18 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
I agree with masonson, 2006-02-14
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.
3 of 46 people found the following review helpful:
this book is great, 2003-10-09
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
57 of 57 people found the following review helpful:
An Easy-to-Understand Guide to Investing Strategies, 2002-10-12
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.