5 comments about Naked Economics: Undressing the Dismal Science.

1. Im not an Econmoic buff whatsoever (Had to read it for my grad class). This book is easy to understand and fun. GREAT!



2. My 20 year old nephew, a junior college student not known for his scholarly pursuits, took this book before I had a chance to read it. He found it so fascinating that he began taking it with him into the bathroom. He says he's going to take an economics course next semester.



3. The first chapter had me hooked with the Coke/Berlin Wall story. If you are looking for a balanced book on economics for newbies, without the math, than this is the book for you. The author does a good job explaining his point of view and usually succeeds at being balanced. I am half way through the book and have no complaints so far.



4. First of all this is an exciting book. Yes exciting. Naked Economics presents some of the key aspects of economics by using real world situations which are frequently presented in the form of the controversies that arise over these concepts. Is government intervention in the economy a good thing? Naked Economics answers this question in two chapters; the first chapter shows how government can help the economy and the second chapter shows how government can hinder the economy. The author's conclusion, that a corruption free government is an essential component of a functioning economy but that there are a myriad of ways for the government to do harm, somewhat epitomizes the author's approach to explaining economics, rather than take the side of one type of economic theory he presents several of them, pointing out the merits of each one as he goes along. I said "somewhat" above because the author is clearly pro globalization and, I thought, did not do enough to present countering views of anti-globalization adherents. For example he makes no mention of the Fair Trade movement. I still think this is a very good book as it leaves you with the ability to follow, at a high level, layperson articles on the state of the economy. This book covers the importance of among others, incentives, human capital, information, financial markets and monetary policy. All in all I thought it was a very good read.



5. As an accountant and former college Econ minor I found this book to be fun and engaging. It tackles common misconceptions about how the economy operates and truly sheds light on how things work from a high level. This is a great read for anyone who wants to understand our economy and should be required reading for all Econ 101 students.

5 comments about Fast Food Nation.

1. received the book quicker than expected. the book was in excellent condition. I highly recommend this seller



2. Outstanding You: Discover, Design and Achieve Ultimate Fitness
   
   This book should be required reading at all American schools. The purpose behind this book is not to convert people to vegetarian/vegan diets, but instead to educate them about the disastrous state our food supply is in. Though I use this book for information to support my vegan/vegetarian diet, I found it incredibly detailed and thought provoking. Highly recommended for anyone seeking more information on where their food comes from.
   
   Ron Betta
   Author - Outstanding You



3. This book is truly interesting in that it explains a process that many consumers thought that they were already familiar with.
   
   This book will explain why:
   
   1) it always seems the person at the register is being "trained".
   
   2) children flock to most fast food joints.
   
   3) the fast food industry exploded with growth in the last 30 years.
   
   4) This country needs an alternative to our current and growing feeding trends!



4. I'm a vegetarian who doesn't eat at fast-food restaurants. I thought this book was going to be an interesting expose of the fast-food industry. Instead, it was a series of meandering stories that weren't all that compelling. I got about halfway through the book and realized there was really no point in finishing it.
   
   I noticed that whenever someone was portayed negatively, the word "Republican" invariably cropped up. When one meatpacking company owner became less sympathetic to workers, Schlosser goes out of his way to let the reader know that he went from being a liberal Democrat to a conservative Republican.
   
   It's this kind of political posturing (Schlosser is obviously a liberal Democrat who can't keep his disdain for Republicans out of his writing), along with the fact that Schlosser just isn't that good of a writer, that helps to sink this book.
   
   I kept wondering when I was going to learn something interesting that wasn't obvious. All I learned was what I already knew. Fast-food is a giant industry that pays teenagers low wages and uses a lot of potatoes from giant agribusiness companies and beef from giant cattle companies. Oh yeah, and they use flavorings from companies in New Jersey.
   
   Stop the presses.



