Bernstein Books

The above House reviewer writes, "Shortly afterwards Joe McCarthy's House Committee on Un-American Activities initiated its notorious witch-hunt for Reds in the government and, to garner publicity, in Hollywood, where Bernstein had become a writer for film and television."

This is not only a ridiculous statement. It is categorically untrue. Senator McCarthy was not in the House, and House members are not Senators. McCarthy also never called one Hollywood Commie or follow traveller before his Senate Committee.

A very well-written memoir of the blacklist years. Bernstein is not vitriolic, vengeful. He is also not apologetic about the idealism that led him to the Communist Party. His times of despair also include not only acts of random kindness but a bonding with fellow blacklisted writers that resulted in their mutual support of each other in doing what they did best, writing, with a front, someone who agrees to have their name on the blacklisted writer's script. Bernstein does not shout but with his quiet dignity allows the readers to shake their heads as to how we allowed this hysteria to go on for so long. And how much we lost during this period when so many talented people were unable to do what they did best.

Having met Walter Bernstein prior to finishing the book probably helped me in understanding his point of view about the Blacklist. I believe that the pain and betrayal of colleagues such as Elia Kazan are downplayed in the book when Mr. Bernstein could have really exacerbated them. It is not an expose - but his personal memoirs about a time in his life when he struggled to earn a living due to government paranoia. I don't think that Mr. Bernstein's reason for becoming a member of the communist party has any relevance, which is his point. It is not unlike the experiences that certain Americans are experiencing today based on their beliefs and backgrounds. I think this is an interesting and thought provoking story which should be shared and revived to remind us of the dangers of censorship and government control.

Inside Out claims to be a memoir of the blacklist and while the blacklist, HUAC and McCarthy trials are mentioned, it's mostly just a meandering autobiography. Bernstein needs an editor to shorten and break up these chapters to keep things more on topic. The first chapter is by far the best at covering the blacklist era and shows how it turned the film and television industry "inside out." The second and third chapters go back in time, covering in all of his childhood in one and all of World War Two in another. They also strive to build an explanation of why Bernstein chose to join the American Communist party but instead of presenting a well-thought and erudite discussion of third party politics, socialism and communism, he weakens his overall memoir with long winded, rambling tangents.

Just a fact check here. The House Unamerican Activities Committee was NEVER run by Senator McCarthy. In fact, he was never on the Committee. He was a first year senator on the Senate Housing Committee at the time that HUAC became active in 1947. McCarthy didn't begin his anti-communist efforts until 1950. I would think the editor would do some research before referring to "McCarthy's House Committe on Un-American Activities." Plus, HOUSE means House of Representatives. McCarthy was a Senator. He was, however, a member of the Senate Internal Security Subcommittee. Little different.

With respect to this book, I do agree that

1) momentum is a very important trading concept whilst MACD is a very useful oscillator type indicator to identify overbought and oversold situations, and thus change of s/t trend, a TA tool which helps traders not to buy high sell low, especially in a day trading environment.
2)the author had written a very easy reading book in a very friendly and understandable way.

However, I can hardly agree that:-

1) the author presented momentum as a surefire weapon in the highly volatile market and can be used alone
2) the author did keep it simple, but it's too simple all the way throughout the 180+ page content. He should go from simple concept to complicated application, and teach readers how to improve its accuracy with simultaneous usage of stochastics or RSI or...In fact, there are many examples/charts illustrated by the author which showed extended period of divergence with very unfavorable price moment that might have already kicked an investor out of his position, in case he/she did not have a strong conviction on his/her position but by sheer reliance on MACD.

As a professional trader, I cant recommend this book to anybody. The quality of this is far below the author's own classic "Investment Quotient" which the author's strength (trading behavioral psychology) rests solidly upon.

this is a good book and well written. very easy to read and understand.

however, it comes across as too simple. the methods that are discussed here does not really give you the confidence that they are sufficient for you to trade properly.

another book by this author on the psychology part of trading, 'IQ the investors quotient', is a much better and strongly recommended read. in terms of market momentum, martin pring's 'trading with oscillators' is more useful, and just as easy to read.

