5 comments about The New Buffettology: The Proven Techniques for Investing Successfully in Changing Markets That Have Made Warren Buffett the World's Most Famous Investor.

1. Though I've successfully invested in the market for years, I'd never actually read much about Buffett or his methods. I finally decided to sit down after watching an interview with him and see what someone who actually knows the man (author is former daughter-in-law) had to say. I found out I shared some basic beliefs with Buffett on investing, which probably explains why I've done all right, though I'm not only not in Buffett's ballpark but couldn't afford to buy a ticket to his game.
   It was most interesting to read her analysis of his approach, development, and more. A very encouraging book--money can be made in the market, but surprise!, you have to do your homework, fight impulse buying, and be willing to delay gratification. You may also learn that Buffett was wealthy long before achieving his huge success--he appears to be a man who appreciates things, including others who are good at business as he doesn't try to micromanage. Very readable and educational.



2. Many books have been written about Warren Buffet's way of picking the right stocks at the right time, but this one is the most sound, concise and actionable. There is another book similar to this one: "The Warren Buffet Way" by Robert G. Hagstrom, but it misses the important topics laid out in the "Buffettology". These major topics are: what are the differences between a "consumer monopoly" and a "commodity"; how to calculate the rate of return over a long period of time before choosing the investment; and so on. There is another great book about Warren Buffet and his investment strategy - "Buffet: The Making of an American Capitalist" by Roger Lowenstein, but it better describes Mr. Buffet's biography and his relations with family, friends and the society, rather than how did he evaluate the companies. But please note that "Buffettology" is not a replacement of the book by Roger Lowenstein, I highly recommend reading both of them. What is you can omit is the book by Robert G. Hagstrom, above mentioned.
   
   I would recommend an abridged audio version of the "Buffettology" instead of the printed hardcover. The audio version discloses the most important factors of Mr. Buffet's investment principles pretty well. Some of the background information is available on free letters to shareholders and Mr. Buffet's lectures, but you might not want to crawl thought all these; you might want to save time and just listen the "Buffettology" audio or read the "Buffettology" book, where all this information is perfectly summarized and laid out in a consistent way.



3. This is probably the best Buffett book that I have read. Most of the books about Buffett talk about his life history and how he bought shares of Company X twenty years ago for $10 and it's now worth $200, but they don't give you specifics of how he evaluates companies that he purchases. This book gives you the specific and quantifiable criteria that he uses to evaluate a stock for purchase. For example, a company must have a ten year record of return on capital above 15%, a debt to equity ratio below 1.5, etc.
   
   There has been some debate about the credibility of this book in regards to how much Mary Buffett actually knew about her former father-in-law's business. I can say that the principles outlined in this book are consistent with many other texts that I have studied on value investing, and I have used the same criteria when evaluating stocks for my own portfolio.



4. "The New Buffettology" not only summarizes Buffett's approach to investing, it also provides a large number of illustrative examples. Examples of both follow.
   
   "Transforming" industries (eg. radio, autos, airlines, Internet, biotech) create visions of wealth in investors' minds. Buffett, however, sees them as seldom, if ever, establishing a sustainable competitive advantage due to the intense competition in the infancy of any industry. Further, they lack of track record of profits in their early years.
   
   The best buying opportunities occur in a bear market with firms that just encountered bad news specific to them. Examples: American Express in the mid-1960s after it lost $60 million in a salad oil swindle, but still had a strong credit card and traveler's check business. Bought into Mattel after its 1999 Learning Co. acquisition bled cash and lowered Mattel's stock from $46 in 1998 to $9 in 2000; Mattel still had Barbie, sold off Learning Co., and the stock rebounded. Bought Wells Fargo @ $58 in 1991 after it fell in a down real-estate market - saw it as a low-cost producer. Early 1980s invested in Philip Morris and R.J. Reynolds after tobacco-related lawsuits hammered their stock prices. GEICO in 1975 was on the edge of insolvency for insuring all driver (not just safe) - went back to its roots.
   
   Conversely, when analysts and media pundits proclaim earnings are no longer important in valuation (eg. look at total sales, instead), a bubble is in progress.
   
   Buffett likes businesses that fulfill a repetitive consumer need (food, fast food), or repetitive consumer services (tax preparation, security services, pest control), low-cost producers or vendors of common products (eg. furniture, jewelry, insurance).
   