5. Fast Food Nation is a fine "Social Thriller" bringing you to the edge of your seat right from beginning till the end.
   If "Erin Brockowich" is for P&G, then "Fast Food Nation" is for MacDonald's.Author has not spared a single stone unturned to make this book an "encyclopedia" of fast food "facts"( read evils)
   
   Going right into the production of raw materials,beef, french fries, potato farms, cattle feeds, workers apathy, production plants overseas, rules,legalities, food poisoning etc, Author has managed to bring the complete loop or lifecycle into this 300 pages "encyclopedia".Author has to commended for the way he has presented the topic to be an interesting reading and not a dull thesis.
   
   And as a reader , I respectfully disagree with the author on the following areas :
   
   Authors blatant attack on the low paid jobs - It is true that pay scales in fast food joints are going down, but we need to understand that fast food joints have created enormous amount of "low quality-high quantity"jobs that helps the economy. Do not expect any industry (even the government) to hire millions of employees even on short term contracts with zero to no skills at close proximity to employees homes at hours that are flexible. In fact America is called a "service economy" and a service economy is mostly nothing more than flipping burgers .
   
   So many people read the book for sheer one reason:
   How does it affect me and my children ?-
   
   And that would have meant atleast some comparison to restaurent jobs, restaurant cleanliness etc outside the fast food world. This would probably have given the reader a more balanced view of the food industry as a whole( contrary to all "burger kings and MacDonald's are villains).
   
   Author also fails to emphazise the bigger picture of the fact that "fast food" industries are an evolution of the "modern couch potato American" , "working moms", "single parent" culture. It was not the sheer marketing genius of MacDonald's that made it what it is today.Fortunately or unfortunately MacDonald ( and others )are adding value to the society by filling up a "dangerous need" in the society. "Low cost food" - fast and easy.
   
   And the worst of all, the same need is getting slowly created in societies like India and China.
   
   Read this book -
   If you have a family
   If you frequently grab a quick lunch at McDonald's
   If you or ur friends have tried Lipitor and other weight loss medications
   Read it - even if you read only fiction books!.It is about YOU AND YOUR LIFE.
   
   One of the finest books that I have read in recent times on social themes. I always wondered this book has every quality to be a 'movie' and yes, it did become a movie. If you are averse to reading, watch the movie. For me , I enjoyed the literary richness of the book ,analysis and the content of the book

5 comments about The Richest Man in Babylon.

1. How do you place a price on brilliance? This short read is outstanding and I would recommend it to anyone including every junior or senior high school student in the United States. More books like this one and all of the Og Mandino books or any of the Napolean Hill books. And, let's not forget W. Clement Stone books.
   The Richest Man in Babylon



2. It's interesting, entertaining and good historical read. And very motivational. For that price you get a great time, good mood and motivational power. A worth to buy & re-read also. I can just add one more 5 star. You must have this book just because it's a eternal law of money nature



3. I read The Richest Man in Babylonseveral years ago while on vacation but when I got home I couldn't remember the name of the book. I have been searching for the book on & off since then.
   
   I just bought 4 copies on line a few days ago and will be giving them (3 of them) out for Christmas. I can hardly wait for them to arrive.
   
   Every time I speak to someone about finances I bring up this book. Now I will be able to give them the name. It helped me get out of debt except for my house.
   
   I highly recommend this book, especiall for Jr high/High School kids. It will give them a look to finances that schools don't teach. It is not a "Religous" book but gives a parable look at finances. (Do you remember Aesops Fables when you were young? They taught us alot.)



4. Clason's timeless classic is not just about how to acquire money, keep money, and make money earn more money. Rather, it is also about how to achieve personal wealth, happiness, and even meaning in this world. The use of parables and stories make this a great book for children as well.
   
   Although many books contain the same messages, the way Clason delivers these timeless strategies cannot be duplicated by anyone else.



5. Great for beginners, starters, students, people looking to learn about money. It's a must. This booked is unchanged and does allow those looking and keeping money. A great lesson in life.

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

5 comments about Stock Trader's Almanac 2009 (Almanac Investor Series).

1. As the industry "heavies" go, this publication is definitely a standard. Clearly, every trader knows no one book is the answer-all; and, this annual is definitely worth serious consideration for standard trading watch.



