Profit The Books

Keep It Simple Stupid. To me, this was a good book with good information, but it seems a bit slow - like I bought half of a book. Hopefully, I can use some of this - I bought the next book too, we'll see how that one goes.

In the past four years i have gone through over 50 stock trading books and i must say that "High Profit Candlestick Patterns" is one of the best ones I've ever read. Mr. Bigalow gives a very clear explanation on how to use candlesticks combined with other technical indicators such as Stochastics and Moving Averages for consistently extracting quick and high profit gains from the markets. The book is filled with examples illustrating the patterns a trader must look for. After reading this book you will instantly know what the investor sentiment is telling you and when the high probability reversals are occurring by just looking at a candlestick chart. You will be able to quickly and accurately identify entry, exit and target points. This book has made me a LOT of money !!.
If you are new to Candlesticks, i strongly recommend you read Mr Bigalow's first book entitled "Profitable Candlestick Trading", before reading this one. They are both EXCELLENT BUYS !!!.

This book is my favorite reference/guide for recognizing candlestick patterns. While going through my list of 'Stocks to Watch', I am better able to pick out the highest probability trades by using the information in Steve's book. The 12 Major Signals chapter narrows the whole trading with candlesticks process down to the best of the best. There are plenty of annotated charts showing examples of candlestick patterns. The book contains only the 'meat' of learning how to use candlesticks. I join Steve's weekly Candlestick Chat Room every Thursday evening. It's free and Steve goes into great detail about what is going on in the market by using the candlestick patterns described in the book. You just can't beat it. I've sent dozens of fellow traders to his website: www.candlestickforum.com. Read the book first, keep it handy for reference, join in the Chat Room and start making better trades. Thank you Steve.

I have been a stock trader for only 3 years. Prior to reading Stephen Bigalows book,I hadn't been very successful in the stock market, and had spend thousands of dollars on other stock investment training methods. I was interested in candlesticks and decided to get more information so I purchased this book. Little did I know that the information in this book would be so helpful and improve my trading. Besides learning the candlestick signals, this book demonstrates high profit patterns that make it easier to be in a trade that has great potential to make you money. Mr. Bigalow also has an online learning website at www.candlestickforum.com. On this site there is volumes of free information for you to use in your trading. He also offers a free stock chat on Thursday evenings where he goes over the market and gives possible trade setups using the candlesticks and patterns.

High Profit Candlestick Patterns should be read by anyone who wants to stop losing money trading equities and start making profits without breaking a sweat. Following the guidance clearly laid out in his book traders will more likely find their trading volume increasing because the patterns are clear and pleantiful. Using High Profit as a rulebook, you'll always know why you are entering and when you should be exiting -- more often with profits than losses. Steve successfully takes concepts that most active traders know about and turns them into the kind of trading guidelines that we've all been looking for.

I'm an active sell-side options trader and came across this book almost by accident. It is very well written and filled with lots of current examples of the most common and reliable chart patterns. I have no connection to the author or company, but I have a retail account at Thinkorswim and find the Prophet charts excellent, even as a more advanced trader.

The book should be required reading for anyone that uses Prophet charts, as the book lists lots of suggested settings which are only relevant if you use the product. Specifics aside, it is still an excellent book and much easier to read than most of the other ones out there, charting can be a very dry but important subject to study, this book is highly recommended for the beginning and intermediate technical trader.

Good stuff.

I consider Tim's book and web site (Slope of Hope) to be invaluable. It's been pivotal in helping me understand price movement. Of particular benefit to me was the chapter on Fibonacci retracements.

This is a must read book for anyone that wants to make money in the markets. Tim makes difficult topics easy to understand with his clear and often witty dialog. He not only explains the technical side but also how the charts reveal investor sentiment. Worth every penny and more.

Great book, no BS, by someone who puts his own money on the line using options, using these exact principles.

As a reader of Tim's blog for the last few years, I finally bought his book and am glad I did. Tim's approach to Technical Analysis is simple, yet his concepts really do work. He focuses on just a few of the main TA tools and he really explains each concept in an easy-to-understand language. It was a very refreshing and engaging read after reading other books on TA which confounded me with the numerous concepts that all jumbled into each other after a while. I highly recommend this book to anyone looking to learn Technical Analysis, as well as anyone looking to expand their knowledge.

In the interest of full disclosure, which I think should be required for these reviews; I have implemented Business Objects among other BI applications on both a small and huge enterprise scale. You'll find the reviews for this book, including mine, very polarized. I believe it has a lot to do with your BI product bias. This book was written by a Business Objects executive. It doesn't take a scientist to figure out where the author is coming from. Fortunately I can say I didn't pay for the book, it was given to me by a Business Objects sales rep. Otherwise I would have been even more disappointed.

