Book Description
Develop a Winning Investment Strategy -- with Expert Advice from "The Nation's #1 Money Manager"
Peter Lynch's "invest in what you know" strategy has made him a household name with investors both big and small.
An important key to investing, Lynch says, is to remember that stocks are not lottery tickets. There's a company behind every stock and a reason companies -- and their stocks -- perform the way they do. In this book, newly revised and updated for the paperback edition, Peter Lynch shows you how you can become an expert in a company and how you can build a profitable investment portfolio, based on your own experience and insights and on straightforward do-it-yourself research. There's no reason the individual investor can't match wits with the experts, and this book will show you how.
In Beating the Street, Lynch for the first time:
* Explains how to devise a mutual fund strategy
* Shows how he goes about picking stocks, step-by-step
* Describes how the individual investor can improve his or her investment performance to rival that of the experts of the investment clubs.
Customer Reviews:
A study in excellence.......2007-02-15
What a great book of explanation. He gives many of his normal habits to us that are away from all the other advise of investors and financial advisors. His whys may sound old fashioned but look at his record and you will be old fashioned also if you could obtain what he did. I will read any and all of his other books now. I only see one listed at this point but will hope to find him writing more. I have been in the Magellian fund since 1986 and his success has proven itself to me personally.
Entertaining and useful.......2007-02-10
This book is a must-read for anyone interested investing. Peter Lynch ran one of the most successful mutual funds in history, the Fidelity Megellan Fund, which averaged an annual return of 29% during his 13 year tenure. He is also ranked by Wall Street as one of the most successful stock pickers on the planet. In Beating the Streets, Lynch outlines his common-sense approach to stock picking. The approach, labeled as "buy what you know" by Lynch, or investing in your "circle of competence" as referred to by Warren Buffet, is a simple strategy the yields results proven by many successful investors. In his book, Lynch goes through his entire process of stock picking from how he discovers a lead through what numbers he looks at to how he investigates the company behind the stock. I found the book to be an extremely accessible, comprehensive, and practical guide that is written in an entertaining and light-hearted manner. I highly recommend this book to anyone that wasn't born with a fortune in their bank account.
The Lynch Classic--Unbeatable, except perhaps Warren Buffett's Annual Reports.......2007-02-04
Lynch makes lots of good points. One of them is as a small investor you can buy into thinly traded stocks on the way up, such as APCC in the early days.
Big funds simply can't get enough stock to make it "worthwhile," an interesting point, usually overlooked by the pros in their writing.
if you want to know how to invest you don't need this book!.......2007-01-29
if you want to know how to invest you don't need this book!
90% of this book is Peter Lynch story
not as good as I expected.......2007-01-22
A lot of repeating in this book. Lack of good ideas.
Book Description
In the high-level yet down-to-earth style for which McGraw-Hill's Streetsmart Series is known, STREETSMART GUIDE TO VALUING A STOCK covers everything from basic stock valuation to more advanced valuation models and techniques. Its nuts-and-bolts, nontheoretical methods will be invaluable in helping you locate and analyze undervalued stocks. "The book outlines the fundamentals of making an investment decision in a stock based on a reasoned evaluation of that stock's worth. The writing is direct, logical, and remarkably interesting..." - William R. McLucas, Partner, Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering, Former Director, Division of Enforcement U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission. "The authors have taken one of today's rarest commodities—good common sense—and applied it to one of today's most vexing challenges—valuing a stock. This book is a valuable tool for anyone participating in the stock market." - Warren A. Stephens President & CEO, Stephens, Inc. "Today's stock market is more complex and volatile than ever. A stock's price does not necessarily represent the intrinsic value of the company. I believe that we all need the safety net of cash flow valuation to make prudent investment decisions. Many Wall Street analysts would benefit from reading STREETSMART GUIDE TO VALUING A STOCK, and I will recommend it to all of my institutional clients." - M. Clara Tucci, Managing Director—International Equity Sales, ING Baring Furman Seltz. "This is a terrific book for investors! In a witty, fresh style the authors explain how to value a company's stock by using an easy-to-understand, 4-step approach. They explain what numbers are required, where to get them quickly, and how to use them." - Charles C. Snow, Ph.D., International Education Program Lecturer on Strategic Management, Mellon Bank Professor of Business Administration, The Pennsylvania State University.
