5 comments about Common Sense Economics: What Everyone Should Know About Wealth and Prosperity.

1. If you want a "bare bones, bottom line" approach to economics, this book is for you. Like Aquinas's A Shorter Summa: The Essential Philosophical Passages of Saint Thomas Aquinas' Summa Theologica, this book has the naked essentials. Each section is a list of bullet-points fired off in rapid succession, and each idea hitting its target.
   
   Here is the breakdown:
   
   Part I: Ten Key Elements of Economics. (Macroeconomics)
   
   Part II: Seven Sources of Economic Progress. (Applied Macroeconomics)
   
   Part III: Economic Progress and the Role of Government. (Macroeconomics and Democracy)
   
   Part IV: Twelve Key Elements of Personal Finance. (Microeconomics)
   
   Remember those tedious and tortuous lectures on economics, with distracting graphs and mush-mouth jargon? This ain't it--not by a long shot. The book is a list of various axioms or truths, followed by an extended supporting explanation. So this book is closer to a Catechism, or a Confession, or a list of Articles of Faith.
   
   This is key. The reason why religions use catechisms and articles of faith is two fold. They are distillations, or primers, of the faith's high theology. Second, they serve as springboards for deeper discussions of the mysteries. Milk before meat, arithmetic before calculus. But when we are doing differentials, we still use the arithmetic.
   
   By approaching economics this way, the authors are following a thousand years of pedagological experience. And by focusing on axioms, they simplify the thinking process. When we wrangle over the economic questions, we can fall back onto these distilled and encapsulated truths to guide our thinking.
   
   *
   
   One reviewer commented, "As mentioned by one other reviewer, the first section (discussing general economic principles) is a useful primer in layman's terms. Sadly, after that first section, the book essentially turns into a political tract disguised as an economics handbook. The authors enlist basic economic concepts to make political points (e.g., taxes bad, school vouchers good, Socialism evil). These political positions are all presented as "common sense" results of the economics lessons."
   
   This, of course, refers to Part III. But as Aristotle pointed out, all philosophy is an integrated unit (The Philosophy of Aristotle (Signet Classics)). What you believe about economics is a reflection of your views on politics and human nature. If humanity is free, and elections are free, then the markets must be free. If you control the markets, then by definition you believe that elections and people must be equally controlled.
   
   Ronald Reagan said, "This was the very thing the Founding Fathers sought to minimize. They knew that governments don't control things. A government can't control the economy without controlling people. And they know when a government sets out to do that, it must use force and coercion to achieve its purpose. They also knew, those Founding Fathers, that outside of its legitimate functions, government does nothing as well or as economically as the private sector of the economy."([Speaking My Mind: Selected Speeches)
   
   This is all based in Bastiat's The Law, the Declaration of Independence, and Rev. William John Henry Boetcker's "The Ten Cannots." What the authors are doing is laying down tried and true economic principles. They are just a sure as gravity, or any other law associated with the hard sciences. Our only concern is to change our opinions to fit the facts.
   
   You see, economics is sometimes referred to as the dismal science. We have so many dreams and fellow-feeling for people, but common-sense economics keeps getting in the way of things. This should no be. Economics is the joyful science. Once we change our ideas to suit the hard and obvious facts, we can finally live our economic dreams. This is merely a reaffirmation of what Francis Bacon said, "Nature, to be mastered, must be obeyed." If we wish to master economics--create wealth, prosperity, and financial freedom, we must first obey economics. That is the point of this book.
   
   
   *
   
   Home-schoolers will love this book, written at the 10th grade level. So get your ambitious 8th-grader to read it. Read in tow with Basic Economics: A Common Sense Guide to the Economy and Applied Economics: Thinking Beyond Stage One and The Federalist Papers (Signet Classics), your crumb-cruncher will be years ahead of their collegiate peers.



2. This book is the simplest and most effective explanation of economics I've ever seen. I think reading this should be a prerequisite to voting in any political elections. It is a real eye opener to the economic policies of the US and how those policies affect the economy. It also provides a great economic perspective on personal finances.



3. This book does a good job introducing the concepts of economics but unfortunately it takes more than common sense to maintain a stable economy. It's ironic that the authors deride the government's lack of foresight in determining the secondary effects of their actions but then assume that their thesis (government regulation is bad) won't have its own secondary effects. What I'm talking about is pollution. The authors actually say outright that pollution will never be a problem and we now know that it's a very real problem. They say the best economy will be one where the government doesn't intervene and the people are allowed to do what they want. In most cases I agree that things would run more smoothly in an open market but we absolutely need to have limits on pollution. If everyone just pollutes as much as they want sea levels will continue to rise and many major U.S. cities will be under water. What's the price tag on New York? LA, Miami, San Diego? Common sense tells me that's not very sound economics.



