Book Description

THE book for investors on IPOs--getting in on the next Yahoo! or Home Depot. How can individual investors safely take part in the tantalizing opportunities--and huge profit potential--presented by IPOs? They can learn the tools to spot the right stocks and weigh the potential risks against the rewards. In "Investing in IPOs," an astute, easy-to-understand guide, IPO expert Tom Taulli uses dozens of real examples to explain IPOs and the IPO market. He reveals the best ways to investigate before investing, shows how to read an IPO prospectus, explains how to spot the next hot-ticket stock, and includes tips on how to avoid getting burned by fad IPOs and shady brokers. What profit-minded investor doesn't wish he had been in on wildly successful IPOs such as Home Depot or Intel? (or Amazon for that matter!) Until recently, investors had to be Wall Street insiders to take part in an IPO. The Internet era has changed all that--now information and investment opportunities are available to anyone who knows where to look and how to get start. Because of the surge in entrepreneurial ventures, IPOs will; just keep coming--whether the stock market is soaring or sinking. That reality means even more choices for investors, and better chances to earn outstanding profits. This book, the first of its kind, shows investors how to take full advantage of IPO opportunities. "Investing in IPOs" features the clear, practical advice you need: The mechanics of IPOs--what to expect and how they work; IPOs in the high-tech sector, international markets, and IPO mutual funds; the best times to get into--and out of--an IPO; spotting IPOs that will be profitable for the long haul; dozens of examples of successful IPOs and why they worked. ... Read more

Reviews (11)

A Good Read!
Investing in IPOs describes the process behind taking a private company public in the United States. The book lists the players in an initial public offering and describes the documents that must be filed with securities regulators. It also offers suggestions about what characteristics lead to successful IPOs, such as a history of profits, a strong management team and a lack of strong competition. Also noteworthy are the advance warning signs which point to losers. These signs include pending lawsuits, low-price stock and recently changed business plans. We [...] recommend this book with its exhaustive and useful look at the IPO process to investors and to companies pondering an IPO. This clearly written book includes specific examples that use real-world companies to illustrate points.

Full of Useful Information!
Yes, this book has large print and is an easy read. Don't let that fool you; it's loaded with useful information! In very concise terms, "Investing in IPOs" quickly brought me (a beginning investor) to the point where I understand what to look for in an IPO and where to find that information.

Taulli also addresses the sad reality that most individual investors are stuck on the outside when the initial offering happens. But he offers tips to tell you the best time to jump in if you've missed the first offering.

Read this book with a highligher in hand because you will be going back to it. It's a great launching point, though not a single source for all you'll ever need to know. On the other hand, the questions I'm now looking to answer are questions I didn't even know to ask before reading this book.

Lacks realism
The information in this book is readily available in the educational features of E-Trade and other online investing sources. The author doesn't address the reality that Fidelity picks IPO recipients based on size and longevity of account (hence the rich get richer) and E-Trade prefers daytraders and assigns others randomly. The volume at E-Trade is so high... good luck to get any shares at all. Both require the invenstor keep the shares for a set number of days which is usually after the steller 120% rise is over. I was disappointed in the book. Not worth the money if you have taken advantage of free internet info.

nice introductory text
This book is a good introduction to the topic of IPOs, and contains a bevy of information that will be mostly relevant for the beginning (or uninitiated) investor interested in IPOs (how's that for consonance?). I wish the book went into more detail on some of the headier subjects, esp. company analysis. Still, it's a good read.

This book is a joke - written for a child
I feel it was useless to have so many filler pages with no information on them. It deceives the reader that there is more than there is. IPO should stand for "I Paid Out" too much for this book! ... Read more

Book Description

Why the Dow is still poised to zoom

Why the financial establishment is wrong

A radically new way to determine what stocks are really worth

Why stocks are actually less risky than bonds

How to build a maximizing portfolio and invest without fear--This text refers to the hardcover edition of this title ... Read more

Reviews (60)

So where's the hype????
I had ordered this book from Amazon some time before it was published. In the interim, I have read countless reviews indicating how irresponsible, outlandish, and sensational this book was. Alas, instead of a blood-curdling thriller guaranteed to make you tear out your hair, this book has turned out to be a simple, straightforward, and CONSERVATIVE treatise on the strong likelihood of continued robust growth in the U.S. equity market during the next few years. Granted, the book's claim of Dow 36,000 sooner rather than later depends heavily on the key assumption that investors will continue to reduce the risk premium demanded from equities (currently about 2.5%). Nonetheless, as the authors point out, the evidence that this reduction is likely to occur is striking.

