malkiel.

This is a detailed look at ten market anomalies. Singal's goal is to move us well beyond descriptions and academic evidence and offer trading strategies intended to achieve an outsized market return. Each chapter summarizes key points and projects potential returns from implementing the outlined strategy. Additional market anomalies are briefly identified in the final chapter. As a bonus of sorts an appendix gives the most detailed explanation of short selling I have read.

From a practical standpoint some anomalous situations would appear to be more exploitable than others. Mergers between public companies occur with some frequency, so an understanding of how to play the merger premium paid by acquiring companies for their target is useful. Changes to the composition of the S&P 500 Index and their impact on stock prices occur with less frequency, but this is balanced by opportunities from the January and "New December Effect" (mark your calendars). From anecdotal observations, I am not convinced by the author's discussion of the Weekend Effect, and the chapter on International Investing seems like a fair argument for diversification rather than an anomaly. The so-called Value Line Enigma identified in the final chapter is perplexing to this reader, since the supposed outperformance of their recommended stocks runs directly counter to a similar study of mutual funds picked by Morningstar. An apples to oranges comparison to some, perhaps, but it is a sufficiently known study to warrant comment. A chapter dealing with currency forward rates will be beyond most non-professional investors. I would have liked to have heard more about spin-offs, the long-term overperformance of "independent" subsidiaries occasionally distributed to shareholders of a parent company. Singal identifies the simpler, "sharper" corporate mission as the reason. Actually, it may be strong sponsorship and generous, upfront management incentives which spark those returns.

The question remains, does this serious academic study offer practical trading strategies to investors bent on gain. The answer is that Singal has so many ideas packed into the book that investors will be influenced in the aggregate in their trading decisions. Not to be aware of these market biases exposes traders to more uncertainty and risk than may be necessary. ... Read more

Book Description

THE SHORT BOOK ON OPTIONS is just that: a concise easy to understand primer that first teaches the basics of stock options and then offers a hands-on approach to using options in a conservative manner.Beginning with a description of what an option is and how an option works, THE SHORT BOOK ON OPTIONS takes the reader on a journey from learning the language of options to being prepared to trade.The book provides detailed answers to these important questions:What are the steps involved in trading options?Why would you want to sell a stock option?

What do you have to gain?

What do you have to lose?How do you choose which option to sell?THE SHORT BOOK ON OPTIONS is especially useful for long-term buy and hold investors, owners of a self-directed retirement plan, investment club members or anyone who wants to increase the performance and safety of his/her investment portfolio.The author teaches a conservative strategy focusing on profitability and safety.By the time you finish reading this book, you will be eager (and prepared) to make your first options trade. ... Read more

Reviews (6)

Excellent
This book delivers, I did not know about options prior reading, the simple and yet comprehensive presentation allows to develop a good grasp of how to use options on a conservative and solid fashion.
What he advocates (protection and enhancement) of a portfolio is well presented and plan to use his advice.
More likely will now seek more information and knowledge with more elaborated books (not sure is really needed) but the basics are here.
thank you Wolfinger

Clear concise primer for understanding options
I found this book to be just what I was looking for. After a complete introduction to the topic, Mr. Wolfinger helps the novice options investor clearly understand one conservative strategy. The author is very dedicated and thorough in explaining the concepts. He makes no assumptions that the reader has previous knowledge of what he teaches, yet he is never condescending. I also appreciate the easy to read font size. The text is large enough that I can read it without my glasses! Many thanks to the author for having the patience and know-how to start a beginner from "square one". I look forward to other books on the subject by this author.

I am a satisfied options novice
Enjoyed this book! It delivers as promised. I picked it up hoping to get a clear understanding of options and how they work. I was more than pleased, as this book provided all I was looking for, and more. The author presents material in pleasant, easy to grasp language. I now have a very clear understanding of options. The covered call writing strategy sounds good to me. I never knew it was so easy to obtain some safety for my stocks. I have already opened my options account and my broker is offering encouragement.

I'm no longer "clueless"!!
Since reading this book, I have learned how to use options, opened an options account, and made several successful transactions. The author's style is easy to understand and the recommended strategy has been working for me. PS...I have set aside a small amount of my own money to work with...I haven't told my husband about my newly acquired skills. Hopefully one day in the future I will be able to give him a $$ surprise!
GIRLFRIENDS...GET THIS BOOK!

