5 comments about How To Make Money In Stocks: A Winning System in Good Times or Bad, 3rd Edition.

1. I haven't traded one share of stock in the Market...yet. With that having been said, I figured, if you're going to get advice about how to be successful in the Market, you may as well go to someone who knows. William J. O'Neil has been trading since the early 1960's. He bought a seat on the Exchange in 1963. William J. is also the founder of Investor's Business Daily (IBD). If you are interested in the Market and you haven't read an IBD, I would suggest that you at least try it. Information is the key to making sound decisions.
   As a whole, the book is basically an advertisment for IBD. But don't let that get in the way of the information, guidance, logic, and strategies that are offered within the book. Before reading this book, I didn't have a clue about trading stocks. Now, I'm confident that I can pick a potential winner, take a position at the right time under he right conditions, take profits at the right time and, if necessary, bail out with minimum losses.
   I definately recommend this book.



2. William O'Neil, who started a successful financial paper known as Investors Business Daily, wrote How to Make Money in Stocks. Decade of research, critical thinking and common sense has helped O'Neil to create some very powerful ways of investing successfully.
   
   This book isn't about getting rich quick. It takes time, study diligence and patience coupled with controlling ones emotions to become an excellent investor.
   
   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.
   
   In the book he teaches his CAN SLIM method of investing. Looking at these indicators are powerful ways to find the right stocks. CAN SLIM stands for:
   
   C = Current Quarterly Earnings per share: The Higher the Better
   A = Annual Earnings Increases: Look for Growth
   N = New Products, New Management, New Highs
   S = Supply and Demand
   L = Leader or Laggard
   I = Institutional Sponsorship
   M = Market Direction
   
   There are other great ideas in the book such as: Nineteen Common Mistakes Most Investors Make, How to Cut Your Losses, When to Sell and Take Your Profit and much more. How to Make Money in Stocks is a gold mine of ideas!
   
   The Re-Discovery of Common Sense: A Guide to: The Lost Art of Critical Thinking



3. Pros:
   
   * I know nothing about the stock market until I read this book.
   * Very well explain on how to tackle the market during good times or bad.
   * Even you know nothing about stock, you can have better understanding on this industry once you have read this book.
   
   Cons:
   
   * This book is good for gaining more knowledge but does not provide any plan or action that we need to take in order to succeed in this business. Overall, it is still ok.



4. Some reviews think this book is about
   
   * using technical analysis to buy and sell stocks in general, it is not, it is about buying the best of breed (in the very best industry groups) when the time is right and only this point is determined by looking at the chart, once this is passed in strong volume, chances are good that prices will move higher. (VOLUME is one of the classic indicators, see Livermore, Darvas etc)
   
   * it is pushing IBD too hard, I agree on that, and I would give it 4.5 points if it were possible because of that, but IBD and esp. dailygraphs.com is simply saving you hours every day.
   
   * think there are still too many good stocks around even in IBD and they don't say buy or sell this stock now. I remember having read Livermore's thoughts via the "make an easy buck in the stock market" crowd, "how easy is it to make a quick buck with brain surgery?" It takes a lot of work everyday to check the potential stocks.
   
   * not all chart patterns are 100% up to the rules, this is correct but one would also check the daily charts and this might explain a bit.
   
   Overall the book contains top advice based on old truths.
   
   Another book that has lots of charts and explains the stages/cycles of stocks is Weinsteins "Secret for profiting..." Weinstein has good suggestions for longterm stop movement, while Weinstein is not interested in the quality of the company, it is worthwhile to read it because of the stock stages.(as mentioned in O`Neils book on when to sell, the quality of the stock -e.g. stellar growth outlook- is not important only price/volume action - a hint for DISTRIBUTION, in the stock market the future is now)



5. A must have investment book but this method requires a lot of close monitoring of the market which most of us can't do as non-professional investors.

5 comments about Trading in the Zone: Master the Market with Confidence, Discipline and a Winning Attitude.

1. A few times I thought about buying this book, but after reading the negative reviews I said I wouldn't buy it. I actually read alot of the reviews and wavered back and forth. Well I'm happy to say I bought and now have read this book and could not put it down. I have to say this book puts the whole trading process in a nutshell. I've taken expensive courses that still didn't help my trading ability. This book has successfully told me why and I now know what needs to be done. I recommend this book whole heartedly to any one who has traded and lost much money as it will and does explain why and what one needs to do to to change the whole losing process.



2. I've been trading for over a year with mixed success - wildly successful trades followed by crashing defeats and back again. This book helped me to finally understand why - inconsistency in my trading habits - and better yet, what to do about it. I recommend it for anyone, novice or expert, who wants to understand how the mind works and how our thoughts, beliefs and attitudes affect our success in trading and in life.



