5 comments about The Finish Rich Workbook: Creating a Personalized Plan for a Richer Future (Get out of debt, Put your dreams in action and achieve Financial Freedom.

1. Just started this workbook so far so good. This is an awesome book and I am just in the beginning stages of the book



2. This was a good book when released even though it was so Microsoft oriented.



3. Great Service and quick - I'll definitely but again



4. I love the entire series of Finish Rich books. This is my 3rd book I have bought. I just got married and wanted to include my husband in my plan. He is much older and ready to retire. I of course am not. We can now work together for our future. Its taken a little longer than I have planned but can not wait to put all of our things in order.



5. As a self-employed entrepreneur, my husband and I found this to be a great tool! It is so easy to understand and use. It really helped us to sit down and talk through our financial goals as well as challenges. We are now on the same page and well on our way to attaining our goals.

5 comments about The Encyclopedia of Trading Strategies.

1. The Encyclopedia of Trading Strategies is well written and is a good book if you are looking for something very technical and mechanical. I was disappointed with the book. I thought it would offer chart set ups or set ups per technical indicators. Instead, it offered codes, etc for setting up mechanical systems.



2. I liked this book.
   it presented many ideas and a right pragmatic approach to test a trading system.
   I found tough the statistics part, but it's not an author's fault: it's statistics.
   in the final part I found many repetition (many pages might be saved just writing: " hey, for this system we apply the same said at pag. xyz..").
   
   Only two things remained a mistery to me (but I'm not much intellingent..): why didn't the author make any test for longer horizons? in the end, the strategies never approached a longer term trading strategy: usually the trades last few days.
   maybe it's not worth? the author doesn't tell us
   
   ah, and it's not an encyclopedia: why did he choose this name?
   this is the second mistery...



3. The book should be compulsory reading for any aspiring systems trader.
   The testing methodology is thorough, and they cover many of the more common approaches to systems trading as well as a few that many will find a tad too esoteric. My only complaint is that the book could present us with more detailed stats on the tested systems. In e.g Way of the turtle (a much less comprehensive text) the author does an excellent job of presenting stats on any tested system, including a number of important measures you will not find in the Encyclopedia. Overall, I still believe it is a must read. For beginners I also recommend the following books (for starters):
   
   Way of the Turtle (Faith)
   Evidence Based Technical Analysis
   Design, testing and optimization of trading systems (Pardo)
   
   Also, check out the Trading Blox forum at tradingblox.com for
   tons of useful info on systems trading.
   
   * s p e c t r e *



4. This book provides an overview on the type of strategies available and shows the results done on the different strategies. For system developers it is useful to know that most strategies - pure trending, oscillators etc do not perform well at all!
   What is lacking is a more thorough analysis of the different methods. Overall a useful book which highlight the pitfalls which system developers will fall into.



5. Anyone planing on or currently trading using technical analysis should read this book. The lessens inside can help prevent loss of savings.
   
   This book takes a careful look at various types of technical indicators and trading strategies that use technical analysis, the types of methods commonly found in charting software and technical analysis books. For me the bottom line is that making a consistent income from trading, using technical analysis, is difficult. (Losing money is not so difficult).
   
   The software referenced in the book and available for a relatively small price, is in my opinion very powerful, but difficult to master (C++ source code that must be compiled, debugged for your compiler, and modified to create useful systems).

5 comments about Get a Financial Life: Personal Finance in Your Twenties and Thirties.

1. I wish I had this book when I was 19 and applying for credit cards. This book has great information in understandable terms for those who are beginning their financial journeys in life from opening bank accounts to buying homes. It also provides good stories as examples to explain some concepts that are more difficult to grasp, especially for those who are not financially savvy (like me). I will be giving this to my 19 year old brother so that he can be smarter about money than i was at his age (I'm 25).



2. Books like Beth Kobliner's have to earn their place on your bookshelf. After all, these days plenty of personal finance advice is available for free on the Internet. That said, this book is a wise investment for early-career professionals who would like advice about getting out of debt. Although its guidance is solid-if-predictable, it is well-researched and straightforwardly written. Kobliner provides an authoritative "further reading" list for those who want to delve deeper into how to get their finances on an even keel. This book does not promise to make you rich overnight, and it doesn't exactly qualify as a page-turner, but it lends a helping hand. We recommend it to young people whose financial life is just a bit too exciting.