Great options strategy
This book not only explained the concept of options in a simple to learn manner, but it also demonstrated how to use one simple options strategy. I am much more comfortable with my investments now that I have added safety to my holdings. I recommend this book to anyone who is worried about the safety of his current investments. ... Read more

Book Description

The experts agree: REITs (Real Estate Investment Trusts) should be a part of every serious investor's diversified portfolio. All the essentials are there—low volatility, consistent and steady profits, impressive dividends, convenient liquidity, low correlation with other asset classes and, most importantly, professional management—yet to take advantage of this investment vehicle, understanding the unusual features and performance characteristics of REITs is key. Investing in REITs—Revised & Updated Edition is an enlightening, practical look at what REITs are, how they work, what properties they own, and why they deserve an important place in any diversified investment portfolio. Ralph Block's classic is newly updated to reflect all the latest changes in the industry. Block provides cogent analysis of what is unique about REITs and cuts to the chase on how to make money with them while avoiding common pitfalls. Succinct, informative, and user-friendly in its layout and presentation, this guide makes the world of REITs accessible to all investors.

This essential guide offers: • The ABCs of successful REIT investment • How to spot blue-chip REITs • A concise history of REITs and how they compare to other investments • How to build a diversified REIT portfolio • REIT mutual fund opportunities and performance • Important new developments and strategies in the REIT industry, including specific sectors of real estate, asset recycling, and joint venture strategies • And much more ... Read more

Reviews (17)

Block gives a lucid, educational and humorous view of reits.
Ralph Block shows the way through the morass of FFOs, AFFOs and P/AFFOs to the basic concepts of reits. I like his clairty; he speaks to me by written word, yet as if one- to-one.The entire subject matter (which at first approach seems incredibly dry) sparkles with Block's wit. I read the book and came away reit-knowledgeable as well as entertained!

In these days of plummeting stocks (and reits are in there falling, too), this book helps me prepare for the time when I will want to sink some money into real estate the easier, cheaper way.

Great book for REIT investors.
I learned more about investing in REITs from Ralph Block's first book "The Essential REIT" than from any of the other numerous sources I was plumbing at that time. His latest book, "Investing in REITs" expands on and updates his first book. This is a great book for anyone interested in investing in REITs. It's easy to read, proceeding thoroughly and logically from first principals. Ralph Block is an excellent writer with a knack for anticipating questions that neophytes might have.

Some fundamental financial problems with this book...
The book is an easy to understand introduction.

Yes, Quality REITs can be a very good addition to one's portfolio as the book states.
But the book is a little biased, because one of the fundamentals
of modern portfolio theory is Risk vs Reward.
Yet this book has only 1 chapter (out of 12) discussing
the risks of REITs - and even in that chapter the risks
are down played somewhat.

Yes, REITS can be a great investment true, but the book doesn't give the complete picture.

A great Introduction
Ralph has done a great job of leading the new REIT investor through the tangle of understanding REITs from their humble inception in 1960 through 2001. He does a good job of explaining why things have happened as they have, and to build our confidence in this from of investment...particular those who wish to invest for the long term dividend.

What would be nice is to carry this concept through its logical conclusion, and demonstrate how to get the data on the internet to measure a REIT's ability to maintain and continue to grow its dividend going forward, with practical examples of how to pull numbers off of a REIT's 10Q and 10K annual earnings reports, calculate FFO and AFFO and Fixed Cost Coverage Ratios.

I hope he follows up with a book that will take us to this next step.

Impressed!
This book thoroughly reviews the many aspects of REITs in a clear, interesting and informative manner. Good information. Good writing. Very helpful. ... Read more

Book Description

Plenty of novelty acts in investment management have their fifteen minutes of fame only to fade into the vast collection of notions we wish we'd never heard of—sometimes not before they've done a fair amount of damage. The ideas that last—the ones that truly make a difference in building wealth—are the ones that have survived the vetting of the people in the profession who make it their business to find out what really works and why. Harold Evensky and Deena Katz invited some of those authorities to tell you about the strategies they believe are essential to know today. Twenty-seven thinkers answered the call. Here's a sampling of some you may know:

• Jean Brunel challenges how we manage taxable accounts and offers a better way.
• Gary Gastineau and Craig Lazzara propose a new investment vehicle—the multiple-share-class fund.
• Mark Hurley offers methods and cautions on the mainstreaming of alternative investments.
• Timothy Kochis presents strategies for unraveling concentrated stock positions.
• Don Phillips discusses a new methodology for incorporating funds into an investment portfolio.
• William Reichenstein introduces a holistic approach to asset allocation that incorporates both the impact of taxes and a client's extended portfolio.

Whether your most pressing questions are about insurance wrappers or assessing risk tolerance, fund analysis or financial gerontology, you'll find intriguing answers here.

