5 comments about Candlestick Charting Explained.

1. I use candlesticks myself because they are visually superior to bar charts, but their value as a trading tool is very questionable. Because of that, I would've given this book a 1 star rating if it didn't contain some very interesting backtesting results. Ironically, these results show that even the best candlestick patterns yield short term returns that are so small that trading costs eliminate them.



2. Mr. Morris has painstakingly explained an encyclopedia of candle patterns along with statistical data which helps to choose the most profitable and the most recurring candlestick patterns. Throughout the book, he has emphasised on the practicality of candlestick charting and to what extent should it be used. One of the major important features is the "Candlestick filtering" technique by the help of our present-day Western World technical indicators. The same helps to extract the best from the East and West.
   
   I would suggest to Mr. Morris to add a section of Real time Charts so as to enable his readers to find out or pinpoint specific candlestick patterns (learnt from the book)and to understand to what extent the readers' surmise was correct.



3. This book has everything you need to know about Candlestick charting. If you are interested in learning Candlestick charts and formations as a short term trading tool, look no further than this book.
   
   David Colletti
   Founder
   StockTradersHQ.com



4. I had already read this book and Steve Nison's Japanese Candlestick Charting Techniques.
   
   If you want to buy a book about candlestick both books have the same content about all the candlestick patterns and the descrition about them.
   
   Japanese Candlestick Charting Techniques:
   - has chapters about the relationship of candlestick with Volume, Support and Resistence, trendlines, Indicators (MACD,IFR,etc). This is VERY GOOD. Realy good.
   - It has many examples discussed too. More than this book.
   
   This book has:
   - a chapter about Trading with Candlesticks that has content about trendlines, supports, etc.
   - a lot of statistics of the patterns.
   
   One great difference is that this book is easier to use. It has a standardized format for all the patterns with Commentary, Rules, Psychology Behind the Pattern, Flexibility, Pattern Breakdown, Related Patterns, Examples. This is VERY GOOD. It's only search the pattern and read what you want to know. It has a table with a resume about the pattern too.
   
   Steve Nison's book isn't objective and it is not hands-on. You are reading an example, but... where is the picture?? You have to turn the pages searching the picture and them back to the curretly page to keep going. To do that for more than 300 pages is very, VERY BAD. Really. Trust me. You need to have a lot of patience.
   
   Well, if you read one of these books, don't worry: you will know all about candlesticks. But this book is easier to use and to consult.
   And it is cheaper than Steve Nison's book.
   
   Abrax!!!



5. This is not a book about theory and history of candlestick charts. He doesn't waste your time telling you what he thinks. Instead, this book gives specific results of candle patterns based on back-testing done by the author. He clearly defines each pattern discussed and then % of likelyhood of a reversal, continuation, and so forth. This is the kind of information that can be applied to your trading system to improve your profits.
   Also look at Tharp's book, "Trade Your Way to Financial Freedom".

3 comments about Wiley CPA Exam: How to Master Simulations (with CD ROM) (Wiley Cpa Exam).

1. I did not find too many useful hints in this book. The information provided can be found in the NASBA website. However, some of the simulation questions were helpful. It was helpful because it provided a detailed explanation. The reason why I purchased the software was to get experience with the research portion of the exam. This CD does not have this option available.



2. this product help the CPA candidate to understand simulation, and its functionality, but the candidate must make more practice before the examination especially in the research section and communication. the other sections in the simulation can be answered (if you are not sure from your answer)from the standard tab in the simulation.
   for every candidate please make more practice for the research section from the internet before you attend the examination because if you don't know where the answer is, it could take a long time from your time. So you should memo the standards headlines. goodluck



3. It's helpful to the simulation part. But I still recommend exam takers to do as much practice as you can to prepare the exam.

2 comments about Capital : A Critique of Political Economy (Penguin Classics) (Volume 2).

1. I used to ascribe to Marxist philosophy. However, there are problems with his analysis, and it can be seen in concrete terms from command economies. If the labor theory of value is true, then there is no difference between 1 year old scotch and 15-year old scotch whiskey, although conisseurs of liquor would disagree... shoddy products and inefficent workers come into play. Another problem is that Marx promises "Proof" of the labor theory of value but never gives it. Also, he talked alot about Capital but not a lot about Communism. He never discussed how Communist society would work in a modern world, giving us only vague extrapolations from "Primitive Communism" or Hunter/Gatherer societies. Worth the money though.