3. This is the best book on trading I've read so far. I definitely recommend this book to anyone with the goal to become a successful day trader, whether you're a novice or a seasoned trader.



4. Item arrived on time in better condition then I thought. Would order from this seller any time.



5. Trading in the Zone by Mark Douglas is essential reading for any trader who has enough experience to know what an edge is and how difficult it is to trade consistently using your edge. It is the most insightful and useful book I have ever read on overcoming the emotional blocks to trading.Trading in the Zone: Master the Market with Confidence, Discipline and a Winning Attitude

4 comments about The Only Guide to Alternative Investments You'll Ever Need: The Good, the Flawed, the Bad, and the Ugly.

1. This book is so well written and educational that I read it from cover to cover in only a few days. I found the arguments for the "good" investments well supported, and the explanation for the "flawed," "bad" and "ugly" convincing and supported by facts and research. I only wish that this book was available before I bought some of the bad and ugly investments in the past. As with Swedroe's other publications, he has again provided the average investor with valuable knowledge without any hype or noise.



2. As an investment advisor and co-host of a financial radio program I have read a voluminous amount of investment material from a host of authors over the years. Larry is clearly one of the best financial writers I have come across. This book illuminates the reader on a myriad of investment strategies that are rarely understood by most investors and financial professionals. His writing style is entertaining, informative and supported by solid empirical evidence. Summarizing a quote from Larry Swedroe, "there is a difference between information and knowledge, information is a fact or piece of data, knowledge is information that can be put into practical use to make better decisions". This book provides the reader with practical knowledge on less understood, alternative investments. I recommend this book to all investors and I would also recommend checking out Larry's other books.
   
   Kenneth R. Smith. CFP®, MS
   CEO Empirical Wealth Management LLC



3. With the stock market in turmoil, investors are looking for alternatives. Larry Swedroe's latest book with Jared Kizer suggests some alternatives that probably belong in our portfolios regardless of what the market decides to do.
   
   Larry Swedroe and Jared Kizer examine twenty different alternative investments, and arrive at six that may be keepers for your portfolio. They also point out those that should be avoided like the flu, regardless of how exciting the sales pitch is. Professionally and personally, I've always found that advice on what to avoid can often be more valuable than advice on what to buy.
   
   Swedroe and Kizer note the roles that real estate, TIPS, commodities, international stocks, fixed annuities, and stable-value funds can successfully play in our portfolios. If we buy them, they should be for the right reasons as performance-chasing occurs across all asset classes.
   
   Current market conditions make this book very timely as it does a great job of explaining how you can implement alternative investments into your portfolio now and in the future.



4. Absolutely terrific review of the various alternative asset classes. A great complement to books like the 4 Pillars by William Bernstein.

5 comments about Jim Cramer's Real Money: Sane Investing in an Insane World.

1. Having read several investment books, this book is a much needed shot in the arm in that it opens the doors to the type of independent thinking that the mutual fund industry doesn't want individual investors to engage in. Cramer's book encourages readers to move beyond what may be an effective but somewhat restrictive investment philosophy, and utilize several strategic approaches to building wealth in stocks. I never could have guessed that Cramer could do so much to help me see investing in a different light and ultimately help me understand investing much better.



2. This guy is nothing short of a genius in my opinion, I've purchased all of his books I'm pretty sure and have NEVER been dis-appointed with them. He's a 5 STAR AUTHOR all the way.



3. This book contains valuable information for managing your money and the do's and don'ts for investing.



4. This book is bold, informative, and well written. It feels like I've gone to college and found a fantastic professor that knows how to teach the subject well. He does not assume you already know everything. You will understand why stocks are priced the way they are, how to buy stocks without getting ripped off, how a company goes public and begins to sell stock, how to know enough about where a stock is going to make your own informed decisions. I've always wanted to get my feet wet in the stock market, but never felt confident enough. Now I'm swimming with the big fish! Buy this book.



5. Unlike his negative review onair, his book explains in simple terms how and what to do for trading and investing. Good book for the beginner trader like myself. :P MUST BUY. Serious product.

5 comments about Rich Dad's Advisors: Guide to Investing In Gold and Silver: Protect Your Financial Future (Rich Dad's Advisors).

1. Although I have not yet read the entire book, there's one thing that EVERYONE is missing.
   All the gold bugs can rush and buy, but the problem is, if there's an economic meltdown, gold and silver will be illegal!
   This allows the government and feds to "buy" low, and sell high.
   In the great depression, it was illegal to carry gold and silver.
   
   Although there are not yet ANY laws prohibiting gold or silver, it is still not safe!
   