The Investment Think Tank can earn you twelve hours of continuing education credit from the CFP Board of Standards. See the exam inside the book. ... Read more

Book Description

In his best-selling Irrational Exuberance, Robert Shiller cautioned that society's obsession with the stock market was fueling the volatility that has since made a roller coaster of the financial system. Less noted was Shiller's admonition that our infatuation with the stock market distracts us from more durable economic prospects. These lie in the hidden potential of real assets, such as income from our livelihoods and homes. But these ''ordinary riches,'' so fundamental to our well-being, are increasingly exposed to the pervasive risks of a rapidly changing global economy. This compelling and important new book presents a fresh vision for hedging risk and securing our economic future.

Shiller describes six fundamental ideas for using modern information technology and advanced financial theory to temper basic risks that have been ignored by risk management institutions--risks to the value of our jobs and our homes, to the vitality of our communities, and to the very stability of national economies. Informed by a comprehensive risk information database, this new financial order would include global markets for trading risks and exploiting myriad new financial opportunities, from inequality insurance to intergenerational social security. Just as developments in insuring risks to life, health, and catastrophe have given us a quality of life unimaginable a century ago, so Shiller's plan for securing crucial assets promises to substantially enrich our condition.

Once again providing an enormous service, Shiller gives us a powerful means to convert our ordinary riches into a level of economic security, equity, and growth never before seen. And once again, what Robert Shiller says should be read and heeded by anyone with a stake in the economy.

Reviews (17)

Interesting read, author is quite optimistic.
This book is very interesting, but I think that the author in may be a bit full of himself. This is the same guy who wrote the book 'Irrational Exuberance' months after the stock market peaked in January 2000 and claims to have predicted it. I feel that most of the hype about Robert Shiller is Irrationally Exuberant. However this does not mean this book is not worth looking at. It has some interesting proposals, although many of them are either far-fetched or dangerously close to a creating a corporate Orwellian state.

A fascinating alternative view of the financial system
Shiller is a visionary economist.The problem with visionaries is that they do not always see the world the same way as everyone else.

This book outlines how Shiller believes a range of innovative risk management products could change the international financial system, and at the same time raise the living standards of ordinary people.Shiller wants to create derivative products which would allow people to use financial markets to hedge against loss of income, or the decline in the value of their house, for example.

Now this is pretty daunting stuff for the average reader, and I doubt that most of the people Shiller wants to help would fully appreciate the complexities of the things he advocates.

The other problem I have is that I simply don't believe all of Shiller's ideas are feasible.Moreover, even he would have to admit it is impossible to eliminate risk from life, yet that is what he tries to achieve.

I think it is a terrific book for those who want to ponder "what if."It can be a hard read though.

A Must Read!
Economist Robert Shiller became a household name when he published his previous bestseller Irrational Exuberance just as the dot.com boom was peaking. In The New Financial Order, he capitalizes on his celebrity to put forward a thoughtful, detailed proposal for managing economic risks. This highly readable book portrays a future in which many serious individual financial risks are dispersed to savvy global investors, thanks to technology. Imagine violinists being able to insure their careers in addition to their Stradivarius instruments, developing countries securing generous loans from the first world by tying the repayment schedules to their future GDPs and a revamped tax system preventing the gap between rich and poor from widening. We suggest this book to risk-management professionals who want to step back and look at the big picture, as well as to anyone who has a stake in creating new financial products to meet twenty-first century needs.