Customer Reviews:
Good practical introduction to discounted cash flow (DCF) valuation.......2007-01-26
Using discounted cash flow (DCF) to estimate the intrinsic value of a stock is not for those looking for those looking for easy rules of thumb; it requires work. This book, together with the related website, does a good job of showing how, in language that doesn't require you to be an MBA. Recommended.
Another Disappointment from Academia.......2006-12-31
"The Streetsmart Guide to Valuing a Stock," written by three credentialled Penn State University finance professors, prompted this reader to expect the "latest and greatest" thinking on stock valuation. If the prospective reader has similar expectations, he or she should look elsewhere. This reader found the book disappointing in many ways. For openers, it was crafted to target the least discriminating of students leaving the rest of us to wade through endless repetitions of simple ideas and to struggle with more complicated ideas via ambiguous word descriptions where a simple equation would suffice. More importantly though, the authors' discounted cash flow valuation theory (as opposed to more traditional discounted earnings theories) appears to be the wrong approach. Whereas stock investors have an exclusive claim on earnings, they must stand in line behind creditors with their claims on cash flow. Also while the appropriate discount factor in most evaluation theories has to do with the rate of return on the investor's alternative investment options, in the authors' theory it is the corporation's weighted average cost of capital - a very different and seemingly irrelevant concept.
Warren Buffet may be the only one to correctly value stocks, but he's not talking. Until he does the prospective valuer might find Mary Buffett's renditions ("Buffettology" and "The New Buffettology") to be more useful and understandable alternatives to the "Streetsmart Guide to Valuing a Stock."
Getting Streetsmart - your money better spent elsewhere.......2006-03-11
The first half of this book did an admirable job of introducing the reader to various stock valuation terminology & methodology.
Unfortunately, the second half of the book focused almost solely on explaining, applying, and encouraging the purchase of their stock valuation software. Without this software, the second half of the book is somewhate limited in its value and use.
The book's not a total loss, thanks to the first half, but is probably a better exercise in "book valuation". This one's valuation falls somewhere short of its purchase price. If it were a stock and I were to apply the owners valuation principles, it might be best to pass on buying it...
Hope this helps! Cheers!
it's all here.......2006-03-08
If one is patient with this book, one will reap many rewards.
DCF explained from start to finish.
Sound Economics.......2004-05-01
This book offers an economically sound approach to stock valuation. The associated free website is also very useful.
Book Description
More than 63 million Americans now invest in stock mutual funds. Yet, among the thousands of available choices, less than five percent consistently beat the Standard & Poor's 500 index. The few managers able to surpass this venerable benchmark are a rare breed indeed. Wizards Of Wall Street reveals the secrets of 18 of the world's most steadfastly successful mutual fund managers-all of whom have outperformed the S&P 500 over the past five years, many for much longer.
Kirk Kazanjian, a noted investment expert and personal finance author, presents candid and telling interviews with each manager, tracing their careers and uncovering their successful stock picking strategies. Some, like David Alger, Thomas Marsico, William Miller, and Jim Oelschlager, are prominent in the press. Others, like Ronald Canakaris and William Oates, avoid the spotlight and rarely grant public interviews. Some look for growth at any price. Others keep a strict eye on value. Some buy only established giants. Others prefer small startups. All have indisputable track records, fascinating backgrounds, distinctive styles, and a wealth of knowledge to share.
The book culminates with a penetrating look at the traits these pros have in common and provides a list of ten keys to beating the market. Engaging and enlightening, Wizards of Wall Street will captivate anyone interested in investing for both pleasure and profit.
