Trading Books

I love every book written by Nicholas Sparks! I can't put them down and they are finished in 2 days!!

I got hooked on Sparks' books over the summer vacation last year and asked for The Choice for Christmas. It was new then. It was a great read. Another one that was hard to put down and the kind you don't want to end. Sparks has a way of writing so that as a reader you feel so much emotion. This one doesn't disappoint.

I was not sure when I forst started this book, but then he got me hooked!
Great books!

Is it just me or all of Nicholas Sparks' book the same? It always seems like in each of his books. There is boy meets girl. Boy and girl fall in love. Either boy or girl die or get gravely ill. Then the end. This book ended a little differently than usual from his books. I felt like this one was kind of a chore to finish. I feel like I can read the first and last chapter of Sparks' books now and get what happened in the middle. Honestly, I wouldn't bother wasting your time with The Choice. This book is predictable and mundane.

Travis Parker has everything a man could have, a wonderful job(veternarian)and great friends and a beautiful home:enters Gabrielle Holland a young lady who moves in next door and the sparks fly immediately with them:She started in on him about his dog impregnating hers.It was eventually found out that his dog did not impregnated hers.Everything comes to a blow when he invites her along with his friends to go on his boat.The first part of the book deals with them realizing their attraction and her fighting it by continuing saying to him she has boyfriend. In the end Gabrielle realizes that she is falling in love with him and have to make a decision if to stay with Kevin who she knows forever or go with something thats new and unknown. A really great read, this story will have you tearing up.

This is an incredibly awful book. I clung to every word she said and honestly felt enlightened. That was before I did some more research on the book. Now I feel sick to my stomach and can't believe that I ever liked this book.

I've seen Sylvia Browne a few times on the Montel Williams show
and have always been amazed by the gift she seems to
have . . . so when I came across the CD version of her book,
ADVENTURES OF A PSYCHIC, I decided to give it a listen.

Doing so enabled me to learn about her fascinating life
story . . . I also appreciated the point she made several
times; i.e., that despite her desire to help others, her abilities
have not enabled her to guide her own actions.

Brown contends that all people have psychic abilities . . . I'm not
sure that listening to and/or reading ADVENTURES OF A
PSYCHIC will help you discover yours . . . yet if you're open
to what might be a new way of thinking about yourself,
you will gain better insight into the events that help shape your life.

That Browne was also the narrator of this program added
to my enjoyment.

What a load of tripe! This Browne lady is not only a felon, but a liar when it comes to her education, psychic abilities and being a non-smoker. She doesn't even write the books her name is attached to. Even watching TV is more entertaining than this garbage.

I have to say that I was somewhat disappointed with Sylvia Browne. I have watched her for years on the Montel Williams Show. When I first bought this book, I was disappointed once I started reading about Francine who I come later to know as part of Sylvia Browne's psychic abilities. By studying psychics like Sylvia Browne, I gain a better understanding of myself more than her. I don't agree with her a hundred percent of the time but it doesn't mean that I don't love her or admire her ability. She's here to help us. Her life has been traumatic, difficult, and messy at times. That's because psychics too are human and make mistakes. We're terrible with predicting ourselves but we can guide our family and friends to better lives if they only listen to advice. Maybe the book is beneficial in helping us unload the stress of our lives. No, being human and alive is not easy. Psychics tell me that I'm going to live to be about 90 and I'm scared. I don't want to live that long. I'll outlive all my family and friends and be all alone. If Sylvia Browne might be outrageous, outspoken, and opinionated, it doesn't mean that she gets it wrong most of the time. All psychics make mistakes and are not perfect. But if you love Sylvia Browne, you will love this book. But by reading it, i had to seek out my own knowledge and it's been a whirlwind adventure of trying to become more psychic, intuitional, and better atuned to natures and our surroundings. We don't have to pack up and move to find serenity, peace, and love. We just have to close our eyes and let your mind go there. This book and other books about the paranormal are not suggested for skeptics, atheists, and those who seek to disprove her claims. That's such a waste of energy!

A common sense approach to life-keep it simple.Many of the things she
wrote about were things I felt I already knew on some level and this was the first time I had seen them in words.
Reassuring,comforting,thought provoking and humorus.