The book does offer sound generalization of concepts so it's not a total loss if you're just getting into the technology. On the other hand, if you're looking for real strategy and implementation best practices, there are better resources available.

Great for someone who is looking to expand his knowledge of what is BI and how to use it to improve his performance results.
Buy it, worth the money!

This book goes exactly to the point that hurts most of the companies even in this days of year 2005. It will take some time to define the standards in this BI industry but definitely this book marks the beginning of it. Other more detailed more sophisticated books might be written by others but the most difficult is to write the first one. Others inspired by this book will probably write new ones.

While doing periodical research on the business intelligence subject, I found this book as a new acquisition at the university library; sorry, but it is a long white paper on the advantages and why to use a software tool for doing business intelligence, never minding about any data/facts that may be found out of the bits and bytes world: Informal sources? External data? Competitor intelligence? Who cares, if you want a 360° view of your customer, don't need more than a computer and some software--at the end, culture, attitude and pure business sense seem like a waste of time. Suddenly, I discovered why this bothered me: The autor is one of Business Objects' top executives! Now, it all made sense: It is like other books written by people who need to sell a product (and Business Objects is a good seller indeed) so writting down their way of seeing the world gets them a guruesque position in front of their customers and prospects. If you need to really learn about business intelligence, don't bother reading it: you can find lots of free white papers that cover the same subject in the BI software vendors web sites. Trying to understand business intellingence as something that needs nothing more than a software tool, leaving behind all the intelectual and analytical work to do, is equivalent to define mathematics as the use of a scientific calculator.

I found this book to be very weak in details and concepts. It's easy to say that companies need business intelligence and throw around some very vague and general facts and examples. And that's what this book does. The case studies offer no details at all. If you've never heard of e-business or intelligence (basically if you've been living in a cave) then this book will introduce the topic at a high level. But if you're looking for more information you'd better look some place else. I know the author is the founder of Business Objects, but I just expected more from this book and was very disappointed.

My wife and I recently acquired our first property and I immediately purchased books (with good Amazon reviews of course) to help educate myself. This book has given me great advice for our single property, but I can see how valuable the practical "real world" experiences of the author would (maybe will?) be for the larger investor who wants to establish rentals as a business. I would highly recommend this for any first time landlords (but don't call yourself that if you can help it!) :-)

Excellent reference with some great ideas about managing rental properties. Mike's book has some great information that you will not find in other rental management books. I use it extensively.

An absolute must have book for real estate investors. Details all areas of the tenant/landlord relationship in a precise and easy to follow format.

I found the book to be an easy read with many good ideas. The only real gripe is that when I attempted to download the free forms which are advertised on the back cover in bold, underlined print, I was only able to get some, the remainder required payment. I emailed the authors web site asking how I could obtain all of the free forms that they show in the book, but never received a reply.

This book is loaded with information. Not vague general information, but specific step-by-step how-to information. It has helped me with my rental property business and I'm sure it will help others as well. The free forms are a great added bonus.

