Profit The Books

This was a detailed insightful book. Took me up to a level of expertise other books lack. It also had a starter section for skimming for those who want to double check they have the right hardware and software.

The best part of the book is the details on formulating a trading plan and structure.

Very good.

"Gee, how can I make some money from writing about the internet? I know -- I'll write some worthless stuff about getting connected to the internet (target group-African bushmen?), and then I'll just put down the on-line investing sites I found after a few days of random surfing." I'm sure a similar train of thought went through the author's mind just before he came up with this lemon of a book. At the time of this review, this book had a four star review average; these other reviews that said this book was "brilliant" made me laugh. Shakespeare is brilliant; this author's intentions are merely expedient.

Great amounts of pure online trading gold. Been waiting for this for ages, at long, long last someone has actually written it.

Unique in coverage, really found it straightforward and no no-nonsense. Really good.

I found it very useful to come to this book by someone who obviously trades for a living. The subtle insights that can only come from someone who does this for a living were clear.

The book contains lots of great humor, and ample material about how to trade effectively online and the best online sites around.

A real treat to read and lots to be learnt even for one like me who has been trading for a few years now.

Was a little surprised by the no-brainers who reviewed it pooly on Amazon and just didn't get that the book was for people serious about trading. An excellent book, made me a lot in todays volatile markets.

Having flicked through the book at the local bookstore before buying it, I was delighted to receive my own copy.

By far and easily the best online trading book out there - I know because this one made me money.

Moll Flanders / 0-451-52633-3

Defoe's novel, Moll Flanders, one of the first true English novels follows the "true" story of a lower-class woman who - eventually - turns to a life of petty thievery and prostitution partly as a means to live, and partly as a means to a middle-class life of relative riches and ease.

This thin little novel is a fairly quick read and the story pacing moves at a quick clip as we read through the salacious and scandalous life of this matron is not particularly clever nor particularly beautiful, but she is persistent, dogged, and increasingly amoral enough to make a life for herself just above the level of extreme and desperate poverty. Through the course of her life, Moll takes several husbands, bears multiple children, and chooses to view her life with pride and detachment, rather than with the shame she 'ought' to feel. In this regard, Moll is perhaps the most modern of the historical novel characters, because she views the societal norms which would compel her to pious poverty with a jaundiced eye and recognizes that the 'shameful' things she does to survive, the gentry do on a much wider, if more socially acceptable, scale.

I read this several years ago. Didn't have much of a problem with the writing style, but others might.

As a mom, I just couldn't get over the fact she gave birth to about 10 kids, didn't give a flying leap about any of them, and abandoned every single one of them at her earliest convenience. I have heard of a lot of REALLY bad mothers, but none that just walked away, never gave another thought to any of them - on about 6 different occasions.

My modern mind wants to guess she had reactive attachment disorder since she was abandoned herself, but of course she just may be the imagining of a man who didn't really care to write about a woman's relationships with her children. (Wikipedia says he had 8 kids by the same wife and 6 survived, so he should have known of the bond a woman has with her children).

It's an interesting book, but I can't fully recommend it as a story. I would recommend it for people interested in 17th and 18th century England and America.

This story seems a bit dated, and once you understand the premise that this is a fallen woman story, it becomes a little predictable and holds little suspense. One interesting aspect is that it's a man narrating as a woman, but the style gets a little crusty, and you can almost read the second half by just skimming the adjectives and nouns, good gentleman, good governess, horrid wretch, thief, and etc. Things go from bad to worse for Moll as she ages, and loses her money making beauty, but she eventually regains her peace of mind and some comfort through something like a stroke of luck and her re-deliverance to Virginia. Interesting that Virginia is considered a step down from the home island and a world of hard labor and servitude in the year 1683 as opposed to England.

I would say that this story is a bit outdated, since it becomes just a list of misfortunes, and the premise that she is a penitent woman at the end of the story with many secrets and no confessional available is a bit hackneyed and lame. It's got it's points though and it serves as a valuable point for looking at literature of this time period. My main problem is that the story is broken into chunks of three page stories of misfortune and then another chapter starts (although there are no actual chapters) of misfortune. So there is after a whil a feeling of more of the same.