Customer Reviews:
Big Disapointment.......2004-04-04
I'm not sure I found one decent idea in this book
I would rate this a "sell".......2004-03-07
I bought this book hoping to learn some real insights. What I learned is that this author doesn't understand the business.
Very Good Book.......2002-06-18
One of the finest all-around investment books I have seen. Lots of wisdom from many excellent managers.
There are much better books out there.......2002-06-10
This wasn't one of the better books out there. It may have been one of the worst. I personally liked: "Secrets of the Wealth Makers: Top Money Managers Reveal Their Investing Wisdom."
Excellent reading and great investment tips.......2002-06-03
This book is full of great and timely investment advice from some leading investment managers. I also really enjoyed how the author took the best advice and put it all together to form specific strategies every investor can use to manage a profitable portfolio. It will be an insightful read for investors of all experience levels.
Book Description
"Timely and practical. This book brings the leading edge of investment information to the prudent investor in an understandable way." -
Charles Schwab, Chairman, Charles Schwab Corporation. "to write a book like this on Modern Portfolio Theory and make it understandable would be a very difficult job. John Bowen went ahead and did it.
Congratulations." - Merton Miller, Nobel Laureate in Economics.
Individual investors today must fend for themselves as they seize control of their own portfolios. In this authoritative and ill-researched book, investors learn how to simply and effectively use popular asset allocation strategies - in combinations with mutual funds - to greatly increase their returns. The reader is walked step-by-step through a low-risk, high-return approach using model portfolios and case histories, plus timely information on emerging markets, tax-saving moves, annuity products, and more.
Download Description
An easy-to-use investment program--with returns that beat most professionals!
Customer Reviews:
Finally a disciplined approach to long-term rewards..........2004-04-20
Who wouldn't want to learn how prudent people find disciplined ways to, through the course of their lifetimes as investors, buy low and sell high?
This book puts into practical terms what financial advisors like myself have long prescribed to investors who want lower risk and better returns than that of the overall market as measured by the S&P 500, the Wilshire 5000 or the Dow Jones Industrial average. It's no secret that a large percentage of Wall Street's finest often fail to provide consistent returns in excess of the averages and, while most in the underperforming camp sell the idea of less risk, too many fail to deliver.
In all my time in the financial services industry I've found that what most people want out of their investments in the market is exactly what this book delivers. It should be in every prudent investor's library.
The Best Investment Primer.......2002-09-11
Goldie and Bowen have put into laymen's terms what most Wall St. professionals and money managers do not know-- that no one can time markets, sectors, or pick individual (mispriced) securities with any consistency.The authors articulate a core investment approach that effectively makes all other investment strategies look like speculation. We all have heard that diversification is your friend but few,(even the most sophisticated advisors) understand the meaning of true global diversification,i.e.constructing a portfolio of asset classes which do not move in tandem(some zig when the others zag) in order to reduce the volatility or standard deviation of the portfolio and hence increase its compound return. As a result one can have a portfolio which includes some relatively risky asset classes but in the aggregate is more conservative. How many of us today wish we had taken this advice and included reits,short fixed income and international small cap value into our mix? As the authors point out, who knows what asset classes will be in favor tomorrow. However, if we follow this approach,we will capture their returns and a bit extra for reasons which they spell out.Goldie and Bowen clearly show the benefits of maintaining your target asset class weightings and the need to periodically rebalance when one class gets out of line.Just as compelling are the chapters that explain which asset classes pay you for the risk you take (eg. small cap vs. large cap and value vs. growth) and which ones do not (such as longer maturity fixed income). In my opinion this is the best primer for those who are interested in long term investing. The authors give us an understanding of the tools necessary to construct a core portfolio. Clearly we would all be better served to follow this advice with our investment capital and understand that stock picking, buying the hot fund, or timing the market (in other words what 99% of the world mistakenly views as investing) is really speculation. While these principles are timeless, given the returns of just two asset classes,the S&P 500 and the NASDAQ these past few years, this book should now reach a more responsive audience.