This book offers a simple but robust method of trading on stockmarkets. The presence of many many (sometimes too many) charts makes it possible to read on the beach, not just behind the computer.
The Momentum Stock Selection method is good. Bernstein claims that you can use the method on intraday basis. This is true, but not in the same simple way as he shows in the book, it takes a lot more interpretation and experiments (on paper first is my advice!!).
His rules on do's and don'ts in trading are absolutely valuable and true, and funny to read of you have done all the don'ts already in the past.

I enjoy how this book offers a highly robust, yet simple trading system, applicable to any market. I have used the Momentum Moving Average approach with great success. I have noticed that it often forecasts majors rallies and drops in a timely fashion. Apply these methods to your trading and you will see the profits!

As a stock trader your homework is all about studying and testing different market strategies that will help you take advantage of stocks and at the same time protect your gains.

Just always keep in mind that an effective trading strategy is simple and practical. Teaching your self to depend on to many technical and confusing indicators can make you slow in your decision making process or confuse you from the start.

The momentum approach showcased on this book covers bascially technical analysis. The stock market is always presenting us momentum opportunities that dont have anything to do with TA at all. Breakout opportunities occur every day. The trick is to know how to find them fast and approach them successfuly.

There are very good sites on the web where you can access momentum trading strategies that are far more practical to implement. One of those sites is Momentum Stock Trading ( MomentumStockTrading com)

In the end, momentum day trading is all about picking the best stock opportunities and following your buy and sell signals with ease and simplicity. Once you learn to master your momentum trading decisions, you can aspire to produce consistent profitable results.

I enjoyed this book, which is a light easy read which shares the thoughts of the author as he trades ETFs each week for one year. Sadly, his performance for the year shows the weakness in his methods, which he reviews at the end of the book. (Which is good, and well worth studying). I professionally design sector rotation portfolios using ETFs, and will now require many of our staff to read this book so that they understand why we do what we do.

I was disapointed with the book. I was hoping for a varifiable process that I could follow and test. Instead I got guesses as to what happened to a market on each specific day. The usual kind of media invented stuff that you get when the pros can't figure out what really happened with the market. I got through about thirty days of the year and gave up[

Don't expect much from this book except a novices personal experience trying to do weekly trades

Interesting. I heard Bernstein talk at nyc ETF evolution 2007 on International Exposure and emerging markets and bought this book. Mostly a collection of what moved ETFs on a weekly basis in a particularly volatile year. Carbon based economy, geo-political, biotech, those kind of macro analytics. Only a small nod to quants. But with the world outlook as it is, it seems these kinds of issues may be driving things for awhile. I would have liked a lot more focus on the macro analysis than he fit in here, but then it would be an expensive textbook. The breakdown into macro-indicators by week is unique and could be a worthy tool if developed more.

"Sector Trading..." shows how selection of ETF baskets as an investment strategy works both in the short term and long term. By writing specifically and enthusiastically about ETFs, Bernstein throws light onto this newest investment mechanism that is increasingly popular, even among individual investors such as myself. I especially liked the connections made between ETF investing and financial sectors trading and daily news events on the world stage. The charts are also a significant new tool for me to try to use. Bravo.

This book was so boring. Instead of devoting the book entirely to Evil characters and NPCS they give a manual of pre-statted NPC's, and a few feats for vile characters.
Ok, had they made this essentially a monster manual well known D&D villins like Manshoon or Eli Tomerast this book would have rocked so hard.
The villains they offer are very plain, ordinary. They make we want to sleep.

There are, however, excellet rules for the Main villain level in relation to the parties. Rules for minion and lackeys, and different types of villains. This part of the book is the best. Sometimes I get caught up with the same type of villains and I need a little inspiration for something new.

To me, the Wizards of the Coast Dungeons & Dragons supplements fall into one of four classifications:

Core Books which are required for play

Books which are not core, but are so well designed as to be essentially core.

Non-core books which are entirely optional. They may be well designed but are fringe enough that you can get by without them no matter how good they are.

