3 comments about Market Neutral Investing: Build Consistent Low-Risk Profits by Creating Your Own Hedged Portfolio.

1. Any investor disposed to pick stocks should read this excellent short introduction to the esoteric discipline of market neutral investing. Author Eric Stokes provides a better introduction to investment risk than the usual explanations found in most popular investing books. He also discusses a variety of ways to use the underlying principles of market neutral investing without becoming a full-fledged market neutral investor. Indeed, the quantitative capabilities and research skills necessary to run a market neutral portfolio are far beyond the scope of all but the most well-staffed investment firms. But a simple strategy like purchasing shares in an index inverse fund to hedge the risk of a long index fund could make sense for many investors. To learn if this strategy is right for you, we recommend reading this book.



2. I thought this was a great book. It simplified the concept of investing 'short' in conjunction with a standard stock portfolio to reduce risk, without sacrificing overall returns. In todays market, this certainly sounded attractive to me. Not only conceptual, but actual information on how to easily create and trade a short strategy. Much easier than I expected to implement this kind of advanced stock investment strategy.



3. This book was a good introduction to market neutral investing. After reading it, I certainly have a good appreciation of what is involved.
   
   I can't give it 5 stars however, the reason being when you short a stock the individual investor will be paying margin interest (etrade at time of writing this review was 10.24% <$50K for example). Margin interest isn't taken into consideration in the book, in fact I don't believe it was mentioned once. That's crazy to me. If you short $50K worth of stocks, and go long $50K of stocks for 1 year, and your margin interest is 10%, your combined long/short portfolio is going to have to return 5% to even breakeven. The fact that margin interest isn't mention in the book disappointed me. But like I said, this is a great book as an introduction to market neutral investing, it's easy to follow, and well written.

5 comments about The Right Stock at the Right Time: Prospering in the Coming Good Years.

1. Easily this book paid for its self in the first couple chapters. If I knew before I bought it how enlightening it would be, I would have been willing to pay much more than the retail price.



2. We all get different things from a book depending on our personality, experience, investment style, etc. I look for the positive things I can get from a book, not for things to critize.
   
   I have over 300 books in my Investment Library,and this is one of the few I set aside as a reference.
   
   I always read Larry's books. He is not just an academic, a writer, or a peddler of his products. Larry Williams is one of the premier investors of our time. You can count the people more successful at investing on a few fingers. Anytime a person like this writes, I want to read it. Is the book perfect? Of course not. I too wish there were more detail and clarity. I count my- self lucky if I get one good idea from a book, I got several from this one. I have investment books that I have paid well over a hundred dollars for. I paid less than twenty dollars for this book. I can't imangine why anyone would hesitate to purchase a inexpensive book like this from an author with Larry's credentials. I am not the least concerned if he includes a few commercials.



3. Good research into the stock market, presented in a clear and positive manner. Best of all it works I bought in early 2003 and have a handsome profit on all my stocks.



4. There are a number of good books on "Market Timing" and this would be in the top five. If you could afford to read three books on market timing, I would get Les Masonson's book, Deborah Weir's, and this one. If you want to first learn about market timing one a book at a time, get them in the same order I just listed them.
   
   Each book covers some of the same ground but each offers a few nuggets that aren't as well covered in the other two. Larry William's book has the better documentation on the "Decade Effect", an interesting correlation between each year in a decade and how the market has done in each of those ten years.
   
   So, all in all, buy those three books and you will have a pretty complete understanding of timing the market on a macro-basis.



5. the first few chapters have built the anticipation for a good strategy to learn , HOWEVER, there were no formulas, nothing to learn.
   book talks about theories about market timing with no proof.
   i wouldent take it seriously as i thought

5 comments about The Little Black Book of Microcap Investing: Beat the Market with NASDAQ/AMEX Microcap Stocks, OTCBB Penny Stocks, and Pink Sheet Stocks.

1. Not a book for advanced investor, but has some helpful hints to help protect newer investors interested in gambling in pink sheets.