To fully understand and appreciate Moll Flanders you should have some understanding of the status of fiction at the time Daniel DeFoe was writing and some knowledge about the man himself. As Nancy Springer has indicated, the novel is an example of a "picaresque adventure," a style of writing that was popular at the time. These stories glorified a new kind of hero--the ordinary person, who engaged in a series of often wild and improbable events in exotic places. The picaresque rouge was a rebel against the remains of the feudal system with its hierarchy of human worth. Such novels featured a clever, strong-minded, low-born character who knew how to survive. What DeFoe did differently is to make his character a women and have her adventures take place largely in England.

The novel is also largely autobiographical. DeFoe himself experienced many financial ups and downs, yet he persevered. In fact it wasn't until he was 60 years old that he began writing novels and achieved some measure of fame and financial success. He spent time in Newgate prison and deeply in debt. He was also an outspoken political reformer who wrote more than 250 political pamphlets.

Having said the above, the novel still has its faults. One is that it is written in a continuous manner with no chapter breaks. While DeFoe may have been trying to say that time is continuous and that distinctions (such as hours, days, weeks, etc.) are mere fabrications, still readers like to have books broken down into chapters. A more serious flaw is the lack of names. Apart from her first husband there are virtually no names given to the characters. Even Moll herself is not identified by the title name until well into the book and even this name is not her actual name (which we never learn). Instead characters are identified in some impersonal way (my Lancashire husband, my governess, etc.) The lack of names makes it hard for the reader to engender any sympathy for Moll and the other personages in the book. Also the action is so fast paced that it flashes by like looking through a kaleidoscope, the scenes and action constantly shifting and changing. For example, within the first 100 pages Moll is married five times, has several children, goes to Virginia, finds her mother, etc. There is no time for the reader to reflect on the tragedies that befall her, especially given that they are told in a matter-of-fact manner.

The book can be divided into two parts. The first half deals with Moll's amorous life--her marriages and love affairs. The second part focuses primarily on her criminal activities. Both sections tell the story entirely from Moll's perspective. In many respects Moll is a match for Thackery's Becky Sharp. Both are low-born, both get positions in well-to-do families, both marry one of the sons in the family, both are attractive and quick witted, both scheme to get money and both have various adventures and misadventures. But Vanity Fair is written as a social commentary and Thackery uses the omnipotent story teller to advantage, even having him speak directly to the reader. DeFoe, by comparison, limits himself to having his protagonist say, in effect, now I did this, then I did that, then this happened, etc.

To give DeFoe his due, the book does provide a realistic and detailed account of life in England at that time. His description of Newgate prison is but one example. Perhaps Moll's attitude also reflected the times accurately. It can best be described as "a woman is nothing without a man and to get a man a woman must have money." Thus Moll spends the entire book pursuing both. But one can question how realistic Moll Flanders really is. She has a number of children, but seems to have little regard for them. Perhaps DeFoe, needing to rid Moll of encumbrances such as children in order to engage her in so many adventures, gave her what is an unnatural attitude for a mother. In the end he does reunite her with a son, but we should note that her motivation, at least at first, is financial not familial.

All in all, the book is worth reading, but it is far from great literature.

Let Me start by saying that the Story of Moll Flanders itself is a fairly exciting One. The Story changes Venues and Circumstances so often that it only grows Dull in a few Places. It is well-written and filled with beautiful Description. However, I have never finished this Book due to two crucial Criteria:

Reason 1) There are no Chapters. I find this to be quite Discouraging, as, without any Breaks, I often lose my Spot and feel like I'm not accomplishing Anything.

Reason 2) Just like in this Review, every Noun is capitalized. If you found it annoying Here, just imagine 300 Pages of it.

I would not recommend this Book to any casual Reader. If you're a literary Scholar, however, dive right in, it's an important Work.

The book provides 8 clear ways to evaluate if you should buy a stock. These ideas are similar to William O'Neil or other investors, but overall good reminder as to what to look for. You can read this book in an hour. The only issue with this book is that you are basically buying and holding even when the market is down.

Do you want to know what the Author is buying? Go to his web site at www.navellier.com where he manages funds. His model portfolio's are down, some over 20% ! Yes, the issue here like many people that manage funds or model portfolios is that they stay invested even in the worst times.