2. Although Marx's Capital remains a difficult read, it is essential for understanding the current economic mess, in particular the growth of unproductive speculative capital. With speculative debt reaching nearly ten times the level of the world's productive economy (GDP), it appears that the barons of capitalism have sealed their own fate. Find out why.

5 comments about Getting Started in Options (Getting Started In.....).

1. Buy this book if want to know more or anything about options. Great beginners book taught me the basics quick. Plenty of examples and graphs. When you read this book you will be surprised by the amount of risk that can be removed or added on. Options are less risky than you think.



2. I bought this book with no knowledge of how options worked. I had read "When Genius Failed" about LTCM, the worlds biggest hedge fund which failed in the 90's. The book had discussed options a lot and had sparked an interest in me.
   I had wanted to get into trading options for a while and had tried reading about them on investopedia and various other sites. Finally I decided to settle for this book. Options is an awesome book for beginners like myself. Thomsett smoothes out Options and really makes you understand everything from the basics to more advanced options strategies. The book is filled with scenarios to support each new topic and is not dry or heavy reading.
   
   I actually was reading it the other night on the train on the way home from a concert. The man across from me commented that it wasn't exactly light reading for a late train ride. I hadn't even thought about it that way. Options can be intimidating and textbook style books can be boring, however this iis not true for this book. I strongly reccomened it for the prospective options trader with little knowledge on the subject.



3. I originally bought this book in 2001. The latest revision has been completely updated with new 'stuff'. Michael writes in a very down home manner making all the concepts clear and easy to understand. When you are done you will want to trade immediately. (Called Emotion, don't do it)
   
   Read it through cover to cover no notes. Then read it again and mark the heck out of it. Then read it a third time to absorb your notes and scan the rest looking for what you missed the second time around.
   
   This is by far the best introduction to Option Trading that I have read.



4. This book is explains the options trading for the beginners in simple language. A great book to start the trading business.



5. I have been investing for a few years and wanted to start trading options. After much looking I settled on "Getting Started in Options" and I don't regret it one bit. The book is very well organized and there are tons of examples. For example during the chapter on puts Thomsett puts in examples of all of the strategies he explains. And he does this in every chapter to help illustrate the point he is trying to make. He explains how you will make money with each method and how you will lose money. He even talks about researching companies in which to invest. I think this could have been left out since you should be familiar with stock investing before you start with options but this is really just a gloss over and you will need to read other books for any decent level of detail. In the later chapters he discusses numerous different spreads and how they play out.
   
   If I was to complain about the book it would be the numerous spelling and occasional math errors. But if you are following along you will be able to spot them and figure out what the correct calculation/word is supposed to be. While I would usually deduct a star for this type of oversight it really isn't significant enough considering the wealth of knowledge contained in the book.
   
   If you read some of the negative reviews they state specific problems people found with this book. Those reviews were of previous editions. With this latest edition (seventh edition) most of the complaints previous reviewers have stated have been addressed and the book is very good.
   
   Bottom line: If you have limited or no knowledge of options this is a great start. After reading this you will have an excellent understanding of options and be ready for books covering advanced topics. The author has addressed the shortcomings of previous editions and has made a book that should be on the shelf of every options investor.

5 comments about The Elusive Quest for Growth: Economists' Adventures and Misadventures in the Tropics.

1. I understand that it's a book written to be accessible to people like myself who are not economists and will NEVER be economists, but that does not mean I have to be treated like I am severely unintelligent. The reading level of this book falls far below what any college educated person should be expected to read. I don't think the author of this book is nearly as deserving of the high accolades (not to mention profits) he has been receiving for writing this book. When a book contains the phrase 'I think learning under the right circumstances is a very good thing' you know that the quality of the writing is deficient. It is elementary at best.



2. The Elusive Quest for Growth: Economists' Adventures and Misadventures in the Tropics by William Easterly is an honest answer to part of the question, "why hasn't the world improved like we thought it would?" Easterly conducts a post-mortem conference on western aid programs since the end of World War II, finding that in many cases we should have known better. The incentives created by some nations' economic environment, or the aid programs themselves led national economies into periods of stagnant or negative growth. Easterly's mantra is "people respond to incentives." Ignoring this truth, a central tenet of economics, has led to several irrational choices in the area of development aid, and many failures to achieve our objectives.
   