2. i have been using this almanac for many many years and i also subscribed to their web services. Just one trade will be worth it.
   
   I believe in probability when it comes to the stock market and one should try to line up everything you could to increase your probability of a successful trade or investment. Why not buy or sell with that in mind over and above the tools you use either foundamentals or technical or both.



3. The 2007 Stock Trader's Almanac was a disappointment, however, I did enjoy the wit and humour. It is NOT very helpful for market timers.



4. the book offers very good stats about the stocm market very very interesting, the cover and pages keep comming out of the cheap made spiral.



5. The almanacs don't attempt to teach you how to assess valuation or secular shifts, these books are historical trends of broader markets and indexes and they are often more accurate than wrong.
   
   Interestingly, it seems when they're wrong it is a "duh, no brainer" such as when the trend for an up January often means an up year for the DOW, S&P except for times of war / duh !
   
   Another gem, "Down Friday, Down Monday warning" that says market tops and bottoms are often denoted with a down Friday followed by the next Monday also down. This is a great tool in volatile markets like we've been experiencing for the last 13 months.
   
   From November of 2004 - June 2006 this indicator was spotted 17 times and every time it was either the very bottom or top of the market OR within 1% of either.
   
   If you need the other stuff I mentioned about how to assess valuation and secular trends then spend time at Vectorvest and even by reading Cramer's Real Jim Cramer's Real Money: Sane Investing in an Insane World to gain some fundamentals on these topics.
   
   For index trading, the ST Almanac is required.

5 comments about The Numerati.

1. It may be that you have a "shopper's card" at your local grocery; you hand it to the teller as you check out, and the computer registers, besides what the total is and how the store's inventory will need to be restocked, just what the purchases were for you as a specific individual shopper. Maybe it will mail you some coupons on items it can tell you will be interested in, based on what you have already bought. Not too interesting, not too challenging for the computer, not too intrusive. But what will happen when you get a smart cart at the store? That's one that will welcome your insertion of your shopper's card, and then tell you what your shopping list usually looks like so you don't forget anything, where today's bargains are (in other words, what the store manager is trying to offload), and the fastest route through the aisles so you can get everything you need. If this sounds like it could be a useful tool for you, and also sounds a little creepy because of all the information the store (and the cart) knows about you, it's just the beginning. You may well want to see what else those who are mining your personal information are up to by reading _The Numerati_ (Houghton Mifflin) by Stephen Baker. Baker is a business journalist who wants to let us know about a new reach of mathematics into our lives. There are no equations here, just stories of the mathematicians and computer geeks that use them to find and exploit patterns of our day-to-day existence. Baker has cast some light onto many facets of an arcane realm of number crunchers, and has written a book that is entertaining and often disconcerting.
   
   You can decide that you do not want to have a shopper's card. You can also decide that you do not want a cell phone, you never want to purchase anything on a credit card, or you do not wish to use an internet search engine. If you do volunteer for such activities, the Numerati have you. You cannot help but leave a digital trail. Most of Baker's chapters involve his looking into a particular realm of number crunching, interviewing the geeks and mathematicians who are involved, describing what has been done so far, and explaining the prospects for the not-too-distant future. Perhaps the brightest prospects for data mining are medical. Patients will do nothing extra to deliver information; it will just be monitored passively. Imagine a bed equipped with sensors that would tell how many hours we are actually spending in it, or how much tossing or turning we do, or how many times we get up for a bathroom break and how much fluid is lost on each such trip. Maybe there will be magic carpet on the floor of an elderly patient's house; it could register weight gain, or a new peculiarity in gait, or a fall, or even if the patient has stopped moving around the house during the day.
   