2. This book is ok, I didn't mind the read, but it didn't necessarily expose any knowledge you cannot already get out there on the net for trading pennies. But, I would recommend the book for anyone new to the game and for anyone wanting reinforcement in the standard concepts of trading on the OTCBB and Pinks.



3. Outlines all the basics of what you need to watch out for in trading/investing in penny stocks. Trading at these low levels is quite different than trading NYSE securities. This books helps define the differences and basic strategies.



4. If you're going to trade penny stocks or are thinking about that sector of investments then this book should be your first. The buzzword for this type of speculation is "due diligence". Mr. Holtzclaw provides all the information you need to conduct a proper due diligence. I'm very happy with my purchase.



5. I would bet money that the author made far more off of this well presented book than he ever has off of trading.
   
   This book is a stumbling, bumbling, super-beginners guide to investing in Microcaps, but most of the book the author is hyping up old holdings in washed up companies.
   
   From the sounds of the book this guy is a hobbyist. And hobbies are expensive. He compares micro-cap trading to playing slot machines! Is this really something you want to emulate?
   
   Don't get fooled by the cute cover, save your money and buy a better book.

3 comments about All About Stock Market Strategies : The Easy Way To Get Started.

1. This dual authored 249-page book McGraw-Hill paperback covers different investment styles. It is divided into 10 chapters and includes a 15-page appendix of on-line investing resources, and 100 useful Websites, as well as a 9-page glossary. One unique feature is the inclusion of Psychological Quotient (PQ) Charts that can help readers ascertain their investment style and, thereby increase their odds on selecting the most appropriate investments.

   The authors put forth the theory that if an investing strategy does not fit a person's personality that he/she will not stick with it for very long. Therefore, they provide a selection of currently used investing strategies together with the personality traits needed to execute the strategy successfully.

   According to the authors, the investing process encompasses stock selection, timing of entry and exit points and portfolio management (asset allocation, number of holdings). However, they point out that the strategies for picking investment vehicles depends upon the investor's style of investing.

   The authors point out that if an investor can use a systematic investing approach while maintaining discipline that he can more than double the annual return compared to random investing.

   The authors created PQ charts. They rate each investment style on a scale of 1 to 10 for each of ten personality traits. These traits are: discipline; patience; risk tolerance; reward expectation; volatility tolerance; time horizon; time commitment; quantitative skill; charting skill; and investing confidence.

   Nine specific investment styles are reviewed. The four major styles are growth (high risk/high reward); value (hunting for bargains); momentum (where the action is); and technical investing (using charts). There is one chapter on each style and together they cover 100 pages and are the heart of the book.

   Each chapter follows the same format by providing the PQ chart personality rankings, anatomy of the types of stocks that fit that category, chart patterns of these stocks, how to screen for stocks, checklist of questions on evaluating stocks, exit and entry strategies, portfolio strategy, a case study, stock chart evaluation checklist, on-line resources, and helpful hints.

   Five minor investing styles are portrayed in a separate chapter. They include: fundamental investing (balance sheet review), income investing (dividend payers), hybrid investing (combining styles), active trading (day traders, swing traders, position traders), and style surfing (style now in vogue).

   Also provided are market capitalization strategies. Those covered include: large-, mid-, small-, and micro-cap strategies. A few advanced strategies are briefly discussed. They include short-selling, market-neutral investing, index trading, option hedging, and global investing.

   Each style is explained and a PQ chart is included. A table showing the names of specific index funds and ETFs is also included for each investing style or market cap. This table provides readers with the specific funds to consider based upon their investment profile.

   Overall, this book provides readers with a crisply written introduction to understanding the different investing styles, determining their style, help in locating funds that track these styles. This book contains sufficient resources to help investors strengthen their knowledge about investing and the markets. I highly recommend this book to new investors, as well as those who don't have a clue as to what they should be focusing on.