4. I've read several of the economics books meant for a general audience. Overall, I'd say this one is the best, edging out Thomas Sowell's Basic Economics 3rd Ed: A Common Sense Guide to the Economy.
   
   Common Sense Economics is particularly strong when it discusses the ways in which various government policies make us poorer.



5. This is the best eoonomic book I have read. Usually this topic is very dry and hard to read. However the authors give a great range of examples to backup their topics. If I had to give one word to describe economics is "incentive" and its used often in this book. Often many people make political decision or vote based on what they would like to see happen. Sadly, they never think about "incentives" people have to do certain things.

5 comments about Security Analysis: The Classic 1940 Edition.

1. This is still the best book ever written about investing in the stock market. Long but very good.



2. If you are interested in investing in securities then you should have this book. Although the material is more than 60 years old it remains the baseline for security analysis. This is a reference book, but investors should get into the habit of picking this title up and giving it a read when they have a bit of spare time. It is well indexed and clearly written. There is a lot of historical information also.



3. If you believe in value investing, and you have already read Intelligent INvestor, then this is a fantastic supplement to your library on the subject.



4. This is one of the bibles of value investing. I wouldn't suggest it for a novice investor, though. It's geared more to the experienced investor. Buy it after reading Graham's other book, Intelligent Investor, which is much more reader friendly.



5. This book is great.. Works well even in todays world markets...
   If you want basic understanding of how to eval. a security properly
   this is a good start... It may be a bit dry if your not REALLY into this stuff.. and some knowledge of Accounting will help..

5 comments about The Next Great Bubble Boom: How to Profit from the Greatest Boom in History: 2006-2010.

1. This was a very convincing book, but I'm glad I didn't follow the advice and bought heavily into stock, expecting to sell out at top prices in 2009!



2. I was conned. I admit it. I signed up for his monthly newsletter. You know what it kept saying? "There's plenty of oil!" - Oil went to 140 bucks. Dent claims "we'll have a dip in 2007, then it will be the best buying opportunity of a lifetime". If you had listened to him, your portfolio would be down more than 50% - I believed this fool for a while but when none of his predictions came true and everything he mentioned went OPPOSITE (as of this writing the DOW is now at 8000) - Let this be a warning to others not to believe Dent - He was WRONG, WRONG, WRONG.



3. Harry, this boom is incredible. I can't believe how rich people are getting with the DOW almost to 40,000, just like you said.



4. Page 73 of this book reads "Our best projection for the Nasdaq is about 13,000 around the end of this decade (2010), but it is possible we could see as high as 20,000." Let's see, the Nasdaq made its way up to 2861 by Oct. 31, 2007 and now sits at 1316 as of Nov. 21, 2008. Now today, I see this guy on TV saying he predicted the current market meltdown and has written a new book due out in Jan. 2009 entitled "The Great Depression Ahead". What a joke.



5. This guy's out with yet another book in January predicting another depression. So what happened, Harry? Did I sleep through that 40,000 Dow?? Oh, okay. Just another 32,000 points to go and THEN we'll have a depression. Not bloody likely.
   
   Assuming you haven't lost everything you owned following this guy's advice in the past, save the last $20 you might have salvaged and DON'T buy this or any other book the guy comes out with.

5 comments about Profitable Candlestick Trading: Pinpointing Market Opportunities to Maximize Profits.

1. I'm very pleased with the information contained in the book. However, most of the information contained in the book can be found on the authors website for free. Just google Stephen Bigalow and check it out for yourself, lots of info in the forum at that site as well. I read some other reviews (at another site) that recommended his second book over this one as the basics can be found at his website (and several others) and you can get more into the theory in the other book. With that said I still recommend it and would say its a 5 star rating based on the information. I use it every night while doing my research for the next trading day. Anyway, just something to know. Seems most days you can find just about anything on the net if you look hard enough. May all your days be bullish kickers!



2. I was doing poorly in the stock market. I read this book and I started to see success. Candlestick signals are a wonderful way to do technical analysis. I wish this book would have crossed my path sooner. Steve makes this book easy to understand and follow. Learn how and when to enter and exit stocks. Also learn how to manage you money for sucess.