Indicating what to buy is good as this book outlines, but having people hold on for a gut wrenching ride losing over 20% to wait YEARS to get it back to me is foolishness.

What is missing in this book is an overall market viewpoint to answer the question "Should I be a buyer, selling short, or stay in cash?"

This book does not answer that question. A great book that will and pointed to the down market in 2008 is the classic "Martin Zweig Winning on Wall Street." This book is a real winner and has a similar formula for picking stocks but you will get few results.

I would take Navellier stock picking recommendations then be a buyer based on Zweig's marketing timing model. Why buy big in a down market? If you want a gut wrenching experience go to Cedar Point or 6 Flags.

Very simple to understand and very straightforward. It helps an investor to understand he needs to remain cool, rely on facts and forget about emotions.

This book provided an excellent overview of successful growth investing; but, while providing broad strokes, the book seems primarily focused on selling further services from Mr. Navellier. I share Mr. Navellier's love of numbers, but I wish there were further information on the exact forumlas used so I could replicate the calculations on my own...unless he is personally screening each of the 5000 stocks each day.

I tried to sign up for the given website and I have trial access, but have yet to receive credentials to sign on as a member--after two attempts and two weeks later. I have received all of the solicitations to purchase investing newletters though--from $200 to over $1000 per year or more.

Mr. Navellier is one of the few investors who beats the S&P 500 according to the Hulbert Report, but what if I invested that $1000 per year instead of purchasing the newsletter? If I invest $1000 for 20 years at a growth of 12% a year, $20,000 becomes $90,000 in a no load index fund--discounting taxes and other fees...I feel free to discount as Mr. Navellier does it in his advertisements.

The positives of the book are as follows:
1. It gets you excited about returns
2. It makes a good case for growth investing.
3. It is well written.
4. Mr. Navellier has demonstrated he is one of the few money managers to consistently beat the S&P 500

The negatives:
1. No exact way to replicate results on your own, you need the "free" website to do that.
2. The constant reminders that Mr. Navellier's newsletters were successful, if only you had purchased one...

Excellent explanation of the methods used to evaluate the financial strength of a business enterprise.

this little book shoud have been less patronising The authors naivite on thinking his readers were going to be his extended children got him to writte a 101 of finances. No to useful for the prise.

William O'Neil, who started a successful financial paper known as Investors Business Daily, wrote How to Make Money in Stocks. Decade of research and critical thinking has helped O'Neil to create some very powerful ways of investing successfully.

O'Neil's ideas aren't about getting rich quick. It takes time, study diligence and patience coupled with controlling ones emotions to become an excellent investor. The Successful Investor melds both the technical and fundamental aspects of investing with common sense. O'Neil uses a great number of charts throughout the book to explain concepts in detail.

The Successful Investor provides strong basics to help the intermediate investor as well as the experienced investor. This book may not be right for a novice.

Topics include Managing Your Portfolio: How to Buy the Very Best Stocks, When to Sell and Nail Down Your Big Profit While You Still Have It, Time-Proven Methods to Maximize Results and Minimize Losses and much more.

I have read many books, magazines and articles on investing in stocks, bonds, mutual funds and more over the years. O'Neil's ideas are some of the most solid and consistent I have found to apply to the stock market. They are easy to read and understand the basic...but like anything worth while...it takes years to be good. I have read three of O'Neil's books and have found great ideas in all of them.

The Re-Discovery of Common Sense: A Guide to: The Lost Art of Critical Thinking

For once someone who knows what he is talking about. If you are serious about investing buy this book, you won't regret. In fact, it can be your only investment book. What I like is that the book clearly shows that there is no such thing as buy-and-hold investor. To me investor is a just trader who trades in a weekly timeframe.

I think IBD is worth every penny. You can do everything that the author says without using IBD (by using MSN, Yahoo etc) but if you don;t have time for that IBD is the way to go. I have been following many (not all, i don't like the idea of buying at market price) of the advices in this book and have bagged 30% return in the last year despite two nasty corrections. If you want to take one lesson from this book, it would be

Buy high and sell higher in a bull market.