3. I moved to US 7 years ago, so all this stuff on retirement plans, mortgages, investments, was a big cloud of information to me. Very slowly I started learning about finances reading articles over the internet. When I got this book, I couldn't stop reading it. It gave me a great overview of how to put my financial life together. It is very easy to read. Yes, it's not the solution to all your financial problems, but it's a great overview with very enlightening information.
   The only thing I didn't find details about was 457 retirement plans (even though it talks about others). That's the only reason I didn't give it 5 stars.



4. The information in this book was the type that your big sister should have told you. I was lucky enough to have a big sister to explain these things so I didn't need the book. But if you are truly just starting out into adulthood, you'll enjoy the helpful hints such as how to evaluate the checking accounts offered from different banks or how to start a retirement account. If you're very young, if you're very new at being an adult, and if you have nobody to guide you this book has all the essential advice.



5. I was thinking about going into finance but was too close to graduation. This book was recommended to me by a finance professor, when I asked for something that really explained how things work instead of just giving a prescription. This was an excellent book that I would recommend to anyone who is interested in financial matters. I keep this book in my library as reference and have turned back to it many times for a reference point when people ask me questions about finances.

5 comments about Beyond Candlesticks: New Japanese Charting Techniques Revealed (Wiley Finance).

1. Candlesticks are the strongest picture of the internal mass psychology driving the market. Once you have learned how to identify basic candlestick patterns from Steve Nison's first book(Japanese Candlestick Charting Techniques)you must learn how to place them in the context of everyday charts. "Beyond Candlesticks" teaches you how to identify the nuances that can make the difference between a profit and a loss. If you have wondered how to get an edge on the market, this is it. The information on how to combine candlesticks with traditional western technical anlayis, gives you the ability to create a complete trading system.



2. The underlying principles on the formation of the patterns were well discussed. Simple to understand due to actual samples.



3. The book is written in a clear, easy to follow style. The concepts, although not complex, have their nuances and these are dealt with in a way that doesn't confuse or overwhelm the reader. The exercises provided help to consolidate the knowledge gained by the reader. All in all, a very good and useful book.



4. I bought this book because candlesticks are my favorite bars and reviews here and elsewhere suggested 'Beyond Candlesticks' was better than Nison's first book. Since Nison is supposedly the "father of candlesticks", I assumed he would be the best source of information. However that is not the case. I just purchased Stephen Bigalow's candlestick book and find it a whole lot better and easier to read. Nison mentions his young children in Acknowledgements. I think they must have written and edited the book because it is so elememtary and repetitive. The spelling is terrible (Example: within a few pages we have Eastern Kodak showing an uptread on the dailey charts). Also the grammar is bad at times. It's obvious the author jotted notes in his word processor then flushed them out for all he was worth because there is little info here. There is a lot of musing and a good bit of Nison-hype. It is hard to pay attention to. Further, today's publishers don't care enough to put charts on the same page as the text and truly edit these financial books, so it's even harder to follow. Wiley Publishing is the worst. They likely did this one.



5. Absolutely an excellent book. If you want to get a comprehensive knowledge of Candlesticks reading Beyond Candlesticks and Nison's first book about candlesticks, Japanese Candlestick Charting Techniques are a must. Nison is an excellent teacher.

5 comments about Understanding Stocks.

1. I am a finance major and wanted a quick overview of the stock market. This book was fantastic. It covered more material than any other book on the shelf. Very detailed and very entertaining. (I noticed that it's listed on our supplemental reading list so the teacher knows it's a good book). 5 stars.



2. Received the book in excellent condition and as described. Just needs to send an update via email of when the book was shipped.



3. First of all, let me say that I did get a lot out of this book. As someone new to investing, it answered some of my questions, but not all. My main complaint is that it's descriptions are not always clear. For example, when describing a Head and Shoulders Pattern (page 120) the reader is refered to a figure as an example. This is great, except that the author does not tell the reader where to look in the figure. Thus, the explaination has little value, unless you know what this pattern looks like in the first place. It would have been nice to include a glossary of terms, especially for fundamental analysis, even if these terms were not discussed in detail in the text.
   