As a CFA, I must point out--as the authors do themselves in the book--that the scenario they lay out is by no means guaranteed to be realized in the next half decade or so. Nonetheless, anyone who needs to feel more comfortable about investing in equities for the long haul should definitely read this book. (The example of individual investors BUYING stocks after last year's mini-crash is particularly notable.)

Paradigm Shifting? Not Yet.
The Dow 36,000 Theory is all about predicting a paradigm shift in current investors' perceptions. Tomorrow's investors are expected to forsake the old paradigm and embrace a new one. Authors James K. Glassman and Kevin A. Hassett present the "discounted dividend" model of the stock market as their reason why stock prices will soar, eventually. In 1999, they said it could happen anytime but put a window on it of 3-5 years. Hasn't happened yet. But this book is important as a look-see into how academic constructs originate and work their way into "commonly accepted stock market wisdom." The P/E was once a kernel of an idea in someone's head. Now, it's the basic way to value stocks. So, conceptions do change over time.
Dividends, say Glassman and Hassett, whether paid out quarterly or totally retained in the company, are the only important way to determine a company's true worth. They call it the PRP (perfectly reasonable price).
To justify lofty expectations, the words "assume" and "assumption" are used dozens of times and lie at the bottom of what, so far, is wrong with this concept. Just because they calculate something as being worth many times what it's selling for today doesn't mean prices will skyrocket tomorrow. It requires acknowledgement and action by investors. We're back to the old high school conundrum of whether a tree makes any noise if it falls in a forest without anybody hearing it. It this case, the question is whether a stock will ever sell at its "true value" if nobody ever bids the price up that far? Obviously not.
Their credo, "Buy anytime, hold forever," as well as the recommended use of index funds is a recipe for never having to admit you're wrong regardless of what happens to your investment account. You never have to confront performance because that far away goal just hasn't been reached yet. Continue to hold. It's an enviable position, if you can get people to take you seriously. But Dow 36,000...is it possible? Sure, anything is possible if the paradigm shifts. It's shifted before and will shift again. The trouble with paradigm shifts is like Greenspan's recognition of a bubble. You won't know about it until it's already happened...and then it's too late,,,

Truly Supurb analysis
A wonderful book that has increased my wealth markedly by reading it. I am a contraian investor and took this as my final signal that the top was in. Such Bullish sentiment is helpful in telling me when I need to get short asap. Regards to the authors , thanks for swelling my trading account, shame you had to screw over countless people who actually took your mindless pap seriously!

Also if you are one of those CNBC watching muppets and think the bearmarket is over think again. I will go long again when these guys release the "dow will never break 1000 again" I await with baited breath! :-) the best market timing tool I have ever used keep up the good work!

waiting .....
As an addendum to my previous review, where I wrote that one reason I got out of the market was this book, let me add that before I get back into the market I'm waiting for "Dow 36" by Glassman and Hassett.

Authors that later lie about their message.
This book was one of the reasons I got completely out of the stock market in late '99 early 2000. When I read this pustulous piece of putrescent puffery I just knew I had to get out. THANK YOU KEVIN AND JAMES!!!!!

I come to write this review because just for a lark I thought I'd search the internet for Glassman, see what he's pushing today, so I can get out of it for my own safety.

In writing this review I treat the authors' late-90s media appearances and book-related articles all as one whole.

Hassett and Glassman are out there now (Nov 2002) writing (paraphrased) "we never wrote the DOW would be at 36000 soon".

I read the book in fact in winter 99/00 along with some of their articles, and did catch a few of their TV appearances. They definitely did write either in the book or one of the accompanying pieces (Washington Post or The Atlantic) that stocks are in a 'one-time surge' and everyone must GET IN NOW.