2. the book that i will be reading will help me get started. I will understand the market alot more.but this book will be great. It will get me on my feet.Other that that this book will great for people that wanting to get started with the stock market.I all ready love this book and i havent even read it yet.

   thanks for your help.
   chris green




3. I have read this book cover to cover. I have also read 2.5 other starter books. This is by far the best one. You will not be ready to make millions after this read, but you wouldnt be after only one book anyways. Some other books I have read are Bill o'reillys how to make mony in stocks. This book is much better for a non biased oppinion, O'riellys book seems more concerned with trying to sell you his strategy and in turn investors businness daily. My only criticm is that it doesnt go to in depth about any one strategy, it is more of in intro to all of them. This is exactly what is needed for a first book however and thats why it gets five stars. Be prepared to buy another book after this one sparks your interests. Be cautious about other books that try to get you all hyped up and ready to lose alot of money proclaiming themselves as the holy grail.

5 comments about Street Smarts: High Probability Short-Term Trading Strategies.

1. I bought this book on a recommendation from another trader. I paid a lot less than the $175 they are asking now, but I still thought it was very expensive. I read through half of the book and thought it was interesting. On one of those days I had the book open on my desk and realized that one of the patterns from the book was forming! I waited till the right moment and took the trade on 2 year treasuries. Exited the trade about a minute later with a $225 profit. That paid for the book on a single trade.
   
   I realize I could have also lost $225 on that trade, then the cost of the book would have been around $350. I was now happy with the purchase of the book. I looked for more trades, but did not find any that week. Then the book got pushed aside and forgotten about. I found the book again last week because I heard someone mentioning it. I pulled it out and reread it.
   
   I think the book has something to offer. Is it too expensive? That is hard to say. For me it became free after one trade. Was I just lucky? I don't think so because I can scroll through charts and see a lot of the set-ups in hindsight. So the trades are there, its just a matter of being there to pull the trigger as they happen.
   
   I hope to get more out of the book from this second reading. One thing I have noticed is that many times I read a book and get something. Then upon rereading it I pick up many thoughts that I did not see or understand during the first reading. Maybe I wasn't ready at the time, but having many dozens of books under my belt and lots more life experience in between the first and second readings, I was able to digest more.



2. you can always spot s loser by one of (or both) of two reactions:
   
   1- They want to get into a business to make money but think $200 is too much!!
   
   2- They expect what they read to agree with their bias
   
   Anyone who wants to make money but thinks a book is expensive at $170 has the wrong personality for trading. If you are like that, you have no business trading because you are too greedy and a coward.
   
   Secondely, when you are making a comment about someone, it is really important to REALLY be sure that what you are saying is acccurate. The implication that Linda does not make money trading is just ridiculous. The woman is a bloody Market Wizard, for God's sake! She is also a pretty crap promoter of her services.
   
   The book is excellent. The question is: does it contain methods that can make you money? Of course it does. You guys are clearly sleep walking because you are concentrating on believing that every method in the book will make you money all the time under any circumstances. Quit believing that and pick the ones that work under different market conditions.If you can't, it is your fault, not the book's.
   
   If you watch Linda trading, you will see her using those setups under the right conditions. The fact is, if you cannot make money trading the setups in the book, you are either new and have to learn the basics first, or you are not cut out for this business.



3. I cant this book is $175 !!! for the material inside is plain junk, i have read ALLOT of books from gann to elliot to andews and this has to be the worst book i have ever read the methods taught are very indicator based and will not work in the long run the wolf wave method is basicly elliot wave rehased, there are better books to learn the elliot wave best book in my opinion robert miner's book, as for momentum is concerned larry williams. and for breakouts edward's and magee. I have been trading for 10 years but i constantly buy books just to see if i can atleast get one golden nugget out of them, this book however has no good insight into anything i did not get one good idea out of this book. As for some of the reviews on here if you click see all my reviews this is the only book they have reviewed ....hmmm but if you are serious about trading the books i reccomended above are very insightfull atleast they were for me, miners book is old but is full of new ideas and less based on indicators and has very easy to follow rules for elliot, i guess what they say is right old is gold. good luck



4. I found this book to be very insightful in spotting possible setups on a chart. The downfall is that it's very expensive. I got mine via digital delivery on Ebay for $49. The techniques must be followed exactly in order for you to profit from them. And remember to use stops...only a fool trades without using stops.