   Privacy concerns are valid; it remains to be seen how much each of us will have to re-think what privacy actually means. There could also be moral questions involved; if you could make a mathematical model of a pedophile, and your church or school screens job applicants using such a model, and the screen says a candidate is an 85% fit, what is the right thing to do (and, an entirely separate question, what will be the thing to do to minimize legal liability)? And that percentage fit - it's going to be what any Numerati have to put up with, because any prediction or pattern can only indicate not reality, not truth, but mere probability. Several of the boffins interviewed here say that as complicated as are the mathematical algorithms to turn people into data, the math is the easy part; it's the humans that are hard to figure out. It is surprising, too, how simple tasks are actually monumental; terrorist watch lists of mere names present a nightmare, as any non-terrorist traveler who has a similar name will tell you. Internationalizing such data is a horrendous task; the Chinese alone, for instance, spell Osama Bin Laden eleven different ways. Baker's brightly-written and enthusiastic book presents pleasing pictures of how our numbers will come up in the future, and emphasizes those without neglecting to mention the darker issues of data misuse. He even did his own little experiment that verified something information techs have known since the most primitive of electronic computers. He and his wife filled out questionnaires at a dating site, and were dismayed that the computer did not point them in each other's direction as potential matches. It turns out that Baker had mistakenly excluded women of his wife's age. The verification: garbage in, garbage out.



2. This book was not only boring, I also didn't learn anything at all. I really struggled to get through this book, and thought many times about just giving up. I wish I had just given up and stopped reading it after the first few pages. It is also written in such a pretentious style - whoever uses the work "confrere" these days? Do yourself a favor and buy something else.



3. IBM, Google, Accenture, Carnegie Mellon, Intel, Mayo Clinic used mathematical models to do data mining on consumer patterns. The book is an easy read. You do not need any mathematical or quantitative background.
   
   Yes, data modeling and data mining existed for many years. Modeling human behavior to find the niche in marketing, remain to be the research processes that these companies are working on.
   
   For years, marketing is being creative, trying to design the best ad that sells. With quants marching in the room, marketing is very different today. This book will be better if more data or analysis can be presented.



4. The science of data-mining is gaining in sophistication, but don't look to this book for any real understanding. Baker has written a book containing very little actual information content. He does not even attempt to convey how these techniques work or what their limitations are. Instead he paints a picture of a sinister and not-too-human "Numerati" that is handling our data while spurning basic social skills. It's a comic book plot that takes the place of any actual factual information. All you come away with is the idea that Baker is scared of what mathematicians are doing. 90% of the book is fluff.



5. [[ASIN:156726217Imagine that you are hiking through the woods, as you move through the trail you leave behind a series of clues that a tracker could follow and interpret. If the tracker was skillful enough they would be able to accurately estimate you weight, height, speed, and perhaps even determine where you are heading. Back at your home, you leave a similar sort of trail daily as you go about your normal routine: buying groceries, shopping online, reading blogs, surfing the internet. This is your data trail and there are modern day trackers who are following it. Stephen Baker calls them the Numerati and it is these people who are the subject of his book
   
   The Numerati are a diverse group of mathematicians, scientists, and entrepreneurs who are tracking you as you leave your imprint in the data world in pursuit of a pot of gold - you. Or not really you, but a model of you. A model that allows the Numerati to not only understand where you've been, but predict how you will act. The goal of these models is a complete understanding of our most basic wants, desires, and fears and how they guide our behavior. It is in the predictive ability of these models where in lies the pot of gold. Governments, businesses, political parties are all willing to pay a great deal of money to have access to these models and each of these parties wants a particular model of your behavior.
   
   It is these specific models of us as consumers, lovers, voters etc. that provide an allow Mr. Baker to provide interesting insights into the inner world of the Numerati. structures his book using various personas or archetypes Lover, Voter, Consumer etc., so further investigate the inner workings of the Numerati. Attempting to model complete individuals is too complex, but providing smaller, more discrete models of particular aspects of our behavior are much more predictive and therefore valuable to those who are interested in manipulating or persuading us.
   
   So is this good or bad? Mr. Baker is suitably neutral in his treatment as the models in themselves have no moral value, but only predictive value. But he does not ignore the moral dimension as he does provide examples of how some of his subjects express reservations about how their research is being applied. But Mr. Baker takes a much more pragmatic view of the industry, it exists and is not likely to disappear, it has too much value to the powers that be, so it is better to shine a light on it so that we can better understand its implications. And if this was his goal, Mr. Baker has succeeded.
   