   My recommendation would be to get this book if you want a quick introduction to stocks. Be prepared to invest in additional references if you want to make sense of your broker's quotes.



4. I am just starting to invest and this book contained great groundwork and information. Easy to read and follow the concepts.



5. This book provides the core knowledge and basic information about the stock market. It's concise and very easy to understand. It's excellent if you are looking for a basic introduction to stocks.

5 comments about How Technical Analysis Works (New York Institute of Finance).

1. Kamich provides a very nicely balanced approach, providing a thorough presentation without becoming an encyclopedia of every obscure technical tool available. The book was written long enough after the 2000 peak that the charts provide both bull and bear examples.



2. Definately provides a good review of many TA approaches and I really like how Kamich inputs his personal commentary on the market psychology represented by the charts. The big weakness of this book is the lame charts. Considering this is a TA book, which is all about charts, one would think there would be good examples... There are not! I found myself drawing many of the charts he described. In my oppinion, he should have provided them.



3. Kamich's book is not for the expert technical analyst or a professional day trader. It is appropriately respectful of quantitative and fundemental analysis, limits its discussion to the most proven and reliable indicators, and offers some clever speculation about the underlying dynamics of market structure and market participants that explains why technical analysis may be useful. It also provides a little history of technical analysis back to Dow.
   
   The most provocative parts for me were the sections on gap analysis, volume confirmation, and his excellent chapter on reversals.
   
   For someone who either does not know anything about technical analysis or else thinks of it as the astrology of modern finance (or the Rorschach Ink Blots), Kamich's book is a solid and sensible introduction that is as convincing as it is useful.
   
   Note that this is not a catelog of all the major technical indicators or trends in technical analysis. For that book, buy "Murphy's Technical Analysis of the Financial Markets" also from the NY Institute of Finance.
   
   Whether you believe in technical analysis or not, know that the people you are trading against do use these techniques and either way you should know what other participants are seeing in terms of signals and opportunities. This book is an exceptional start.



4. This is acutally a very good book, and one of the stronger parts is that the author explains what actually happens during the formation of different patterns. I would give this book 4 stars but the charts are awful - I have NO idea why the author has chosen this format for the charts...



5. For the low price, you really can't get a better entry-level TA book. If you're only looking to add a little TA to your fundamental strategy, or only looking to find out what TA is, this book may suffice. For someone looking to start an in depth study of TA, this is a good starting place. After that I would look at Technical Analysis by Kirkpatrick and Dahlquist. However, for an advanced TA trader this book won't offer much.

5 comments about Wall Street Journal Guide to Understanding Money and Investing (Wall Street Journal Guide to Understanding Money & Investing).

1. This book is excellent for learning the basic concepts in investing and finance. If you would like to iniciate in this area, i recommend this book as an entry door with the basics.



2. I cant believe that I went through college without taking business or econ classes (except for political economy). This is a way for me to catch up.
   I like this book because it is easy to read and understand. So easy even an elementary school kid could understand....ok maybe junior high.
   Eventually I would hope to read the Intelligent Investor.



3. Just finished reading it. Wow, what a mind trip. Fast shipment too!



4. If a picture is worth, as is said, a thousand words, The Wall Street Journal Guide to Money and Investing is worth many times its purchase price.
   
   The book takes a very basic approach at explaining the components of the investment world. Taken together, the components explained represent a comprehensive view of what is a very complex and broad topic.
   
   One reading doesn't do this book justice, though. Read over and over, however, this book will earn a place on any serious investment student's bookshelf as a resource to return to for a periodic refresher or for clarification.
   
   Bumped to the side by The Wall Street Journal in favor of Dave Kansas' The Wall Street Journal Complete Money and Investment Guidebook, Kenneth & Virginia Morris' book lives on as The Standard and Poors Guide to Money and Investing. Where Dave Kansas' book is complete and chock full of words, the Morris' still succeed at conveying the basics in a way that will forever add value.