   The reason?
   I have heard that the Patriot Act (or as I call it unpatriotic act), has a section where it makes it LEGAL for federal officials and government to go into your house, take any gold and silver they want, as well as any currency they want, without even doing so much as asking or notifying you. (You may want to google it or read the bill for yourself at congress.gov, or whatever website)
   
   So what's the REAL solution?
   I like the idea of buying diamonds. Not only are they safe from this law (as far as I know), but if you want to HIDE them, it's easy to do so, and they're not easy to detect.
   As a last resort, you can hide them in your mouth, or under your tounge, and if they ask you to open up your mouth and look under your toungue, you can swallow it...
   Of course, it won't be a very pretty dimond on the way out!
   
   Diamonds can cut through anything, even gold and silver, (or steel bars, if you're really paranoid that martial law is coming, and you want to plan an escape).
   I still think there is value in gold and silver, and this book is still excellent so far, and will be useful in deciding how to buy gold and silver, and understanding why currency is designed to lose value, except for period in which they contract the money supply and seize assets.
   
   Although diversification is not something the rich do, in this case, I think you need to make an exception, unless you can somehow protect that gold&silver from the Patriot act, perhaps through a corperate entity. Or something.



2. Mike Maloney's book is an easy read & proves his point about investing in silver & gold. An essential read for improving your Financial literacy in the 21st century.



3. This book caught my eye prior to boarding a plane. I suppose it was launched at a time when gold and silver were making record highs and these precious metals seemed extremely attractive to the everyday investor.
   
   I found the initial history lesson interesting but a little drawn out.
   
   I have read most of Kiyosaki and his advisor books and after a while they all seem to sound the same. This one was more interesting but Maloney obviously felt obliged to laud Kiyosaki's other books as totally amazing and the best books he has read. I find this difficult to believe. He is a learned gent and has read many quality books on The Fed etc. so I found this a bit irritating.
   
   I read this book after the financial crisis had already unfolded but Maloney predicted it (or something similar) with eery truth around pg. 112. In a nutshell the book says that the only true currency is gold and silver and the cash (the dollar) is just a fiat currency, in the more can be printed. In times of distress people flock to precious metals and these prices go crazy. That hasn't quite happened during this crisis so it's not that simple. I flew through this book and it is easy reading but I finished it feeling less convinced than many other readers here. The great website reference at the back pushes it up to four stars though.



4. I have read several of the "Rich Dad Poor Dad" books, and have been enlighten with the information that was provided, and it has helped me personally deal with my financial issues. Plus, seeing my future is very different after reading these books.



5. I purchased this book to learn about investing in gold and silver. What I got was a whole lot more. This fast read gives great insights into how our economy is no more secure than a house of cards. The author demonstrates where our economy is headed and how we can gain wealth rather than endure looming financial disaster. Oh yes, the book tells you about the different ways to purchase and hold precious metals. He also discusses the benefits and pitfalls of each method. If you are looking for a technical summary of exactly how to do it, this isn't the book for you. It is, however, a real wake-up call for America. I'm purchasing several copies for my family, friends and business assoicates.

5 comments about When Markets Collide: Investment Strategies for the Age of Global Economic Change.

1. excellent read and very pertinent to the investor/trader who wishes to stay on top of the future investment climate.



2. There are few people in the world whose opinions and insights on financial issues matter more than El-Erian. So this is an extremely important book, even for the average investor. However, the book's audience seems to be mainly managers of large portfolios and financial policy makers, and many of the issues discussed will seem arcane to the average investor. Making it that much more difficult for the average reader, I thought the writing style left much to be desired. For instance, El-Erian repeatedly outlines the issues the book will cover, but then, when he actually gets to the meat of his arguments, I felt he left many important points unclear or even just alluded to. I hope future editions will try to improve the books clarity and organization.
   
   Finally, I wish El-Erian would have spent a bit more time on explaining how the average investor implements and monitors the investing strategies he recommends. Nevertheless, keeping in mind that this is not a handbook for us normal people, the average investor can gain a truly authoratative big-picture account of how the global financial landscape is evolving and how this will impact their investments in the coming years.



3. The book is trying to keep the language plain but probably is not for those who haven't a clue about economy. It is a very interesting read so as to see the flaws and cons of today's economic world and to read between the lines from now on.