Their media appearances were even worse...

"GET IN NOW!!!
DON'T MISS THIS ONCE IN A LIFETIME OPPORTUNITY!!!!
YOU'RE FOOLS IF YOU DON'T
MORTGAGE YOUR HOUSE TO BUY STOCK!!"

They used to remind me of that Joe Piscopo SNL salesman character (you remember, the frenzied salesman, "WE MUST BE INSANE!!! OUR PRICES ARE SO LOW WE'LL GO OUT OF BUSINESS YESTERDAY!!!!").

And they are completely unrepentant. I just read a Glassman article (Wash Post - why the ...are they still giving this unrepentant, lying moron/clown a stage?) claiming he was right all along and 36000 is STILL the DOW's fair value. Claiming that Siegel's research supported G&H's conclusions (Siegel, who currently seems bullish said they misconstrued his research. Interesting word, misconstued - is Siegel saying G&H are liars, idiots, or some combination thereof?). Claiming that all investors everywhere should still be fully invested in the stock market for the long term.

Something a lot of the other reviews are not pointing out is that G&H had ideological motives for pushing stocks (Glassman was once publisher of a right wing magazine, I forget which one). Both G&H were[1] republicans and both felt that the more people own stock the more conservative they become, in an attempt to protect their assets.

[1] I don't know their current predilictions. ... Read more

Book Description

This audio will bring you practical, spiritual and above all, sound financial wisdom. How to create a richer, more abundant life. ... Read more

Reviews (4)

Here's some money wisdom...
Here's some money wisdom for you, don't waste your money on this book. This is the first thing I've ever read by Suze Orman. She sounds like a fruitcake. All she talks about is religion and other bologna. Her book has nothing to do with money other than flaunting her wealth. I'm not sure why she calls the book Money Wisdom, other than to exploit the public's hunger for financial information. After reading this I would never consider reading anything else she writes. I can't believe PBS let's her on to do free infomercials. Sample of her advice: put ten grant a year in a 401k and with 9% interest you'll have lots of money in 20 years. DA! That's not advice that's a spreadsheet. Advice is telling people where to get the extra ten grand and the guaranteed 9%. I'm just glad I got this book from the library instead of wasting my money. Now that's money wisdom.

Finance or Psychotherapy?
I was hugely disappointed with this audiobook. I was looking for financial advice and got second rate Psychology. Suze Orman appears to be a frustrated Psychotherapist, since the book focused almost entirely on psychology, emotion, spirtuality and God. Financial issues were an afterthought. She appears to have little or no knowdedge or credentials when it comes to Psychology, but that didn't stop her from grandiose speculations on Religion, Psychology and Philosophy. If you are looking for useful information on finance go elswhere. I found nothing useful that I could take away from this book and I am person who can typically find something of interest in almost anything. Qualifiers: 1) I am speaking only of the audiobook; 2) her other books may quite different and useful; 3) I did not carefully research the book to determine if it would likely contain specific financial advice; 4) her psychotherapy might prove useful to someone (just not me).

Well, it worked for me
With all due respect to the review written by Ms. Orman, regardless of the fact that this interview was not originally produced to be sold as an audio tape, it came at exactly the right time in my life. I needed to hear everything on that tape at the moment I picked it up. So even if I am the only person who benefited from the making of the tape, I am very grateful!

Save your money -- Big Disappointment
There was nothing new in/on this tape that wasn't covered in 9 Steps to Fiancial Freedom and Courage to be Rich. If you really want a tape of Suze Orman's that is useful and worth every penny, I recommend You've Earned It, Don't Lose It. You've Earned It gives solid financial advice where this tape answers no "money" questions.

Combine You've Earned It with Eight Steps to Seven Figures and you will be getting some good financial advice.

The basic theme of this tape was be pure of heart, pure of mind, and pure in intent and your mind will be clear to concentrate on making money. Ah-huh. ... Read more

Book Description

“By following O'Higgins' method, small investors will often beat the pros at their own game.” - Wall Street Journal

In Beating the Dow with Bonds, Michael O'Higgins, bestselling author of Beating the Dow and one of America's top-ranked money managers, provides a proven system for achieving the lowest-risk and highest returns in a chaotic stock market - investment advice requiring less than five minutes per year that will help you beat the pros 95 percent of the time regardless of market conditions.