Big Brother meet the Free Market
This is a big, big book. Although it contains only 276 pages of commentary, its scope envisions a brave new world we can only imagine and argue about. No doubt the outcome of the argument will weigh heavily on our future for years to come. Professor Robert J. Shiller needs no introduction. Whether by intent or luck, his "Irrational Exuberance" warning about our overvalued stock market was published around the time NASDAQ topped out just above 5000 (March 2000). The rest is history. And while I, as a former member of two options exchanges, certainly welcome any suggestion to increase the trading opportunities available to us today, the six innovative financial instruments he proposes to reduce/share risk leave a lot to be explained, both mechanically and philosophically. The book, though, rates five stars for its thought-provoking ideas and for the stature that Shiller brings to them. There's a lot in this book and nothing in it should be discarded without extensive study and reflection. One of life's hardest lessons to accept is that none of us, either individually or collectively, can ignore the dynamic world we live in. Sitting still is not an option because of the relative motion of everyone else in the world. Our only choices are, in the immortal words of Lee Iacocca, "Lead, follow, or get out of the way." Today's informational databases were sure to evoke something like Shiller's ideas. It is useless to turn our heads because it will happen. Therefore the intent of this book should be exposed to the largest possible number of people because what we decide will determine how we spend the rest of our lives. On the surface, Dr. Shiller would be creating a Dr. Pangloss world, but the devil would be in the details.
The most obvious aspect of Shiller's proposals is that he would use classical capitalistic markets to achieve classical socialistic goals. A most creative feat in and of itself. Insuring against risk, of course, is nothing new. Lloyd's of London dates back to Edward Lloyd's coffeehouse in the late 1680s. But not only does Shiller want to mitigate the risk of error in individual decision making, he also wants to insure "society" against the collective mistakes of all. It will be interesting to see which power groups line up on which side of the argument. Maybe he isn't proposing cradle-to-grave socialism, but certainly something close to young-professional-through-retirement risk sharing as administered/regulated by a combination of governmental/financial superbodies.
He convincingly begins his presentation with a short history of how new innovations are always refuted at first, then eventually work their way into our lives. This is a good start to set the stage for his own ground-breaking ideas.
There is no point in going over the mechanics of the proposals because they will see many different permutations before they ever become tradable entities, but more important are the goals and philosophy that pushes them all.
His first proposal covers personal insurance: livelihood insurance to reduce the risk of people embarking on a dead-end profession. He is inspired here by the very legitimate concern that society losses out on tremendous talent when gifted individuals steer away from professions that might not pay off in the future. He feels that if we insure them against this failure, their contributions will pay off in the long run. Also included in personal insurance is his proposal for home equity insurance to guard against a decline in your home's value. He's already put his money where his mouth is by incubating such a company and then selling it to a financial conglomerate.
Next is MacroMarkets. Here he envisions GDP futures to enable trading in national economies based on how they perform. One of the benefits here would be when a country's GDP begins to weaken, it would be a signal to the affected economy's leaders that something must be done to remedy the situation or else things will get worse.
Third, he addresses banking and income-linked loans. Interest rates on loans would rise or fall with one's income, region, or profession, and could be used to modify or eliminate current bankruptcy laws. However, could a bank stay solvent by lending money on fluctuating terms unless it could also pay interest on fluctuating terms? We've just lived through the S & L crisis borne out of this same scenario.
Fourth, he tackles his most inflammatory subject, that of income inequality. His basic fear here, along with Dr. Ravi Batra and others, is that increasing disparity of income leads to riots, revolutions, and war. But who decides what is fair and equitable? And would an earlier leveling effect have robbed us of the builders Carnegie, Rockefeller, and Ford up through Walton and Gates?
Fifth - Intergenerational social security. This is the most pressing problem today and will cause the most heated debates going forward. What is fair can be debated until we all die of old age.
Last, he would like to set up swaps between rich and poor, strong and weak nations based on their GDPs. But what happens when politicians are accused of "exporting jobs" like companies are today? They won't be in office very long. The IMF doesn't have a great record getting the masses to toe the line either when it comes to living up to prior agreements.
The scariest ingredient of all Shiller's proposals is the collection, retrievaland analysis of masses of amounts of information (GRID) needed to administer such an interconnected trading arrangement. Yet, the Internet is making us one people, and Shiller's financial instruments would make us one world, interconnected, co-dependent, and risk-sharing. If Clausewitz was right that war is politics by other means, then perhaps politics is economics by other means. Maybe the time has come for economics to supercede politics and maybe Shiller is showing the way. He does have a vision. Do we want to be part of it or not?

The Oracle of 21st Century Finance
By any standards, financial markets are behemoths, where trillions of dollars are traded daily in stocks, bonds, currencies or securities. But unlike common perception that values financial markets based on their profitability, their more important function is to manage risks: shares are sold to investors to spread out risk-if money is made in the process, all the better.

What is surprising is that despite the extensiveness and complexity of our financial nexus, many risks that people face are not currently covered: what happens, say, if your job is taken over by a computer? Or, if you spend seven years in school specializing in a field for which there is no market after you graduate? There is no protection against these threats. Yet, unemployment has a more adverse impact on welfare than any movement of the Dow Jones or the Euro/Dollar exchange rate. Financial markets can help people manage the latter, but not the former.

In this sense, risk management is limited. Extending its scope to manage more risks is the subject of Robert Shiller's book. Mr. Shiller, of Yale University, has put together his vision for the future: a New Financial Order where risk management can serve the people, not just investors who know the markets. "The New Financial Order" is an ambitious work, and although Mr. Shiller tries to show that baby steps have been made towards that vision, it is clear that he is thinking far ahead-decades, even more.