Steven Carruthers (Australia) Publisher Of Hydroponics and Greenhouse Magazine wrote this review.... Secrets to a successful Greenhouse and Business is written for the beginner or serious home gardener who wants to start a profitable home-based business growing plants in a greenhouse, or for educators looking for specialized classroom projects. It is also valuable text for existing commercial growers, if only to revisit some of the basics from time to time. Divided into 11 sections, Secrets to a Successful Greenhouse and Business will tell you everything you want to know to get started in a greenhouse business. The book covers all major growing systems including hydroponics, organics, and good old-fashioned soil cultivation. It includes a basic plan to build a solar greenhouse, and information on soil and fertilizer mixes, insect and disease control, marketing, and guidelines to organize your greenhouse business. The section on ?Selling, Marketing, and Economics is especially useful for new comers to greenhouse production. Gone are the days of growing plants on speculation and hoping to find a market before the crop is harvested. The first step in any successful horticulture business is to identify your market, and to grow what the market wants. This section offers some valuable insights into how to go about that. The text explores the marketing process and includes developing sales concepts and marketing strategies, as well as establishing a realistic budget. I can't think of another text that says it better. There are also special treatments for marketing hydroponic and organic products, as opposed to soil-grown products. The section on ?Greenhouses? is succinct. The author leaves no stone unturned in his endeavor to cover every aspect of greenhouse production. Topics include environmental control, choosing the right greenhouse covering, operating costs and cash flow, ideas to improve your greenhouse, and much, much more. This section also includes a basic solar greenhouse plan, including a detailed inventory of materials (imperial measurements). The section on Specialized Projects with Excellent Profit Potential examines the major soil-less culture growing systems that are used in todays modern greenhouse, with a focus on greenhouse tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, tropical fruits, and ornamental plants. There is also a special treatment for school greenhouse programs. There are few greenhouse texts that go beyond the hardware of a greenhouse business. This text does. The section on Guidelines to Organizing Your Business is about turning into actions. According to the author, people don't plan to fail they just fail to plan. In this section, apart from highlighting the need for good planning, the author explains the basic steps for organizing your greenhouse business. These include on sight considerations such as obtaining zoning ordinances and building permits, and types of financing, right down to Workers Compensation. Another section on Delivery, Collecting, & Using Computers, is a practical guide for those processes. The author covers everything including packing and labeling, box construction, and how to start with a small business computer. The author provides a practical explanation of the World Wide Web and its importance for communication, to quickly find or exchange technical and market information, or to develop new markets. The author also includes a lists of useful websites. This book is published in the Unites States, for a North American readership but its wealth of information gives it international appeal. If you are thinking of starting a greenhouse business, then this book is for you wherever you are. It is full of tips, ideas and resources, and generously illustrated.

This book has all the info I was looking for. Buyers, suppliers, greenhouse sellers and which type are the best for certain crops. Finding info on the right pot size and trays to use was very helpful. How to find a buyer and what to say was the most useful bit of info that I have never seen in any book. This is worth the cost alone. I have to remark about the review by Caraphor, who says the book is full of erros, and Boron is not harmful what a misleading statement...Completely WRONG ! Boron is harmful and a couple of errors in 180 pages not bad... thank you Mr. Taylor for the accurate info! Heres what the county health dept. says about Boron. "Breathing moderate levels of boron can result in irritation of the nose, throat, and eyes. Reproductive effects, such as low sperm count, were seen in men exposed to boron over the long-term. Animal studies have shown effects on the lungs from breathing high levels of boron.
Ingesting large amounts of boron over short periods of time can harm the stomach, intestines, liver, kidney, and brain. Animal studies of ingestion of boron found effects on the testes in male animals. Birth defects were also seen in the offspring of female animals exposed during pregnancy."

This book does have lots of good information, but the author could have at least used spellcheck. There are spelling errors on almost every page, as well as a few missing words spread around the book. There are even a few places that the author copy and pasted an entire paragraph. All of this left me thinking of this book as being cheap and I had to question the validity of the information if the author doesn't even bother to check for errors in his own book.

Hey Caraphor, "Appendicies" is SPELLED: a-p-p-e-n-d-i-c-e-s.
Now how can I trust your scathing review when you can't spell?

If you are considering going into a business requiring a greenhouse...READ THIS BOOK FIRST. There is just SO much valuable info here.

I was sceptical about buying the book because of a previous negative review. Yes, the book has a couple of typos but that was easy for me to overlook because of the wealth of good info I was receiving. I have been an organic gardener/farmer for 20 years and have not been confident enough about the greenhouse business to step out in it. With the info contained here I can make an informed decision about adding this to my business.

To the author...Thanks for the help!

"The Enthusiastic Employee" by Louis Mischkind, Michael Irwin Metzer, and David Sirota is a quality book for employers and employees. From entry-level workers, to lower, mid, and upper-level managers. All parties can benefit by just being aware of the points in this book even if they don't even implement some of or all of the concepts. (Awareness.)

The "Enthusiastic Employee" contains numerous important points. There is quality. But, will these ideas and concepts be followed and implemented? I don't think this question is cynical; in today's world many workers are realistic. The contemporary studies and polling reflect this phenomena.

And herein lies the rub: One of the positive points advocated in this book is that the concepts in it can help increase a company's stock performance, too. Investors will be happy. As for the research, the authors studied 4 million workers in over 89 countries around the world. Domestically, American labor laws are the worst in the industrialized world.

Three styles of management noted are: Autocratic, Laissez-Faire, and Participative. The latter involving communication that is sent and received up and down organizational and communication channels. A two way flow. This is theoretical. Idealistic but not followed for many, and implemented by some. The organizations that implement this according to the book, are listed.