   Companies with some kind of desirable competitive advantage typically have high consistent returns on stockholders' equity (eg. 12+%), such as H&R Block (25%), coca-Cola - 33%, Philip Morris - 20%. Also looks for rising EPS, and debt less than 5X current net earnings (except banks - leveraged much higher).
   
   Privately owned companies often can be bought at 4-6X earnings because of their inability to expand. Bought Nebraska Furniture Mart at a 24% return price.
   
   Arbitrage is a favorite Buffett source of income - looks for CASH acquisitions AFTER they've been announced.



5. The title of this book is a misnomer because the content is really not particularly new or fresh. Readers might buy this, or the previous Buffettology book by the authors, but one's investment knowledge base is not significantly enhanced by the two books in tandem.

5 comments about Elliott Wave Principle: Key to Market Behavior (Wiley Trading Advantage).

1. I've been reading this book again and again for about 3 times. Every time I read it, I got new stuff out of it.
   
   None of the sentences in it is redundant. When I first got this book, I also bought myself a highlighter, cuz I want to study it really carefully, I want to make sure I dont miss a thing. But eventually, I highlighted pretty much the whole book!
   
   Treasure. Even if it costs $500, I'll still buy it. Worths it!



2. This book by no means intends to teach you Elliott wave but to have it advertised to you and never give you a grip on the wave principle, so you can only rely on their service which is pricey.
   
   the reason I say that is that you can only grab the principles of Elliott wave by practice and seeing real chart examples, but this book rarely brings real chart examples of the market- less than 4 charts in the entire book which is ridiculous for a material like Elliott wave, the rest is theoretical graph, so there is no application whatsoever.
   
   I always hate books that carries another service behind it.
   however in his service, Mr Prechter is more wrong than right:
   1- at end of 2006 Mr Prchter predicted on a video forecast on his site for subscribers that oil has topped and it will go down from $75 top, just to come 2007 and prove him wrong by $25
   
   2- at year 2000 Mr prechter predicted that market will never top year 2000 and wrote a book about what he predicted to be a historic crash, just for 2 years later the market proved him wrong as it started climb up all the way and topped year 2000
   
   3- even at end of 2006, he tried to explain his wrong prediction away by saying that the nominal value of the market is going up but the dollar value is going down because of deflation and that will cause a crash, yet 2007 proved him wrong again
   
   4- at end of 2007, his wave count for subscribers are full of "may be this, may be that, market has plenty of options...etc" totally undecided
   
   5- Neely's book on the other hand is very specific, full of rules in every step of the way that leave no chance (almost) for misinterpretations , plus his service is much cheaper, available for anyone to continue his peruse of learning Elliott.
   
   The 2 stars are given because the writing is really concise and doesn't have fillers, which is a plus.



3. A fellow reviewer of this book said "Obviously people either love this book or they hate it." I disagree. I love and hate this book at the same time. People with different backgrounds and perspectives will view this book differently. I would like to offer my opinions here to those like me, and to others too.
   
   I consider myself a "serious beginner". I read my very first book on stock market in last March and bought my first stock in last May. I became interested in Elliott Wave Theory (EWT) in last August, one week before I gave up my academic career and started trading as full time pursuit. Currently I make a living by trading S&P index with the guidance of EWT.
   
   Ralph Nelson Elliott is one of the greatest observers in human history. I believe that his achievement should be equal to those of the greatest ones such as Newton and Darwin. But I doubt that he will be ever widely recognized simply because the subjects he and his theory have been observing are actually the judges, i.e., we human beings.
   
   EWT had been forgotten by the majority of trading, investing society for decades. Mr. Frost and Mr. Prechter and their book were the main reason that EWT became widely appreciated. I love the concise, old fashion way of writing of this book. All the rules and guidelines of EWT are presented clearly and demonstrated precisely with very well chosen examples. This book is a must have for any Elliott Wave student. I have studied three different editions of this book for five times. I studied some sections and pages more than ten times. This is the book one needs to read over and over again. However, this is a textbook, not a trading manual. Many of the wave counts in the examples are full of hindsight and not practically useful. And many of the situations in the examples aren't tradable. To have a feel of actual application of EWT, one certainly needs some extra practice.
   