3. This is a great book for beginners and the more experienced alike. An excellent reference manual to have on the bookshelf. It's the sort of book you dip into for info and not the type you would read from cover to cover. Also, it explains matters in an easy to digest format. With so many books available on the subject, I think this book is a good investment.



4. Too many typos in this book. Book refers to bulls when it means bears making some sections a confusing mess. At this price the book should've been carefully proof-read before release.



5. I've read two intro texts to candlesticks. This one and Nison's first book.
   
   The current book is not really bad, but Nison's book is much better. So in my view the choice is easy.
   
   In the current book there are a lot of patterns listed with three or four candles and they seem very much adhoc, I don't really buy the underlying reasoning. Bulkowski has analysed these patterns in "Encyclopedia of candlesticks" and he finds that many of these patterns are very rare. Bulkowski put everything through his computer and found that some patterns occur maybe 100 times out of 100,000. To name and label such rare patterns is silly and borders on the dishonest. Especially since they are not that extraordinary the 100 times they occur.
   
   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 5 are very good. Books rated 4 are good solid books well worth reading. Books rated 3 can be bought by some people who read a lot or have very specific needs. Books rated 1 or 2 I would not recommend buying or reading. Naturally all in my humble opinion.

5 comments about Finance and Investment Handbook (Barron's Finance and Investment Handbook).

1. This book, useful for both the novice and the more advanced investor, provides a thorough overview of almost every type of investment (including bonds, annuities, life insurance, etc.) and an comprehensive glossary of investment terms. It is handy when it comes to looking up unfamiliar terms and is an enjoyable overall read. The book also contains a listing of brokerages, banks, etc. with phone numbers and addresses. It is probably the authoritative volume on investing, which is to be expected coming from Barron's. It's definitely well worth it!



2. After reading this book, I went out that day and made $50,000 buying stocks, bonds and real estate. However, I blew it all the next day investing in rare coins and beanie babies. Maybe I should stick to CDs and money market funds.

   Easy come, easy go.




3. This is a book you keep within hands reach. I'm an investor of stocks, real estate and businesses. There are so many "terms" for business and not everyone uses them properly. I constantly refer to my Finance & Investment Handbook and it gives me the knowledge I need to operate my business. The definitons are simple to understand and it has a great "Abbreviations & Acronyms" section.



4. This is a very comprehensive reference book. I use it all the time. It is a must for investors, economists, etc.



5. Excellent, extensive compendium reference for the investor and professional alike. A crash course for a novice. A must for every library.

5 comments about Martin Pring's Introduction to Technical Analysis: A CD-ROM Seminar and Workbook.

1. Pring does an excellent job of providing the beginner with all of the basics of technical analysis (TA). I have traded stocks for over 15 years and have been trading the spot Forex market. I learned quite a bit about TA several years ago, but thought I would like to continue my education in this area. My only problem with this particular book/CD is that the CD presentation could/should have been more polished. However, the information is all there if you take the time to look, listen, AND USE it!



2. The book does not have a glossary in the back of the book so we can look up words that the author failed to tell us the meaning. I emailed the author and asked him what certain trading terms meant in his book and I received an email back from somebody named "Lisa" that told me to look it up in the dictionary if you can't find the answer in the book. I think this person "lisa" was very unprofessional in the way she handled this email and her customer service skills need improving. There are better books than this one. This man is from another country other than America and he uses weird words to describe his examples. It's hard to understand.



3. I am just getting started into the world of technical analysis and trading stocks. This book is really helping me to understand some of the things I have been observing in the market. The best thing about the CD is the quizes. The reader's voice can put you to sleep - especially if you read the chapters first - he covers the exact same text.



4. As a newby and complete beginner in TA, I found this to be a near perfect book for getting your feet wet. The style is simple and straight forward with large print and easy to read charts. While there are a few typos, I did not find the excessive amount stated in the reviews of his second edition. I found the CD to be as valuable as the book. It's one thing to read a book, but actually knowing the material is what counts if you are going to apply it to trading. The CD is in multiple choice quiz format. After choosing your answer, Pring tells you in audio, not text, if you got it right or wrong and why. This way you can see if you actually understand the principals before you start risking money. Think back to your college days- how much did you learn from classes you only audited compared with those that had exams!! I dont own Murphy's book, but apparently it lacks this feature. While there is plenty of free info on the internet now, I would rather know I'm getting it from a known expert in the field. Prings book is compact and concise and can easily be read in 8-12 hours, depending on your style. While I plan to buy Murphy's book as a more comprehensive reference (over 500 pages is alot of reading), another must-have book I found is Elder's "Trading for a Living" (a psychiatrist and trader), with its psychology of crowd theory, very true of the market and an excellent supplement to anyone's collection.