4. 1. Emerging markets are a key to understanding the global economic and financial markets. Sovereign wealth funds will provide a new pool of money. Directives have helped open emerging markets and allow monetary investment not before possible.
   2. Emerging economies will have a growing influence on the global economy's growth rate.
   3. For several years emerging Asian economies have account for more global GDP growth than America has. China and India consumer spending is increasing and contribute to global GDP.
   4. Purchase power parity is a unit of measure that eschews the market exchange rate for a conversion based on what is need to buy the same amount of goods and services in each country. When measured using purchasing power parity, China and India contribute more to global growth in 2007 than did the US, UK, and Japan. China and India are moving into a new territory where they are able to internal consume and invest.
   5. China will increasingly find that it's growth will be driving by internal demand rather than external markets. Policy will shift in favor of the consumer and help alleviate protectionist pressures coming from outside, especially from the US which some have label China as a currency manipulator.
   6. Developing countries will increasingly step up as significant and sustainable sources of global growth
   7. Global economic growth will gradually reduce the world's sensitivity to variations in US growth performance
   8. Emerging economies will result in a greater emphasis on domestic components of demand. The global economy will be sustainable because a number of emerging economies are coming online resistant to US down turns.
   9. Emerging economies have recycled their trade economies surplus back into US treasury instruments, mortgages, and corporate bonds. Exchange rates have remained stable. The big players are the Middle East oil producers and Asian producers. However, the imbalances are clearly unsustainable.
   10. As emerging economies gradually shift their primary focus from the producer to the consumer, the rate of growth from imports in these countries will increase over that of the exports. Over the next decade many emerging economies will shift from being export machines to being consumers.
   11. Emerging economies will absorb surplus labor from traditional sectors and traditional sectors will shift the focus away from incremental job creation to human capital accumulation and knowledge-based activities.
   12. Emerging market export growth grew from 10 percent at the beginning of the decade to 17 percent by 2006.
   13. The US in particular will be able to gradually and partially replace its reliance on the overstretched consumers with a new reliance on meeting the growing demand impulses coming from the rest of the world.
   14. Global productivity gains put intense competitive pressures on manufacturers and service providers to reduce costs. Dis-inflationary impact is slowly dissipating and key emerging economies are now exhibiting a gradual increase in wages and partial exhaustion of high-productivity, low-cost labor.
   15. A billion workers moving into the market place reduce world wages, inflation, inflation expectations, and interest rates.
   16. Surging economies have been an important factor behind the surge in commodity prices.
   17. Chinese consumption of oil was 7.1 mbd in 2006 and by 2030, oil demand 16.5 mbd and India demand will reach 6.5 mbd.
   18. Emerging economies that have high growth rates are even larger users of natural resources. The impact of this extra demand will not be offset by the reduced consumption in industrial countries because emerging economies are less efficient user of natural resources.
   19. Physical demand for commodities will be supplemented by financial demand.
   20. Accumulative earnings from Middle East oil export for 2004 through 2008 will approach $2 trillion, 45 percent is saved, adding to large holdings of international reserves.
   21. Emerging economies investment in US government papers puts downward pressure on US interest rates.
   22. As reserve accumulation persists contributes to greater inflationary pressure and appreciation in exchange rates. Reserve accumulation makes exports more expensive. Authorities look for ways to sterilize large capital inflows through purchases of US government paper or outsourcing the management to Bank of central banks (BIS). Saves are pulled out and liquidity of the surplus is mopped up. The interest payments on the debt issues to sterilize the inflows far exceed that earned on the reserve (negative carry).
   23. Countries can buy back their debt and extinguish debt in foreign currency that trades at higher yields than what was earned on the investment of the reserves.
   24. Some countries are starting to setup Sovereign wealth funds (SWF). SWF of oil producers have been exploring opportunities in the Middle East and North Africa, India, Pakistan, and the Far East. Chinese entities have been purchasing investments in Africa and Latin America. SWFs operating cross borders and long term gives them value orientation.
   25. Creditor countries must recognize that the shift in external payments has a permanency to it. Emerging countries must encourage domestic components of demand along with the external components.
   26. Bond markets and US government bonds are facing the prospect of lower allocation of sovereign investments. The declining share will reflect a natural diversification in the asset allocation of the SWFs. While equity markets, real estate will likely benefit from larger allocations of bonds.
   27. Derivative products have enabled a far greater degree of linkage across markets, at any time. BIS estimates, end of Jun 2007, the derivatives market to be $516 trillion. Credit Default swaps have shown the fastest growth. The visible revolution of derivatives has been the mortgage products.



5. Poorly written. He admits he's splitting his audiences and the result is a mess of a book where the big themes are well known to even the most remedial investor. If you're really interested in his ideas all that's needed is a video interview search of which there are numerous.

5 comments about Manias, Panics, and Crashes: A History of Financial Crises (Wiley Investment Classics).