   What I dislike about this book is that the authors blended their own opinions into EWT. There's nothing wrong with that if the contributions were meaningful. The reality is that they were often wrong and misleading.
   
   I have heard claims such as "if it didn't fit in Elliott Wave, you counted it wrong", from EWT loyalists. The authors had the same superstitious belief throughout the book. From my limited experiences, I see incompletes, failures and arguable patterns everywhere from hourly charts to weekly charts. Even if this belief is true, it's based on hindsight, and doesn't do any good to what EWT is supposed to do, i.e. to forecast and to make money. This belief will create a mindset which leads to a fatal psychological state. One consequence is over trading. When over trading, you win you will be damned and you lose you will be damned. If you are a trader trading with your livelihood on the line, you know what I mean. I was puzzled by the superstitious concept for weeks until I read Elliott's description of triangle in his classic Natural's Law. He said "......the triangle falls outside the wave phenomenon, as herein discussed, and should be IGNORED." This is enlightening. The moral is that EWT isn't a school exam, in which every question has an answer.
   
   Elliott defined "Half Moon" and "AB base" patterns in his classic Natural's Law. The authors of this book considered that "Half Moon" was not a separate pattern but merely a descriptive phrase. The authors of this book didn't agree "AB base" either and implied that Elliott was too old and confused to give right judgment. They claimed "The authors have never seen an "AB base", and it cannot exist. Its invention by Elliott merely goes to show that for all his meticulous study and profound discovery, he displayed a typical analyst's weakness in......" This is outrageous. And this is where my hatred for this book is from.
   
   Half Moon deserves to be a separate pattern for four reasons. First of all, Elliott said so! Secondly, Half Moon has well defined structures. It is a five wave pattern in which wave 5 significantly bigger than wave 3 and wave 3 significantly bigger than wave 1. Wave 1 and wave 3 can be zigzags in some cases. Thirdly, Half Moon starts from a zigzag and ends at a zigzag. There may be another five wave pattern following the last zigzag, may not, depending on where the Half Moon is at in the pattern one degree higher. If Half Moon isn't a separate pattern, it will violate EWT's rule "five wave pattern in a correction phase will be followed by another five wave pattern". Fourthly, Half Moon happens in market often and is extremely profitable or destructive. I learned Half Moon pattern the hard way in January. At 11:00 am EST on January 4th I called market bottom and reversed my SPX positions prematurely. I lost more than 50 % in a day.
   
   I wonder why the authors of this book had never seen AB Base. I see AB Base everywhere in market. AB Base has unique structure in which motive waves of one degree lesser are actually zigzag and corrective waves of one degree lesser are five wave. AB Base pattern isn't very frequent. But its variations are so common they occupied really high percentage in history. AB Base definitely deserves to be a separate pattern. AB Base has so well defined structure it offers great certainty and trading opportunities. For example, with no doubt I opened March OEX 615 calls at 12:45 pm EST on March 20th for the price of $0.50. The calls expired three hours later at $5.38. The return was 980%. One of the authors of this book, Mr. Prechter rose to guru status and fell hard back in 80s and 90s. If Mr. Prechter was humble enough and studied AB Base carefully before completely denied it, he might recognize the market pattern in late 80s not later than November 1990 and found its analog in history. This way he would at least have a strong alternative wave count and forecast which pointed to the actual market direction in 90s and therefore avoid the catastrophe in his career and decade long humiliation.
   
   There are more improper and arguable comments in the book. I may be wrong though. As I mentioned above that my experience and knowledge are limited.
   
   Five plus stars for the introduction to EWT and zero star for the disrespect and arrogance. Final rating 3 stars.



4. A clear and easy to understand discussion of the Elliot wave theory. Readers are shown how they can apply the theory to forecast market and stock direction. If you want to study 'the wave', surf through this book.
   
   David Colletti
   Founder
   StockTradersHQ.com



5. This is the classic book on Elliott Wave Theory. As such I would recommend it for everyone to read. One doesn't have to go hardcore Elliott, but just the psychological descriptions of market mood are important. If you want you can then go hardcore and label every minute swing if you want to. I don't know the value of that latter approach, but that is not material. Elliott will always be a judgmental, discretionary trading method and it is hard to make quantitative tests of its success rate - unfortunately.
   