5. This is an advanced book, and it does no hand holding. It is a trading niche book. It is not about day trading, nor momentum trading, but a unique subset of short term trading called "swing trading". If you do not know the difference, this book is not for you. It is not earth shattering. But, it is written by traders who have done it for a living for decades. Thus, it is worth knowing how they think, and how they have earned a living. And, yes, you mostly only make a few hundred bucks at a time, if you are good. Not riches, but "a living".
   
   The price is high, but this is a small niche market. They will sell few copies. Linda Raschke has done this technique of swing trading and earned a living at it for decades. I would not expect her to take time off to write about it for chump change. If it were a mass market, a lower price would be in order, but this book is good for very few people.
   
   I give it four stars only because of the terse format. BUT, they are traders not literary artists. I cannot fault them for not writing War and Peace.
   
   If you are an experienced trader, and expect nothing more than a few hundred bucks when a trade goes well, and protection from loss when it does not, this book will either confirm what you know, which is helpful, or add a trick or two that you did not know, which is more helpful. Traders are successful who earn a living, a few hundred dollars at a time, several times a day, day after boring day. It is not a book for others at all, and not a book to start with. If you magically expect more money than this, buy another book. And, nothing in short term trading is really new over time. This is not a breakthrough book of new and novel ideas. The first idea, "Turtle Soup" came from the Turtles which have been around many decades. It is nice to read that this pattern has not yet worn itself out, and is still used. I am happy to have it in my library. I am happy to know that old tricks still work for old dogs.

No comments about All About Bonds and Bond Mutual Funds: The Easy Way to Get Started.

5 comments about The Market Gurus: Stock Investing Strategies You Can Use from Wall Street's Best.

1. The Market Gurus by John Reese and Todd Glassman is one of the first investment books I've ever read. The book is fairly easy to read and doesn't require too much prior knowledge. Each section starts with an introduction of the guru, his achievements, and a summary of his investment strategy. The strategy is then applied step by step to two companies. What I particularly like is that plenty of links to various websites as well as recommendations for other investment journals/books can be found scattered throughout the book.

   The problem, however, is that some gurus share similar views and it can get rather redundant. But overall it is well worth a look, even if you don't finish reading everything.




2. A great book on learning about the stock market. Talks about many different types of strategies that any new upcoming investor could use. It let's you find out what kind of investor you will be by seeing what strategy fits you best. I myself like the O'Neil strategy. I would recommend this book to any who are curious about the stock market and investing in it.



3. The Market Gurus easily breaks down investment strategies for the new or begining investors, but has very useful information that can be used by veteran investors. This book is easy to understand for the rookie investor. The authors achieved their goal very successfully. By showing the investors of the past, it made the different strategies much clearer than it would have been to just explain them. I enjoyed this book and definetly recommend it to anyone in need of strategical advise in the stock market.



4. I personal think John Reese and Todd Glassman have done a incredible work on this wonderful book-The Market Gurus: Stock Investing Strategies You Can Use From Wall Street's Best. I am a senior student who is taking Economics class now. And this great book makes me feel so interesting on the stock. Also it makes me wonder how smart those nine famous and outstanding stock market investors are. And how these two fantastic authors are for writing this book which make me to understand more on the business.



5. This book is tricky. It gives you a decent overview of some of the best stock investors, who they are and what they've done. It also gives you some quotes and some ideas they've been using and it's easy to get convinced it tells you how they were picking their investments. But it's not that simple.. There are a few reasons to be carefull.
   
   1. Sometimes the information is based on second hand interpretation (like Buffet never really explained his approach)
   2. Even when you read the original works quoted in the book, they are usually full of exceptions and warnings, so the book tends to oversimplify things and pull them out of context.
   3. If those great investors could fully explain their winning strategy, everyone would probably be following that method and enjoying similar results. But since we don't see followers of some particular approach dominating the market, probably some personal outstanding characteristics and maybe luck are playing some role and this is not something you can pass through a book.
   