5. The book is on the CD in a simple powerpoint like presentation with menus for each topic. I am happy with it.

4 comments about Mortgage-Backed Securities: Products, Structuring, and Analytical Techniques (Frank J. Fabozzi Series).

1. If you are a securities analyst wanting to understand recent innovations in financial instruments, Fabozii's topic can be very germane. He describes the myriad ways that bundling together mortgages can produce, in terms of cash flow and risk. Naturally, the book delves heavily into how well both can be modelled.
   
   Specifically, there is a key section on how to measure prepayments and defaults. Both act against the "ideal" nature of a given instrument. Where ideal means that all debtholders will repay the debts in full and on the regular predicated schedule. We see different measures of delinquency - for example - current, 30 days delinquent, 60 days delinquent, and 90+ days delinquent. This is one very common classification, used by the US Office of Thrift Supervision. Other groups has similar measures.
   
   Much other space in the book explains how the cash flow can be divided into tranches. Different ones based on differing yields and risk.
   
   A cynical reader might surmise that the implementation of ideas like those in the book have contributed to the recent turmoil in the mortgage industry. Aiding and abetting.



2. This book can be used either as a reference for specific technical securities questions or for generic background reading on a related topic. Many people in our office find it very useful and it always seems to disappear from my desk. A must have five star book!



3. The book provides a very complete overview the residential mortgage-backed securities market and is written by two gentlemen that were arguably at "the center of the storm" at Countrywide Securities.
   
   The book is structured nicely taking the reader from a general overview of the MBS market to a detailed look of the process of securitization through to investing in the end securities.
   
   The chapters dedicated to the structuring and credit enhancement techniques of residential ABS deals a particularly useful to people just entering the current market. The unique perspectives on measuring loan performance and influences on collateral prepayments are also very useful reading.
   
   All in all a must read for those beginning in the industry and a great reference for those of us that might have forgotten a few things.



4. I think this book is the new gold standard for MBS. Unlike previous MBS books I have read, this one flows well from chapter to chapter and can actually walk someone new to the field through collateral, structuring and valuation in a logical manner. Excellent job!

5 comments about Derivatives Markets (2nd Edition) (Addison-Wesley Series in Finance).

1. As an MBA student at Kellogg School, I find this book is concise and easy to read. It also teaches me the intuition in derivatives and asset pricing. As it has both basic and advanced material, it can be used as a reference book as well.



2. As financial instruments become ever more complex, McDonald's book gives a systematic treatment of the most common forms of derivatives. Providing a unified etymology that can help you understand how they work.
   
   He groups options (puts and calls) with forward contracts like zero coupon bonds. Through numerous simple payoff graphs, as well as explanatory accompanying text, the ideas are easily grasped. The book starts with these ideas in its early chapters. Then it builds on them, to illustrate associated and often more elaborate constructs, as in insurance strategies for hedging.
   
   Nor is the discussion confined to minimising one's risk. There is an alternative method, of deliberately speculating on volatility, for example.
   
   The modelling of futures and options pricing is dealt with in detail. Including the seminal Black-Scholes formula and related analysis. The assumptions behind Black-Scholes are examined in detail, given the crucial influence of this on many types of pricing. The treatment gets rather advanced, invoking ideas like Monte Carlo simulations of stock prices.
   
   The text is well suited for a graduate program in finance.



3. I was recommended this text book by the study material I was using to prepare the acturial exam FM. Then I came to check this book here and I found out that the price here is way too much higher. With this price, you can buy both the text book and its solution mannual in Actex Mad River with free UPS shipping. Hope this will help.



4. I got this book few months back, though little pricy but someone recommended it. I found it to be a wonderful blend of the economics and mathematics of derivatives pricing. After reading the book, i was comfortable with :
   understanding of derivatives pricing models &
   derivatives markets
   
   I strongly recommend people giving their FRM, CFA and / or SOA certifications to get their hands on this book.
   
   You would like it. A good reference book. Only issue is it is little too heavy, hence you cannot lie down and read it for a long time ;-)



5. Very easy to understand. IMO, it is the only book that is at par with, if not better than, John C. Hull's "Options, Futures And Other Derivatives."
   