Jim Cramer has allowed me to have peace of mind about my small investments. I am 77 and have not known who to believein this trepid market; however, I have found him to be straight forward, honest and dedicated to help the little investor. I have read all his books and watch his program. I wouldn't consider a move without him. Right now he is advising me to sit still and believe you me, I am following Jim Cramer's advice.
Love ya',
Peggy Wildman
Dallas, Texas 75205

Jim Cramer's Mad Money: Watch TV, Get Rich
I have read his first book, Sane investing in and insane world, and learned a TON;..this is better, updated more for todays markets. The third book, goes on to holding on to what you have and it's really practical info. I think he's good if not a genius in his field. Just does what he preaches, homework...Rose Germaine

I found this book to be a a very effective and efficient way to understand stock fundamentals/technicals and learning the investing philosophies of common fund managers and analyists. Jim does a great job of explaining in "plain English laymen's terms" concepts like P/E ratios, balance sheets, cash flow statements, PEG ratios, sector analysis, sub-sectors, industries, business cycles, etc etc. Learning these fundamental concepts will do amazing things to help the average small investor do better in his/her investments. If you want to learn the technical skill of stock selection, read the book and be prepared to take notes and re-read sections to soak-in the concepts. It's not casual-reading, it's a course. Cheers to Jim for adding his great personality while discussing a deep and complicated subject.

Jim Cramer's Mad Money: Watch TV, Get RichThis is one very good book. A must read.

His advice may not always be sound, but I credit his odd humor and enthusiasm for getting me into the stock market. I have bought and read all of his books. I like all of his books. Read his books, watch his shows, and do some research online and you'll get a pretty good idea of how the market operates.

I do not know why some people write to much about their openions on this book or any other books. Hey Friends, we do not have time to reade all your opinions. Please write all your opinion in short sentences.
Thanks

Kind of antiquated now, but still a good story. The author tells the story of how he made a fortune in the markets - $2 million in his time is probably more like $10-$15 million now. He started by investing based on tips, then on fundamentals, and finally by combining technicals and fundamentals. It's educational and very readable. The amazing thing is how little Wall Street and the investing world have changed since Darvas made his fortune in the 50s.

This is one of the absolute "must-read" books for people who want to start trading. Do not expect to get a guideline how to get rich quickly when buying this book! The value of this book is the openness in which Darvas describes his way from a bloody beginner to a successfull trader, covering not only the sunny side but also in the faults he made when buying stocks and the mental aspects which impact traders when the market is against them.

In review of How I Made 2,000,000 In the Stock Market, I found the book to be overall worth the read. The story is about a young professional dancer who happens to begin trading in the stock market during the early part of the twentieth century. The book goes over a lot of the lessons he learns, some of which are applicable today and some of which are not.

A few key items to keep in mind are:

1. Learn to take a profit
2. Minimize your losses
3. Think about utilizing Stop Loss Orders when you purchase a stock.
4. Buy only appreciating stocks, never depreciating.

The author develops what I call "box theory" throughout the book. This translates to the author following a stock for a given period of time and drawing a high and a low point in which he expects the stock to trade inside. Once the stock breaks the top of a box (into the low of a new box) he will buy the stock.

If anything, I would recommend this book for the very begining person who is interested in making trades inside of the market. It's a fun read and very short. It might be a little dated where as the Internet has GREATLY changed the way we trade and the extension of how many people can obtain information quickly compared to the author, but most of his thinking still holds true today.

How I Made $2,000,000 In The Stock Market is one of those titles that comes up quite often in discussions of what books traders should read. Given how long its been in print, that probably should come as no surprise. While I won't personally go so far as to call it a must read, I definitely found it worthwhile.

First, be aware that this book - at least this particular edition - is quite short. It's only a bit over 100 pages, and a healthy portion of that is editorial addition tagged on to help further explain the author's story, along with some Q&A with Darvas tossed in. You should easily be able to get through it in one sitting.

Second, this book - again, at least this edition - was very poorly copyedited. There are formatting issues all over the place. It's not necessarily the easiest book in the world to read to start with, as the author's narrative leaves something to be desired. The formatting issues, don't help make for a particularly enjoyable reading experience.

Thirdly, you will note that I have used "story" and "narrative" in describing the text. That's exactly what it is. Nicolas Darvas was a professional dancer who performed all around the world. The book describes how he somewhat randomly got into the stock market, and then the progression he made to building a $2 million portfolio for himself. All of it takes place during the 1950s, so be prepared for the author to talk about cables and things that modern readers will have little to no point of reference on.

At it's core, How I Made $2,000,000 In The Stock Market is a trading diary. The bulk of the book is a discussion of the various trades the author made over about a 6 year timeframe. Some readers will find that interesting, others will yawn. But that's not what you read this book for, fortunately.

It is the developmental path Darvas takes from newbie to multi-million dollar trader - which the author interweaves with the discussion of his trades - that is the read value to be had from How I Made $2,000,000 In The Stock Market. Anyone who has gone through that developmental process as a market participant will immediately be able to relate, and those who haven't yet (or are just starting to do so) will see that even wildly successful traders went through their struggles.

In parallel with the author's discussion of his personal trading development is also the construction and refinement of his trading strategy. As is the case with most traders, he started on one path, but shifted course several times until he finally found the methodology which suited him best.