With stock market fluctuations ranging from all-time highs to all-time lows, O'Higgins insists that incorporating bonds'once considered the ugly step-sibling to stocks'into your portfolio is the only way to win.

In Beating the Dow with Bonds, you will learn:

• how to tell when stocks aren't the best place to be for the highest returns - and where to go in the meantime

• how to protect yourself from radical market fluctuations and continue to beat the Dow

• a reliable, easy-to-understand method of assessing the attractiveness of T-bonds, T-bills, and stocks in order to achieve the best return with the least risk

For investors with as little as $5,000, Beating the Dow with Bonds provides a safer, more reliable opportunity to beat the Dow not just in today's market'but in any market.

Read by Jack Perkins, who served as correspondent, commentator and anchorman at NBC News for 25 years.  He began his association with A&E in 1990, and is co-host of the series Biography.

  ... Read more

Reviews (31)

Check this investment method carefully.
Are you interested in spending thirty minutes per year in order to trounce the Dow Jones Industrial 30 stocks by a factor of eighteen over a 29-year period? Michael O'Higgins, in his recent book, "Beating The Dow With Bonds", lays out a seventeen step method for doing just that, beating the Dow using a nearly risk free method. All the necessary information to follow O'Higgins new strategy is available in Barron's Market Week, and it will not take more than 20 - 30 minutes per year to make the calculations. What really grabs the reader is the stellar performance of this investment approach. Table 9.1 on page 150 contains all the data needed for analyzing O'Higgins new tactics. The cumulative return with this new system is 47,886 percent versus the DJIA's return of 2,640 over the same twenty-nine year time period. O'Higgins is well known as the co-author of "Beating the Dow". In BTDWB, he compares this new strategy with his former Dogs of the Dow approach. The results are impressive, as the new strategy will generate, as mentioned above, a 47,886 percent return versus 12,377 percent for a Beating the Dow Five-Stock's. Another advantage for this new investment scheme is, this can all be accomplished with less risk. O'Higgins asks the question, "Are these results too good to be true"? He claims they are not. On closer examination, these results are too go to be true.

The strategy necessary to accomplish such outstanding returns requires one to look up some easy to find data in Barron's. First, identify the S&P Earnings Yield % and compare this value with the 10-Year U.S. Government T-bond Yield to Maturity after making a minor adjustment of adding 0.30% to the T-bond Yield. If the S&P Earnings exceed the adjusted bond yield, then it is time to select the five Dogs of the Dow (DOD) stocks. O'Higgins reviews the DOD process he originally laid out in his first book. If the adjusted bond yield is higher than the S&P 500 yield, then it is time to look up information on the 'Gold Indicator'. If the one-year change in the price of gold is higher than it was one year ago, then invest 100 percent of your portfolio in U.S. Treasure bills due to mature a year from now. If the one-year change is lower than the price of gold one year ago, then invest 100 percent of your portfolio in the highest yielding U.S. government zero coupon bonds available that are due to mature in twenty years or more. O'Higgins lays out all seventeen steps (there are actually about eleven or twelve critical steps) in great detail. The above description is only to explain the bare bones approach of his recent thesis. Note that the 0.3% correction is a "soft" number. Reading O'Higgins one might accept this as a rigid value.

One becomes suspicious of this strategy when O'Higgins moves investors out of the stock market beginning in 1981 and keeps them in either bonds or T-bills right through the greatest bull market of the century. How can this be so? It all comes down to uncommonly outstanding performance in two of the 29 years; his 30-year zero coupon bonds yielded 156.12% and 106.90% in 1982 and 1985, respectively. If one returns those stellar bond years to the DJIA return of 25.79% (1982) and 32.78% (1985), according to O'Higgins figures, then the DJI and BTD 5 Stocks both will out-perform O'Higgins new strategy. To build an overall investment philosophy where two years of outstanding performance is the key kicker is truly data mining.