1. Kindleberger does a great job of demonstrating what the root cause of economic downturns is.The process starts as bubbles of speculation on a sea of enterprise and entrepreneurship as pointed out by Keynes.However,as time passes the bankers decide to shift loans to speculators as well as starting to engage in speculation themselves.The situation changes as one observes a sea of speculation with few bubbles of enterprise floating on top.This sets the stage for the bubble to start growing with the finance coming from the bankers who fuel the expansion in the bubble.This leads to the mania stage.All it takes here is for some tiny liquidity disruption to set off a panic of selling which leads to the Crash as various participants discover that their paper wealth has evaporated ,leaving them with crushing debt loans as their debt leveraging and margin account financing now becomes an albatross around their necks.The end result is various bankruptcies and defaults and a recession or depression.
   
   
   Kindleberger shows how this pattern occurs over and over again in history.Unfortunately,Kindleberger fails to provide the reader with a simplified summary from the earlier work of Adam Smith and J M Keynes that explains the crucial steps involved in inflating,but not creating, the bubble-(a)loans from the commercial bankers to loanees whom the bank knows for certain are going to be engaged in speculative behavior and (b)the decision by the banks themselves to enter the market as active speculators.It is true that the bubbles themseves start irrespective of the banking system since individuals are free to engage in speculative finance with their own money and assets.However,the bubbles could not grow and expand over time if the bankers refused to allow the speculators to leverage their debt position by obtaining extensive lines of credit from the bankers to expand their debt positions.
   
   
   Everyone who reads this book should also read pp.290-340 of The Wealth of Nations[1776;Modern Library(Cannan)edition]and chapters 12 and 22 of The General Theory of Employment,Interest and Money(1936).Keynes proves mathematically that it is uncertainty and speculation(the speculative demand for money) that cause involuntary unemployment in chapter 21 on pp.305-306.The neoclassical(monetarism,rational expectations,real business cycles,etc.) schools must,therefore ,deny that there is anything called uncertainty or ignorance;there is only risk, which is represented by the standard deviation sigma.Similarly ,they must deny that there is any significant speculative demand for money;there is only a transactions demand for money.Kindleberger essentially demonstates that the neoclassical schools have absolutely no historical support.This also means that there would be no statistical support for their claims that the normal probability distribution is applicable to a wide range of industrial and financial markets.Kindleberger, as well as the new coauthors of this latest edition, overlooked the immense support that Kindleberger could have used to buttress his overwhelming historical evidence that has been madee available by Benoit Mandelbrot. Benoit Mandelbrot has presented massive amounts of statistical evidence, for over 50 years ,demonstrating that the neoclassical school's claims about the normal distribution do not have a shred of evidence to support them.It should not be surprising to discover that NO neoclassical economist in the 20th or 21st century has ever done a single goodness of fit test on the various time series data sets in order to supply support for their claims that price changes in all markets are normally distributed over time.
   
   
   
   I recommend this book .It will allow a reader to understand the negatives that could very well happen in the 2008-2010 time period.Ben Bernanke's 1.2 trillion dollar banker and Wall Street bailout,from August,2007-May,2008, has merely delayed the inevitable while creating massive new bubbles in oil and commodities and driving the value of the dollar to new lows.Bernanke has merely substituted future stagflation for recession.



2. I gave this book to my grandson who is majoring at UCSD in economics. He has not had any course yet covering the history of financial crashes, etc. and finds it fascinating to compare past times with the present economic slowdown. Manias, Panics, and Crashes: A History of Financial Crises (Wiley Investment Classics)



3. I am no economist and just an interested general reader. I expected to read narratives about past financial crises and how they played out. But this book is not organized that way. It doesn't tell any story from start to finish. Instead it references lots of different crises in a kind of shorthand way, without giving the background or the overall narrative.
   
   Many of the references are pretty darn obscure, at least to me. So fine, if he's talking about how a certain phenomenon works and he says, "as in 1932," or "as in the S&L crisis," I'm with him. But when he says, "just as in the 1762 case in Belgium" (made up example)--well, my eyes start to glaze over, because he hasn't told me the story of 1762 Belgium, but referenced it as if it should be as familiar to me as the Great Depression in the US.
   
   I also think there's something wrong with the writing style. He seems not to start out with topic sentences that show us where he's going, or to end with a summing up of the significance of what he's just said. Certain details recur within a few pages of each other. The effect is pretty scatter-shot, as if it was not carefully edited and made to flow.
   
   There is plenty of raw material here for anyone watching our current economic crisis and wondering how it happened, but you have to work for it. What I get from it is that in certain circumstances, if everyone does what seems best to him or her in the market, the end result will be disaster for all. It's not really irrational to buy when prices are increasing by the day, because huge profits can indeed be made. But the more people that make that individually rational choice, the more irrational the whole thing becomes.
   
   Maybe I could compare it to a stampede to an exit door in a fire. Each person's individual best choice is to get out as quickly as possible. But if you allow that psychological reality to play out, you might have people trampled to death at the door who then block everyone else from escaping.
   