I believe every investor ought to read this book before putting any money in the market. If O'Neil's CANSLIM system is followed, it is IMPOSSIBLE to to lose money in the stock market!

William O' Neal has done an excellent job laying out for investors and stock traders the 5 steps to take for outstanding results. I have read Oneal's other books but this one really laid out his strategies in a very easy to understand format. Here are the 5 steps he puts forth:

#1 Which way is the general market going? Only invest in bull markets, if the market is continually going down and has rallies that fail and fall again into lows. Stay away and safely in cash. Wait to enter when the market is clearly in an uptrend.

#2 Use a simple 3 to 1 profit and loss percentage plan. By setting a 7% stop loss on all stocks, and capturing a 20% gain when you are right, you can be right on 33% of your stock picks and still be a profitable investor/trader. Of course this is the worst case scenario. The important thing is taking losses quickly and letting profits run to a reasonable place and then take them.

#3 How to buy the very best stocks at the very best times. Buy stocks using the CAN-SLIM method for the fundamental value. (With current and 5 year earnings increases being the #1 measurement of valuation). Then buy them after they have reached there 52 week high, pulled back and resumed upwards after coming off new support levels.(Cup and handle chart pattern).

#4 When to nail down your big profit. Sell a stock that has run up to a ridiculous price while it is still heading up. Do not try to call the top, these stocks pull back tremendously when they run out of buyers. The signs to sell include when it closes at the low for the day or fails to make new highs for a few days. (Railroad tracks on a chart).

#5 Managing your portfolio for maximum gains and minimum losses. When it is time to realign your portfolio sell your losers and keep your winners. Diversifying is for people who do not know what they are doing, successful investors buy 4 to 10 stocks they are experts on and watch them closely. Only add a new one after you sell your biggest loser. Never buy more of a stock that is going down only increase position sizes on winners. Only buy the best stocks in an industry, stay away from stocks under $15 to $20 a share.

Excellent book that belongs in every investors/traders library. William O'Neal belongs with other legendary traders he has done a great job of building on what others have learned. I predict it will be a classic one day.

Less than 3 pages of average information in a 300 page book. Go figure.

This is a great book for a value investor. It introduces the benchmark formula for investing in the best values in the 30 Dow stocks each year. It show the records of how this worked out in real time investing by beating the Dow average in most years. I really enjoyed the discussion of Warren Buffett;s strategies of focusing your money on a few great companies and buying those companies at 60 cents on the dollar.
The benchmark formula is as follows:
1. Find the average return on equity for the previous ten years.
2. Divide the current year's return on equity by its 10-year average return on equity to find the adjusted ROE ratio.
3. Find the average book value for the previous ten years. Also find the average low and high stock prices for the same period.
4. Calculate the stock's average yearly low price.
5. Find the average low and high market to book values for the previous 10 years. To do so, divide the average low and high prices by the average book value from step 3.
6. Find the downside target by first multiplying the stock's low market to book average multiple by the adjusted ROE ratio. The multiply that number by its current book value.
7. Find the upside target by first multiplying the stock's high market to book average multiple by the adjusted ROE ratio. Then multiply that number by its current book value.

You then will pick out the stocks trading at under their historical and projected value.

The 10 most undervalued stocks selected by benchmark investing (as taught in my book) from the S&P 100 averaged 51.20 percent in 2003 versus 23.84 percent for the index itself. The top five picks performed even better, up an average 80.82 percent.

Obviously, 2003 was a good year for stocks. But had you used benchmark investing beginning in 2000 until the end of last year, and bought the 10 most undervalued stocks from the S&P 100 you would have enjoyed a compounded total average return of 8.71 percent. During the same period, the index lost an average of -7.69 percent a year. So, you might want to take a look at benchmark investing in this book.

P.S. I do NOT have any web sites on the net, so don't assume I'm involved with any of them.

As some other reviews of this book state, there are NO perfect mathematical formulae for selecting investments. No formula can consistently anticipate all of the myriad changes that can affect a particular issue in the highly fluid, dynamic universe of investments. All valuation formulae are simplistic constructs which are used in the place of an elusive, magical crystal ball to derive either the absolute or relative worth of financial instruments. And all such constructs must be based upon assumptions (which are subject to all sorts of errors)- all of them!