   I have written several short reviews on trading books. The best way is to compare the score on the books I've read. Many reviews on amazon.com are just glorious 5 star reviews. I use all five categories; sorry but everything isn't "great". Books rated 1 or 2 I would not recommend buying. Books rated 4 are good solid books. Books rated 5 are very good. Naturally all in my humble opinion.

5 comments about My Life as a Quant: Reflections on Physics and Finance.

1. Very (very) shallow on technical content. Bizarre and boring anecdotes about the politics of the big investment banks. Detailed stories about uninteresting aspects of the author's life. I kept looking for some real beef, but gave up at some point.



2. I enjoyed this book very much. It's like a memoir, but focuses on his professional life. He talks about his training in physics, and how hard it is to get satisfactory (to him) employment. He switched to being a quantitative analyst on Wall Street. He talks a lot about what that really means, how the quants fit into the structure of Wall Street, and he even gets into some of the technical detail (I would have liked a bit more of that). It's well written and fun.



3. Though I barely have a clue about the models presented in the book, the author provided a very informative and descriptive view of life as a Quant. It even gives a picture of working in Wall Street. I thank the author for his effort.



4. I wanted to get a better picture on how it is to work as a "quant" on Wall Street, not knowing much to start out with. The book certainly met my expectations. I was a bit surprised that most of the research effort goes into financial engineering (developing and analyzing new products) as opposed to trying to better understand/predict how already existing products will do. It was interesting to understand the relationship between "quants" and traders. Finally, a bit surprising that so little from physics was applicable.



5. Well written book for people who would like to become Quant while their major is not finance.

5 comments about Wealth, War and Wisdom.

1. Unlike his prior books which I enjoyed, this one disappoints. It might make a good PHD thesis but fails to provide any practical advice for the investor .



2. It took me a long time to get around to reading "Wealth, War & Wisdom." The title was the lure, but the description made me pause. The book is primarily geared to those interested in the stock market, investors and the like. As the king of the malaprops, Samuel Goldwyn, once said, "Include me out." I do not follow the stock market. I do not invest in the stock market. I do not trust the stock market. I do not know anyone who does invest in the stock market. Frankly, I consider the stock market a playground for the idle rich, and Barton Biggs' book has done nothing to convince me otherwise.
   
   Despite my lack of interest in the stock market, "Wealth, War & Wisdom" was an interesting read. The author's focus is on World War II and how the events of that devastating global event shaped the stock market. Biggs believes there are valuable lessons to be learned from a study of that earlier era that can help investors keep and build their wealth when the next calamity occurs. In this post 9/11 world, there are plenty of doomsayers who are anticipating another cataclysmic event of global proportions that will lead to wide-scale civil disorder. Biggs, it turns out, is among them, and his final chapter pretty much recommends running for the hills (okay, a farm in a remote area) with plenty of "canned food, wine, medicine and clothes," as well as "a stash of automatic weapons that you know how to use in case roving bands of hungry barbarian brigands show up."
   
   An alarmist? You bet, but no more than I was in my 1999 book "Surviving Y2K." But ultimately, "Wealth, War & Wisdom" has somewhat limited appeal. The first word in the title is the most significant. This is a book for the wealthy - the rich who can afford a farm in some remote area, as well as the "stash of automatic weapons" and know how to "diversify (their) fortune." I mean, really, who else but a rich guy, and a snobby one at that, would recommend "wine" as a survival item?
   
   My own economic situation is likely to make me one of those hungry barbarians in search of Biggs' canned food (I'll take the wine, too. What the hell?) So while "Wealth, War & Wisdom" is a handy guide for those who are wealthy, it might also serve as a guide for the rest of us, the hungry barbarians who will be storming the gates of his fortress in search of those canned goods he's selfishly harboring. We know he'll have automatic weapons to defend his stash. Therefore, we know we'll need automatic weapons to take it away from him. Thank you, Mr. Biggs, for the advance warning. I appreciate it.
   
   Brian W. Fairbanks



3. This is an outstanding book. If you are really interested in wealth and war, you will not be able to put this book down. I know of no other book that explains in detail what may happen to stocks and bonds in time of war, based on what did actually happen in the 21st Century. Well written and very well researched.