But what is this new order? Mr. Shiller's world is build around six pillars: livelihood and home values insurance, macro-markets where aggregate risks can be traded, income-linked loans, inequality insurance, intergenerational social security, and international agreements for risk control. These ideas are grand, as will be the markets needed to implement them.

This financial order is an attempt to reduce the effect of randomness on our lives. All these instruments, in different ways, will allow a more equitable and efficient sharing of risk, making people better off. If in the past few centuries, financial innovation led to economic prosperity, then the future of finance will be to create economic security. "The New Financial Order" is a blueprint towards that goal. ... Read more

Book Description

College savings plans, 529 Plans, Qualified state tuition programs, QSTPs, Prepaid tuition contracts, Educational savings accounts.They go by many names, but they all represent the same thing: a REVOLUTION in the way families with children are investing for the future.

What other type of program allows you to invest over $100,000 in a professionally-managed tax-deferred account for each child without regard to age or income level?Where else does your state offer significant benefits for investing, including tax deductions, income exemption, and even scholarship money.What other mechanism allows wealthier parents or grandparents to immediately reduce their taxable estates by hundreds of thousands of dollars without gift tax, and without giving up control of the assets?

The answer is that no other IRS-approved program provides the combination of benefits that a Section 529 state-sponsored college savings plan does.Investing for future college expenses will never be the same again.And forget what you may have heard about these plans.You are not limited to the plan in your own state, and you do not have to send your child to an in-state college.You can even set up an account for yourself!

In THE BEST WAY TO SAVE FOR COLLEGE: A Comprehensive Guide to State-Sponsored College Savings Plans and Prepaid Tuition Contracts, Joseph F. Hurley CPA describes how 529 Plans work: the tax rules, planning strategies, impact on college financial aid.He compares them to other alternatives such as the Education IRA, savings bonds, and mutual funds.And he describes the best and worst features of each state's plan, along with an exclusive "5-Cap Rating".The various state plans are not created equal.Learn which ones to use and which ones to stay away from.

You've heard about them.Now it's time to learn about them.Whether you are a professional planner, a college financial aid officer, or a careful investor, you need to have all the facts.[Note:This book appears to be the FIRST comprehensive book describing 529 Plans, and 529 Plans are bound to become extremely popular, as evidenced by articles over the past six months in SmartMoney, TIME, Newsweek, Kiplinger's Personal Finance, Wall Street Journal, and others.] ... Read more

Reviews (4)

Very Useful Book
No doubt, a very useful guide to methods of financing a college education. Also check out "WEST POINT", by Norman Thomas Remick, which clues you in about West Point, the college at which everyone is there on full scholarship paid by the government.

The best book ever written about saving for college!
This book unlocks the secrets of saving for college like the 401k plan did for saving for retirement. A real must for all families to understand. Makes a great present.

A fantastic summary of 529 plans
This book should be read by anyone planning to send a child to college.After reading this book, I started college savings accounts for my daughterin New York and New Hampshire. This is definitely the "sleeper" tax break which everyone should know about. Forget the pitiful Education IRA. The 529 plans are where it's at!!

Terrific guide to a new way to save for college.
Highly recommended. This is the first comprehensive analysis that I've seen of an extremely important and relatively new way to save on a tax-deferred basis for your children's or grandchildren's college expenses. It's well-written, comprehensive, and objective, and it gave me enough data to make an informed decision. Before I opened the book, I had researched New York's plan through another source; I was delighted to see the discussion in this book present all of the plan's features (pro and con) that I had discovered--and more.

I haven't met the author (Joseph Hurley). But when I e-mailed a question to him at the address published in the book, I received a thorough and helpful answer later the same day. That's great service from the author of an exceptionally valuable guide. ... Read more

Amazon.com

All stock-market investors embrace the motto "Buy low, sell high." Few act accordingly, however, for to do so would require that we go against the crowd, buying stocks that are out of favor and selling Wall Street's darlings. Powerful psychological forces prevent us from pursuing a contrarian investment strategy, although it consistently beats the market, according to David Dreman, a seasoned money manager and long-time columnist for Forbes magazine. One of the Street's best-known and most articulate contrarians, Dreman has updated his 1982 investment classic, Contrarian Investment Strategies, using recent research on investor psychology. His revised book combines proven techniques for selecting undervalued stocks with fresh insights on how to defy, and thereby profit from, the popular fears or enthusiasms of the moment.