Perhaps the most widely-used financial formulae today are based on some variant of discounted cash flow (DCF). But DCF requires selection of an appropriate discount rate, a forecast of future cash flows, and some kind of wild-eyed guess as to the investment's terminal value. Calculations which substitute earnings for cash flow are hopelessly flawed from the outset! Any calculation which uses a forecast is probably "in over its head" before any processing is done.

Since we cannot find the perfect formula which will yield calculations of 100% certainty, perhaps we should base our investment philosophy on skilled analyses of financial statements. However, financial statements are also built upon (possibly flawed or outdated) assumptions and conventions, and are hopelessly backward-looking while markets are always forward-looking. Financial information is too stale and is often inaccurate (vide ENRON or WorldCom, etc.).

Maybe following news releases would be better. However, because markets are discounting mechanisms, most of the financially important events are already incorporated into the market price before the news is released. Try an experiment: record the breaking news stories, both positive and negative, on any financial news network and see how well the companies and their stock prices perform 30, 90, 180, and 365 days after the news release. On many of the positive stories, you will find that the stock price will sell no, or only marginally, higher on the day of the release, and thereafter. You will often find the converse for negative news releases. Buying on positive- or selling on negative- releases is not likely the way to make consistent profits in the financial markets.

Then there is technical analysis, which is often not very technical at all. Last week, a major bank group fired the entire staff from its 45 year-old technical analysis department because the bank's management could not find added value to its overall operations from this department. However, Andrew Lo, et. al., from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, performed a study on technical analysis over a 30 year period and found that certain indicators provided an incremental benefit to investment returns over the period studied. There may be some utility to be mined from this area.

All the above said, Lee's book offers a simple method for selecting undervalued stocks from the universe of the Dow Jones 30 Industrials. Best yet, the raw data is available for free on the Value Line web site. The author uses past data to derive an average benchmark based upon how the issue previously traded against its book value. (Academic research has shown price versus book value to have some predictive ability.) I have performed sample testing on Lee's method and feel that it is useful in providing the average investor a fighting chance in: 1) safeguarding one's capital funds; and 2) earning a reasonable (if not superior) rate of market return. (Superior returns are possible, however I feel very strongly that such superior returns are often the product of sufficient capital, stringent loss control, the direction of the secular trend, selection of the appropriate vehicle, and L-U-C-K.)

I believe that Lee's methodology makes sense and is workable for somebody wanting to manage one's own investment funds and understand the process of stock selection. While this method is not perfect and will probably lead to less than perfect results, it will likely provide satisfactory long-term results for the individual investor who doesn't mind crunching his or her own numbers.

Ken's book is a quick read and discloses a fairly simple mechanical stock valuation method that appears to have significantly outperformed the DJIA over the years. The in depth discussion of the history of each Dow stock is useful although somewhat boring to anyone but a real blue chip fanatic. There are two irritating limitations to the method in the book, namely there is no guidance on when to sell, i.e. when a stock becomes too overvalued and should be rotated into a new stock. The other flaw is that the 10-year average price/book is calculated incorrectly. However the method is the method and if it works, it works! Calculating the average P/B correctly merely has the effect of giving lower (more conservative) target buy prices for high growth stocks. Using this method as a screening tool for large cap value stocks is a useful investment tool to have, and keeping the above limitations in mind, the book is well worth having.

TO: Mr. John Rubino/Mr. James Turk BRAVO on your tour de force book that lays out the Truth, unencumbered, and with sobering and simple recommendations on how to save ones self from financial ruin in the next couple of years, and now for that matter.

The comparisons of other empires that have economically collapsed (due to fiat currencies, fractional reserve banking, etc), most mighty nations in history, is an invaluable inclusion to the beginning of the book to give unaware readers perspective at how close to the edge the United States is.