   Reading this was like listening to a rather elderly professor of history who is intimately familiar with many obscure incidents, but doesn't provide the context for his young students to follow his train of thought.



4. There is a wealth of great information and insight in this book, but it is organized in a manner that reduces interest and readability. The authors make points and then provide examples from several financial crises, with the result that almost every single page covers multiple events but you never really get a full picture of those events. It is incredibly relevant to the current (2008) crisis, so it is unfortunate the book isn't organized better.



5. Kindleberger who passed away before the current financial crisis wrote the best book I have read on financial crises. His analysis of boom and bust cycle is prescient. It is much superior to Morris' still excellent The Trillion Dollar Meltdown: Easy Money, High Rollers, and the Great Credit Crash and Shiller's mediocre The Subprime Solution: How Today's Global Financial Crisis Happened, and What to Do about It.
   
   Kindleberger thesis is that manias and panics result from the pro-cyclical changes in credit following the Hyman Minsky model. Credit expands during economic booms as creditors compete for market share. Credit expansions fuel asset bubbles. At a turning point, leveraged speculative borrowers can't service their debt and have to liquidate their collateral (dubbed "Minsky Moment"). Asset bubbles burst. Economy slows down. Credit contracts as creditors struggle for survival. Thus, financial systems are prone to financial crisis.
   
   Minsky defined three states of financial deterioration: a) hedge finance (borrower can repay both principal and interest); b) speculative finance (borrower can repay only interest); and c) Ponzi finance (borrower relies on asset appreciation to refinance debt servicing). Bubbles eventually burst as leveraged investors experience a "negative carry" on their investments, and stocks and housing markets crash. Borrowers default (Ponzi finance) and banks fail. Credit tightens exacerbating the crash.
   
   The Minsky model is scalable. When homeowners (current housing crisis) and developing countries (LDC debt crisis) could not refinance their interest payments with new loans (Ponzi finance), the crisis ignited. The author uncovers other examples of Ponzi finance. These include Japanese real estate borrowers in the 80s, the S&L industry that became insolvent when rates were deregulated in early 80s, and the junk bond issuers of the 80s.
   
   Financial crises are frequent and massive. The 90s witnessed many real estate bubbles that rendered banking systems insolvent in Japan, Finland, Norway, and Sweden. Banks wrote down over 20% of their assets. Deposit guarantee claims exceeded 15% of GDP. In 2001, the Argentinian bank crisis costs 50% of GDP.
   
   Crisis can be lengthy. The Japanese asset bubble deflated the economy for two decades. During the Asian crisis, Hong Kong suffered deflation for 6 years.
   
   He indicates how asset bubbles are sequential as they flow from one country to another. As Japan's asset bubbles in the 80s deflated in the early 90s, international flows left Japan for Thailand and Malaysia. When those countries' bubbles burst in the mid 90s, the funds flows went to the U.S. causing a stock bubble in the late 90s. In Asian countries, bubbles in real estate and stocks often occurred together. But, bubbles can move from one asset class to another. Greenspan lowered U.S. rates to 1% to shore up the economy after the 2001 recession associated with the dot.com bubble. The resulting low ARMs rates contributed to the housing bubble. He also mentions that international stock markets are highly correlated whenever crashes occur. International diversification does not work.
   
   Asset price bubbles are triggered by economic "displacements." In Japan and Scandinavia in the 80s and 90s it was financial deregulation. Other displacements included financial innovations such as derivatives and securitization and technological innovations such as railroad, automobile, aircraft, and the computer.
   
   Kindleberger describes the two stages of manias. The first one is rational exuberance lead by insiders who leverage the positive implication of displacements. The second stage is euphoria when insiders sell out to naive outsiders at the peak. Vulnerable speculators rely on false assumptions. Lenders to the oil sector in the late 70s assumed crude oil prices were headed to $90 by 1990 leading eventually to a housing and banking crisis in Texas in the 80s when such oil prices did not materialize. During the 1970s LDC debt crisis, banks accelerated lending to governments assuming governments don't default.
   
   When Kindleberger analyzes the Great Depression. He notes that the speed of the money supply contraction was far slower than contraction of industrial production. The instant freezing of the credit markets resulting from the stock market crash provides a better explanation of the Great Depression.
   
   Kindleberger indicates central bankers most often avoid pricking asset bubbles. Addressing asset bubbles causes a policy paradox: should they raise interest rates to preempt an asset bubble at the risk of throwing the economy into a recession? The one example of Yasuki Mieno, Governor of the Bank of Japan in 1990 who did prick an asset bubble is discouraging as he triggered two decades of deflation (average GDP growth < 1%).
   