Non-essential books. Look lets face it...WOC puts out a lot of books that are simply too specialized and simply not necessary but they put them out because there are a lot of completists who will buy anything they out.

Exemplars of Evil (Examples of Evil?) falls into the third category. It's well designed and written and there are some great examples of evil villains provided but it's hardly required reading. I think most DMs revel in creating powerful and evil villains for their campaign and like to do them their way. But if one is in a pinch or is struggling to develop their villain, then this can be a useful book. The first 32 pages of the 160 page book contain the guidelines and concepts for creating truly rich and memorable villains.

The villains can be one of several archetypes (think framework or foundation). These can be the thoroughly wicked Disturbing Villain; the Faceless Villain who is hidden and yet everywhere at once; The Rival who is tied to a particular player character, ala The Joker tied to Batman (although I supposed the Joker could easily fit into the Disturbed Villain as well). These are just a few of the archetypes with which you can begin to construct your arch-baddie.

Once you've established your archetype foundation you need to figure out your villain's motivations. Does he seek wealth? Power? Immortality? Is he/she motivated by vengeance? Guilt? Madness? In other words, what makes him tick? You'll need to construct his personality and his psyche. Is your villain a megalomaniacal Nihilist? Is he vindictive or cruel? All of these traits or ones you might devise yourself go into the design of your villain. Various new feats and spells, specifically designed for villains are included to add even great depth to their character.

Now, the remainder of the book features eight different, and fully fleshed out examples of villains. These can be used solely as examples to show the DM how to go about creating a villain, or, they can be dragged and dropped right into a campaign because not only do you get a ready-to-play character, you also get a mini-adventure with a fully-mapped lair and encounters. The book even provides instruction on using these villains with either the Forgotten Realms or Eberron settings. My favorite example was Valbryn Morlydd, The Queen of the Fire Giants. This was interesting because you don't see a lot of great female villains in D&D. Her mountain stronghold, Gilgirn, is surrounded by a mote of molten lava. It's a nice, high-level adventure.

These examples are very well done and if one are going to use them directly in their own campaigns then you can get a lot out of the book. If you're comfortable with your own villain design then the book is probably not for you although it still may provide some interesting ideas.

When i first heard about this product i was really looking forward to delving in and finding more out about some of the classic villains in dnd that i have never had a chance to really run a campaign with. However, upon purchasing this book i was surprised to find all original content without (strahd, lich queen. etc...). This was disappointing but since i already own the return to castle ravenloft and am hoping to end up with all of the redone classic return to... books it was not a product killer for me. There are 8 ready to run supervillians in this book that can be dropped into almost any campaign. Each one has a stronghold and various allies and minions. Overall this book should save me some time as i am usually too strapped to design all of my villains like i used to do. At the very least this might actually allow me to play a bit more often than i do and give the next campaign i run a villain worthy of a party of heroes. Anyway, i recommend the product for dms who are strapped with time or for any dm that needs a little creative kick in the behind. Its not a perfect book but it is a good one. However, pick it up used or at a discount price...like most wotc books its normal price tag of 29.95 is not worth it. I luckily was able to pick it up fairly cheap used.

I'm not sure what I was expecting here, but this book wasn't really it.

Chapter One provides 32 pages of rules and guidelines for creating villains, including villanous archetypes, plots, and schemes. It also provides the obligatory score of new feats (such as Evil Brand, which provides bonuses to negotiations with evil creatures, or Mask of Gentility, which makes it harder for the PCs to read the villain's true intent) and some new spells (such as Alibi, which plants a false memory of the villain, or Friendly Fire, which lets the caster redirect an incoming ranged attack). There were some interesting tidbits in this section, but nothing that really triggered an "Aha!" moment. I felt that a lot of this material was just filling out an outline, but that it wasn't given enough space or detail to fully develop.