Following O'Higgins BTDWB method, I ran the numbers for two consecutive weeks late in 1998. One week I was in 30-year Zero Coupon Bonds; the next week I was in stocks. Where you will have 100% of your portfolio positioned depends on the week you make your assessment. O'Higgins BTDWB strategy is simple and purports to generate excellent returns, both enticing to the novice investor. Nevertheless, it is a flawed system. With interest rates where they are today, it is highly improbable followers of this system will see future returns match the high historical returns. In addition to the fundamental flaws of this investment strategy, BTDWB needed a keener eye when it came to editing the book. Examples of this showed up on page 48, where the Price to Sales Ratio is given as: "To get the price to sales ratio, divide the sales per share figure by the stock's current market price". Price to Sales is the reciprocal of what is stated. Graphs are consistently lacking in fundamental information. On page 50, no units are provided for the y-axis and one of the graph lines is missing as there is a Small Cap value of $4,495.99 floating in space at the northeast corner of the graph. In Chapter 4, a brief case is made for investing in small cap stocks. O'Higgins tells us he will address, in the final chapter, when to be in small cap stocks. He never follows through with this information. The graph on page 106 does not contain any identifying information on the y-axis. Chapter 11 is nothing but filler. These are examples of numerous errors in the book.

Overall, "Beating the Dow with Bonds" is an interesting but flawed read. Both the novice and experienced investor would do well to go back to the fundamental analysis and hard work involved in investing. Forget the quick and simple methods espoused in the popular press.

Lowell Herr

Interesting...but confusing
I agree with much of what has already been said as far as the amount of filler and the editorial glitches. And can anyone figure out the last chart -- table 11.1? These numbers make no sense and don't even correspond with the info on table 9.1. I began the book with some excitement but ended up feeling very uncertain about the method.

Profitable, Pragmatic Advice for All Investment Scenarios
This is one of the few stock market books from the 1990s that will be read and appreciated many years from now. While silly stuff like "Dow 36,000" & Harry Dent quickly withers away, O'Higgins advice gains credibility every day in this apparently multi-year bear market. Several web sites (beartopia dot com & others) mention this book. Perhaps the book's title should have substituted "zero coupon bonds" for the word "bonds." Do look up the authors corrected list of investment steps here at Amazon, however, do not let the slightly sloppy editing deter you from learning this powerful investment advice. The more knowledgable one is of the market, the more one appreciates O'Higgins and his two works. This book's advice works in bull and bear markets.

Not very good, but....
The book was not very well written, and why he felt the need to devote 70 pages describing in copious detail all 30 of the Dow stocks is beyond me. However, his 30 year zero-coupon analysis does have something going for it, and the inflation rate is a good predictor for a change in asset allocation.

10% of this book is education about Bonds; 90% stock basics
I bought this book because I wanted to learn more about investment products OTHER than common stocks. Instead, (in the book on tape), I got 5-10 minutes about the different types of bonds, a little detail about T-bills, and the frank admission that this book "doesn't really discuss corporate bonds". WHAT!? The whole rest of it is spent preparing you to run for cover for the upcoming crash of 2000 - for that, I must say he was prescient (Too bad I didn't read this in 1999!). More time is spent describing the basics of common stocks, and how the major industrial averages are calculated than is spent on bonds! Oh - and that WRONG formula for computing the price/sales ratio erroniously also made it onto the cassette version. I actually had to rewind the tape to see if I had heard correctly! ... Read more

Book Description

Benjamin Graham developed value investing a style adopted byWarren Buffett one of history's most successful investors; it is basedon fundamental analysis which quantitatively compares a company's stockprice to various measures of financial strength and promise. Growthinvesting is a fundamentally different style that seeks to identifytomorrow's great business successes. Learn the ins and outs and thepros and cons of these basic investment styles ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Excellent Narrative about Growth & Value Investings History
This first tape contained keen insights regarding Ben Graham, the dean of value investing. Unfortunately, the second tape regarding growth investing was a little slow. Overall the tapes were very gold. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Excellent guide to taking control of your finances.
The goal of the Dolans' book is to help you take control of your financial future. Learn how to buy mutual funds and insurance, get the job you want, and pick a financial pro you can trust. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Excellent Book for Personal Finances
An excellent book that covers all the financial bases for personal finances. Great for anyone, from college to retired, single or married. This single book cuts through all the confusion and gives clear, to the point advice on selecting stocks, building IRAs, taxes, insurance, health care, etc.