The Window Dressing:

There are 4 parts. The chapters:

Chapter 1: What Workers Want - The Big Picture
Chapter 2: Employee Enthusiasm and Business Success
Chapter 3: Job Security
chapter 4: Compensation
Chapter 5: Respect
Chapter 6: Organization Purpose and Principles
Chapter 7: Job Enablement
Chapter 8: Job Challenge
Chapter 9: Feedback, Recognition, and Reward
Chapter 10 Teamwork
Chapter 11 The Partnership Organization
Chapter 12 Translating Partnership Theory in Partnership Practice

Part IV: Appendices

The quotes in the "Enthusiastic Employee" seem well chosen.

Books such as this can be helpful - if followed. However, the statistical surveys on U.S. management practices and about how employees feel about their jobs shows a distinct dichotomy.

This is a refreshingly optimistic book with positive ideas.

A scholarly but very practical book on how to help the people of a company maximize their performance and contribution. The three writers obviously understand the key motivating elements necessary for superior company results. Following the suggestions will inevitably improve operations.

Many similar concepts to those in the book "In the Best Companies - People Are Everything.

Great book! As a long time manager and executive, I kept saying, yes, yes! Looking at the quantitative research findings validated much of my thinking about people, organizations and leadership.

It helps sort out what is important for leadership of an organization. A great read for anyone in leadership.

I couldn't put it down once I got started.

"The Enthusiastic Employee" was written to extend the knowledge of what works and what doesn't to managers at all levels. What sets this book apart from most management books is the fact that it is based on official research. The authors do not merely present their own ideas on what sound management is all about. They actually back up everything they recommend using years of official research. Case studies and official employee attitude surveys spanning a period of about thirty years form the basis of the advice given in this book. This adds to the book's overall usefulness because it illustrates, in black and white, exactly what employees want in their jobs and what management needs to do in order to facilitate change and improve working conditions and performance.

I manage a few employees and my own experience at management was one of the key reasons why I wanted to read this book. I never considered myself a superior manager. I always assumed I had plenty to learn and this book, with its optimistic title and statistical nature, seemed like a good place to start. I opened the pages and started to read. Much of what I read was common sense but there are a few facts about employee/management relations that surprised me. For example, everyone knows that employees are more motivated to perform when they feel they are being properly compensated for their work but what many managers do not realize is that there is a limit to the added morale and added productivity that a pay raise will bring. If pay is lower than the industry norm, employees will rightfully feel disrespected and this will be reflected in their work performance. But if pay is raised too high, it can lead to a feeling of suspiciousness among employees and it often will not result in enough increase in productivity to justify the extra expense that comes with higher pay. Most of us don't think about this at all. We assume that higher pay will always lead to a more satisfied and more productive workforce.

Other surprises abound in this book and they help to keep it interesting. One thing I did not realize is that the majority of employees like their jobs. Based on official survey data, the majority of employees responded that they either love their job or they at least have good feelings about it. Dissatisfied workers are in the minority and this is probably due to the fact that an unhappy employee usually doesn't last in a particular organization for very long. Those who answered that they don't like their jobs are also the most likely to leave voluntarily or be forced out of an organization, helping to keep the numbers who don't like their occupation at a low level. I was surprised by these findings because I always assumed that the majority of workers do not like what they do for a living. The negative reports you read in newspapers and listen to on television about low employee morale are the primary reason I felt the way I did. The official research presented in this book, however, proves that this is false- the majority of workers have at least an average or better level of job satisfaction.

This book is intended for it to be used as an official blueprint for change and it even includes a management questionnaire at the end of the book that asks some of the key questions regarding employee relations. The answers to these questions are then evaluated so that a management team will then know whether or not the time is right to proceed to the next step and revamp its existing approach to management. Including employees in important decisions, making them feel like they are part of the team, and other changes need to be made in order to bring an organization into the twenty- first century. This book provides the guidance necessary to make these crucial changes. The old, authoritarian approach to management is a thing of the past and managers need to realize that it is time to change and move toward a more employee- centered work environment where everyone is treated like a partner in the success of the company.

The statistical emphasis of this book might make it seem more mechanical in nature and less personal but I think it adds an important component of credibility. So many management books are written each year and most of them are based solely on one person's theories or opinions. The Enthusiastic Employee relies on concrete facts to back its claims, allowing management to see the actual concerns stated directly by employees along with the remedies to the problems employees experience each day. Many pages in this book drive home important points by including the actual complaints or praise that employees stated when asked different questions on official surveys. These examples serve to prove the importance of the key components to sound management and what needs to be done at the management level to make employees more responsive, more enthused, and more satisfied.