Since 2000, this is what I have been telling people and you both are the first ones I have really seen to make the case in clear terms and dire warnings, with simple steps to protect ones self.. You guys are the best and your book has been a GOLD mine, literally... You guys strike at the heart of the Truth and expose it good, bad, ugly..
This book is small enough, inexpensive enough, and valuable enough to buy a dozen copies and hand them out to relatives, good friends, and those you care about... Simple enough for the economic laymen (most of Americans) to wake up to! People with HUNDREDS of thousand's of USD$$$ in stocks, bonds, over leveraged homes/real estate, etc etc.. This book and information is vital to their future. They could save themselves but unfortunately many will choose not to and will bury their heads and follow the herd of "mainstream" money managers...

I will keep on tyring to wake people up and inform them of the peril ahead, though sadly few have listened to me since I was recommending gold at $320 in 2001 or so... Silver at $5 back then too... Sometimes I am ashamed to be American because of my fellow Americans who have lost their critical thinking skills, independent thought, discernment, and a healthy ongoing distrust of government and Elites... to be and STAY free and economically sound, as an individual, family, or nation, we MUST be informed, vigilant, and critical of all orthodox information and mainstream opinion and most of all, government promises...

You guys are the bright spots of Truth in American economics! BRAVO!

Oh Wow.. Every one should get this Bible. Amazing; it gives you deep details how to profit from precious metals, and gold on top of them. A question to all; who created Gold? Answer is "God." Now who created Dollar? Answer is "Human." In the end Who will win God or human? Answer is left to all of you!!

For anyone interested in the dynamics of our falling dollar, this book: "The Collapse of the Dollar and How to Profit from It" is a must read. I was led to it after reading the author's: "How to Profit from the Coming Real Estate Bust." I was delighted to find: "The Collapse of the Dollar's" paperback version updated (containing 2007 numbers)! It's amazing how visionary the author has been. Morover, the book is easy to read/understand. I highly recommend...

Right now this book is sold out, and I'm not shocked. It seems to have been written in the future because it is all coming true. Gold is a great investment. Always has been. Always will be. I know a lof og groups are down on investing capital in gold, but usually those are the people who just don't get it. People who would rather put faith in "ideas" over real things.

For people who are unsure about gold investing, this is the best book to get. It groups together the gold investment and makes a lot of sense. I really think it was a good book for beginners.

I bought the book when it first came out. More importantly, I ACTED on the book's advice. I bought gold, silver, Goldcorp(GG) and a lot more. Goldcorp was selling for about $12 per share at the time. Gold hadn't gone beyond about $430 per ounce. The dollar was trading much higher than it is now. Goldcorp is now at about $40 per share. Gold is near $950 per ounce. Silver is at $18 per ounce. Suffice it to say that if I ever have the chance to meet Mssrs Turk and Rubino in person, I will pick up the tab for dinner!
I had to smile when I read some of the reviews which have been posted on this site. I guess that some people still do not "get it" when it comes to the role of gold in protecting assets and purchasing power. Although the book's title speaks of making a fortune by investing in gold and hard assets, this book is not really a get rich quick book. It is a survival book. With everything that has been happening in the financial sector, the most important thing for all of us is to protect what we have!

I learned from a broad range of investing books, and I got this one primarily because it was a short book. I'm only about half way through it, but I think it is very well written. It has some important information on how to approach researching a company. One of the glaring failures is how rapidly the trading environment can change. The book specifically tells investors to avoid China, and I've been making a lot of money investing in my first Chinese company. Read and learn, but ultimately decide for yourself on what you want to buy.

Great book as an introduction to the principles of value investing as laid out by Benjamin Graham. Very easy to read. With about 140 pages, you can get through this book in a couple of hours.

I'd use this as a warm up book to Intelligent Investor.

Don't let the small size of this book fool you! For anyone who is looking to build, over time, a valueable (read: multi-million dollar) portfolio of stock investments; this book might be all you would need. This book started a path for me that lead me to works by value-investing notable as Benjamin Graham, David Dodd, Mary Buffett, and more. After reading very famous texts by the above authors and more, I decided to revisit this work. I am floored by what Chris Browne presents here now I have a much more through understanding of the details.

My advice is to BUY BOTH THE BOOK AND AUDIO-CD. Play the audio cd in your car or I-POD a few times to get the general idea. From there, take the text and follow the CD; highlight any ideas that grab you attention as well as any tips/techniques that he gives (particularly at the end of the book). You may not want to delve into the chapters on reading foreign financial statements--a little advanced for the beginner, I assure you!