My only concern is that the book was written in 1996 and some of the information could be dated. Still, it is good solid fundemental advice. Anyone following the guidelines and sticks to them will achieve the financial independence they are looking for.

Sophisticated,and very well written
Absolute route to money power.

I like the way this book is designed to go straight to your immediate interests.

Shows you how to eliminate fifty percent of your business and personal worries.

This is definitely a prescription for curing emotional upsets as in financial worries.!

This book is dedicated to all of you guys out there who think they do not need it.! ... Read more

Book Description

This audio reveals how to profitably manage stocks once you select them and will help you through the process of building a superior portfolio. Included topics are fundamental stock analysis, Buffet's investment methods and many pertinent examples from the world of investment. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Not sure what this is about
I'm not sure what this is about after reading it. Actually I'm even more surprised noone has reviewed this (or read this?) or maybe I shouldn't be? Some chapters are written to reinforce the idea that a focus investment approach works. There is a chapter on the history of modern finance, another with mini-biographies of the Buffet roster. One on probabilities, but very vague at how to apply this for our own use. Then there is a chapter on behavioral finance and a chapter on proving why short-term forecasting does not work. How all this have to do with Warren Buffet, is anyone's guess. The author tries hard to associate these ideas with Buffet, but fails miserably. Ultimately, it is just a finance book littered with a dozen interesting facts with no coherence and an abundance of paraphrases from "Outstanding Investor Digest". Personally I only find the chapter on investor psychology and the "El Farol" problem (a proof why you cannot predict the market) facinating, but you can get this information from any good finance book. ... Read more

Book Description

As host of his own public television series (Your Financial Future with Jonathan Pond), personal finance commentator for The Nightly Business Report, and the star of annual PBS specials, Jonathan Pond is one of the nation's most respected financial advisors. Now, he sets his financial sights on the challenges of the twenty-first century.

Your Money Matters takes the financial wisdom Pond has amassed in years as a lecturer and print, radio, and TV commentator, and focuses it on the task of achieving financial security for the next one hundred years. Pond's fans will note his trademark style throughout these pages, and readers new to him will be charmed by his skill in making even the most complicated financial matters easily understood and enjoyable.

The audiobook covers every major financial situation that is likely to arise in an adult's lifetime. From the beginnings of financial independence to complicated estate planning, from buying a home to saving for retirement, it's all here.

Your Money Matters has just enough information to get you going, presented clearly and concisely. Unlike other guides, it takes a humanistic approach to money, reminding us that there's no reason our financial lives have to be dull. ... Read more

Reviews (9)

Good money book
"Your Money Matters: 21 Tips for Achieving Financial Security in the 21st Century" is a veritable Money Manual and covers every major financial situation that is likely to happen in an adults lifetime. From the beginnings of financial independence to complicated estate planning, from buying a home to saving for retirement, it's all in here.

Pond's book also reveals the secrets you'll need to know to make the most of the opportunities in the new millenium. Unlike other guides, Your Money Matters takes a humanistic approach to money, reminding us that there is no reason our financial lives have to be dull. As Jonathan Pond delights in joking, "Never take responsibility for anything that eats." But if you do, you need this book.

Jonathan Pond is a recognized personal finance authority. What a pleasure it is to read a book by a respected financial authority instead of just a "paper authority." This excellent book by Pond will get you on track financially.

Yes, that JBQ shill has hit here too!
Just scroll down to the "So You Want to" and "Listmania" guides and you will see the name. If this internet junkie spent half as much time marketing and offering a worthwhile product or service, it wouldn't be necessary to hawk overpriced so called self published books which only offer at best generic if not outdated advice. And of course, it wouldn't be necessary to hype over the hill authors like JBQ either.

Mr. Pond is a recognized authority. I and many others have benefitted from his advice. As I see it, there is no place for internet junkies on this website and I have reported this to amazon as well.