5. Es un libro excelente para entender como funciona el dinero y los mercados de capitales, partiendo desde lo más sencillo hasta lo más complejo. Excelente para principiantes, intermedios y para profesores.

5 comments about The Buffettology Workbook: Value Investing The Warren Buffett Way.

1. Written by Mary Buffett, former daughter-in-law of Warren Buffett, and David Clark, a portfolio manager, "The Buffettology Workbook" is the best investment I've ever made. The financial formulas you'll find in this book are all the ones they should teach in business school, but don't.

   The book is broken down into 23 chapters, each no more than a few pages, so you can read a chapter a day (and continue to review the chapters for the rest of your investing career). The first seven chapters give a breakdown of Warren's investment philosophy, value investing. Here, you learn about the short-sightedness of the market and the bad news phenomenon. Also, the authors identify the difference between commodity-type businesses and consumer monopolies, and tell you why it's far better to own consumer monopolies. Once you understand these concepts, you're halfway toward success as an investor. Now, you need to learn how to identify the correct buying opportunity. That's where the true value of this book comes into play, offering formulas and equations you won't find most books.

   The remaining chapters in the book focus on the examination of financial statements, the acquisition of pertinent information (what's important and what's not), then they tell you how determine an investment's desirability. You'll learn the value of high rates of return on shareholder equity, how to measure management's ability to utilize retained earnings, and Warren's ideas for the Internet and short-term arbitrage commitments.

   I read this book beginning to end the day I got it, but I'll continue to familiarize myself with its formulas for the rest of my investing career. Although it marks only the beginning of one's investment knowledge, learning these bedrock principles are what separate successful investors from mere average ones... Buy this book!

   Britt Gillette
   Author of "Conquest of Paradise: An End-Times Nano-Thriller"




2. This is one of the worst investing books I have ever seen. Not only does it have absolutely nothing to do with the way Warren Buffett actually invests, it completely makes up investing methods.

   For instance, the book talks about discounting future streams of income. The Oracle of Omaha was quoted at a Berkshire Hathaway meeting as saying he NEVER uses discount future cash flow.

   Even worse, this book promotes "book value growth" as a method for evaluating a stock's worth. Book value is an accounting term representing the net equity for a firm on ONE PARTICULAR DAY IN TIME. Change the date of the balance sheet and the value calculated by book value growth may change dramatically.

   If you want to invest like Warren Buffett, check out The Intelligent Investor by Benjamin Graham.




3. This is a good book and it is an even better book if it is used with their other book entitled The New Buffettology - which is better than the first edition entitled just Buffettology. In regard to the reader from TX Buffett uses growth of book value to determine the relative performance of Berkshire Hathaway - just check out the annual report. And Buffett is on record saying that a company is worth its future income stream discounted to present value - though Charlie Munger and I have never seen him do it. This was brought up at the 2001 Berkshire annual meeting. As far Ben Graham is concern Buffett and Munger are both on record saying that they no longer use the Graham's method - still worth the read though. Tim Vick, who wrote "Wall Street on Sale", loves the Buffettology series so much he wrote the cover recommendation. Check it out! And get on the program! You won't be sorry you did!!!



4. For those of you that are time-pressed, this is the best book in the Buffettology Series to read in order to glean a few secrets on the investment techniques of the Oracle of Omaha. The workbook covers both the qualitative and quantitative sides of Buffett's value investing approach, and provides the basic techniques one can implement in order to invest with a reasonable amount of success.
   
   The workbook is not exactly the best book on investing that I have read (that title goes to Benjamin Graham's The Intelligent Investor), but in its defense, it does provide a simple to implement investment strategy. Most of the techniques hinge on a few simple ratios and knowledge of simple present and future worth. Additionally, most of the limitations associated with the techniques are clearly and simply stated.
   