   So treat this book as a catalog of a few prominent investors featuring some highlights of their techniques. But if you lime any of them, don't rely just on the breif description in the book. You should do you own research and make sure you've got enough information to make your own decision.
   
   Overall, this is a well written book with enough useful information to make it worth reading.

No comments about A Kid's Guide to Stock Market Investing (Robbie Readers) (Robbie Readers).

5 comments about Fundamentals of Options Market.

1. As an instructor in equity options for a major market making firm, I've been looking for an introductory text to supplement the lecture material presented in our training classes. While MacMillan and Natenberg have written great books on the topic, the former is not specific enough to our market making business and the latter is too advanced for the beginner. In looking for something in between these two fine works, someone suggested to me the Williams/Hoffman book. It has been unsatisfactory in several respects. Explanations of some concepts appear out of context with the material being covered, some others are very muddled, and some are just plain wrong. The book also suffers from a trait common to many traders-turned-authors in that while the authors may be very knowledgable about their subject they aren't very good at conveying - at least in book form - that knowledge to others. While students with previous exposure to options concepts may be able to overcome these deficiencies, I wouldn't recommend this book to the beginner. The beginner would be much better served by picking up MacMillan's timeless classic.



2. The authors appear to know their subject well. I would recommend this as a beginner-to-intermediate introduction to fundamentals except for the numerous errors.

   Some errors are like "typos" such as 6 instead of 60, some are more serious and subtle such as specifying a call when a put was meant, and some are fundamental structural problems with the book. For example, the Quiz answers don't match the chapters to which they purportedly provide answers, and in some cases only some questions are answered anyway.

   The errors are so numerous, and some of a type that they won't be caught by the average beginner, that it might be dangerous for a beginner to rely on this book as a reference or as an only introduction to options.

   I'd really like to have a completely "cleaned up" copy, as I think that could make this the best introduction that I'm aware of.




3. Finally, a book about options that is understandable and helpful. The book has been reprinted so the errors that the other readers referred to have been corrected. I loved it!



4. It's about time that someone writes a well-written book about the greeks. Now I understand the stuff.
   
   This book reads to you like you are a baby. It taught me the greeks in a simple manner.



5. I've seen both the authors speak at an IOC seminar on equity derivatives. They make a difficult subject understandable. I highly recommend the book, or even better, to see them speak in person.

4 comments about Stocks Bonds Options Futures.

1. Great book. Complex concepts are explained clearly and concisely. Examples are abundant and helpful.



2. I have to point out that I have the first edition of this book (which did not have Veale's name on it). It is absolutely excellent at introducing the basic concepts behind all types of securities and futures investing one may be considering. They cover what stocks, bonds, etc. are, how they are traded, the terminology used by brokers, and even some historical background. I was really impressed at how clear and understandable all the explanations were. This book was written by someone who really understands the concepts and knows how to explain them well.

   The book does not have a glossary in it, but does have an excellent index, which is really better in many ways.




3. I am making the transition from hard sciences to financial markets. I have started reading many math oriented books on quantitative finance, like the great two volumes by Shreve, but guess what, I still could not understand a Bloomberg article or a report on the radio, all these market terms were a mystery to me. Not anymore. This book did it for me. It requires ZERO financial knowledge and yet it is not for dummies. It is perfect for the level of someone who never had a formal training on what is the definition of a stock, what kind of departments exist inside an investment bank, etc. etc.
   
   It is a clear book, I would not call it technical, it reads like a novell, and I can not overstate any more how cleat it is. I definitely recommend it to people who want an introduction on the subject.



4. This is a must read for all who feel the need to learn about these important investment vehicles. The writing is stellar and easily understood, even on such ideas as futures, hedging, and more difficult concepts like the yield rate curve.
   
   Mr. Veale is an excellent writer and deals with the common and uncommon uses of these vehicles. You will understand how to read any kind of quote, from stock to bond to esoteric qoutes like T-Bill spreads and ED futures.
   
   I usually sell books like this once I have absorbed the knowledge, however this is a keeper since it will be an important reference for well into the future.