One you have a good understanding--get started. As I write this (02/2008), there are an abundance of good values in the market. I'm currently investigating a couple of wonder-investments as we speak. I argue this: anyone thinking of buying this book should buy it ASAP! As Chis Browne would say, there are too many stocks on sale....."...and you want to buy stocks when they are on sale".

the book is good as far as you need them only to review the basic principle of value investing. the author explain it well with examples. but you will be hard pressed trying to put these principles into practice

The author states that over a long period of time value companies have outperformed the growth companies. You buy a value company when you pay less its intrinsic value (Buy Stocks On Sale). The key aspect of value investing is an ability to analyze financial statements of the company. The author explains, in the very friendly manner, such indicators of an intrinsic value like Operating Income, Current Assets vs Total Assets (and liabilities), Operating Margin, EBITD Margin, "Margin of Safety" and so on.

The author declares that you can reduce the risk of loss in case of one stock's failure by building a diversified portfolio. However, when it comes to emerging markets, the authors suggest bewaring of them because of the frequent political disasters in particular countries. I do not agree with the author's advice of totally avoiding emerging markets. As an ETF of U.S. stocks like SPDR Trust (SPY) saves from one company's failure, an ETF that includes most of emerging countries, like iShares MSCI Emerging Markets Index (EEF) can save from a failure in one of the countries. Alternatively, you can build a portfolio of stocks in different emerging countries (as if you do this for U.S. stocks) by yourself without using an ETF or an index mutual fund.

The author also proclaims that cognitive psychology explains why some investors make huge losses because of fear, panic, or following the crowd when it comes to hot sexy stocks. If you like the topic of how cognitive psychology affects investors, I can recommend "The Only Three Questions That Count: Investing by Knowing What Others Don't" by Kenneth L. Fisher.

I found that this book was great for somebody getting into Forex Trading from day trading with equities. However, I would not suggest this book for beginners. I loved the history of Forex, and the book was great in terms of advice although she does often use terminology with no explanation of what it is e.g. nonfarm payrolls. If you want a book that moves slowly, this is also not a good choice. Do read this book with a good forex dictionary or access to the internet as you will need to look stuff up. Overall I liked this book alot as it was my first Forex book but I have read tons of books on stock and options trading. Best part is, that with the bear market now Forex trading is a much better option.

great book i used it always when i first entered forex, and still do. lots of knowledge and wisdow. not to mention it teachs you some stratagies.lots of books say they show you stratagies, but few deliver. this is one of them that does. this book was recommended to me as intermediate but i think it is a must have beginners guide, worth 4 of my beginners guide books.

Kathy Lien has written one of the most important "must have" books for active forex traders with "Day Trading the Currency Market".

Packed with practical insights and solid trading setups, she's written a superb book that's packed with useful trading how-tos, from one of the most respected forex authorities found.

Specifically, I found her correlation tables and volatility indices very valuable, as well as her step by step explanations of how to look for both fundamental as well as technical market-moving patterns. I'm recommending her book to all my Forex traders on my forexonfire dot com site, as excellent resources to own.

Additonally, she's provided superb explanations of how the mechanics of currency trading works, and the impact of various market opens, when and how to trade various technical chart patterns, and much more.

This book, along with Boris Schlossberg's excellent "Technical Analysis of the Currency Market", are the two best forex books on the market and are highly recommended.


Good trading,

Ken Calhoun
ForexOnFire

In my search for good FX trading books, I found no good book yet, and this book is no exception. This book is poorly written, has no consistent flow, and it does not lead the reader anywhere. Just few areas I found somewhat interesting like correlation between pairs, and volatility as a function of time of the day, and that is why I gave it a rating of 2. Otherwise, 1 will be enough. Someday someone may write a good FX trading book that really respects the intelligence of the reader. Not all FX retail traders are losers!

I just finished reading this book and after reading more than a dozen of books on forex and day trading I must say the book is a waste of money. Most of the topics in the book are covered superficially and the few trading strategies presented are poorly documented and contain errors.

This is an informative book that provides background, history and perspective about oil and its effect on the US and the world. The book also looks forward and provides insight on alternative energies. It provides insight for investments and possible future impacts for employment in various industries. Well worth the read.