The remaining eight chapters detail specific villains, complete with encounter locations, henchmen, allies, and so forth. If you've picked up any of the recent modules, you'll be familiar with the general format. There are brief descriptions (on the order of a few paragraphs) as to how to set each the villain into Eberron or Faerun. Some of the villains are interesting enough, though I think it would be a big stretch to see a given DM use even two of them, much less all of them. (And, after having read about Obould Many-Arrows in the the Hunter's Blades books, do I really need another smarter-than-your-average orc orc leader aspiring to create an empire?) I do see some value for new DMs just to see examples of fleshed-out bosses, just to demonstrate the concepts set out in the first chapter, but I doubt that an experienced DM is going to get a lot out of this book.

I think this was a surprisingly good book as I expected something much less interesting/creative. While I agree that new and/or limited-time-available DMs will get the most out of this book. I believe it has some very interesting ideas. I particularly like the villains that could tie into the upcoming Elder Evils book but even the others had interesting motivations such as the schizophrenic "drow" or the githyanki revolutionary.

Many villains in here are well detailed in terms of motivations such that I can see them becoming recurring villains that the PCs will be excited to not just fight but also learn the stories behind these fleshed out NPCs.

It's not the greatest D&D book ever made, but I think those who would find created villains useful will be happy with the purchase.

Detailed, comprehensive review of basic and more advanced topics in accounting and finance. Best suited for graduate level studies, and for students completed the beginner-level classes in financial accounting.
This book is not self-explanatory and induces students to think analytically. It is not aimed at those who simply want to know, but those who try to understand, those who try to get to the root of the issues.
If you don't mind to read the same chapter a few times, and willing to spend long hours working on problems you will find this book very rewarding. It will not only provide you with current developments in accounting, but it will teach you to think like financial analyst.
I won't recommend using this book without an instructor, or at very least a solution's manual.

This book is exactly what it is titled. It is written for the equity analyst, to educate on how to analyze sophisticated financial statements. It is not written for an average investor or anyone not in this line of work. It is a textbook, not a paperback "how to invest" publication. Students with minimal accounting and finance experience should stay away. If, however, you are a finance professional looking to improve your ability to interpret (not create) financial statements, this book is the best available that I have seen. It segregates analysis into areas such as short-term liquidity, cash flow (using FAS 95), capital structure, return on investment, asset utilization, operating performance, etc., -and- how to meld these areas of analysis to uncover strengths and red flags. Again, this book is not for amateurs or even accountants. It is for current or aspiring professional analysts.

a good book...not for beginners...requires good fundamental understanding and appreciation of corporate finance.
Positives - good explanations of concepts; detailed examples; very good presentation
Deltas - cost;

Detailed, comprehensive review of basic and more advanced topics in accounting and financial analysis. Best suited for graduate level studies, and for students completed the beginner-level classes in financial accounting.
This book is not self-explanatory and induces students to think analytically. It is not aimed at those who simply want to know, but those who try to understand, those who try to get to the root of the issues.
If you don't mind to read the same chapter a few times, and willing to spend long hours working on problems you will find this book very rewarding. It will not only provide you with current developments in accounting, but it will teach you to think like a financial analyst.
I won't recommend using this book without an instructor, or at very least a solution's manual.

In my opinion this book does not provide any guidance or comprehension for the student. it is not easy to understand the complicated equations - most of which do not apply to companies in the Gulf. the chapters are long and useless in the course of understand the topics. the problems and exercises are comprehensive but there are no answers at the end of the book to guide the student to the right answer. Due to the fact that the professor doesn't find the book comprehendible he just read the slides to us and left our questions unattended. In conclusion, this book is worthless to any business student and doesn't even deserve a one-star rating.

Although not being a medical or scientific type, I found this a fascinating book. Some of the behaviors described -- drinking urine or applying it to wounds, placing maggots on festering skin to draw out the dead and dying cells -- possess a horrid fascination for the lay reader, but the authors describe quite dispassionately the possible scientifically valid reasons behind them. Very interesting stuff.

The author has made an extensive research on the remedies written about in his book. At the end of the book, he has also advised on how we should accept or not accept old remedies or even modern or popular medical habits - he does not rule out modern medicines. I think a very rational view and discussion was presented.