Confused arguments paper over a sales pitch.......2002-08-23
I think the author's focus on asset class mutual funds useful, but that's only half the story. If you spend your time reading this, you won't learn anything about taking care of assets. All you learn is the standard Wall Street diatribe:
1. No one can predict the market (except for Wall Street Professionals)
2. The biggest mistake you can make is taking your money out of stocks and bonds once they are deposited (except to pay your advisor).
3. Don't trust your instincts, trust your Wall Street professional's instincts.
At the end of the book, probably hoping they have convinced their reader of his utter ignorance regarding money management, they kindly offer a chapter on finding your 'financial advisor', closing with their own email mailing addresses.
Guess what you are supposed to do.
The book is full of odd contradictions.
1. It's title proudly claims to be about 'beating' Wall Street, but the conclusion extols reliance on a 'financial advisor'.
2. For the first 3 chapters, the authors claim to accept 'random walk' theories, and points out the inability of top ranked fund managers to maintain their ranking as proof of the randomness of the market. For the remainder of the book, we are constantly advised only a professional can distinguish a long term positive rate of return. In other words, it's not a random walk. The guy's picking your asset class funds can suddenly defeat the random walk.
3. There is a chapter on defining your financial goals, but when determining your 'investment time frame', the authors advise using your life expectancy. Let me explain this to you. They advise putting your money in a Wall Street fund and updating your will. You should never plan on 'cashing out' and enjoying your rewards. That's pretty safe investment advice, if the client is alive, the money should stay put and the plan is still on track, even if it is down 70%. If he's dead, he won't sue over the bad advice.
4. In chapter 6 and 7, they advise ignoring tax implications. Chapter 8 is on investing with taxes in mind.
5. In the intro, the authors promise to show you how to do the math yourself. At the end of the book, there is just a bunch of formulas that refer to other formulas with values left undefined. I guess they figured no one was going to follow the math, and if they would, they were not their type of client, anyway.
The Best Investment Strategy Book you will read........2002-06-22
I have spent about two years researching financial strategies by getting input from top tier professional advisors, perusing web sites, and reading books. Of all the information I've gotten, this book provides the most concise and effective approach to how to allocate your investment funds.
What you will learn through this book (backed by academic research primarily by the University of Chicago):
1) An overview of modern portfolio theory, which states that there is an optimal risk/reward curve that allows you to determine the appropriate mix between stocks and bonds for any given expected level of return or tolerance for risk.
2) Regardless of your tolerance for risk or desire for reward, the only thing that changes is the overall % allocation between stocks and bonds. When any investor looks at stocks, they should have the same makeup of stocks in their porfolio (international, large cap value, small cap, etc.). The difference between more and less agressive investors is that the stock composition will be a bigger piece of their pie.
3) Statistical analysis that gives strong proof that index funds ... beat mutual funds handily over the long run by several percentage points.
This book has provided me with the best framework for investing. It's a little redundant (as most informational books are), but well worth the read. I've purchased many copies of it and given them to friends and family.
One of a kind.......2001-08-29
There is a huge mismatch between what is known by finance professionals and academics, and the literature that is generally targeted at retail investors. Forty years after the economist James Tobin set out his Separation Theorem disposing of the 'interior decoration' approach to investment (a little bit of growth here, a value stock there, not forgetting some fun on technology stocks), financial advisers are still getting away with peddling truly outlandish and superstitious notions. (My personal favourite among these fallacies is the notion that 'dollar-cost averaging' is a sensible and risk-averse approach to investing. Exactly the opposite is true.)
In short, investment advice aimed at the retail investor often does far more harm than good. This is one of the very few books aimed at retail investors that does more good than harm. Indeed, it does a lot of good, by explaining in a non-technical but non-patronising way the essentials of modern portfolio theory (a discipline that sees investment as a process of risk management rather than of 'picking winners'), and advises on cost-effective ways to put them into practice. Retail investors looking to make a killing on the stock market by day-trading should take a deep breath, forget everything they once believed, throw away all their market tip sheets, and buy this book instead. Among its many virtues, this book will ensure that they no longer *worry* about what the stock market does - the first step to getting a happy and fulfilled life. Strongly recommended.