Darvas employed a combined fundamental and technical approach which is the core of the popular CANSLIM methodology outlined in How to Make Money in Stocks. It's not an exact thing in terms of application, as Darvas developed an entry/exit strategy based on what he called boxes, but a great deal of the preliminary set-up elements are very, very close. That philosophy is definitely something that works. I can personally attest to it myself, though I have never employed Darvas Boxes or anything like that.

The issue a reader might have, though, is that the outlining of this methodology isn't concisely presented. Rather, it's spread out over the course of the narrative, presented in bits and pieces over the timeline as Darvas refined his approach to trading. It would probably take a couple of readings to really get a handle on things.

Overall, I definitely think there's value to be had in How I Made $2,000,000 In The Stock Market. If nothing else, it proves that part-time trading can be extremely rewarding. As I commented above, it's not a great read as books go, but there are quite a few good nuggets in the text if you can fight through.

Sophia Giambelli loved being part of the large flamboyant Giambelli family and Giambelli/MacMillan wines. She had her own little niche carved out by handling the marketing department smoothly from her San Francisco base of operations, but her family was another matter altogether. Sophia's professional life was firmly in place, but her family was always trying to deal with one drama or another. Her mother Pillar had been married to her father, but unfortunately in name only. Pillar loved Tony Avano, but he made it clear early on that she would only be one of many that he would be a lover to, so they had been living apart for the better part of Sophia's life. It was her grandmother Theresa and her husband Eli that held the iron fist on the family and the family business.

Tyler MacMillan loved being in his element, and that was the vineyard. He had loved the vines and the earth they grew in since he was a small boy. Even though he held top position at the vineyards, he always loved the hands on work. It was a part of him, and one that he was unwilling to give up. Tyler always credited Theresa for introducing him to this great love of his, and was so glad that his grandfather Eli had married her. It took him completely by surprise when Theresa summoned the entire family to the big house for an announcement. He was even further shocked to find out he and Sophia were being groomed to take over the business from them. They were to learn all aspects of the company, which meant learning each other's jobs. An outsider named David Cutter was being brought in to oversee everything for 12 months, and then the power would transition to them.

Everything was going according to plan until someone started murdering top executives at the company. Someone was trying to bring down Giambelli/MacMillan, but Tyler and Sophia were determined to stop them, and find out who was responsible. What they didn't expect was their attraction to each other or the strong feelings growing between them. Tyler and Sophia only hoped they could identify who was trying to destroy the family before they ended up the next victims. Strong characters in a good story.

I borrowed this book from my cousin a few months ago and only just now finished it. It does grip you, and I found myself missing it when I accidentally left it at my aunt's house.

That said, this isn't one of Nora Robert's bests. There are so many charcters and plots that it feels thrown together. Who has a grudge against this one, who cheated on this one...so much going on, and a lot of it didn't have to do with the central plot. But still, I hung in there, as most scenes were still interesting and I fell in love with David Cutter and his family (note, NOT the main chracters - I found myself not really caring about them). The small family saved the book, as Sophia and Tyler did in fact get on my nerves, since every one of their scenes seemed exactly the same.

But the ending is what irked me the most (I'll try not to put spoilers, but I'll give you a warning just in case). The book is divided into parts, and the last part seemed...rushed. It's almost as if Nora Roberts was going along semi-smoothly, hit the last section and realized "Oh, crap, I have to write an ending now." Events wind down so quickly you feel like you're on a roller coaster. But what killed me ('sxcuse the pun) was that the ending revelation had NOTHING to do with ANYTHING! It was impossible for even the most savvy reader to guess "whodunit," and isn't that the fun of a mystery? The ending "twist" feels like it was thrown in just to give the readers a jolt, but fails to tie the story together in a way that leaves you satisfied.

Honestly, I think Nora Roberts would have benefitted from turning this into one of her infamous romance trilogies, with a seperate murder for each book - thus giving her time to further develop each character and plot. But whatever, it was an alright read.

I had started this book more than once and couldn't get interested in it enough to continue mostly because the main character annoyed me (Sophia. I liked Tyler and the other characters but Sophia was not just independent (which independent is okay)but she was nasty who slept around with weak men who she made sure would not stand up to her. I finally decided while traveling at Thanksgiving to finish it. I liked Tyler and even though Sophia softened somewhat by the end of the book I would still be in doubt about marriage between her and Tyler. Maybe it would work but would she revert back to the hard buisness woman?? We'll never know! Anyway, there is a good mystery with more than one bad guy (or woman). I loved David and his children. Their relationship was touching and without them and his romance with Pilar I think I would not have liked the book as much. I don't have a great interest in how wine is made or the whole processing so found that a little boring though I know some would find that interesting. I ended up skimming through parts of that as the book was fairly long anyway. I always like the close Italian family that NR has written about before as in Blue Smoke. I agree with others that I would have liked more to the ending but the book was already so long, that perhaps we can be satisfied that the main characters ended happily. One aspect that bothered me was the question that one of the characters could murder someone (even they were a jerk-but didn't deserve to be murdered)and there would be no consequences. I had mixed feelings about that. All in all after I finally got into it, it wasn't a bad book though I never fully warmed up to Sophia but there were so many other characters that sort of saved the day. It was a very typical NR book of family relationships, romance and some surprising twists.