   Chapter 10 addresses whether Governments should intervene when bubble burst to preserve the financial system. Or do they create a moral hazard by doing so. He refers to Hoover and his Secretary of the Treasury as proponents of the "leave-it-alone liquidation" position. The rest is history. Their restrictive fiscal policies contributed to turning a recession into the Great Depression. History indicates that even when Government authorities did not intend to intervene at first, they eventually had to anyway. The Great Depression is an example. Hoover played tough and caused a disaster that FDR had to counter when he came in office.
   
   Chapter 11 focuses on the issue of a domestic lender of last resort as a means to resolve crashes. Such a lender is to halt the debt-deflation downward price spiral on affected real and illiquid financial assets. There is a chronic debate whether the most appropriate lender of last resort is a nation's Central Bank or its Treasury. The Central Bank can readily create money. But, the Treasury can implement nearly equivalent Keynesian fiscal stimuli. Chapter 12 focuses on international lenders of last resorts that include the IMF, the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, and ad hoc bilateral commitments between countries such as the ones between the U.S. and Mexico. These international lenders of last resort have provided financial assistance to the countries affected during the Asian crisis in the late 90s and the Mexican crisis in 1994.
   
   All around this is an outstanding book. If you want to study this subject further, I also suggest Minsky's Stabilizing an Unstable Economy and The Origin of Financial Crises: Central Banks, Credit Bubbles, and the Efficient Market Fallacy (Vintage).

2 comments about Investing for Change: Profit from Responsible Investment.

1. The title of this book appealed to me. I think we're all going through this stage right now, with the economy and our conscience, where we want to grow our money, and yet do so in a way that helps not just ourselves, but the planet in general. But how do we do that? "Investing for Change" explains it. The authors cover the how and the why and the what and manage for it all to make sense. I got some very good ideas from this book, which I will surely be implementing.



2. In this current time of American and Global financial turmoil, rising cost of food, increased foreclosures, global warming, corporate bailouts and the recession in the economy, this book outlines the methods of responsible investing to promote a common good in corporate America and in the world market. Socially Responsible Investing (SRI) is a way we can invest responsibly. In a way, "Money Talks".
   
   As the authors quoted Kofi Annan, the UN Secretary General (page 41):
   "If implemented, they have tremendous potential to more closely align investment practices with the goals of the United Nations, thereby contributing to a more stable and inclusive global economy"
   
   Investing in my core values is an interesting concept to me, and has a broader scope of promoting a positive influence on society. Whether your priorities are for human rights, healthier food, supporting democracy, animal rights, lowering carbon dioxide emissions, avoiding the sale of weapons to oppressive regimes (i.e. Darfur), not capitalizing on addictions (e.g. tobacco, alcohol, gambling), ethnic diversity in management or equal opportunity employment, as the authors have outlined, this book outlines the specifics of SRI.
   
   Each chapter addresses the following issues:
   Investing to Express Your Values: A Natural Idea
   Can SRI Achieve Change?
   Profits or Values?
   Values and Increased Profits?
   Is SRI Sustainable
   Your Values
   
   The book has extensive data and is well referenced, if you have a desire to research this topic further. The reader is also introduced to K&D Research and Analytics that reviews thousands of corporations and scores companies for strengths and concerns related to community, diversity, employee relations, human rights, product safety, pollution and climate change (page 64) and companies are ranked by their Social Responsibility Scores.
   
   Although historical trends are not a predictor of future performance, investments in SRI portfolios have been in step with the S&P 500. Responsible Investment has influenced major corporations such as Coca Cola, Wendy's Internation, Baxter International, McDonald's, Disney, Gap, and Proctor and Gamble. Lobbying has lead to advocating passing a national energy bill to expand clean energy, reduce dependence on oil and curb pollution that causes global warming (page 50).
   
   The book also helps the reader characterize himself or herself as what type of investor he or she is:
   1) Feels morally obliged to avoid companies that are not compatible with personal values
   2) Desires change if the financial cost is small
   3) Not motivated by moral concerns
   
   We are now at a time in history, where corporations must focus upon achieving the common good, in addition to expanding profits. Even in my personal pre-contemplation phase of investing, small changes can lead to large changes in the number of participants (page 111); take the industry of tobacco, for example.
   
   Not all of the book is theoretical. This book also helps the investor decide on how to analyze his or her portfolio and make the change. The appendix lists a few companies that offere SRI funds.
   
   I can forsee more books on this topic. This approach can only better each and everyone of us in our respective communities, our lives and our children's future.
   
   VERDICT
   
   Highly recommend this book for investors, corporate America, foreign corporations, academics and politicians.
   
   2 Thumbs up!

5 comments about Enough: True Measures of Money, Business, and Life.

1. 
   This book was a fun read. It is small and not too long. In fact, it was short. If it had been formatted a little differently it probably could have been sold as a pamphlet instead of as a book. But I liked it.
   