Book Description
Millionaire Traders
Trading is a battle between you and the market. And while you might not be a financial professional, that doesn't mean you can't win this battle.
Through interviews with twelve ordinary individuals who have worked hard to transform themselves into extraordinary traders, Millionaire Traders reveals how you can beat Wall Street at its own game.
Filled with in-depth insights and practical advice, this book introduces you to a dozen successful traders-some who focus on equities, others who deal in futures or foreign exchange-and examines the paths they've taken to capture considerable profits.
With this book as your guide, you'll quickly become familiar with a variety of strategies that can be used to make money in today's financial markets. Those that will help you achieve this goal include:
Tyrone Ball: trades Nasdaq stocks almost exclusively, and his ability to change with the times has enabled him to prosper during some of the most treacherous market environments in recent history
AShkan Bolour: one of the earliest entrants into the retail forex market, he trades in the direction of the major trend, rather than trying to find reversals
Frank Law: a technician at heart, identifies a trading zone, commits to it, and scales down as long as the zone holds
Paul Willette: has mastered a method that allows him to harvest some profits right away, while ensuring that he can still benefit from an occasional extension run in his favor
Customer Reviews:
Better for individual traders than Market Wizards........2007-09-30
For years, Jack Schwager's Market Wizards has rightly been the standard for trading interview books. There's another book which can take its place in that trading book pantheon - Kathy Lien and Boris Schlossberg's Millionaire Traders.
I'm an individual (mainly day) trader with 8+ years experience. And as I read each chapter, I'd find multiple nuggets of gold and the book speaking directly to me - not as a market observer or cheerleader, but as a trader.
The authors knew which questions to ask and when to probe a little deeper into an answer. The contrasts and comparisons between the various traders are wide open for the reader to appreciate, and learn which of the traders "lessons learned" can be applied to their specific conditions.
I found myself constantly saying "Yup, I learned that the hard way too", and nodding agreeably when the trader would have their epiphany in much the same manner I did. The traders cover a wide variety of fields - equities, options, FX - and styles - buying or fading momentum, buying news, discertionary or systemic trading. There are very few points on which the traders are in complete agreement, and these tend towards money management: preserving trading capital, being able (at some point) to admit you're wrong, and other similar traits.
The key difference between Market Wizards and Millionaire Traders involves the people who are being interviews. Wizards is bonafide superstars in the trading industry, people who can move markets simply by their name being bandied about and who have gobs of money I'd never dream of having. In contrast, Millionaire Traders involves people who are either less widely-known in the trading community, but still achieve success and whose strategies are more attainable to a regular trader.
And that's ultimately what makes Millionaire Traders a better read than Market Wizards: the interviews are geared more towards regular traders. The exact methodologies aren't detailed here, so if you're looking for a Dave Landry (Swing Trading) / Jeff Cooper (Hit and Run) / Street Smarts kind of book you should look elsewhere. But if you want to know how others are able to succeed, and look inside at yourself and see if you have the keys for success, this is the place to start.
Everyday market wizards.......2007-09-28
Ok, I will start with a run-down of the things I liked best about this book.
-Every trader profiled is very different than the others. Telling me there are hundreds of ways to make money trading.
-Every trader knows his strengths and weaknesses and focuses on what he is good at. The basic centuries old advice "Know Thyself" rings true again. Are you better trading long or short? Fast hits, or more long term? Trade your style for success.
-Every trader says "don't lose money". Come on, who doesn't know that? But it turns out it is probably one of the most violated trading rules out there, one every successful trader follows. As the book states, protect yourself, No Capital, No Trading, No Life.
-You are not smarter than the market. Trade what is happening at this moment, not what you want or hope to happen.