The book delivery came quickly & in great condition. I loved the book.
It makes me want to move to Napa Valley. Chears...

Nora Roberts has the ability to take the reader to a very specific place and time. That may sound simplistic, but only a few writers can do it. In this case the place is a winery/vineyard in the Napa Valley of California and, briefly, Venice and northern Italy. After reading this, I know substantially more about viticulture than I did. I've never had much admiration for wine snobs (and still don't), but the raising of grapes and making of wine is fascinating business.

The plot is not very complicated. Someone is trying to sabotage the wine business. Who that is is not much of a mystery. The two-dimensional characters are pretty much the usual in a Roberts novel: a gorgeous, highly competent young woman and a handsome hunk clash, then mesh, during the sub-plot of another love affair. We've seen all this before and know exactly what to expect. There are few flaws in the characters, few contradictions, regrets, or self-doubts. There never are in Nora Roberts characters. There's a great deal of action and jeopardy, but it is the place and feel of the atmosphere that make this worthwhile.

My only wish is that somehow Ms. Roberts would put a little more meat on the characters and a few surprises in her plots. She could be a first-rate novelist. Of course, she is giving her loyal readers what they think they want, as evidenced by the fact that her books are all best sellers and have made her wealthy. She is to the so-called romance novel what James Patterson is to the thriller. And that is low praise indeed.

I'm a latecomer to the "Hitchhiker's Trilogy", and just finished the series. "Life, the Universe, and Everything" is a bit less funny only because the humour and style is the same as the previous books. And seems to be less "meat" in this one. Still, in with all the silliness there are comments about war and xenophobia, as well as the reasons for space travel. Considering how many lives and how much money are sacrificed or spent by the human race on these issues, a topical but funny book about them is welcome relief: laughing a bit instead of crying is allowed.

I have no idea why they changed the cover. The original cover with an eyeless green monster sticking out its tongue made much more sense.

Life, the Universe, and Everything is one of the best books in the Hitchhiker's Series. However, you must read the 2 previous books in the series in order to understand this book.
The story continues on from where the Restaurant at the End of the Universe left off. Arthur Dent is stranded on prehistoric Earth, and is very bored, so he decides to go insane. Just after he announces that, his best friend Ford Prefect suddenly appears and stops him from making this decision. Ford pulls him through an eddy, or time portal to Lord's Cricket Ground 2 days before Earth is to be demolished by the Vogons. During the middle of a cricket game, a group of white robots suddenly appear and steal the Ashes, or the trophy given to the winning cricket team. Luckily, Slartibartfast lets the two hitch a ride with him and help him chase the robots. He tells them about planet Krikkit's history. The Kirkkiters were once peaceful creatures. They thought they were the only beings in the Universe because their sun was blocked by a dust cloud, so the sky remains dark all day long. That is, unitl one day, when a spaceship crash lands on Krikkit. After the residents learn about other races besides themselves, they decide to murder all other races in the Universe.
So will the universe end, or will Arthur Dent, Ford Prefect, and Slartibartfast save the Universe? The answer: hard to say, because remember that things don't always end happily in this series!
I recommend this book to everyone who loves comedy or science fiction.

Adams continues to produce laughs here, but this volume begins to repackage material from the first two books. You have the same type of jokes, situations, randomness and plot twists here from the previous books. While those things were hilarious the first time around, they lose some of their impact on the second and third helpings. Fans of the series will enjoy this volume, but I found it to be less satisying than the first two novels in the series. While I've enjoyed the journey so far, this book does not motivate me sufficiently to read the rest of the series. I can only recommend this book if you loved the first two.

Throw yourself at the ground and miss. If you can't, don't whine about it.

Unfortunately the third Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy book is nowhere near as entertaining as the first two installments. The tone of it changes considerably to somewhat this side of maudlin, apart from the odd entertaining piece like the flying, and insulting the galaxy in order, or a bit of Clockwork Orange inspired cricket.

One of the better installments in the Hitchhiker's Guide series, this one has a much-improved plot over the first two, which is simultaneously self-contained (if you take for granted the opening set-up) and plays an important role in the wider story of the series.