Dreman pays only cursory attention to a company's business fundamentals in deciding whether to invest in it. Instead he looks for stocks trading at below-market multiples of per-share earnings, cash flow, book value, or dividend yield. Historically, Dreman claims, stocks that are cheap by any of these measures have tended to outperform the market average, although this is disputed by those who believe the stock market is efficient and therefore impossible to beat except by accident. Dreman devotes many pages to debunking their research. He offers a new refinement of his low-price strategy, which involves picking the cheapest stocks within industries, to create a diversified, contrarian portfolio.

Contrarian Investment Strategies: The Next Generation is full of practical and provocative advice, but some of its most interesting passages delve into the abstruse findings of cognitive psychology. This research has proven that we are woefully inadequate as intuitive statisticians. Interpreting data to make predictions about the probability of future events, we consistently make the same mistakes. For example, we exaggerate the likelihood that current trends will continue, even when they are historically exceptional. (Logic dictates that trends are more likely to regress toward the mean.) This fallacy explains why most Wall Street insiders were gloomiest about stocks in 1981, after six years of falling prices, just before the beginning of the greatest bull market ever. Is today's widespread optimism among investors a reason for caution? Dreman thinks so.

It seems our brains are hard-wired to underperform the market. That's why few investors can keep to a contrarian approach. Dreman recommends buying stocks when prices fall, the worse the panic the better. But that requires overriding powerful instincts.

Besides reflecting Dreman's wide reading in finance, psychology, and history, his book also displays his sometimes windy and self-important writing style. At 464 pages, the book is not a quick read. But its intellectual depth and thoroughly tested advice make many other investment books look paltry and superficial by comparison. Serious, independent investors will find it rewarding. --Barry Mitzman ... Read more

Reviews (31)

good book, but don't buy his Forbes column stock picks
The key idea in this book constitutes sound common-sense advice to any investor: buy a diversified portfolio of out-of-favor stocks with sound underlying businesses (e.g., low P/E firms) and sell when the market recognizes their value. The book is controversial because it slams current academic theories on how the market works, especially the idea of "efficient markets". Dreman believes that simply because of the way our minds work, the market tends to systematically over-react or under-react to news (especially earnings reports), and this can be exploited forever (because the way our minds are wired is not going to change). Other controversial ideas: 1) don't buy index funds (because the committees which make indexes tend to put in firms which have had a price run-up and drop firms which have had a price decline, so that buying the index involves buying high and selling low); 2) don't buy NASDAQ stocks unless they have great volume (because NASDAQ market-makers are not regulated enough, and will cheat you on the spread); 3) avoid international (non-US) stocks (because international markets have performed much worse than the US stock market over time); 4) equities are a safer way to hold money than treasury bonds or gold or cash (because of inflation and taxes). The author presents fairly detailed statistical evidence to show that his methods have worked over the past several decades. This is actually evidence that even academics are beginning to notice.

That said, it should be noted that the author's Kemper-Dreman fund (ticker: KDHAX) has done pretty badly in the last few years. Also, some of the stock picks in his Forbes column have been horrible. The most glaring example would be Prison Realty (ticker: PZN), which is currently hovering on the verge of bankruptcy. Dreman recommended it because of its REIT status and its high dividend yield both of which went away shortly after.

My 2c: consider the guy's broad investment strategies with respect, but don't follow his (or anyone else's) picks without putting in your own research.

The best book that combines psychology and the stock market.
Mr. Dreman has given away his secrets on how his fund has been enormously successful over a long period of time. And, following this book, he thinks that a reader also has a good chance of doing it. This is no hyperbole indeed. He has combined finance and psychology better than anyone else has ever done. He has also improved upon his prior work. For a good understanding of not only the stock market, but also the stock-market participants, there is no better book. After reading it, one knows why we encounter so much unreliable advice even from the highly paid financial analysts. If you have ever lost money by investing in a popular stock and you do not want to repeat your mistake, you ought to read this book. The next time you buy a stock that drops in price precipitously, I recommend that you read the book again.

The book explains three simple implementable A-B-C rules of contrarian selection supplemented by five fundamental indicators. Furthermore, Mr. Dreman goes beyond the value investing as he exlains the double play -- value and growth by using GARP, Growth at a Reasonable Price. (This is similar to what I think Warren Buffett is practicing.)

In this book, he explains what stocks in an industry one should buy (low P/E). And, more importantly, he presents a convincing explanation of when to sell.

Mr. Dreman also explains why the strategies explained in the book will not become obsolete for a number of years. I agree with his analysis. The only weakpoint of the book is that he spends much too much space on crticising the efficient market hypothesis. But, you can ignore all that. After all, the efficient market hypothesis is nothing but an argument that it is not easy to make a quick dollar and I think he would agree with that. May be, his reasoning is more psychological than economics.