   While pessimistic at times in his evaluation of what we have done in the West, the truth behind the text is that all these problems are preventable. Overall, a valuable and essential piece of information in understanding the state of the world today in regards to differing economic outcomes and how it has come to be that way.



3. Easterly is a brilliant and talented writer, as one would expect from the World Bank. At times, though, the Bank is isolated from the benefits of being subjected to such talent. Individual efforts are certainly reviewed, but at the end of the day, Stiglitz and others have argued that the very points Easterly makes suggests that the Bank is far off the course set by its mandate. We are therefore left with yet another recommended "fine tuning" of WB programming without a serious reflection over whether the WB is the proper mechanism for fiddling with the intricate clockworks that are national economies. I sign off by asking the Americans, Britons, Australians, French, Swiss and others from "developed" countries what it would take to allow an autocratic, bureaucratic and politically un-accountable (and this series of adjectives in no way lessens the tremendous respect I have for nearly every WB staff member I've met) organization tip-toe into THEIR administrative systems. I argue that the problem with economic tinkering in the Pacific is that it is, and looks to remain, the product of bureaucratic meddling on a scale similar to Mao's China, which undermines both the development of governance systems that can curtail corruption (i.e. local acocuntability for performance based on available resources- NOT (!!!!!!) in any way similar to efforts to make local authorities better subsidiaries of the notably corrupt central governments as is currently being pushed in the Pacific and elsewhere) AND legitimate free market systems. This book is a fantastic read, and I highly recommend it be paired with Stiglitz's "Globalization..." and Jeffrey Sach's "End of Poverty..." for a very ponderous but enriching book club series.



4. Watch Video Here: http://www.amazon.com/review/RN4QXC248QBRO Nathan Kirkland's review was made as part of a critical review assignment for the Fall 2008 Honors Colloquium on Creative Destruction at the University of Nebraska at Omaha, taught by Art Diamond. (The course syllabus stated that part of the critical review assignment consisted of the making of a video recording of the review, and the posting of the review to Amazon.)



5. The Elusive Quest for Growth, precisely lists the main reasons why slow or negative growth per capita has plagued emerging economies. Its thesis statement: people respond to incentives, brilliantly proves how many traditional ways of dealing with low growth economies is misapplied by bad government policies. The book is well structured and develops with great ease. The book is perfect for social entrepreneurs and economists.

5 comments about All About Index Funds (All About).

1. I value Richard Ferri's books and this one is no exception. While the writing is easy to grasp, it is most complete. The book covers just about everything you need to know to master investing in index funds or ETFs.
   
   Although the book is not about allocation (Ferri has a great book on that subject), it does discuss it. He shows how to actually cut risk by using a more aggressive approach.
   
   I found the history of index funds most interesting. But I also appreciated the discussion of tax advantage in indexing, the different benchmarks, bonds and commodities.
   
   This book can make you money if you read it, study it and apply it to your own investing. The more you know about and understand index funds and their close kin, ETFs, the better able you will be to profit by using them.
   
   Highly recommended.



2. I'm a total noob to the market and investing but this book explained so much. I think its a must read for anyone looking into investing for their future and have no idea where to start.



3. This book does a good job of explaning the concept and history of index funds as well as the emerging presence of EFT's
   
   I liked John Bogle's 1994 book on mutual funds better, but his book touched on facets Mr. Bogle's book did not. Of course that book was copyright 1994 IIRC.
   
   I learned about indexing and the various indicies they emulate as well as the advantages and pitfalls of EFT's
   
   A worth while read.
   
   Members of AAII [...] have access to the 2007 EFT review which is excellent at analyzing the catagories and expenses of the various EFT's.



4. I have taken advantage of the latest market volatility to confirm my long-term financial strategy. I ordered several books from Amazon on asset allocation and using low-cost index funds or ETFs for investment.
   
   Rick Ferri's books (I also ordered his new ETF book) are well-researched, complete guides to sensible, long-term investing. He avoids the fads, and provides information in clear, understandable terms without all of the emotional "hype" present in many books about the capital markets.
   
   In my opinion, Mr. Ferri's prior books (and the articles he has published in journals for financial professionals) have made me a better investor.
   
   I highly recommend All About Index Funds.