Like all views given, of course there will definitely be some people who would strongly disagree and deny the book's integrity outright. However to benefit more from intelligence of this book is to have an open mind. Even at the end of the book, I can't bring myself to agree on the urine remedy - but I accept the clear explanations given.

I don't normally buy books and initially I borrowed it from the library, but I'm buying it because I think it's a good book to have for reference at home.

Whether or not you buy the conclusions of the authors in regards to the treatments in this book, their discussion and analysis of these treatments in historical context and why the treatments were effective, is extremely important in understanding the evolution of medicine. And if you are someone who is interested in researching folk medicine or discovery of medical treatments, this book is an excellent resource. It certainly presents a lot of information not ordinarily available to the layperson.

Well, I have to give the authors credit for *some* hard work at least--there are an impressive number of studies reviewed in this book, from what I can tell. I've only had it for a few hours, though, and I've already noticed one huge and glaring factual inaccuracy: in the chapter on contraceptives, the Root-Bernsteins write, "The only exception to this is RU 486, the 'morning-after pill,' which seems to work very much like the menstrual regulators of old." How on earth can an error like that slip into a chapter *about contraception* in a so-called scientific book? RU-486 is NOT the morning-after pill, as any mildly educated person--or woman knowledgable about her contraceptive options--could tell you; it is the abortion pill, which, taken orally, causes the abortion of a fetus. The morning-after pill is a different thing entirely; it must be taken within 48 hours of unprotected intercourse, and rather than killing an already-growing fetus, it prevents the implantation of the fertilized egg in the uterine lining. I am not a scientist. I am not a health worker. I am not a science writer authoring a chapter on contraception, and yet I know this and they apparently do not. What gives?

This is really a minor detail, but its inaccuracy leads me to doubt the accuracy or thoroughness of any other "facts" cited in the rest of the book. It doesn't mean that the book is not entertaining and interesting; I would just take the Root-Bernsteins' science with a grain of salt, and read this book more as entertainment than as a learning experience.

This could have been a good book. The topic is great. Unfortunately, the author allows his personal beliefs to color virtually every aspect of the content thereby allowing the inclusion of many factual errors. No where is this more evident than in the chapter on circumcision. Contrary to the claims in this book, routine circumcision has NO medical benefit. Because it has no medical benefit, NO medical organization in the world recommends it. For example, circumcision does not prevent urinary track infection (urinary track infections are lower in Europe where circumcision is virtually unheard of) and many studies have shown circumcision to increase the rate of HIV infection and the rate of transmitting HIV/AIDS to the female partner (UNAIDS calls using circumcision to prevent AIDS playing Russian Roulette).

Circumcision is not a folk remedy or an old wive's tale. Circumcision was started as a "cure" for masturbation. Since then it has been a procedure in search of a disease. To little attention is paid to the life long harm done to the child. For example, circumcision is now believed to be a contributing factor in male sexual dysfunction since the procedure removes highly sensitive sexual tissue and the unprotected glans becomes desensitized through a hardening of the skin in a process called keritinization.

There are many other sections of this book that are also based on errors or misinformation. See some of the other reviews.

Highly unrecommended.

This book provides excellent clarity in finding potential trades, determining an appropriate entry and subsequently managing the trade. Momentum divergence is the main indicator and the methodology is clearly detailed in terms of the setup, the trigger and the follow through. Questions are included at the end of the chapters. It is not difficult to use the methodology on any charting software. The methods can be extended to utilize other similar indicators. Buying this book is a low risk proposition with major potential rewards.

This is definitely one book that any new trader should read and I really wish I had read this book 5 years ago when I started trading. Jake shows you how to effectively structure a trade and provides a number of methods for entering trades and when to take profits. Every trader should read about setups, triggers and follow through for each trade.

What else can I say, but you would be mad not to read this book.

I looked forward to Mr. Bernstein's new book as he has prided himself in the past as doing cutting-edge research (his "The Compleat Day Trader I & II" are classics).

But this is mainly another rehash of material from his other books, and I got thru it in two sittings. Although, in fairness, people who are not familiar with his prior works, may find this offering more interesting than I did.