   Strongly recommended for everyone with even an oblique interest in the study of derivatives.
   
   If Shreve and Karatzas is/are too dense, read this instead.
   
   With all due respect, this book should inspire the Broadies and Dermans of the world to write such textbooks themselves, and the Sundaresans and Glassermans of the world to (also) cater to less scholarly minds (such as the undersigned).
   
   -Kunal Kunde

5 comments about Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds and Confusión de Confusiones (A Marketplace Book).

1. This was the warning shot ahead of the internet bubble. Hearing about the Dutch tulip bubble in 1995 (when I first read the book) we should have been well prepared to duck when Amazon, Ebay and their fallen comrades shot to the moon. If only we had listened...
   
   The book clearly articulates why "The more things change, the more they stay the same" and helps us understand when to buck the herd. Perhaps a bit long, it is well written and worth the space on your nightstand.



2. Keep this book within handy reach for any time that you're getting a bit too smart for your britches. How otherwise intelligent and rational folk get themselves into these troubles is truly fascinating and instructive. The writing here is, of course, rather archaic to modern sensibilities (originally published in 1841) but the stories are interesting and very readable. It's tempting to read the tales as history but when I see Goggle trading at over $400.00 I scratch my head and wonder. And when I hear the president cutting taxes, increasing spending, and still assuring me that my Social Security payments are secure, well, I think there might be a few chapters still waiting to be writing in the book. A good read.



3. "Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds" and "Confusion de Confusiones" are both works that address speculation frenzy in early financial markets but which have continued to enjoy a surprising popularity among investors centuries after they were written. Perhaps that is because a certain romanticism and distance comes with age, while at the same time these stories of speculative bubbles tell us that nothing really changes in the markets no matter how sophisticated we get. A foreword by Peter Bernstein sets the stage for the 17th century proliferation of financial instruments and pursuit of wealth. Martin S. Fridson's Introduction comments on the enduring popularity of these works, their differing perspectives on market forces, and their debunkers.
   
   "Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds" was authored by Scotsman Charles MacKay in 1841. It was a favorite book of Bernard Baruch, who wrote the foreword to the 1932 edition, a much longer work than what we see here. Only chapters relating to financial markets have been included in this Wiley Investment Classics edition. MacKay recounts three speculation frenzies and their aftermaths: The 1717 Mississippi Company of John Law and France's misadventures with paper money under the regent Duc d'Orleans, the 1711 South Sea Company bubble, and, more briefly, the "tulipmania" that overtook Holland in the 1630s. MacKay concentrates on the human behavior that drove these bubbles rather than on financial minutiae. If you're interested in learning more about John Law, father of modern finance, Millionaire by Janet Gleeson is a very readable biography.
   
   "Confusion de Confusiones" author Joseph de la Vega wrote about what he knew personally: the stock market in late-17th century Amsterdam. The 1957 introduction by Hermann Kellenbenz includes a bio of de la Vega and helpful explanations of the types of transactions to which the work refers. The main text is a series of Dialogues between a Shareholder, a Philosopher, and a Merchant, in which the Shareholder explains the stock market, which he describes as "this enigmatic business which is at once the finest and most deceitful in Europe", the "quintessence of academic learning and a paragon of fraudulence." De la Vega uses stock of the Dutch East India Company as an example and lays the blame for price instability on syndicates of bears and bulls who conspire to move prices. I can't say that either of these works is useful -we have plenty of bubbles in our own time, after all- but they are engaging curiosities.



4. When reading this book you find that what's old is new and that
   somethings really don't change much over time. What does change
   is that the perception of market behavior can be quantified and
   measured easily, when in fact, it cannot. Some of the accounts
   of history date back over two hundred years, but yet are as relevant
   today as when they originally happened. The facinating information
   is that before the 17th Century, most of the wealth was concentrated
   in the hands of landowners and royalty. There was no need for
   grand financial markets since the ownership of the wealth was
   passed down by death of their owners. One of the authors even
   mentions "bubbles" which in today's financial lexicon is even
   more relevant. If someone wants to fully understand what is
   not understandable, they should purchase this book just to
   enjoy the fact that they too, are not complete morons, but just
   part of the crowd that thinks they are immune to the whims of
   the market.



5. It's always good to check a place like Project Gutenberg when you're considering older texts, especially things published before 1923. In this case, the book is in the public domain and you can download it for free.

No comments about 10: The Essential Rules for Beating the Market.