Correct premise, but boring, good for novices
The basic principles of this book could be boiled down to a paragraph, but Dreman spends more than 400 pages. I agree with contrarian investing, so this book is an essential read if you're a novice, in school, or maybe just starting to risk capital, but not recommended for experienced professionals. A plus is that the book offers practical advice and real life examples, but it is somewhat dated since it was written pre-Internet crash. Another warning is that this book is extremely dry and reads like an academic textbook--reminds me of AIMR's Financial Analyst's Journal, but not as substantive.

The author does not share
There are 2 types of authors in finance:
Those who share their secrets and those who promote something.
Dreman shares but only the general strategies that we've heard many times before.
What he doesn't share is how after reading this book you might get really discouraged and contact his firm in order to manage your money.His style is discouraging and dull.
Dreman is a great investor with greedy strategy to get your money.
This is how the middleman will take your money.

An Investing Classic
One of the best books on investing and finance the individual investor will ever read. Fully documented and wonderfully researched, this is classic how-to book on long term investing.

This is one for your home bookshelf. ... Read more

Book Description

In Bull!, Maggie Mahar tells the sweeping tale of the Great Bull Market of 1982–1999, a legendary run-up that pulled the entire nation into its gravitational field.

Mahar lays out the origins of the boom and takes the reader behind the scenes, on Wall Street, on Main Street, and in Washington, letting him see the story through the eyes of the fund managers, market gurus, analysts, politicians, business journalists, and 401(k) investors who, together, helped create the longest-running bull market in U.S. history. Some were touts; others were true believers. On the sidelines, a Greek Chorus of seasoned professionals tried, vainly, to describe the emperor's new clothes.

Filled with colorful portraits of many of the central figures of the boom years -- Alan Greenspan, Henry Blodget, James Cramer, Abby Joseph Cohen -- Bull! draws together a complex cast of characters, illuminating the web of relationships that kept the market aloft.

More than a financial history, Bull! is a lively, often witty social history of the stock market that became a part of popular culture. It is also the tale of individual investors, which chronicles the intimate stories of ordinary people -- housewives and college professors, salesmen and waitresses -- who got caught up in the excitement and then watched their life savings drain away.

How did it happen that the very real risks of investing in stocks were forgotten? Mahar explodes the myth of "stocks for the long run," explaining how the market's promoters crunched the numbers to create the illusion that if an investor stays in the casino just a little longer, he is guaranteed to come out a winner. Casting Warren Buffett in a new light, she explains how a value investor is, in the end, a long-term market timer who understands that success depends on how much you pay when you get into the market -- and when you get out. By putting the bull market of 1982–1999 in a larger historical context, she shows how, over time, longtime bull markets beget longtime bear markets.

The future defies prediction, but the history of financial markets makes one thing clear: markets always revert to a mean. Taken as a single story, Bull! is both an illuminating history and a cautionary tale about investing. Analyzing the economic and psychological forces that drive financial cycles, Mahar shows how an extraordinary influx of cash and credit, combined with the obsessive attention of a new financial media, created a cult of equities. Challenging the notion that stocks always outperform all other investments, she reveals why many of Wall Street's most experienced investors believe that the 21st-century investor needs to throw out the old rule book and make a new beginning as he plans for his financial future.

No investor should keep his or her money in the stock market without first reading this book.

Reviews (21)

This is a really good book!
If you want to buy 1 book about market history buy this one.

This book is really recommended (also by Warren Buffet, see his latest letter to his shareholders).

First of all it's nice written. It is easy to follow for not native English readers (so very simple for native English people).

This book is recommended if you want to learn something about market history and you think the bear market of 2000-2003 is over.

This book covers the bull market of 1982 - 1999. It also covers 1961 - 1982 and 1999 - 2003 and some chapters 'looking ahead'.

After you read this book you will be pretty scary about current stock valuations (especially in the US). Especially the 1961 - 1982 give you a 1990 - 2010 feeling.

The 1982 - 1999 part (the largest part) gives all major events and importent people (junk bond, netscape, Greenspan, AOL, CNBC, etc). It also covers the dilemmas of mutual fund managers (investment risk vs career risk, and fired fund managers which thought the hype was ending and moved into cash).

It also covers how analysts, traders, bankers where thinking and doing in the late nineties. To make it complete it also covers how those people look back (in 2002/2003) at this period and judge their own appearance in the late nineties (e.g. how stupid they where)!!!