   The book has several merits. The chief merit of the book is that its approach to investing is self-contained, and emphasizes the qualitative aspects more than the quantitative aspects. In passing, readers that focus more on Part One of the book and skip Part Two, the quantitative part, could easily obtain a dramatic improvement in their investment results. Written in simple, easy to understand language, the target audience of this book is most likely that individual who depends on the Internet for all of her information on companies, as such sites as Yahoo, MSN and Value Line are routinely cited in the text as sources of information. The book is very well organized, quite possibly with the idea that it would fit the mold of a chapter-a-day format. Most chapters are usually no more than five pages long, with easy, cheesy word problems and true/false questions at the end of most every chapter to reinforce key concepts. The title of each chapter basically states the key concept to be learned, and key points are highlighted at the end of each chapter. Although it provides some theory and rationale for the techniques it attempts to teach, this is kept to a minimum, and the book focuses almost exclusively on application of the techniques. Those readers that are only interested in the methodology can simply skip to the 22nd Chapter titled 'Doing It Yourself: Buffettology Worksheet'. Thus, the book makes every effort to make learning, and ultimately using, the techniques as painless as possible.
   
   The major demerit of this book rests in its insistence on doing all calculations on a per-share basis. But then, this is how much of the information that is easily obtainable through such channels as Value Line and other sources is presented. One minor demerit is that the authors do not seem to be aware of the virtual ubiquity of MS Office, making it possible to perform all of the calculations in the book in one Excel spreadsheet, but then again, this is a minor demerit. Although there were a number of minor typographical and mathematical errors in the book, I am willing to overlook this, as the thinking and reasoning behind any investment proposition is more important, and is clearly presented throughout the book.
   
   Overall, I rate the book to be worthy of reading. It presents a simple and straightforward investment approach, and does not require an advanced degree in rocket science to implement it. All it really requires is a basic understanding of fractions, decimals and percents, and most important, a willingness to think and reason through the investment proposition. However, those of you with strong quantitative backgrounds will be very dismayed with this book (as I was initially), but as I said before, if you focus exclusively on Part One of the book and Chapter 22, then you will see a dramatic improvement in your investment results going forward.



5. Many books have been written about Warren Buffet's way of picking the right stocks at the right time, but the books of Mary Buffett and David Clark are the most sound, concise and actionable. There is another book by different author (by Robert G. Hagstrom) similar to Mary Buffett's writings: "The Warren Buffet Way", but it misses the important topics laid out in the Mary Buffett's publications. 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 Warren 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 Mary Buffett's work, instead of the printed book. The audio version discloses the most important factors of Warren Buffet's investment principles pretty well. Some of the background information is available on free letters to shareholders and Warren Buffet's lectures, but you might not want to crawl thought all these; you might want to save time and just listen or read the Mary Buffett's work, where all this information is perfectly summarized and laid out in a consistent way.

5 comments about 24 Essential Lessons for Investment Success: Learn the Most Important Investment Techniques from the Founder of Investor's Business Daily.

1. That is WHY he is "plugging" his paper. You must UNDERSTAND his paper to USE his paper so he "PLUGS" his paper - more correctly - DISSECTS - his paper so you can more easily USE the information. To all the ingnoramus reviewers who denounce this book as a "Sales Pitch" have clearly not bothered to pick up and read the Investors Business Daily but are paranoid of being sold and snookered. Perhaps they've been had too many times. Sometimes its ok to be sold. If you're sold on sound princibles and solid information as in the information in this book and it's "plugged" paper Investors Business Daily by Mr. O'Neil (ranked 12 in in the top investors of all time) which he offers FREE for a MONTH home delivered daily wrapped in plastic. C'MON GUYS!!!



2. I tried this and it works most of the time! You have to follow all the rules to make it work.



3. This book isn't about getting rich quick. It takes time, study diligence and patience coupled with controlling ones emotions to become an excellent investor.
   
   William O'Neil, who started a successful financial paper known as Investors Business Daily, wrote How to Make Money in Stocks. Decade of research, critical thinking and common sense has helped O'Neil to create some very powerful ways of investing successfully. He melds both the technical and fundamental aspects of investing.
   
   Each of the 24 lessons in this book is provided in a chapter form. Just a few of the powerful lessons are: Follow a system Rather Than your Emotions (Lesson 3), How to Buy a Stock at Just the Right Moment (Lesson 9) How to Gauge the Stock market's Health (Lesson 12) and many more.
   
   I have read many books, magazines and articles on investing in stocks, bonds, mutual funds and more over the years. O'Neil's ideas are some of the most solid and consistent I have found to apply to the stock market. They are easy to read and understand the basic...but like anything worth while...it takes years to be good. I have read three of O'Neil's books and have found rich ideas in all of them.
   