   
   
   1 Project Decisions: The Art and Science]]

5 comments about Reminiscences of a Stock Operator (Wiley Investment Classics).

1. Never before had I so much fun reading and learning about the psychology of buying and shorting stocks. This is an extraordinarily written piece of work that eases into explanations of the power of the subconscious as well as the power of emotions on the conscious decisions made during those uncertain moments of trading. Great book!



2. 
   
   over 85 years old and still going strong, read it and find out why



3. Many reviews have been written about this book. All that I have seen are accurate. It is a superb book and a riveting read. The author gives you a good look at the thinking of a momentum operator as well as a view of financial history.
   
   The view of the bucket shops of old provides and insight that could be loosely applied to todays currency brokers and the pools to those of the hedge funds.



4. Great philosophical read on trading in the market. Very interesting stories on mistakes made and corrections applied. Not a stock trading tutorial.



5. This book has a lot to offer a trader. It is about the greatest trader that ever lived. While not written that well there are yet gems of data that make it worth the time and effort. It can apply to any market - not just stocks.

5 comments about The Visual Display of Quantitative Information, 2nd edition.

1. I was able to read this fairly quickly. (stealing a few hours here and there at work).
   
   Although I did not find any direct solutions to my current problems - it definitely opened my imagination to consider new possibilities.



2. I returned to Tufte's first classic book of graphic design principles over 20 years after first discovering it. At the time, I was the corporate librarian for a major electric utility, and the explosion in the organization and creation of information by individuals with new personal-computer hardware and software was just beginning (I had an IBM PC-XT with 640Kb of RAM and two 360k floppies--no hard drive).
   
   Now, I wondered, aside from the masterpiece of graphic design that "Visual Display" of course still represents, did Tufte's theories of graphics design still apply in a world where those computers at our fingertips pack the power and sophistication of the best publishing equipment? The answer is yes: Tufte's guidelines are timeless and universal, and most of his examples predate the computer era and even the 20th century.
   
   The guidelines boil down to the single principle of making design choices that result in the simplest possible display of complex data. While that may not sound profound, Tufte provides simple and practical rules for implementing sound design choices, and the resulting improvements in your documents and web designs will be noticeable.



3. Tufte's book is a very fine book on data graphics.
   
   Although this book gives a lot of simple advice on how to effectively communicate quantitative information, it is not just a recipe-like book, as it also makes you think about a data graphic as something that is telling a story with numbers.
   
   Beware that not all advice given is easily applied using common office suites. This is by no means a problem with the book, it is just that the text is not at all software-oriented. In fact, you may start to see the limitations in the office suites themselves. So, for those who just want some fast rules to use in their favorite software, this book may not be enough, or even the most recommended one. For all other readers, I highly recommend it.



4. It is rare that a supposedly technical book really changes a reader's life. I can say, though, that after reading Tufte's books, my life is not the same. The complaints of the detracting reviewers are baseless if you understand the nature of this book. This book is the groundworks of a theory of seeing, of communicating through images. It is by no means a new theory. Throughout human history man has communicated through history. But Tufte shows with unparalleled visual eloquence what makes one image successfully communicate while another fails.
   
   After reading this book, I have never looked at printed matter in the same way again. Not only that, through his breadth of examples and the depth of his analysis, the reader is made to realize that visual information/visual communication are at the heart of our human identity. Tufte's definition of successful display and its inherent subtlety are so deeply human that they can be carried over to general rhetoric and aesthetics if not farther.
   
   No, he won't do your homework for you. He won't supply you with handy templates for making projects look snappier. Expecting that is like expecting a philosophy book to think for you. This work (I refer to all of his books--they really are one unit together) is certainly one of the great accomplishments of the last twenty years.