5. I have been doing a self-study on investing topics this year and previously read several books on indexing by Jack Bogle [my hero, and an erudite writer], and Morningstar's Christine Benz [Clear and concise], but I think this is my favorite. Ferri is laser sharp in explaining investing concepts, and reads like you are learning one-on-one from an excellent business school professor. I bought this book because I had already read his also excellent book on asset allocation. This would be a perfect book if it was better edited. The text and content is fine but there are typos, repeated words, etc. Ferri's work deserves better, but I still very highly recommend the book.

5 comments about Study Guide for Trading for a Living: Psychology, Trading Tactics, Money Management.

1. Not as advertised, this book will not work alone -, and the added value will not be that much You need to have the book "Trading for a Living: Psychology, Trading Tactics, Money Management" and the combination will be great. ...



2. I ordered the guide along with the actual book and really never did use it. It may be cheap, but I think the book itself should be enough.



3. In order for this book to work you need to have the initial Trading for a Living. With both books together you will begin to have all of the necessary tools to conquer the most persistent troublemaker of the market...yourself.

   In 200 questions you will learn a lot about yourself, your motives, and most of all your personality. This is where Dr.Elder's background shine. In order to conquer the markets you must conquer yourself.

   After being involved with futures trading for 11 years and writing several books on the subject I still find books like Dr.Elder's inspirational and mentally clarifying.




4. What is your learning style? If you don't trust that you know something until you've taken a test, this book can help. It does an excellent job of pulling out the key topics and quizzing you on them. There are no 'silly' questions here--only the important stuff. On the other hand, if you like to read and underline, then return to the text when you are actually 'doing' the activity, then this book is probably a waste of money. One nit complaint: some of the labeling of chart features is a bit unclear. Since it is sometimes tough to tell which letter goes with which feature, answering some questions is difficult, even when you know the material.



5. This book provides a basis for accountability in making trades as you do. I found the psychological part the best. It is somewhat hard to implement the basic structure required by the author for me personally. However it all rings truth in it's wording. This is a work book and therefore leads the reader through a series of questions to let you know how good you understand the basic fundamentals prescribed of his book "Trading For A Living".
   It has increased awareness and led me to stop making the same repetitive mistakes. And that is the basis for success in trading.

1 comments about The Coming Economic Earthquake.

1. Burkett delineated growing federal deficits and the ever increasing use of debt by business and households out of control. Burkett points out those severe economic times will appear sometime shortly after the millennium unless current polices are changed. Burkett believed that Keynesian economic policies, with ideals for continuing federal deficits and the implicit preference for higher levels of consumption, reduced saving, and a larger role for government in the economy are a means to disaster. As Burkett states in the book that as interest on the debt consumes a larger and larger portion of the yearly federal budget, and more money is borrowed each year to pay the interest on what was borrowed in previous years, there will be a temptation to "monetize" the debt at an increasing rate leading to a calamity not seen since the Great Depression. Burkett questioned whether or not elected leaders would take action in time to prevent fiscal chaos, and believed they would not.

5 comments about Understanding Wall Street.

1. The first time I read this book was 20 years ago and was impressed with its thoroughness and ease in understanding. I teach at a junior college and offered the students an opportunity to learn a little more about investing that was not covered in their text. This book was complete enough to cover most of the topics and condensed enough for them to read considering their limited free time.



2. I had hoped this would be a clearly written and interesting explanation of the general workings of the stock market for someone who has never really understood it. But it goes into far too much detail, defining every little term and process. Maybe it's just a subject that cannot be made interesting or relatively simple, but in any case, this book does not accomplish those things.



3. Jeffrey Little and Lucien Rhodes' treatise "Understanding Wall Street" is a very valuable guide for the neophyte desiring the critical knowledge of how the financial nerve center of North America operates.
   
   Rich with historical insight, this guide details the origins and subsequent transformation of some of the world's most prominent stock exchanges located on the street synonymous with wealth and power: Wall Street.
   
   To that end the guide is easily readable and understandable. Complete with examples, explanations, and a comprehensive glossary I found the guide to complete and fill a hole in the much needed understanding of the financial facet of comparative government and civic theory studies.
   
   I rate the text at five stars for providing a lot of information at only 300 pages. This review refers to the 2004 Fourth Edition.



4. In the late 80's, as a neophyte investor, I picked up more than I imagined I would from Understanding Wall Street.
   
   In the late 90's, as an industry professional, I frequently turned through the pages of my tattered old 3rd edition for a great review from time to time.
   