This book changed my entire investing philosophy. After 2 years of intensive research I have come to many of the same conclusions given in this book. It will open your eyes to the present dilema we face. Do yourself and your loved ones a favor. Read it and pass on the information to who ever will listen.

I just finished The Oil Factor. All in all it was a good read and a primer for what may lie ahead for investors. Other reviewers have remarked on a lack of backtesting to substantiate the authors claim of an equities market driven by oil. Along those same lines I would have like to have seen this graphically represented over a convincing period of time to see how accurate this claim is.

The Author does a good job of describing how the stock market responded during the oil crisis of the late 1970's. This alone makes the book worthwhile. Additionally his treatment of inflationary and deflationary pressures on equities is equally revealing.

Looking forward the Author makes some broad and specific stock recommendations in the anticipation of higher crude oil prices and it's effect on economies. These recommendations, if not accurate, are helpful for forward thinking investors.

Some of his assertions regarding alternative energies I suspect are not entirely valuable from an investment standpoint. I would have liked to have seen footnotes along with the claims made for alternatives, particularly wind power. The idea of wind producing a substantial portion of US energy, absent of subsity, at a cost competitive with coal, nuclear and natural gas seems suspicious. Considering the need for a 100% backup capacity from convetional sources, the maintenance intensive nature of windmills and other costly problems, I would have liked to have seen this claim accompanied by more numerous and reliable source citations.

Nuclear Power seems to be given only cursory consideration despite it's rapid deployment worldwide. The Author apparently underestimates the economic argument for Nuclear Power as a major source for electricity, hydrogen and desalinazation. I believe this minor flaw is an investment opportunity missed by the book, but time will ultimately provide that answer.

It's certainly a worthwhile read and I applaud the Author for giving specific rather than generic investment advice.

The book offers good investment and economics advice. It is well documented and researched. A little bit redundant at the beginning but once it gets to the point it is quite straightforward. Overall, good reading material and advice.

ps: I never noticed the author had an investment fund until I read it in one of the reviews below.

Good book on investing using oil costs as a guide.
A little pessimistic about the future, yet certainly plausible and possible.

this book is good for beginner but i think if it has more real life example that will be more easy to understand.Should have specific rather then histroy.helal for sydney australia

Learning to trade confidently & profitably was probably the most daunting endeavor I've ever taken up. As a former novice trader, I recall having the feeling that I was paralyzed by uncertainty and self-doubt about my trades. It seemed then that there was drastically more information than a person could take in. Everything I heard or read made me believe that it was so critical and important. Yet I never seemed to understand how I should use what I was learning. I was always a step behind the market, chasing the crowd and loosing money. The more I traded the more frustrated I became. I thought I'd never understand how to trade. I'd lost so much money and enthusiasm that I considered quitting trading and leaving it up to smarter people than myself. I was beaten and embarrassed.

That was all before I read this book. Toni showed me step by step what I needed to know in order to get a firm grasp of trading successfully and profitably. What made this book so special to me is that Toni has an easy style that describes everything in really plain language. She takes nothing for granted when she explains how to read charts and when to buy and sell. She rounds out every chapter with some words of wisdom that guide the novice and expert trader alike toward having the knowledge, attitude and confidence to succeed. It's akin to having a "market mentor" showing you the ropes in a very thoughtful and intuative way. She's a great teacher and what I've learned from her has been the foundation for all of the knowledge I've aquired since reading this book.

In short, this book helped me see the beauty and simplicity of trading for profit & I'll never give it up (I do it for a living).

Brian Berry [...]

I've read this book twice, [I read everything multiple times] good entree into various mkt-related topics, though certainly requires follow up via other books, methods, research. Being a golden Buddha, I love the centerpoints.

This book is better than most beginners Technical Analysis books, and it focuses on alot more. She gives a basic strategy which can be used. This is a must buy, look at the price you got nothing to lose.

This book taught me a great deal in a short time. It was not only easy to read, but informative and encouraging. She explains concepts in a very straightforward manner plus and was very positive about trading in general. I would recommend this book to anybody just starting out and want to learn more about trading stocks using technical analysis.