Adams does continue the somewhat strange practice of throwing in random bits that aren't so much "science"-fiction as just pure nonsense--Agrajag's ongoing reincarnation and coincidental persecution at the hands of Arthur, for instance, or Arthur's learning to fly, or Thor. But as silly as some of these elements are, they are done much better this time around, and actually relevant to the story (both in this book and in the series as a whole). In general, there are far fewer disconnected episodes here in which it seems that Adams is just ranting; instead, everything fits naturally into the story, a clear mark of good plotting. That's not to say that there aren't any plot-holes, or that the story doesn't take completely wild veering turns, but that suits the nature of the work just fine.

This book continues Adams' trademark off-the-wall humor, but in new even wilder forms, and to great effect. The main self-contained story about the planet Krikkit is great, and all of the side-stories tie in quite nicely, with the one exception of Zaphod's endless sulking, which does grow tiresome after a while. Another sub-plot involving the longest party in the universe excellently brings the various characters' storylines together toward the end. And of course, everybody loves Agrajag.

A long time fan of O'Reilly books, the CD bookshelves and this deluxe edition are one of the best ideas I've seen from a publisher. If you don't mind reading onscreen these will save you money. If you do pick this up in addition to the hardcopy simply for the search capabilities. A great reference tool from any serious programmer.

JAVA IN A NUTSHELL (THIRD EDITION) is one of those computer science books that I had always been told was excellent. Professors, friends and co-workers all recommended it to me so many times that I eventually bought it soon after I began programming in Java. Having used this book as a reference on numerous occasions, I must say that it doesn't quite live up to its hallowed reputation, although it does have a number of positive points in its favour.

The opening few chapters of the book are really good at setting the stage for the beginning Java programmer. While it probably isn't simple enough for someone who is a complete newcomer to the language, it is excellent for people who already know a little bit and require more information. The sections on Java syntax are quite thorough and understandable. The Object Oriented Programming portions are readable and informative, without bogging the reader down with endless detail. The background information on Java (the structure, the way methods/variables work, the flow of programs, etc) is all handled brilliantly. Part One of this book is definitely something you'll want to treasure.

Part Two, the bulk of the book (Chapters 9 though 29, and covering a staggering three hundred, seventy-six out of six hundred, forty-eight pages), is devoted to what is referred to as the "API Quick Reference". It's the self-proclaimed "real heart" of the text. Unfortunately, this is the portion where the book really falls flat. What David Flanagan has done is to go through the most common Java packages/classes/APIs and cut them down to a bare listing of all their methods, exceptions, hierarchies, etc. While this covers a broad amount of information, it does not cover it deeply at all. I agree with his choice of most-used APIs, but he doesn't go in to nearly enough detail about them. Almost all of the methods are given no description; they're just named. If you are using this to look up the precise spelling/capitalization of your favourite methods, then this will do nicely. However, if you're curious as to what each method actually does, you won't find any enlightenment here. When one boils down the Java documentation this far, one finds that there really isn't much left at all. Certainly nothing that's actually useful.

The first part of this book is first rate. It's easy to understand, well-organized and great for beginners learning the language as well as for experienced programmers who require reference material. The second part of the book is not so good. For any detailed information you require, you'll find yourself forced to consult other sources (probably Sun's own API specifications which are available for free on their webpage). Make sure you know what you're buying. The first half of this nutshell is excellent, but you'll need something else to go with it to have a completely worthwhile reference.

Avoid this book. Although there is no indication on the cover, it completely skips major sections of the language, such as everything pertaining to Sql and databases. It is organized around package names, which makes it difficult to look anything up. The index is incomplete and doesn't indicate what pages classes are actually defined on.(...)

I've read the first 4 chapters as my introduction to Java. It was a struggle, but worth it.

I'm now taking a college class and find Java a slippery beast to get one's hands around. Our text introduces snidbits that create so many unanswered questions my head swims. Reading these chapters layed a great foundation for understanding where Java's creators are coming from and why.

There were many very insightful tips that lifted some very dense fog for me. He builds one's knowledge from the ground up. If you manage to get through it (ie: you have had lots of prior programming experience and about 5 days to read 165 pages) you are left with a pretty good idea of why the syntax and practices are the way they are. I'm sure other books are equally insightful, but this one sure says a lot in only a few words.

Buy this book if you like to know that each sentence was written because the author had something to convey, not just because he wants another crack at clearing up the confusion he just created. Mr Flanagan (the author of Nutshell) says it crystal clear the first time. (note: He does bother to repeat a few very important concepts, but its rare).

The remainder of the book is a library reference of selected Java packages. I'm not sure the usefulness of the list other than to see the headers and method signatures that are available. I would liken it to having a pocket dictionary - sometimes its all you need and sometimes the definition isn't useful and you have to break out the Webster.

However, the presentation in the initial 8 chapters is so outstanding that I would give it 5+ stars if allowed. This is where to find the magical explanation to clear the smoke.

it is much better to use a jdk documentation which you can download instead of this reference book.