   Today, as an adjunct professor, I am still amazed at the book's scope and ease of understanding. And, I find myself recommending Understanding Wall Street before, during, and after it's apparent that 50lb text books don't always carry their weight.
   
   If you have the slightest desire to learn about the world of investing, Understanding Wall Street just may be your best initial investment.



5. Understanding Wall Stret (most recent paperback edition) is an excellent book. Shipment arrived in time as promised and in perfect condition. I am completely satisfied with how this order was handled.

5 comments about Capital: A Critique of Political Economy, Vol. 3 (Penguin Classics).

1. The book that spawned the deaths of over 100 million people in the 20th Century is, ironically, only a boring litany of economic fallacies. The poverty of the labor theory of value, the absurdity of economic progress without a price system, and the necessary terror that accompanies socialism are all exposed in detail in George Reisman's CAPITALISM. All of you poor proletarians with computers out to read how effortlessly a real economist dismantles your dogma.



2. The third volume of Das Kapital is a bit more well known than the second and it makes for some interesting, if somewhat dry, reading. This volume has gained notoriety through the works of Bohm-Bawerk who insisted that Marx's theory of value was inconsistent. In the third volume, Marx says that instead of commodities selling at their value per se, they rather sell according to a certain formula that he lays out. Instead f commodities selling at the "old" formula of p= v+s+c, now commodities sell at r(v+c)+v+c. Now, such a modification does not alter the dynamics of the capitalist system one whit. Rather, it allows Marx to show how values as such are translated into prices. Rudolf Hilferding wrote an excellent criticism of Bohm-Bawerk's critique which is, alas, rather hard to find now. *whew*
   Alright, the rest of the volume deals with Marx's theory of rent and his rather short contribution to a theory of credit and banking. once again, Rudolf Hilferding elaborates upon Marx's theory of credit, banking, and "fictitious capital" in his work Das Finanzkapital. Written in 1911, it predicted the First World War and was regarded as the fourth/ fifth volume of Capital (the fourth volume of Capital sometimes held as Marx's Theories of Surplus Value, a history of bourgeois economic theory).
   
   I hope this has been relatively coherent. All in all, it isn't Daniel Steele or the Da Vinci Code. Nor is it the Leftist equivalent of Mein Kampf. Rather, it's a somewhat dry, but extremely important, economics text, far better than anything Adam Smith ever produced. I recommend it to economics students, Marxian scholars, and anyone seeking an economic justification of socialism. I hope this was of some use to you.



3. One of the most beautiful books ever written. The sheer depth of what Marx tries to tackle, regardless if one subscribes to it or not, is nothing short of amazing...and is reason alone to (attempt) to read Capital. It is not a bible, and one should not treat it as such. It is, however, a stunningly accurate critique of political economy as it was then and, in some respects, as it has unfolded today. Even though the classical socialist experiments largely failed (though Russia was transformed from a backwards, peasant-country to a superpower rather quickly), this by no means renders Marx obsolete; Capital simply identifies the many inconsistencies and problems in political economy, it does not outline how to organize and make work a "socialist" or "centrally planned" economy.



4. At the final of this extensive and tough read, the rewards are worth the effort. This third volume of Das Kapital concludes Marx attempt to describe how a Capitalist economic and society works. The most difficult part of it is to follow the concepts and ideas that compose the subject and how the different concepts are related to one another.The most impressive part of all is the scope of the work and how it formulates the inherent flaws and machinations of the capitalist system. Overall, a tough read, but a rewarding experience.



5. It is annoying to see how other customers denigrate a classical and well-thought book only with untruthful reasons; the book is a jewel of economic and social thought and very heavy on its arguments. It is well introduced by Ernest Mandel and magisterially translated for David Fernbach. It is well laid out and thought-provoking and it should be read after the Grundrisse: Foundations of the Critique of Political Economy (Penguin Classics) and the Early Writings (Penguin Classics) and may be accompanied by a guide or companion of Marxist thought. A classic that will get over the bad facts mistakenly attached to it and that will be a cornerstone in Economic Theories. Remember, in it what is exposed is the weaknesses of capitalism, not a blueprint of bloody revolution and tragic tyranny, as it was made by the betrayers and corrupters that manage to make it happen like that.