I see JBQ's shill has struck here too!
Call me old fashioned, but I was brought up on the principle that you get ahead by being of service to other people, not by attacking other people. With that in mind, why does this JBQ shill continue to go from one financial book to another attacking every other financial author and hawking Quinn?

Jonathan Pond has written an excellent book and unlike Quinn, is a recognized authority on investing and personal finance.

I highly recommend this excellent book by Pond. I also recommend the excellent books by Ray Linder, if you want real financial advice and not regurgitated, outmoded advice ala JBQ.

Good review of the big picture of one's financial life
I am not a beginner investor, and still, I found in the book some good reminders, answers to some ideas that I was bouncing around and even some things I did not know. It feels a bit awkward to provide a good review after seeing mostly negative ones, but I stand behind my rating. First of all, this is not a book on how to pick a winning stock or how to make a killing on the market. It is about making general decisions about one's financial life, and then waiting for the money to accummulate in the due process. If you set your expectations correctly, the book is useful and enjoyable. Secondly, at no point I felt that I needed any services from the Pond's firm. On the contrary, he gave me some ideas on how to finetune my own handling of my finances. Finally, I believe Jonathan Pond brings a great value in educating potential investors in his PBS appearances and in the book. Even if his ideas are not earth-shattering, they are to the point and delivered with a good sense of humor.

Why Pay For a Marketing Brochure??
Jonathan Pond is yet another financial planner who is only writing books as a way to lure wealthy clients for his financial planning firm. This book is less than helpful. It's tone is a mix of boring and pompous. Good luck in finding the patience to read through it. Furthermore, good luck in finding anything in it that you can implement -- without, of course, having to hire Mr. Pond and his high-priced firm. ... Read more

Amazon.com

Go back in time for a minute, when the Motley Fool's last big investment book was first published in January 1999. The NASDAQ was hovering at around 2300, stocks like Cisco and Microsoft were leading the markets up, and the Motley Fool had four books on Amazon's bestseller lists, including Rule Breakers, Rule Makers, which for that month was listed at No. 3. Since then, the stock market has boomed and crashed, the economy has sunk in and out of recession, and millions of investors (including the Fools) have watched their stock portfolios shrink. In What to Do with Your Money Now, the Gardner brothers draw lessons from the mistakes that lead to the bust and offer a plethora of advice aimed at guiding investors in this more sober economic environment. Much of what they recommend echoes the practical advice offered in their earlier books (e.g., create a financial plan, get out of debt), while other prescriptions offer a truer reflection of the times (e.g., consider CDs, invest in high-dividend stocks as well as bond and index funds). While the events of the last few years have humbled the Fools somewhat, they've lost none of their trademark humor, and fans and newcomers alike should find lots to latch onto in this book. --Harry C. Edwards ... Read more

Reviews (8)

Inexperienced But Some Gold Nuggets
Although the Motley Fools have shown their inexperience, like some of us knew they would, they have also started maturing. Much of their advice is generic enough to be good and hardly any of their advice is "bad" (like much of their competition). Also, there are some gold nuggets later in the program, so it is worth a listen if you are at any transition points in your life.

One thing NOT to do with your money now: Buy this book..
After owning a couple of the previous works from the Motley Fool (and subsequently throwing them out because the advice is pretty bad) I took a look at the latest edition by borrowing it from someone.

First of all I've always found their advice frustrating. On one hand they kind of half-heartedly recommend passive index investing and then they go about telling you about the latest stock-screening get-rich-quick fad. Toss in a couple dubious stock picks along the way and you have nothing but a mixed message.

I think this book is a pretty shallow attempt for these two to make up for the really bad advice they gave in their other books over the years. They take several chapters explaining away (in hindsight) how wrong they were, but even in this light they fail to embrace proven strategies and instead go about telling you what stocks to own (Starbucks anyone??). Basically this book is trying to convince you that "This time it's different."They are now trying to mend their ways and show that now their advice is worth listening to and all the stuff they said before was wrong and they're very sorry you lost so much of your money using their strategies. And oh, by the way, we still offer for sale this nifty stock investment newsletter and website for a really great price!