The best thing to be gleaned here is the methodology itself. The methodology is first a setup, then a trigger, then follow through. A setup is a seasonal correlation or momentum divergence, as examples. Then a trigger gets you in the trade, like a stochastics crossover. Follow through is simply money management. The money management ideas expressed here are not stellar and are put forth better in many other books.

This experience will remind me to use Amazon's "search" feature more thoroughly before buying in the future.

Another worthless stack of paper from Jake.

Ask yourself this question, "How could it be possible, especially for someone who does not trade profitably for a living, to teach me how to be a master trader in any length of time, not to mention the absurdity of 30 days?!" The idea is ludicrous.

As with every one of this author's "works", this book fails to deliver anything of value to real traders. It is simply not possible to teach another to be a market master, and profitable trader, when the teacher is neither.

The title alone should be a huge red flag warning that the material covered could never be useful. Wouldn't it be wonderful if it would be possible to become a market master in 30 days? Most people would be satisfied with achieving that level of success in 30 months, however, few EVER do. This book, and all of the others from this author, will never assist in getting one to that lofty goal.

BEFORE you consider purchasing any of this author's works, do yourself a favor, and research this person.

Then consider the following books, written by real traders, as stepping stones to mastery:

Mind over Markets
Markets in Profile
Trading Day by Day
Entries & Exits
Professional Stock Trading
Enhancing Trader Performance
Trading in the Zone (even though Douglas is not a trader)

Some of the best material ever written about trading was penned in the early 1900s. These are highly recommended:

anything written by Richard D. Wyckoff
Tape Reading & Market Tactics
Psychology of the Stock Market

I am a "late" fan of Bernstein, so went looking for a good biography. The place to start, obviously, is "Leonard Bernstein" by Humphrey Burton. That bio is much greater in depth and detail. Mr. Burton was LB's television producer and eventually his good friend. No anecdote is left untouched in his nicely arranged work and if you need all the gory details, that's where you go. However, Secrest's "Leonard Bernstein" A Life" is good for other reasons. He is able to step back a bit and talk about areas not covered in Burton's book. Two examples are the background and politics of the U.S. classical music environment during LB's lifetime and the negative effect of Bernstein's public life on his children's lives. I suspect Burton would have felt these were out of place for the former and out of bounds for the latter. However, both areas give great insight into Bernstein's effect on the world and should be told. Not being so personally close to the family, Secrest is able to write with a little more jaundiced eye. Also the myriad of photographs in Secrest's book, scattered throughout at appropriate places, puts faces to the names.

I highly recommend this as a sort of companion volume to Burton's authoratative work. Since they are both inexpensive softcover purchases these days, get them both and enjoy Bernstein twice.

If you have been taught that a book provides more information, analysis, and complexity of thought than visual media, this biography is an exception. One learns very little about Leonard Bernstein here, and you'd be better of (given the choice) to see his concerts for Young People series or the documentary of the making of the fairly bad West Side Story operata, featuring Jose Carreras looking like a bumbling goofball and Bernstein acting like a college music director who had to pick the captain of the football team as a lead in a musical--which is too bad since I believe Bernstein cast him). This book is quite lackluster, which is surprising given the subject matter. It does not address, in depth, any of the internal sufferings or external battles Bernstein waged among the musicati or his deep conflict with homosexuality and his orthodox Jewish roots. What the book does, and this is a good thing is show how Bernstein--despite high brow critics' condenscension--widened the audience for classical music far more than even Pavorati, and that his success included talent, P.R., celebrity, gossip--those things that are uniquely American, and how he was determined to keep his American roots intact, which, among other things had him eschew studying extensively in Europe. In addition, you get an understanding of Bernsteins' 'strangeness,' that rare quality that Harold Bloom talks about that is an ingredient of masterful writers. Secrest does not disparage Bernstein's emotionalism as lots of die-hard classical music aficionados do. It's what made Bernstein who he was, and Secrest makes it evident that although Bernstein created some lousy music, classical music snobs who disparage him owe his a big favor for being a public personality. Without him, these same individuals would have a lot less opportunity to even enjoy classical music since Bernstein helped to create a market for it. He did for music what Carter Burden (former National Gallery director) who mastered the marketing concept of the blockbuster art exhibit. Yea, you could say it is a bit gimmicky, but I prefer that than demolishing art museums and building malls and parking lots in their place.