When Jim Rogers speaks, I listen; when he writes something, I read it. If you go back years and years and check out what Rogers anticipated and predicted, he's been consistently accurate. His perceptions, opinions, and predictions in the 1980s and 90s, were spot-on. With "Hot Commodities" he does it again in many areas: geopolitics, equities, bonds, current and future international political trends, commodities, and more. We are seeing what he's saying in this latest book unfold in front of our eyes, right now.

"Hot Commodities" is a continuation of Roger's past works, obviously focusing on commodities. Chapters are organized well and categorized by topic, so you don't have to read the book from start to finish but can jump around from chapter to chapter to your liking.

Hot Commodities starts off with the basics and eventually tells you how to find and choose a licensed trader and invest in commodities. The important questions are answered: what are commodities? Is investing in commodities right for you? Why is there a market for them? What variables (questions) do you ask about a commodity (e.g. sugar)? What questions do you need to ask yourself and a broker who's licensed in them. What kinds of accounts can you have? What is the commodity lingo (words) you should know? How do you learn to read the symbols on the ticker tape? All the answers for the beginner and more are in this book. He has a knack for explaining commodities to the layperson.

You'll know what GH 355.5, WU 369, SN 725, and HOX 101 mean when you see them.

Although past performance is not an adequate way to predict future behavior of a group of funds, the historical trends of commodities are noted.

Also noted are some misconceptions about investing in commodities, and bad investor stories. Many people who got burned did so using margin, according to Rogers. Supply and demand are straightforward indicators. But he does note, an investor should know what they're doing and know if commodities are appropriate for one's personality and investing style.


OIL:

Now, talking about oil is the new fad on the mainstream media. Only because, gasoline prices are currently high enough for the public to whine about it. The possibility of rising gasoline/diesel/fuel prices has always existed and Rogers noted it years ago. The author believes that world oil production has peaked and the numbers on worldwide output of MBP (millions of barrels per day) reinforces this. The "new finds" and offshore drilling will only put drops of oil in the worldwide demand bucket.

Rogers noted his own Commodity Index Fund only a couple of times and didn't push it, nor provide contact info for his fund. He doesn't try to sell it. (He doesn't need to.) He also listed other Commodity Index funds. This was professional and reinforces his credibility.



CHINA IS ON THE UP-AND-UP, AND THE USA IS SLIDING DOWN:

This is Roger's opinion and I agree with it. Rogers is still bullish on China for the short and long-term. In addition to rapid growth and hard-work he notes that before the Communist revolution in 1949 the Chinese had a merchant class that operated for centuries, unlike that of feudal Russia. Therefore, the merchant and trade knowledge base is already in China, obviously. The Chinese save on average 40% of their income, while Americans save an average of only 2%, and often spend more than they make. (American per capita savings was -2% recently.)

China is the number #1 consumer of copper, steel, iron ore, soybeans and number #2 in oil and energy products. China is rising fast.

The United States on the other hand, seems to be moving in the opposite direction. The US is the world's number #1 debtor with $9 Trillion in international IOUs. The US is living off of other people's money. Is anyone talking about this in the mainstream media? Politicians? Only a few are. Tying the Oil Bourse to the US dollar has propped the dollar up. The US dollar is now a declining currency holding little confidence of the world. Remember, when the American government borrows all of this money (via T-bills) it's backed by "faith in the American government." Not if the Fed has the Treasury Department keep printing money and providing Helicopter Bailouts. The M3 Money Supply is now secret. Economists can only guess how much money the US government prints.

The Chapters:

1. The Next New Thing Is - Things
2. "But...."
3. Stepping Up To Commodities
4. Stepping Into The Commodities Markets
5. Notes From the Wild, Wild, East
6. Goodbye, Cheap Oil
7. Gold - Mystique Vs. Fundamentals
8. A Heavey Metal With Potential To Be A High Flyer (lead)
9. Searching For The Next Suguar High
10 Can Coffee Perk Up?

Rogers is and has been one of the most successful investors in the world. He's often made successful personal and fund-managed investment decisions when digressing from the myopic tramped path of the sheep. As usual, the sheep that follow the herd discount and scrutinize Rogers when he just answers the questions they ask him. He makes hiw own decisions. And he proves to be right, time after time. Sheep follow fads and trends, with the most sheep piling on top of a bubble right at the top of it right before it bursts, as all bubbles do. The equity tech-stock bust, shifted the sheep into housing and REI. Now that the RE bubble has burst, some sheep are gravitating (although slowly) to what Rogers has been saying for years. Commodities is in a cyclical bull phase. He cites statistics, historical trends, and the current and future world climate to reinforce his points.

Attention sheep: he's right again.