To sum up this book, employee enthusiasm and the greater productivity that comes with it can be accomplished by doing one thing: giving employees what they want. Employees are very specific in what they feel are important components in their workplace and while it is unrealistic to think that every desire of every individual employee can be implemented, the bulk of employee needs and wants can be satisfied. The results of moving an organization in an `employee satisfaction' direction are almost always positive, with employees showing up to work motivated and ready to achieve. The necessary steps to reach this goal aren't always easy but it is important to get started quickly and The Enthusiastic Employee is a very helpful guide for achieving these goals. It offers a fresh perspective on management that doesn't rely solely on opinions to back its claims but instead provides official research that shows what employees want in their place of employment and what needs to be done to get there. It is a very useful book for management at all levels.

When I scan through the impressive comments here, I am amazed that this book isn't purchased by everyone who wants to motivate employee performance to the highest levels. The authors refer to it as The Three Factor Theory, but it hasn't been a theory for me since I first learned how to give employees what they want over thirty years ago in the J.C. Penney Company.

In addition to the equity, achievement, and camaraderie factors, I also enjoyed their explanation of why participatory management is far superior to autocratic or laisez faire management styles when it comes to motivating top performance.

With the current focus on the many benefits of employee engagement, I would think this book would a primary source of information for learning how to involve employees in the success of a business or a business team. Does anyone doubt that equity, achievement, and camaraderie should be primary goals for organizational excellence?

It may be a little more academic for some readers, but that's what research is all about. A little dry, but they nailed what will motivate people to perform with energy, excitement, and enthusiasm.

I have been a avid listener of Andrew Horowitz podcast, and was reluctant to buy the book only because of fear of reading the same stuff I hear. I wrong. His book compliments his podcast and provides an powerful way to help develop a discipline (profitable) investor.

I just finished reading Andrew's book. I feel that he wants to do the best job he can to give you a very complete overview of investing in a very clear and concise manner. He seems to want to help you protect yourself so that you can avoid many of the mistakes most beginning investor's make. I have already instituted many of his recommendations into my own investing strategies. You must make this book a part of your library.

I am a frequent listener to the Disciplined Investor podcast and could not pass up the book. The two things that I most enjoyed were the comprehensive, no-nonsense overview of the investing world (including a bit of technical analysis and risk management) and the list of resources (most of them freely available on the web) in the final chapter. I had stumbled across some of the them, but not all, and I feel that my investment decisions are more focused and financially productive after reading this book. Thanks Andrew.

No doubt the best financial book I have ever read. Dr. Horowitz knowledge and wit is unsurpassed. I highly recommend for beginning investors or anyone with the desire to really learn how to properly invest without getting too technical. I also listen to his weekly podcasts which offer a wide variety of investment advice.

I have been listening to Mr. Horowitz through his website and podcast. I was looking for one new idea. Being well versed in a number of areas of finance, investment, and trading, I ordered the book.

It delivered on a number of fronts. While not being in-depth on any one subject, it offered a good foundation to base further learning.

Basic Quantitative stock screening, and where the investor/trader can get a robust screener at no charge.

Financial definitions and application of those definitions i.e. GARP, PEG ratios, GICS,

Basic Technical Analysis - When the investor looks at a stock/index chart what does he or she see. The basics of trending, breakouts, and basic patterns are addressed. This is not a technical analysis book, again it is a basics book. If the reader would like that, there are a number of great in-depth volumes on the subject.

Basic Fundamental stock review - Reviewing the Balance Sheet, Price-to-Book and Debt to Equity Ratios are addressed.


Risk Management - As a professional trader, I see this as the most over looked aspect of investing for most people looking to invest.

Options- a basic overview of what an option is, and how it works. It is not a lottery ticket, it is a risk management tool. The book offers a few basic strategies for their use.

Mutual Fund - Overview of performance, expense ratios, and how to sort between the thousands of mutual funds.

This is a book I would feel comfortable giving to my mother, children, or friend looking to learn more regarding a variety financial topics. It covers many topics, and the unassuming 232 pages makes it an easy, non-intimidating read.

Lastly, it is a nice introduction to any of the topics the reader would like to explore further.

Christopher Howard has gone from having practically nothing to live on to becoming a sought after seminar speaker worth multi-millions. Having attended a large number of motivational speakers' events before his nadir he pondered how to break out. And he did. He shares his story and the steps he feels anyone who cares to can take to achieve the sort of life they would only dream of - doing what excites their own heart and making a living, and much more than basic living, out of it.