I really think the best approach is to concentrate your portfolio on passive index funds compromising various asset classes (domestic, foreign, bonds, real estate) and just rebalancing once a year. This is a very proven strategy that will beat virtually every actively managed portfolio/fund with far less stress (and taxes). Most major pension funds follow an indexing approach for a good reason: It works.

For a much better read try out The Coffeehouse Investor, books by Larry Swedroe, Bogle, and William Bernstein. Send these two jesters back to the circus...

I've had enough!
I didn't want to go to a one because some of it was useful.Their admission on how poorly they performed in the market downturn says it all.So now they're saying, along with countless others, "We have the best hindsight of anybody!", rings absolutely hollow.Very bland humor too.

If you've read or heard them before, there's no need for this one.Try to find somebody who has beaten these bad times.

Where's the Beef
I listened to the first tape of this two tape series.I could not beleive what I was hearing.A Harley biker who lost his shirt in the downturn was given the advise that he should have stuck to what he knew: invest in Harley-Davidson stock.Great 20-20 hindsight! I kept listening through the end of the first tape, and could not take any more. Incredible nonsense.With their advise and $... you can buy a capucino.

A Fool Is As aFool Does
I got the audio version of this (although abridged...I think a book like this will separate the grist from the meat and potatoes of the real information...and since most people need to review and hear stuff 3-4 times to get the information...this is a good way to do it). CD 1 is stories of their past and others to explain the lessons that they have learned... fairly entertaining at times... and needs several listenings to get the full impact (especially about their Fool.com and their foolish expansions of what they were not good at.) At one point they explain a chart that they say is worth the cost of the whole course...if only they or the publisher had thought to include a little packet of the graphics they were refering to in the front cover...but enough listenings to it and you get it.
CD 2 are all their suggestions of what to do with your money and to get yourself financially secure... so if you just want the information and none of the filler (like you can with self help books) then skip to the end (or CD 2 in this case). It helps me to focus on what I want to do with my money and why I am out of debt now but not able to save any (another good book for getting out of debt is "GET OUT OF DEBT, STAY OUT OF DEBT AND LIVE PROSPERSOUSLY"... which I consider a very good book and along with the Fool Brothers has helped me to pay off the credit cards and have the potential for saving and living hapilly.
Cool Runnings to you. ... Read more

Book Description

The average household spends 16% of its budget on insurance, yet consumers know very little about their coverage. Bamford's book talks insurance simply and intelligently, stripping away the mysteries surrounding those often invisible investment, and teaches consumers the skills they need to act as managers of their own insurance portfolios. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

This is "the bible" on insurance.
Author Janet Bamford says that 16% of the typical household budget goes to pay for insurance. So knowing the score on health, life, disability, auto, and home insurance not only averts financial ruin, but also saves you premium dollars. Bamford offers sound guidelines for what you'll need to protect yourself and your family -- and shows you how to find the best prices on each type of policy. Her section on health insurance plans is especially helpful in navigating the new world of managed care. ... Read more

Book Description

Investors today are being fed lies and distortions, are being exploited and neglected. In the wake of the last decade’s rush to invest by millions of households and Wall Street’s obsession with short-term performance, a culture of gamesmanship has grown among corporate management, financial analysts, brokers, and fund managers, making it hard to tell financial fantasy from reality, salesmanship from honest advice.

In Take on the Street, Arthur Levitt—former chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission—shows how you can take matters into your own hands. At once anecdotal (names are named), informative, and prescriptive, Take on the Street expounds on, among other subjects: the relationship between broker compensation and your trading account; the conflicts of interest inherent in buy-hold-or-sell recommendations of analysts; what exactly happens—and who gets a piece of the action—when you place an order; the “seven deadly sins” of mutual funds; the vagaries and vicissitudes of 401(k) investments; how accountants engage in sleight of hand to fake impressive company performance; how to find the truth in a company’s financial statements; the real reason for the Street’s hostility to full disclosure; the crisis in corporate governance,and, given these shenanigans and double-dealings, what specific steps you can take to safeguard your financial future.

With integrity and authority, Levitt gives us a bracing primer on the collapse of the system for overseeing our capital markets, and sage, essential advice on a discipline we often ignore to our peril—how not to lose money.


From the Hardcover edition. ... Read more