4. It is an age-old notion. The investing public provides liquidity to the "smart money." A mainstay on every investor's bookshelf, Charles Mackay'sExtraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds, argues "men ... think in herds."
   
   Barton Biggs, former chief global strategist at Morgan Stanley before leaving in 2003 to form hedge fund Traxis Partners, questions this conventional and pejorative notion in Wealth, War & Wisdom. Using World War II as a backdrop, he shows the equity markets in the United States, Britain, Germany and Japan identified the conflict's turning points with uncanny precision.
   
   The stock market, he argues, represents the collective conclusion of multiple motivated judgment of a diverse, independent and decentralized sample. He joins James Surowiecki in The Wisdom of Crowds and Michael Maubossian in More Than You Know: Finding Financial Wisdom in Unconventional Places (Updated and Expanded), to plead a powerful case for paying attention to the markets' underlying message.
   
   Biggs is no historian. He is, however, well-read and a deep thinker. He weaves military history, market action, maps and charts to illustrate his moral. Hardly radical, it is detailed and convincingly argued: A long-term strategy is the best way for ordinary investors to build and maintain wealth.
   
   This is a book every serious investor should read and ponder. It is an original, absorbing and thought-provoking primer on wealth creation. Today's actions aggregated with others provide powerful clues to your financial future.



5. Barton Biggs compresses centuries of world history, a phenomenal history of markets, and a heavy dose of investment theory into a very readable primer on how to protect your wealth in times of trouble. The book shows where losers fared ok (land kept it's value in WW2 France despite the trouble) as well as where investors did best in winning economies (example: the US). The book covers economic impacts of military decisions, where financial markets outsmarted public opinion, and where they failed. To keep the book interesting, there's a healthy dose of gossip.
   
   The book closes with Barton's suggestions on the best means to act defensively for when the Barbarians approach the gates. He's heavy on equities, with other practical advice (buy a farm, keep your valuables at home, keep some money abroad in advance).
   
   Is this the best history book you can find? Probably not. Is it the best investing book you can find? Again, probably not. Does the book intertwine finance, history and investing in an interesting manner? Most definitely.

2 comments about Standards of Practice Handbook, 9th Edition.

1. The CFA Standards of Practice Handbook is a straight-forward read about the Standards of Practice for members and candidates of the CFA program. It explains each part of the outlined list of standards and also includes many examples of how each standard is applied and used in the finance world in practice. It's an easy read.



2. The books has all sorts of marks on it and i am very unsatisfied with it.

5 comments about How to Make Money Selling Stocks Short (Wiley Trading).

1. I learned of Gill Morales though Gary Kaultbaum's radio show and then Subscribed to the Gilmo Report as a result, A lot of this book is his writing and is well done. I have been trading now for over 20 years and you never stop learning. Shorting stocks is a stressfull endevor for me and the more I can learn proper entry the better. The book goes though how to spot tops in stocks and speaks of general market direction as well. There are lots of charts that should help you to get the basic theme of how to spot these stocks. You should have a good foundation in Technical Analysis and back that up with company fundementals. You can make much more money going short if you know how to do it correctly. Traders want out of the Pool a lot faster than they want to get in. This can result in 15 to 20 percent gains in several days.



2. How you rate a book on stocks depends upon what your level of experience and trading methods. I have been investing in stocks for several years, but am not a professional trader. I had never done a short sell. This book gave me clear insights into finding valuable short sales.
   
   It could have been written a bit more clearly. O'Neil makes assumptions about the reader's understanding of some terminology, but it isn't a fatal mistake.
   
   After some explanation of what to look for and why most of the book contains marked up charts of real life examples. I'm finding them more helpful than a lot text that says very little that is practical as in some other books.



3. * The steps mention inside this book can still be apply with the current market.
   * If you are looking for selling stocks short, this book is definitely for you.
   * The only thing we need to succeed in this industry is for us to have a high capital at the very beginning.



4. The authors provide a rich set of charts that illustrate the life cycle of leading stocks from the past that ran up, topped, then rolled over. Such examples provide a key to understanding how leading stocks behave, and therefore, what to expect of future leaders. The charts clearly depict, in a bull market, how leaders advance in price as they break out of a series of constructive consolidations over time. In a bear market, these same leaders do the opposite, as they break down from a series of short, wild, erratic bases that can't seem to hold above their 50-day moving averages.