Using a basis of NLP he developed related techniques that can speed you in the direction YOU want to take. One overall read is required to get an idea of the whole process. Then a more deliberate step-by-step approach to put these ideas into action. But with the thorough self-evaluation that is built into the text, with check-lists and spaces to write your results, this seemingly complex process is made more manageable.

I have yet to read better book around self-development and achieving your dreams. Get it.

I have been reading about NLP and practising it for a few years now and I definitely found a lot which is new for me in this book. I am also an entrepreneur and since I started practising some of the techniques Chris Howards describes I have made some pretty big changes I am very happy with. These are the key things I got out of the book.

Modelling: We all know what this is but Howards tells you in great detail exactly what to do to repeat the results which are achieved by others.
Mind maps: A great way to imprint onto your subconscious.
A New Cognitive: I have written my own and now I am acquiring it.
Genius reading and expanded awareness: A great technique for covering a lot of ground quickly
Goal Setting: a way of implanting goals into your future that seems absolutely certain. It works for me.
The world and the brain are halogens: A way of looking at the human condition which is entirely conducive to creating your own reality: a valuable insight into just how powerful we might be.

Christopher Howard's book is filled with powerful information that has had a profound effect on my life!

Christopher Howard's passion for his work and his depth of knowledge of the psychology of wealth and leadership creates a truly insightful book . He skillfully highlights keys to successfully navigate how we view and filter the world around us and how we can communicate and negotiate effectively. These tools are invaluable in a business setting . Reading Chris' book is akin to being given a map of a hidden treasure .You simply have to follow the steps and the only thing you will find is SUCCESS!

Turning Passions Into Profits was a great read, informative and substantive. Step 1 and Step 2 are great! The exercises and application to successful people was a plus. A drawback is the too much detail and somehow complicated categorization and "proprietary" processes that would take quite a few years for a 'creative type'non logical brain to master. Overall, the book was enlightenning, motivational and was worth the read.

This book is more of a case study on the Sunbeam Corporation than a biography of Al Dunlap. In that sense, this book is as valuable a learning tool today as it was in the 1990s. The author, in fact, should change the title and re-release it to a completely new generation of business leaders. Here is an opportunity for students of business to get a 360 degree view of a good company that happened to be pimped out by investors for profit, managed by people motivated by personal greed, and directed by a completely detached board. All these factors exist today and will always be present in business.

If it weren't Sunbeam, it would have been any number of other companies that could have been gutted by entrepreneurs. It continues to happen today, and likely will continue as long as people can engineer buyouts, takeovers, etc. GE could be leveraged, pumped and dumped in a similar way today if there were enough money available.

In the book, the interviewed Sunbeam leadership team all experienced moments when they were faced with some absolutely ludicrous business maneuver, but each one backed down. They were all looking for the big payoff for going along, so they just toed the line. They saw dollar signs in Al Dunlap. For that reason, Al can not be charged as solely responsible for the company's downfall. It took a team to execute his orders.

The board, in the end, terminated Al Dunlap for what they thought were leadership issues. As it happened, the company was in ruins. Would Sarbanes-Oxley prevent this today? It is possible, but not likely. Many of the maneuvers used to over-inflate the company to Wall Street occurred legally, but over-aggressively. An actively engaged board could have saved the company prior to devastation. However, since the CEO and investors stacked the board with their own players, a challenge from the board did not occur until the board members felt personally threatened financially. It took market forces and about 6 months to expose Sunbeam.

I found "Chainsaw" in a discounted book bin and picked it up because I wanted to learn more about the man who was hailed by Wall Street analysts as a fast turnaround artist but hated by the many employees who felt the wrath of his cost-cutting sword at the companies in which he was in charge.

Chainsaw primarily chronicles Chainsaw Al Dunlap's rocky two year tenure at Sunbeam Corp., where he closed numerous plants, fired almost half of its employees, ran roughshod over the half who remained, heaped more praise upon himself then the most conceited athlete or movie star and pretty much ran the company into the ground.

The author, John Byrne has spoken to several hundred people who have dealt with Dunlap's rage and unrealistic expectations and has been able to piece together a non-fiction work that reads like a novel. Significant amounts of dialog between Dunlap and his cronies are displayed and it basically says one thing. Chainsaw Al Dunlap ruled through total intimidation and with the exception of his right hand man, listened to nobody but himself, even though he had no experience with the products that Sunbeam sold. He fired (or actually had somebody else fire) everybody who didn't appear to him to be part of the team. Byrne perfectly sets out the tension that occurred when Dunlap was on a rampage.