An interesting read giving insight of a master investor in the domain he understands best. Many logical reasons for his argument for several commodities mentioned that has been a guide for my investments in the Indonesian stock market. Though not many mortals would have access nor capacity to have direct investment in the minerals and commodities mines and plantations as he advocates.

As a successful fundamentalist retired at 37 and traveled the world, Jim Rogers gives a solid recapitulation of commodities with enough facts to practically turn speculation into prescience. With charts and graphs he translates price movements through time and turns them ahead in the future with sense. The bullish rises and bearish declines are nicely justified in terms of supply and demand without neglecting China, Brazil and other large powers. Jim Rogers offers fresh economonic insight that cannot be passed.

I almost gave this book 5 stars for the mere fact that Rogers' predictions have come true since the time the book was published. For example, gas and gold prices have increased dramatically, as predicted, since 2004. S&P has been mostly going sideways and Rogers' prediction of the housing meltdown was right on. From an investment standpoint, the book would have been more helpful 4 years ago than today. Nevertheless there is still a lot of value here. First, Rogers' writing is engaging and interesting. Second, he offers readers a different way of looking at the world which is valuable regardless of your investments. Finally, he claims that his ideas and predictions of rising commodity prices will continue at least to 2015, so there is plenty of time left to profit from his wisdom.

This book is an introduction and individual investors will have to do a lot more research and thinking before they can actually implement Rogers' ideas. The author admits that point, himself. Furthermore he does not really tell readers a logical way of even trying to profit from rising commodities. He claims the best way is to buy commodities directly, but after reading the book I have little idea how to go about buying commodities for the long term. Futures allow investors to profit in the short term but if you believe that lead prices will peak in 2015 or so, how can you profit from that prediction? After all, prices are not predictable in the short term and an investor can get burned badly speculating in the commodities' futures. Oil has been rising in value steadily since the Iraq invasion but an investor could have still managed to lose money investing in oil futures. Need to research and read a lot more on the topic if your goal is to actually invest in commodities.

as always, Jim Rogers did it.
I am writing down all the tips in this book. It is very useful for investment purpose. Thank you, Jim.

I read this after enjoying Stewart's later book, Disney War. This one was more thrilling as it involved real crime but still written very well as if the author was in the room. The characters include bad guys, good guys that gave in to the dark side and a few good guys that felt strong about following the law. It was the beginning of dishing out real punishment for white collar crime although one can argue they were let off easy compared to today's convictions.

James Stewart has done an excellent job of gathering information about the insider-trading scandal of the 1980s, so if you're looking for all the details of these events, you'll find them in this book, which is clearly-written and well-organized. What you won't find, though, is great storytelling. Stewart is content to recount one fact after another, rarely putting them in context or using them to build narrative suspense or to reveal character. As a result--and despite the inherent drama of the events it lists--the book is a rather dull read, especially for readers who have no familiarity with the world of high finance. If you want to read a masterpiece of writing about business, try David Halberstam's "The Reckoning."

'Den of Thieves' was sewn together by James Stewart from numerous Wall Street Journal articles he wrote on the M&A scandals during he 80s -- and it shows. The story is very difficult to follow, not only because the fraud was so complex, but also there were numerous players; Stewart doesn't do himself any favors by jumping around a lot. Still, it was very interesting and the second half of the book, marked by Boesky's surrender to federal agents in September 1986, is nothing short of riveting! If you enjoy Kurt Eichenwald ('Conspiracy of Fools') or Bethany McLean ('Smartest Guys in the Room') you will like 'Den of Thieves' -- although probably not as much.

Next release I suggest Stewart lay out all the Drexel, Peabody, and Boesky deals in chronological order at the beginning. The cast of players at the front was helpful, but not enough for me to keep up with some of it. Enjoy!

Good overview of Wall Street and the big scandals. Gives you an understanding of why they did the things they did

This is my favorite book of all time. It shows how highly intelligent, creative and hard working people can lose their ethical way. This was one of the first books that I read when I got out of college and I was absolutely riveted. The idea of the millions of dollars that many of these people made made me think of how I could get my hands on such wealth. It also taught me that there's no amount of money in the world that's worth damaging my reputation as a trust-worthy, ethical individual. This should be a must read for all kids out of college along with "The Smartest Guys in the Room."

My title for this review "Will History Repeat Itself?" is a simple reminder that while the junk bond scandals and S&L scandals are over, new corporate scandals occurred with Enron and now with the sub-prime melt-down, we are sure to unveil another corporate scandal. Will history repeat itself? Of course it will.

I had SUCH high hopes for this book - what a disappointment. I've been learning Japanese for a year now and I'm moving to Japan in two weeks, so I was hoping for a crash course on kanji before I left.