5. I've read several of these online reviews and am pretty stunned by them. I have found this book to be very useful. I have implemented its strategy and the past couple months have returned me decent profits. It explains all the necessary conditions needed for successful short-selling. If readers are looking for a step-by-step guide or some miracle formula, then perhaps stock market investing isn't the way to go. The only critique that I have about this book is to maybe include daily charts since these are necessary in timing short sales. If a 2nd book is published, then I'll be all over it.

3 comments about Trading Options For Dummies (For Dummies (Business & Personal Finance)).

1. What this book lacks in detail, it makes in subject completeness.
   
   There are dozens and dozens of great websites out there describing options and trading strategies in far better depth and completeness than this book. So, if you're looking for complex spreads or techniques, this book will not satisfy you.
   
   However, online searches are so saturated in trading strategies that it's actually difficult to become aware of real world transactional details (like, "who are the market makers? how does assignment work?"). this book nicely wraps up those "loose ends" that are hardly ever mentioned on your favorite search engine.



2. I wanted something that took me from 0 to 60 in a couple of hours, to explain options in plain english. This book goes from 20 to 120 then back to 40 and up to 80 then back to 10, very poorly constructed and organized.
   
   (My review for Dummies: This book is difficult to follow, jumps around a lot, and rarely satisfies the curiousity at hand)



3. I wanted a book which would explain buying and selling options in a thorough way for someone who knew very little about options. This is not the book.
   
   The author seems to have the intent to throw in as many complex terms without every explaining the simple things. Never once in this book is a walk through through on how to buy a call, how to sell the option, or on how to exercise the underlying contract. The same goes for simple puts.

5 comments about Naked Guide to Bonds: What You Need to Know--Stripped Down to the Bare Essentials.

1. I was not expecting to gain this much insight on the topic of bonds and investing but am delighted to have picked this book up and savoured it to the last page in the course of one plane ride!
   Adept, succinct without compromising depth, this young new author has really delivered on his promise to give us the "bare essentials" that anyone should know!



2. I read the Motley Fool Investment Guide and really liked it, so when I saw this at the bookstore with Tom Gardner's endorsement on it, I thought I'd give it a shot. Just like the Fools, this book is written for regular people and is pretty humorous (for an investment book!). The chapters are well organized so that you learn about bonds "step-by-step". It includes discussions about every type of bond and advice on how to put them into your
   portfolio. It's definitely not written like a textbook -- even the complicated concepts come across clearly. In short, this is a great book. I found it easy to understand and, most importantly, full of extremely useful information.



3. In this very good beginner's guide to the bond market, author Michael V. Brandes addresses all of the fundamental questions clearly and concisely. Bond math can be daunting, but while the author includes a few equations for illustrative purposes, he clearly addresses his book to the general run of individual investors. The book, which has moments of surprising good humor, says right off the bat that bond investing can be dull in comparison to stock investing, not because the stakes are lower, but because the elements of personality and surprise are considerably more muted in the debt market than in the equity markets. We highly recommend this book, even though it is pedantic at times - a risk you take when you venture into the complex realm of bond investing.



4. As a former techie who found his way to the wonderful world of supporting a fixed income desk, I found this book to be an excellent overview of the bond market. The author explains complex concepts such as duration and yield in terms that anyone can understand. This is by far the best introductory book to the bond market I have read (and I have read many)!



5. I highly recommend this book. It gives thorough and strait-forward information on every aspect of fixed-income investment vehicles. This is a great way to learn about this market if one is new to it.

3 comments about Candlestick Charting For Dummies (For Dummies (Business & Personal Finance)).

1. I found this book informative. I have been interested in candlestick charting for years and I was not able to find a text that could give me simple, clear, and concise information until Candlestick Charting for Dummies. This book is just what I needed.



2. I have found many technical analysis books are written with too much jargon and are difficult to understand for the non-professional. This book simplifies everything in a well written and comprehensive guide for the layperson looking to learn about candlestick charting technical analysis.



3. Anyone who is interested in trading, whether its on NYSE,NASDAC,or FOREX like my self you buy this book. Loaded with tons of information.