The reader gets to see the desperate measures a company will go through to try to meet investor and Wall Street expectations, including accounting games which have come to the forefront as a result of the Enron debacle. I'm not an accountant, but I even have to admit that things they did were pretty shady.

Byrne wraps the book up with the final straws that led Al Dunlap to go down in flames at Sunbeam, ending in his firing at a secretive board meeting in New York City. I see that a paperback version is coming out soon, which I hope will bring the story of Dunlap up to date, including his required payment to a trust fund to settle civil lawsuits against him.

Byrne's only fault is that he is not totally objective. It's easy to tell that he despises Dunlap (he calls him a loudmouth, comments on the large size of his teeth, attacks his love of his dogs over everything else), so I knock the rating to four stars, but it's still a pretty good business case book. Bryne would be a great candidate to writeup the Enron story as he does have a way with story telling and research.

John Byrne has presented a fascinating portrait of the fall of Al Dunlap at Sunbeam. He goes into great detail on all the irrational decisions that were made, the impossible targets, the pressure to fudge numbers and the final inevitable collapse. Byrne also spends some time on the rather unsavory private life of Dunlap (he didn't attend his parents funerals, he never meets his son or his sister). By and large I agree with the other positive reviews.

Byrne writes very well. Many business writers tend to get bogged down in detail when writing a book (as opposed to a small article) or get distracted or get stuck in flashbacks. Byrne does none of these and keeps your interest level high throughout.

If I have one gripe with the book (which is why I give it 4 rather than 5), its that it relies too much on people who dislike Dunlap or were trying to shift responsibility to him. Yes, the man is an egoist, a hypocrite, a braggart etc. But its a little hard for me to believe that every bad business decision at Sunbeam can be traced to Dunlap (or his consultants), and it seems to me that at least some of the other managers are trying to shift responsiblity to Dunlap on occasion. Also, Dunlap's attitude at Sunbeam was wrong in most ways -- still the company itself was unhealthy when he came in. The original management deserves at least some blame for the pre-Dunlap situation.

Similarly, a number of people in the book claim that they were always skeptical of Dunlap's business skills. Maybe after the Sunbeam collapse -- but I find it hard to believe they were all skeptical initially. Example -- an analyst claims that he doubted the Sunbeam turnaround story from the beginning, but he still kept on churning out positive reports on Sunbeam for his securities firm.

by Dan Moreland

We've all had bad bosses. Very few of us have not had the joy of working for a barbarous, bullying taskmaster that makes you dread Monday mornings.

Then there's Chainsaw Al Dunlap. Think of the most egotistical, arrogant, selfish, greedy, low-class and verbally abusive manager from hell you can think of. According to John Byrne's "Chainsaw: The Notorious Career of Al Dunlap in the Era of Profit-At-Any-Price", Al Dunlap is all of these things, and maybe more. He makes Mr. Dithers look like Richard Branson.

Flying the pirate flag of cost cutting, Chainsaw Al made his name rampaging through companies as a high level executive in the 1980s. He cut thousands of jobs and closed factories in the blink of an eye. During his reign of terror, Dunlap became the scourge of those with a corporate conscience while becoming the darling of investors and a media icon.

It wasn't until the mid to late 90s that the financial world got wind of what "Rambo in Pinstripes" was up to. As CEO with Scott and then Sunbeam, Chainsaw ate the heart out of both companies, allegedly falsified financials, and wooed Wall Street to pretty them up for a quick sale. Chainsaw would pocket millions while thousands of regular working stiffs were out of jobs- many after decades of service.

It's the Sunbeam debacle that Byrne documents in "Chainsaw" and boy what a fun ride. From Dunlap screaming and shouting at his bewildered executive staff at his first meeting to the apocalyptic crash from $50 to $5 a share, you get to see and hear it all. The author does an excellent job of recreating what life working for the guy must have been like, and it is obvious that he did very careful research.

Talk about a corporate nightmare. Dunlap, in his pinstripe suits, tinted glasses, dyed blonde hair and very loud voice would arrogantly hand out copies of his autographed book "Mean Business" and scream at anyone that told him anything he didn't want to hear.

My favorite scene is Dunlap is yelling one of his staff. He begins his tirade by telling his victim to be quiet and not to utter a word. After piling on the poor sap, he asks if he is going to respond to his accusations or just sit there silent. The executive reminds Al that he wasn't allowed to talk during the meeting.

"Shut up!" bellows Dunlap, "You don't deserve to speak!" Priceless! Suddenly Gordon Gekko is Ghandi!