I've read the book twice over a two year period. The book has some very interesting parts pacificly when talking about Candide, his early years, and threw the 50's. Then, mid-way threw the book it becomes tedios to read, and Secrests' not being able to use the Bernstein family archives becomes apparent and the book is not very interesting to read as well as not being well written. Still if you are a Leonard Bernstein fan the book would still be worth reading just not buying. Go to the library for this one.

The book is informative, but not well organized. It jumps back and forth in time too much. Also, the author's lack of musical knowledge shows.

I was expecting alot more from someone referred to as the foremost authority on seasonality in the futures markets. While I give Jake alot of credit for bringing greater visibility to seasonal trading strategies through his earlier research from the late 70s on, this book was somewhat of a disappointment. My first concern is that a large portion of his data modeling is based off of cash market data. While this often allows one a much greater data pool to tap which in turn can assist in lending statistical significance to apparent patterns, I have to question the validity of this approach since as most traders know, futures prices often diverge significantly from those of the cash market. There are no clear trading rules elucidated for particular seasonals, and individual contract months are not well touched on. In addition, while technical filters are mentioned, there is no clear integration with seasonals. For anyone actually interested in trading seasonals with very clear rules spelled out with specific seasonals based on individual contract months, I would highly recommend John Momsen's "UltraReliable Seasonal Trades." While I haven't traded Momsen's methods long enough to draw a 100% conclusion, I've already made significant profits with his systems. This text didn't add enough workable knowledge to warrant the price IMHO. It does however provide some decent info on performing your own seasonal research by data mining...

Mostly concerned with the commodities and futures markets. Interesting, lots of charts and tables, but the only information on stocks is a table on page 87 showing that from Jan 1897 to Dec 1983 the Dow Jones Industrial Average posted a gain 68.1% of the time the day before an important holiday and 52.2% of the time the day after. Good to know. It was something I had already recognized, but knowing that the day before is significantly better than the day after is worth while. Also Monday is the worse day of the week for stock prices. There's even a book entitled Don't Sell Stocks on Monday(1986) by Yale Hirsch.

Jake Bernstein is the foremost authority on seasonality and this book clearly demonstrates the power of this approach. It is also an easy read for the beginning trader.

Most seasonal trading is already factored into the price, right before the season starts. Something like 2 out of 10 seasonal trades work nowadays. Technical Analysis has eliminated many of the seasonal signals.

In fact it is prohibited by the National Futures Association for brokers to even discuss or promote on the basis of seasonal trading. That says a lot to me.

In the past 11 years I have been a futures broker, futures investor, and author of several futures books and I tell all of my clients not to rely on seasonal trades. And if they do follow seasonal trades use tight stops for when the market goes against you.

I purchased Dr. Bernstein's book as part of some fact finding for my master's thesis in Special Education. I did not expect the book to have all the answers, but was hopeful that there would be a good body of information that would prove helpful.

I was very disappointed. I found the introductory chapters to be a cursory tratment of the disruptive disorders. Seldom was there a delineation between conduct problems and normal development. There was little information of how antisocial behavior differentiates from conduct disorder. There were many blanket statements that were not sufficiently supported with evidence. The case studies were one sided, and I believe, not fully representative of the intracies of the personalities of children.

I was particularly dismayed at the suggestion that the population of conduct disordered children was "likely to have a narrow range of interests" and spending a few minutes a week glancing through "People" and "Rolling Stone" was a sufficient way to be informed of their culture. The greatest disservice to these children is to take their minds for granted in such a way.

As for the information on the theraputic process and treatment, I did not find this helpful. Most of the principles discussed here are presented in a great book, "The Skilled Helper" by Gerard Egan. A book which takes a much more compassionate, humble approach to the helping process.