   The Re-Discovery of Common Sense: A Guide to: The Lost Art of Critical Thinking



4. Just finished "24 Essential Lessons for Investment Success" by Bill O'Neil, who happens to be the publisher of Investor's Business Daily. Consequently, the book is more or less an extended commercial for the paper -it is an investor's guide, but an investor's guide as applied to using Investor's Business Daily.
   
   However, there's a good balance of information here. If you can steer past the obvious bias, he has some good tips I'd like to try out some day. He presents a formulaic approach for success in the market - not too conservative nor too risky. It certainly makes good sense. And it's obviously worked well for him.



5. I read `The Successful Investor' and `How To Make Money in Stocks' by O'Neil. Both are good books for the beginning investor. However `24 Essential Lessons' is a big disappointment, it is nothing but a plug for O'Neil's newsletter the Investor's Business Daily. '24 Lessons should be given away for free to entice people to use Investor's Business Daily (IBD) instead of sold as a book. There is a plug for IBD on almost every page, often more then five times per page.
   
   Page 38 has IBD plugs 5 times:
   Only Investor's Business Daily gives you "Volume Percent Change"........
   
   For example, a stock showing a +356 volume percentage change in Investor's Business Daily stock tables indicates.........
   
   Additionally, Investor's Business Daily provides special screened lists daily which identify stocks with the greatest percentage rise in volume.........
   
   It's impossible for big institutions to buy a stock without it showing up in either Investor's Business Daily "Volume Percent Change" column in the stock tables .....
   
   Investor's Business Daily enables you to easily track the institutional elephants......
   
   Page 39 only has 2 plugs:
   Investor's Business Daily has another proprietary gauge that can be very helpful in indemnifying whether a stock being sold is being brought or sold......
   
   All you need to do is get in the habit of checking Investor's Business Daily Mutual fund section.......
   
   Page 40: 2 more plugs
   
   Page 41: 3 plugs.
   
   I can go on and on listing the pages IBD is mentioned on and how often.
   
   The ending of this book is dedicated to the advantages of using Investor's Business Daily. I'm writing this review because the author is taking advantage of people selling this book. He should be ashamed for himself.

5 comments about Dynamic Hedging: Managing Vanilla and Exotic Options (Wiley Finance).

1. Great book, very easy read as it is written in a conversational tone. Covers all the issues associated with derivative trading in an intuitive manner.



2. Books-A_Million lists a revised edition, ISBN: 0471353477, with December, 2008, as a publication date. Their advance order price is $76.95.



3. This isn't so much a review as an inquiry -
   
   I'm still working through this book, but I've noticed that it is replete with algebraic errors. Taleb doesn't always go through every step of his calculations, so they're difficult to follow.
   
   Does anyone else notice these errors or am I getting caught in the algebra? An example is on page 38 towards the top:
   
   He says that 12,500,000/.985 is 1,269,000. Even with the rounding (shaving off the 355), I'd say he's off by a factor of 10. Shouldn't the answer by 12,690,000? To confirm this, in the next paragraph he writes that a 1 cent rise in the futures price will yield $125,000 in profits on the future (12,500,000*.01) or $126,900 on the forward hedge. Intuitively, it seems that to get $126,900, you could divide $125,000 by .985 or multiply 12,690,000 (the answer you should've previously arrived at) by .01.
   
   There are other errors like this throughout the book - anyone else notice them?



4. Before starting as a trader I had studied Hull in college and took some 'advanced' investments classes. On the first day of work I was told to read 'Dynamic Hedging'.
   My impression: Hull teaches you the (very) basics and Taleb gives you insight in the concepts that are truly relevant. However, do not expect to read it and get everything he writes. As it is written from a practicioner's point of view, things will probably only become cristal clear when you re-read it after spending a considerable amount of time in the dealing room.



5. Taleb once again. Although you may require some knowledge on futures and option trading to understand the bottom of the story, it is nice book, light to read and usefull. If you trade on futures and options you should take a look inside, not becuase of the technical content but to have a close look at the man's ideas.