   As I examined the Table of Contents, something you can see if you go to the Search Inside that Amazon offers, I got the feeling I was reading a book from some old timer who considered himself mature, knowledgeable, and a fairly smart guy. Oh yeah, maybe full of wisdom, too? :)
   
   As I turned the pages I kept thinking about the old line I heard growing up: Son, as long as you do your best, that is all we can ask for. Well, who is to say - What is my best? As far as I am concerned, I can always throw in a little extra effort and do better.
   
   So who is to say - What is enough? The author tries to explain it. But I thought he fell short. He fell short in the same way my folks fell short when they told me I only had to do my best. When terms are relative they are not easily defined. And a book devoted to defining a term that is basically undefinable is bound to be viewed as a failure or at least come up short. This book is not a failure I will have you know.
   
   The book makes a valid point. When determining what is enough the judge (maybe you?) must perform a balancing test. You'll have to figure out what is too much, and what is not enough. And whatever you determine is "just right" IS enough. The author provides us with 10 chapters split into three parts: Money (chapters 1-3), Business (chapters 4-7), and Life (chapters 8-10). He makes some good points. And after reading the book one will probably sit and reflect over what has been said. But does it do a good job defining the term? I think not. 4 stars!



2. This book is a "Must Read" for every American who has an interest in investing, saving or the financial industry in general.
   
   It's a wake up call for what's happened to our society and country. Please, read this book and learn from it.



3. Great perspective on investing, economics and life. An insight into the mindset that has built one of the most trusted brands in the investment world. Great job Mr. Bogel.



4. John Bogle has encapsulated a lifetime of knowledge in the investment business (founder of Vanguard) into this book. The most fundamental knowledge provided here is the basic economic proofs that broad based long term investment in the market trumps speculative buy/sell approaches to investment, and the case against financial industry costs as reducing returns to the investor.
   
   The book gets into understandable explanations of how the current financial crisis came about and points out the financial industry's interest in complexity for it's own financial gain rather than value to the investing public.
   
   Truly one of the most valuable and easy to grasp books I've ever read on the subject of investment and economics.



5. Mr. Bogle makes some valid points about the industry he helped shape. The insights he shares shed light on just how we got to the mess we are in today. If I had to fault the book it would be for spending to many pages on his personal life and accomplishments. I understand that he wanted to illustrate his credentials but I believe he could have done so briefly and then expanded his discussion of the financial industry.

5 comments about Crash Proof: How to Profit From the Coming Economic Collapse (Lynn Sonberg Books).

1. If you follow this investment advice in early 2008 you could lose 50~60% of your money. Unfortunatally I did. So be careful!



2. First, this book has the wrong title. The majority of the book's argument and purpose is to explain how fragile the US economy is and how the indications of failure are just the beginning of a larger dollar collapse and implosion of our economy. Since we aren't crash proof, the idea is to move your assets into precious metals, foreign stocks, and liquidity for quick strikes on opportunities. It's a radical thought that may have value in these increasingly radical times.



3. I read the book and invested my IRA in his firm. My life's saving was invested into a "Capital Secured" manner. I lost 40%. His book and his advice are hog wash.



4. Peter Schiff has a remarkable track record for divining the future. His videos, available on Youtube, display back bone and wisdom in standing up to the tide of popular opinion. The guy shows poise and self control in the face of overwhelming contrary positions. I too held the same opinion, "The economy is in trouble!". I wasn't sure what to do about it. And it was through a chance hit, that I discovered Peter Schiff. Unlike me, Peter has the answers to, "What do you do to protect yourself?" I don't agree with all of Peter's conclusions, but the book served as a catalyst and platform for further thinking on the subject. I adopt the strategies of Peter's that I like and was able to think of additional things that I wanted to do. Thanks Peter. Great book. Did you collect your "penny" from that snob? (One of the tube videos)



5. Peter Schiff is a professional doomsayer who strongly makes the case that the American economy is going to hell in a hand basket. Fast.
   
   He lays out this case in his book, CRASH PROOF. Given the backdrop of recent months, it is hard to say he is wrong. The book came out @ February of 2007 so Schiff is prescient in a number of realms.
   
   If doom and gloom is your cup of tea, you have come to the right book. Schiff sees over consumption, inflation and misguided government policies as providing a recipe for economic and financial disaster. My gripe is that the book's title oversells and does not really constitute truth in advertising. I estimate that only about one-fourth of the book is prescriptive in offering ways to "crash proof" yourself and your finances. Schiff's solutions revolve around three themes: invest in foreign securities, buy gold and maximize your liquidity.
   
   It just so happens that Schiff's firm can address the foreign securities need and he peppers his final chapter with "plugs" for his investment company.