I had hopes for this book. I went into it with an open mind, willing to learn. I was bitterly disappointed with it's myopic approach to this population of special needs children and youth. I could not recommend it even as an introduction to the subject.

I've been working with difficult teenagers for over ten years and read this book hoping to gain new insights and skills into working with this population. By far, it is the best book I have ever read on this topic. It is explicit, practical, and offers numerous suggestions for addressing the multiple problems that this population faces. I have found it extremely useful in my practice because of the easily applicable techniques Dr. Bernstein presents, and his concrete suggestions about how to implement them. Dr. Bernstein shares many examples from his clinical practice which parents and clinicians alike should find helpful. Susan Gordon, Ph.D.

Dr. Neil Bernstein's useful work on the counseling of oppositional teenagers is noteworthy in its humility, for a start. Clinical success, in the author's view, is established the old fashioned way: you have to work for it. In his introduction Bernstein confesses to a basic distrust of quick fixes for teenage problems, particularly those promulgated on the lecture/workshop circuit. He keeps a balanced head on the etiology of oppositional defiance, recognizing that disorders of mood, substance abuse, and dysfunctional families of origin, to name a few factors, must be given their day in court during the diagnostic phase of treatment. He is well read in adolescent development and recognizes that the teen years are inherently about distancing and defiance, in some way, shape, or form.

If one were to label the author's clinical approach, perhaps the Rogerian style comes closest to capturing this practitioner's persona. Without losing sight of the nuts and bolts, Bernstein seems to find his success in establishing empathy and trust with his young clients. The "opposition" of teenagers is directed against the systems that they perceive as having failed them: family, school, and the peer community. The defensive attitude of such youth is both a mask for their pain and insurance against further hurt. It is encouraging to see that a lengthy chapter has been devoted to family intervention [though some family specialists will inevitably argue that the family organism is the whole enchilada where childhood disorders are concerned.]

Bernstein's clinical examples-and they are numerous-appear to be drawn primarily from individual therapy sessions, i.e., without parents or others in the process. If this reflects the demographics of his paying clientele, then he must have a remarkable gift for developing engagement with his young clients, and he would apparently have enough leisure to plumb his clients' psyches at a pace that does not engender defensiveness. But aside from the wearisome issue of whether managed health care or the client's own limited resources put limitations on a style that calls for protracted contact and trust building, the one nagging question left hanging in this work is the role of the parents in the client's treatment. In Chapter 12 the author provides a substantive commentary on family therapy, noting among other things that parents frequently repeat the mistakes of their own mothers and fathers, implying that many oppositional clients have plenty at home to be oppositional about. Is such therapy without the parents the clinical equivalent of rowing with one oar? I would summarize Bernstein's position on parental participation in therapy as "optimal but not necessary." As a practitioner myself, unless I have compelling reasons to the contrary, I subscribe to the philosophy of the seasoned general who brought a long time rival into his inner circle on the grounds that "I'd rather have him inside my tent [urinating] out than outside my tent [urinating] in." Somewhat surprising to me is the desire of many of my ODD clients to have a parent in therapy with them, perhaps their way of telling me why they are so angry.

In the final analysis, this is a work from the traditional psychoanalytic school that extols the time proven methods of human respect and client interaction. It is an excellent didactic exposition, an opportunity for a practitioner to ask himself, "Do I sound like that?" There is an abundance of common sense and a minimum of psycho-jargon that makes this work accessible to teachers and many parents as well.

I was startled to read an earlier online review of this book becasue it was so much at varience with my own thoughts about Dr. Bersteins book. I am a psycholgist with a Ph.D. and 25 years experience working in clinical settings and I have never before encountered a book on conduct disorders that was so clearly the work of an experienced clinician and so deeply rooted in his experience. Bernstein's clinical examples could have come from my office or those of other psychologists I know and work with. His suggestions and illlustrations of his work with his patients was both reassuring and familiar as well as stimulating and provocative. If you chave to go out and work in the trenches with oppositional and conduct disordered, Dr. Bernstien's book is a very handy item to have along