5. This book is great. It has a lot of useful insights. However I was expecting something more practical... Maybe it's not a guide but a book with some nice historical data and references. Superb graphs and pictures.
   
   Yes I would recommend you to buy it .

5 comments about A Random Walk Down Wall Street: The Time-Tested Strategy for Successful Investing, Ninth Edition.

1. The book is otherwise fabulous, but you should steer clear of the Kindle version. The Kindle handles charts poorly, and this book has a lot of them. Some are manageable, but many others contain small text that is so blurry that it might as well be written in Arabic. Quite honestly, it is not entirely clear to me how Amazon gets away with selling this item. The Kindle is great, but Amazon absolutely should not sell books that cannot actually be read on it.



2. This book helps to understand how the shares market works and its history.
   
   I think it may interest all people who wants to improve his knowleadge in
   
   investing.



3. Would have give it 5 stars,except for the fact that they did not return my e-mail, when I had a question



4. As a novice to finance, I found this book both educational and entertaining. Highly recommended!



5. Very good book, the author takes you behind the scene of Wall Street and history of the market. He goes over the basics of our economy and the different avenues of investing. This is a must read for anyone who want to start investing but is confused on where to start. I would have given this book 5 stars if he had written down a step by step process to investing. I recommend this book 1st and then read Jim Cramer's Mad Money, he gives the step by step procedures I was looking for in his book.

5 comments about Cashflow Quadrant: Rich Dad's Guide to Financial Freedom.

1. Want to know why the rich get richer and everyone else seems to struggle? Is this an end all on the subject- NO it is not, as Robert himself would tell you the study of money if a lifetime pursuit.
   
   However this book does an excellent job of describing the basics of why the rich get richer- and how they do it.
   
   This book is also the first that enabled me to understand some basic accounting principles- mostly by not using numbers and formulas just some simple diagrams. Does it make you a CPA- No. But it does get a working class guy with little to no accounting knowledge the basic understanding of a personal financial statement.
   
   Robert Kiyosaki (and his advisors) write books that make what seems to be complex money subjects seem understandable. Kind of the way AOL made the internet seem easy. Most of us have outgrown AOL a LONG, LONG time ago. And you can improve your financial literacy easily with Robert and his team.



2. This book is really the "core" of beliefs that are expressed in many of the author's books.
   
   Where this book excels is getting people out "employee" or "self employed" mentality and thinking in a "business owner" or "investor" mentality. After I read this book I really started looking at my co-workers in a strange way and decided I needed a change.
   
   Kiyosaki recommends investing in assets that create a positive cash flow immediately. Easier said than done, but the author admits it's not easy -to get rich!
   
   Since I've read this book, I've left the "employee" and "self-employed" mentality behind and have really focused on business owner mentality. Although my personal "cash flow" initially dropped in the process, my long term situation has definitely improved and put me on target to achieve higher levels of success.



3. I really liked this book. It was just as good if not better than Rich Dad, Poor Dad. I recomend it.



4. The Poor and the middle class work for money. The rich have money work for them.
   -Robert Kiyosaki
   
   Robert Kiyosaki, the author of the best-seller Rich Dad, Poor Dad, explains the four different types of people in terms of their quadrants (Employee, Self-Employed, Business-Owner, and Investor). The employee works for someone else and values security. The self-employed works for himself and values being his own boss and doing his own thing. The business-owner creates systems and delegates work to other people, and he values freedom. The investor makes money with money, and he values freedom as well.
   
   The difference between a true business-owner/investor and employee/self-employed is that the business-owner/investor can go on vacation forever because he owns the systems, not the job. The business-owner/investor can leave his work and find that the business has grown even more prosperous, while the employee/self-employed can never leave his work since he own the jobs.
   
   Everyone can master all four quadrants, but it is only those who have mastered the business system and investor system that can truly achieve financial freedom and wealth. Anyone doing any work can still become a businessmen/investor if he would only dedicate the time, energy, and work to become one.



5. Thanks to the higher yen rate to the $, I could get this with more reasonable price from Japan. This CD is worth purchasing for all desire to change your life.