This book only convers the US stock cycle (but I didn't except something else). It only mention the Japanese bear market. If you're looking for a book about non-US cycles or non-stock cycles (eg commodities) I recommend to buy an another book.

Cautionary Tale
I have read many self-help financial books over the years, but I must place this one right at the top. Maggie Mahar is a gifted writer and tells her tale with wit and economy. The result is a lot more readable than your typical financial book, but more than that, it exposes the fallacy of many old bromides that I had read in all those other self-help screeds (like "buy and hold"). In fact, as she traces the history of the long bull market that began in 1982 and culminated with the late 90's mania for tech stocks with triple digit PE's, I recognized myself among the many fools who bought into the madness and squandered much of their retirement nest eggs.

I found the most valuable investment advice in the book to be the musings of a few experienced money managers who had been through the long and punishing bear market of 1968-1982, and who saw the tech wreck coming. The reminiscences of these investment advisers--people like Gail Dudack, Steve Leuthold, Jean Marie Eveillard and Peter Bernstein--are worth the price of the book many times over. For people who are looking for a self-help investment primer that doesn't sugarcoat the risks, this book is the real deal, without the BULL!

Right up there!
I have a bookcase groaning with investment books and I rate Mahar's book up with the works of Ben Graham and Peter Lynch. A very well written book that shines a light into many a dark corner. I defy even the most well-read and battle-hardened investor to come away denying that Mahar has produced a book cheap at twice the price.

Great book!
I've read many investment books and this book by far was more enjoyable and educational. She is a great writer and knows her stuff. Highly recommended.

the story behind the u.s. stock market in the last 12 years
I read "Bull" with much anticipation based on a recommendation in the Berkshire Hathway annual report. The book basically strips away all the glitz of the past 12 years surrounding the U.S. stock market and shows what was really going on. If you were aware what was happening--and many market students were--you probably don't need to read this book, but if you were new to the markets in the late 1990's and got hosed, I would read this book before throwing in the towel on this fun game.

On the positive side, "Bull" offers some funny vingettes, including a CLASSIC--almost fable like--story about how the "Last Bear is Gored." Ms. Mahar recounts how Louis Rukeyser, host of America's most popular financial show, fired market analyst Gail Dudak from his program at the very height of the bull market in 1999. The reason: she was the only market analyst left on his program who perisistently predicted lower stock prices ahead. This woman should have been given a raise for her brains! This vingette is a powerful reminder that journalists like Mr. Rukeyser are not to be confused with skilled money managers, and one should be weary of following the advice of ANYONE except those, who like W.E. Buffett, have made lot of money in an honest way in several different market environments over years and years and years (these people do exist!). As Ms. Mahar points out, the media (and analysts at the big brokerage companies!) had and have almost no incentive to report independently derived market analysis.

However, I believe at times Ms. Mahar goes too far in blaming the media for financial events over the past 12 years. For example, she belabors the failure of CNBC journalist Mark Haines, who I think overall is one of the better financial journalists, for failing to uncover the scandalous nature of ENRON's books while he was interviewing the CEO. Despite this failure, which several money managers who had millions invested in ENRON also made, I think Mr. Haines was appropriately critical of events that transpired during his tenure at CNBC. ... Read more

Book Description

A $10,000 investment in Warren Buffett's original 1956 portfolio would today be worth a staggering $250 million ... after taxes! What are his investing secrets? How to Pick Stocks Like Warren Buffett contains the answers and shows, step-by-profitable-step, how any investor can follow Buffett's path to consistently find bargains in all markets: up, down, or sideways.

How to Pick Stocks Like Warren Buffett sticks to the basics: how Buffett continually finds bargain stocks passed over by others. Written by an actual financial analyst who uses Buffett's strategies professionally, this tactical how-to book includes:

• Comprehensive financial tools and information
• Strategy-packed "Buffett in action" boxes
• Buffett's own stock portfolio­­continually updated on the author's website!

Reviews (17)

Highly Recommended!
Timothy Vick is a fairly well known advocate for value investing, but in his latest book, he rolls out the mother-of-all value investors as a champion. In using Warren Buffett as the basis for his easily digestible lessons on value investing - the simple strategy of investing in companies that are currently undervalued by the market - Vick proves that the concept of an engaging investment book is not an oxymoron. By holding up the Buffett example, Vick illustrates the greatest axiom of value investing: Over time, the price of any asset will find its intrinsic value. Buffett clung to this mantra throughout the '90s, missing out on some of the biggest market returns in history. We [...] strongly recommend this book for its clear explanation of how Buffett analyzed the New