As soon as I opened the book, I realized its major flaw: there is no Japanese pronunciation! In each box you will find the kanji with an explanation in English, but no way to use the word in conversation. I feel totally lost learning it this way. I was accustomed to the Genki I and II books, which have the kanji, pronunciation in kana, and the significance in English, followed by a few ways the kanji is used. This book is really flawed if you are serious about learning kanji.

Learning Kanji by rote memorization the way native Japanese do is something that is only worth pursuing if you happen to start your Japanese language studies at any early age. As a fully developed adult, the way in which one should go about studying vast amounts of characters is entirely different from that of a child. Through various techniques utilizing visualization and imagination, this book presents a radically different approach that blows traditional kanji learning methods out of the water.

It does require some mental flexibility on your behalf but the rewards are astonishing, should you put the proper time and effort forth necessary into this study series.

Do not be afraid by the lack of readings and other aspects you may deem pertinent, as this first series is solely designed to help you commit the characters' meaning and writing to memory. You will find that once you have a character's core meaning internalized all the other elements fall into place.

I highly recommend this book to those who have found themselves frustrated by traditional methods of studying the characters and also to those who wish to systematize what they already may know.

As my studies progressed I found myself altering some of the imaginary/arbitrary meanings associated with radicals in order to cement them in my mind. While Heisig recommends following his system strictly, remember that he created this system from scratch. So this is not the final end all be all. You too are entitled to create your own offshoot or modify this as it suits you best. As human beings we all have different strengths and weaknesses. Once you can harness your true learning potential strengths, the sky is the limit. I was able to take the fundamental principals shown in this book and run with it.

I hope you can use it in a way that will benefit you as well!

Heisig developed a unique method for learning the Kanji, or the Chinese characters as they are used in Japan. He splits the study of Chinese characters in two phases.

Phase 1-Learn to write all 2000 Toyo kanji (i.e. the Ministry of Education's general use characters) from an English keyword (Book I).

Phase 2-After learning to write all 2000 kanji, study how they are read and pronounced (Book II, sold separately).

In Book I, Heisig organizes the kanji somewhat as they are organized in kanji dictionaries. Some kanji, often called radicals, are simple and very distinct in form and meaning. More complex kanji are assembled from the simpler radicals. You learn the kanji by concocting mnemonic stories, the more dramatic the better, and using the radicals as story elements.

The method stirs controversy. Usually, kanji are taught by order of frequency, with the most often used characters being taught first. Heisig doesn't care about that order and some obscure kanji come very early in his list. Also the characters aren't conquered one at a time, but rather you learn to write all of the characters in the Toyo list before learning how to read any of them.

If you do chose to follow Heisig's method, you really should get Heisig's flash cards as well. If you complete both books, there is a third book covering another 1000 characters for upper level literary proficiency.

My experience is that Heisig's method will work more or less effectively depending on how good you are at remembering stories. And of course, the method will not exempt you from having to sit down and do the work! It will take you a few months.

But whatever method you chose, you will benefit from living in Japan and combining your kanji study with language study. By living in Japan you will encounter the kanji every day and you will recognize kanji you have learned, a very rewarding feeling.

Vincent Poirier, Tokyo

I find Heisig's book to be extremely helpful in memorizing the Kanji, its stroke order, but not its meaning. For example, there is a Kanji in his book listed as being "Word," when in fact it is used as "language" Japanese. Other Kanji which he defines turn out to be slightly different from their actual meaning. I believe he did this in order to make memorization easier, but I find it odd to come across a Kanji, remember that it means "X," but later find out that it also means "Y," or is some slight variation on "X."

It's been almost two years since I started learning Japanese and I still struggle remembering hundreds of kanji characters I've read over the period. RTK has been my companion only for the past few months, yet I can see a big difference in how I comprehend every new kanji. The method is of course based on mnemonics, which is basically what you cannot live without, when you have to memorize all these characters.

The great thing about this book, is that it gradually introduces the so called "primitives" followed by kanjis themselves. With the help of these "primitives'" system you can either build up your own mnemonics or carefully follow the Heisig provided stories.

Heisig however decided to only assign one English meaning to each character and usually it turns out as a bad choice. Although the intention was to simplify the learning process, it made it somewhat worse, for you'd have to memorize the kanji from the scratch, when you come upon its other meanings. That's one of the biggest flaws of this otherwise great introduction to kanji.

My suggestion would be to carefully look up each Kanji, pick the most common meaning provided and if it's something completely different from Heisig's keywords (thus the mnemonics) just start making up your own stories (which is basically all you're left to do in the middle of the book).
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Finally the tools that you shouldn't start your journey without:
google for "kanji + kohii" website - a great site with user shared mnemonics - highly recommended
SRS (Spaced Repetition System) applications namely Anki (premade Heisig deck available), Supermemo. These will make sure you never forget what you've learnt.