-Stay away from companies with debt. If you are going long, that's a great piece of advice! While other companies that carry debt also move up, those without it move up more reliably.
-Trend is continuous, but turn only happens once.
-If you have to make money, you never will. All of these traders trade to do it right. If you do it right each time you will make money as an added benefit. If you violate your rules the market will punish you.
-Focus on a few stocks, futures, or currencies. You can't trade everything, so you need to become an expert and specialize somewhere.
The traders profiled target different markets. Stocks, futures, and Forex. There is a good assortment here so you should be able to find at least one trader that resonates with your trading style. While every one of them trades differently they all have figured out a system that they stick to. Some have daily profit targets, others don't. Some of the targets are large, others seem very small, like one trader that shoots for ten pips a day. That's a pretty easy target in my opinion, but if you make it a large trade you can achieve a pretty high reward.
One comment in the book really clicked for me. It pretty much summed up in one sentence why I enjoy trading so much. The sentence was "Trading is one of the only professions that punishes you for non-performance". It also rewards you instantly for good performance. There are many jobs in this world where you can skate by and do mediocre work and get away with it. But in trading there is no place to hide. Your P/L will tell you immediately if you have done good or bad. What other career can give you that instantaneous feedback?
Most of these traders paper-trade to ensure their systems work. One trader will triple his paper account before trying the system live. That's dedication to your craft. I have found that I cannot paper-trade too long, maybe I am impatient? That's one reason I like Forex because I can trade very small amounts and actually use real money to do a pseudo-paper-trade. The amount of risk is very tiny, but psychologically I am more focused because I understand its actual money on the line. Then once I have achieved a long enough test sample the only change I have to make is the trade size.
If you trade or are planning on starting, I highly recommend this book. I think there is knowledge here for everyone, no matter what your skill level is.
Book Description
"Timely and practical. This book brings the leading edge of investment information to the prudent investor in an understandable way." - Charles Schwab, Chairman, Charles Schwab Corporation. "to write a book like this on Modern Portfolio Theory and make it understandable would be a very difficult job. John Bowen went ahead and did it. Congratulations." - Merton Miller, Nobel Laureate in Economics. Individual investors today must fend for themselves as they seize control of their own portfolios. In this authoritative and well-researched book, investors learn how to simply and effectively use popular asset allocation strategies - in combinations with mutual funds - to greatly increase their returns. The reader is walked step-by-step through a low-risk, high-return approach using model portfolios and case histories, plus timely information on emerging markets, tax-saving moves, annuity products, and more.
Customer Reviews:
I was looking for such a book.......2001-04-25
This book is about Modern Portfolio Theory, but is written for the investor not for the academic. The style is simple and serious, touching every point that should be made. I have resd other books on this topic, and all of them have terrible titles. That is not important. They also consider different degrees of detail, also not important. This one confirms my own common sense. It does not belabor simple points (a la Bogle) but states them clearly with footnotes giving proper credit. I teach a class in "Saving and Investing." Would that I could summarize as well as Bowen and Goldie do. The coverage of foreign and golobal stocks is brief and good. The opinions on bonds are sensible. Believe it or not, these are often neglected topics or are lost in the clutter. I wish the authors would come out with a third edition!
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- Competing on Analytics: The New Science of Winning
- Cost Accounting (12th Edition) (Charles T Horngren Series in Accounting)
- Cost Accounting (12th Edition) (Charles T Horngren Series in Accounting)
- Crafting and Executing Strategy : The Quest for Competitive Advantage - Concepts and Cases (Strategic Management: Concepts and Cases)
- Critical Chain : A Business Novel
- Critical Chain Project Management, Second Edition
Books Index
Books Home
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General
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One Up On Wall Street : How To Use What You Already Know To Make Money In The Market
The Warren Buffett Way, Second Edition
Learn to Earn: A Beginner's Guide to the Basics of Investing and Business
The 16% Solution: How To Get High Interest Rates in a Low Interest World with Tax Lien Certificates
Inc. & Grow Rich!