5 comments about The Little Book That Builds Wealth: The Knockout Formula for Finding Great Investments (Little Books. Big Profits).

1. Reviewing a book like this today is like joining a weight-loss program and concluding on the first day whether or not you got your money's worth. Too early to tell. Ask me again after I've put the lessons in this book to work. Like a year from now. (Gave it a one-star rating because this system wouldn't take my submission unless it included a rating.)



2. Have not finished reading book as yet, but thus far I am picking up good, useful investment information and insights. The only omission I sense, so far, is that there may not be enough "actionable" information (i.e, much theory, but lack of specific recommendations based on that theory). But I will not know that for sure until I finish the book.



3. Becoming an investor who can quite regularly beat a broad based index (e.g. S&P 500) is near impossible. Just ask two of the most famous investors ever: John Bogle of Vanguard (who wrote his own "Little Book" warning investors to stay away from anything but low cost index funds) and Warren Buffett (of Berkshire Hathaway who also recommends index funds for the average investor). They point out that numerous studies show professional money managers (mutual funds) fail to beat the index funds they set out to beat time and time again--and trying to find the few mutual funds that will beat the index is close to a fool's errand. And when regular folks try to pick individual stocks, the results are even worse. Unfortunately, there is one problem with index fund investing: it's boring. Very boring. Moreover, we, for better or worse (worse in the case of investing in capital markets), don't like to be "average" and index fund investing by definition will only yield "average" results.
   
   So investors try very hard to be more than average. And they start by buying books like this one.
   
   This is where Dorsey comes in. He borrows Warren Buffett's now famous concept of 'moats', which is just another term for a structural competitive advantage of a business, and shows his readers how to find them, evaluate them, and then use them to make a profit by investing in individual stocks. Dorsey's game plan is straightforward: find a great business with a moat and buy it only you can get it for less than it's intrinsically worth. The book is well-organized, uses plain-written language and is easily understandable; Dorsey's categories of different moats are well thought out and he provides multiple examples in each moat category.
   
   Here's my problem with this book: Dorsey has you believe that if you can master the concept of moats then you, little you, should spend some time trying to "beat the market." To do this right, however, requires more time than almost any investor (even those who are retired or fanatical) has. First, you have to find a great business with a moat (not as easy as it sounds and it entails both qualitative and quantitative analysis). Then you have to value it (also not easy). Then you have to figure out how much of your portfolio to invest in that company (this step Dorsey conspicuously leaves out which is critical and often overlooked - I would recommend the Kelly Formula outlined in the book "Fortune's Formula"). Then you have to stay up-to-date with the corporation (and its competitors) by reading news stories, press releases, and quarterly reports. Finally you have to watch the stock price: if the stock goes down a lot but the moat and intrinsic value hasn't shrunk, you should buy more of the stock (this is hard for most investors to do) and if the price goes up and the moat or intrinsic value hasn't grown as fast as the stock price, you should sell some of the stock. Get any of these steps wrong along the way and you are sunk. Oh, and you will likely be following multiple companies in your portfolio. Are we still having fun?
   
   As you can now start to tell, applying this "little book" will take a lot of your time. Of course, you could beat the market, but chances are you will make a few mistakes that could cost you a lot of money. My recommendation is to use the book instead in two counterintuitive ways. First, use it to understand what make a great business "great" and if you are thinking about opening your own business, figure out how you can create a moat for it, no matter how small. Second, if you are working in corporate America use the concept of moats to make your company better.
   
   But if you use the book for what and who it is intended for, be forewarned.



4. This is a quick, easily comprehensible, read to understand the philosophy of Morningstar's analysis approach and fundamental investment thesis. Well worth the money.



5. Pat Dorsey's Little Book That Builds Wealth really is a big book that contributes volumes to the investment universe. Overlaying Pat's explanation of the different types of moats on Warren Buffett's portfolio helps the professional and the private investor understand the very important investment moat principles. Coke is a brand or intangible asset moat. Wells Fargo is a switching cost moat. American Express is a network effect moat. And although no longer publicly traded and now a wholly owned subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway, GEICO is a cost advantage moat. This little book is a must read for every participant of the stock market."
   -- Robert P. Miles, author The Warren Buffett CEO