"Chainsaw" kind of plods at first as you are barraged with a cast of characters that you quickly lose track of. But time and again Byrne pulls you in with great narratives. For instance one scene depicts the dark side of Darwinian capitalism: the financial travails of a former laid off Sunbeam employee contrasted with a description of Big Al negotiating a new multimillion dollar contract over an expensive steak dinner.

By the second half of "Chainsaw", you are hooked. Wall Street catches on to his shenanigans, and Sunbeam quickly spirals out of control along with our anti-hero.

Besides way too many players, my only other problem with "Chainsaw" is a section devoted to his ill-fated first marriage and the treatment of his only son. The author uses divorce testimony to imply Dunlap abused his first wife, and interview quotes revealing he abandoned his son. We also learn that Dunlap didn't even go to his father's funeral. This is tricky ground. Whether or not this is true, the author already makes a good case that the guy was a creep without having to include so much of his personal life. And, as the saying goes, there are two sides to every story (in Byrne's defense, Dunlap refused to cooperate with the book, but still).

There are other instances where you can really feel the author's venom. Byrne covered the subject in several articles for "Business Week" and reveals a deep personal dislike for Dunlap. He even refers to him as a "loudmouth" and makes other nasty remarks. It may or may not be well deserved, but these comments and the personal detail make John Byrne border on being as mean-spirited as Chainsaw himself.

This is a terrific read, and is definitely a business model for NOT how to manage a company. In the same vein, I also recommend the educational but more tedious "Apple: The Inside Story of Intrigue, Egomania and Business Blunders" by Jim Carlton, and "Trumped" by John O'Donnell.

If nothing else, "Chainsaw" will definitely make your crummy job seem a lot easier!

If John Byrne's "Chainsaw" were a work of fiction, it would likely be considered unpublishable because its main character is so absurdely evil. Unfortunately -- especially for those who had to endure his wrath -- the story of Al Dunlap is all too true. Byrne's portrayal of Dunlap, who was hailed by Wall Street as a turaround genius before his leadership of Sunbeam ended in debacle, is that not of an admirable business leader, but of an hysterical, violent sociopath who, if his life had turned slightly differently, might well have ended up in prison, a mental hospital, or an early grave. "Chainsaw" paints a portrait of a man who was abusive -- mentally, emotionally and even physically -- to nearly everybody in his life, from his business associates to his family to the few whom he considered friends.

"Chainsaw" chronicles the rise and fall of "Chainsaw Al" Dunlap so compellingly that even those who wouldn't think to read a business book will be hooked. However, the book is in many ways fascinating the way that a car wreck is fascinating. The reader will marvel at the amount and intensity of abuse Dunlap hurls at even his closest friends and allies, the coldness with which he treats his family (he abandoned his son at age 2 and couldn't be bothered to attend the funerals of either of his parents), and the near-perverted bounds of his ego. In fact, as Sunbeam lurches toward collapse, his only apparent interest was in signing copies of his autobiography.

Defenders of Dunlap will say that he did the dirty work of downsizing and layoffs to save dying companies, sacrificing the needs of the few for the good of the many. And true, the modern business world is filled with harsh realities and tough decision-making. But Dunlap's approach to downsizing in "Chainsaw" teeters between indifference to those downsized and pure sadism. At points in the book, he actually seems to enjoy cutting jobs and closing factories (though he usually had others do the dirty deeds). As the author says, there is a business world between being tough and being cruel -- and Byrne leaves little doubt about where he places Dunlap. Worse, Dunlap's moves at Sunbeam didn't seem to have been done with any level of intelligence, other than to get Dunlap a quick win so he could cash out fast. The result was the near-total destruction of Sunbeam rather than long-term gains from short-term pain.

In "Chainsaw," Byrne stresses that either through fear, greed or naivetee, others enabled Dunlap. The way that each of these characters is drawn creates a fascinating if morbid portrait of a dysfunctional, cannibalistic organization revolving totally around Chainsaw Al.

Byrne is a terrific writer, and "Chainsaw" is a great read. My only quibble is that, since Byrne and Dunlap apparently have had great animosity toward each other, Byrne often sacrifices any attempt at objectivity. But perhaps objectivity isn't possible when chronicling such an extreme personality.

It's good to see "Chainsaw" returning to print in paperback. Now, in the era of Enron and WorldCom, Sept. 11 and the War on Terror reminding us what real toughness is all about, and with the Wall Street euphoria of the '90s in the rear-view mirror, its perspective is needed now more than ever...

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Haven't started to read it yet.

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