5 comments about Beyond Greed and Fear: Understanding Behavioral Finance and the Psychology of Investing (Financial Management Association Survey and Synthesis Series).

1. Wondering what Brealy & Myers or Sharpe left out? Don't expect your broker (or fund manager, excepting Richard Thaler) to fill you in. This book is a must read for any active (or passive) participant in the markets, or any other citizen who is affected by said markets. Meaning all of us.
   
   Shefrin provides a masterful exposition of the application of cutting-edge cognitive psychology to the behavior of retail and institutional investors, analysts, mutual fund managers, CEO's and even heavily-advised university investment committees. The result is the theoretical demolition of the efficient markets hypothesis in even its weakest form, and the related CAPM(s), catching up to their long-noted empirical failings. As it turns out the market does have a memory, and that's not just an anomaly any more. Not every trade is zero-NPV: trust the market price at your own peril. Think dividends are irrelevant? Think again.
   
   What we're left with is a fascinating account of how market participants actually behave: holding on to losers too long, trading too much and trading on "noise," and most alarmingly, undersaving for retirement. What is significant is that these phenomena are so prevalent that they can no longer be dismissed as irrational with the hope that "more sophisticated" money will magically correct the market. To the contrary, what Shefrin describes is proved to be the psychological norm; if you believe you're different, you're either very lucky or overconfident about your lack of overconfidence.
   
   One quibble, in an area that I have looked at before, is in Shefrin's discussion of takeovers. First, I found a bit of confusion between the question of whether the takeover premium should be tested by reference to the post-announcement combined value of both firms, or just the buyer. Since the buyer's CEO is initially fiduciary for just his shareholders, I see only the latter as relevant.
   
   More significantly, Shefrin does not provide any means to rigorously discriminate among his hubris hypothesis and other, more rationalistic theories, such as agency costs and private benefits. And his brief treatment omits many puzzling follow-up questions: if CEO psychology has the potential to systematically destroy shareholder wealth, what should we then conclude about the investors and analysts who allow them to get away with it? Just a governance problem, or is there yet another psychological story to be told?
   
   But the desire to delve further into the subject is just indicative of Shefrin's compelling and readable narrative. For bottom line types, I'm afraid the answer to your question is no, he doesn't explain how to get rich. But you'll surely do alot better with a single yellowing copy of Graham & Dodd than all the reams of abstruse, dogmatic journal articles ever spewed by the Chicago School.



2. If only you could bring yourself to ditch those losers from your portfolio, and hang onto your winners. If you can, you are unusual. Unprofitable habits afflict nearly all investors, beginners and pros alike, writes Hersh Shefrin in this intriguing study of the role of emotions in investing. Shefrin balances the jargon with plenty of real-world examples and wisely cautions you not to delude yourself into thinking that his tips will make you rich. Viewing investing through the prism of behavior finance, he analyzes emotionally-laden decisions made by private investors, money managers, bankers and other professionals handling stocks and various other forms of investments including options, foreign currency and futures. Shefrin offers juicy case histories, so his tour of behavioral finance is mostly enjoyable and useful. At times, though, the book bogs down in the author's attempts to legitimize behavior finance, a relatively new school of thought. For instance, he charges failed investors with committing "heuristic bias" or falling prey to "representativeness." That quibble aside, we recommend this intriguing tome to investment decision makers on any level. Whether you are running billions or managing a retirement account (which, as Shefrin notes, most people do badly), maybe this book will buffer you against emotional investing and pocketbook pain.



3. I am a behavioral economist with a deep belief in the notion that human decision-makers deviate in important ways from the scientific principles laid down in modern rational choice theory. There is no doubt but that very many investors hold erroneous notions of the dynamics of price movements, and having a correct understanding will, on average lead to better returns on one's portfolio. Sheffrin presents the evidence for this position in an interesting and accessible manner.
   
   Shefrin's main advice for investors is absolutely correct, and would improve the asset positions of many poor souls with idiotic notions of stock dynamics. His advice is that if you are not a gifted and dedicated stock expert, you should invest in a low-maintenance cost array of mutual funds, and above all, do not churn your stocks. It doesn't help to be smart, lucky, a stud with the girls, or blessed by God. Moreover, if you think you have one of the "gifted analysts" for a broker, you are to be counted as among the suckers who are never given an even break.
   
   Shefrin has another thesis which he presents with great verve, but which is on very shakey grounds. This is that "gifted stock analysts" can on average, significantly out-perform the market. He believes this MUST be the case if a significant fraction of investors are behaving irrationality. However, there is another possibility, which is that stock brokers as a group gain from the excessive churning that irrational investors permit or ask them to do, but that it is impossible to "beat the market" except by pure luck or by personally studying firm fundamentals and future prospects.
   
   Shefrin's data in favor of the "gifted analyst" is episodic and anecdotal, and there is plenty of data on the other side. For instance, in Malkiel's classic "Random Walk Down Wall Street", he relates the evidence that chimps throwing darts do as well as major brokerage houses. Sheffrin presents contrary evidence for a more recent period in which "gifted experts" outperform the random darts. New evidence, collected by Money magazine, shows that a group of experts did far worse than the darts in 2003. All of this evidence is spotty and anecdotal. The plural of anecdote is not data.
   
   I am not convinced by this book that the efficient markets hypothesis, applied to final returns to investors (after payments to stock brokers and other transactions costs), is not correct. I think the author makes a mistake taking so strong a position when the evidence is so weak on this account. I am certainly not convinced that Malkiel's analysis is in any way overturned by new evidence.
   
   However, if Shefrin convinces a few investors to act more sanely, he will have fulfilled an important social function.



4. So long as market investors are human beings rather than machines, market participants will be governed by emotion. The efficient market theory, as Warren Buffett states, works most of the time. But when unusual or exceptional news comes into play, a stock (and/or markets) nearly always overreacts.
   The best book I have found on investing is "The Intelligent Investor". There is a clear picture of what works and does not work in investing, and why. There is a fair amount of analysis of the behavior of market participants.
   Warren Buffett asserts that he doesn't have much use for what is taught in a typical college business class. As he points out, if professors understand stocks and markets so well, why are so few of them wealthy? People like Ben Graham, Buffett and Peter Lynch are not 'lucky'. They read a great deal, they have keen insight into what makes a stock go up and they are unafraid to buy when prices are low if prospects look good. I would prefer to emulate those who are truly successful rather than those who postulate about what may work.



5. I am currently enrolled in a masters program in International Business majoring in Finance (University Maastricht, The Netherlands (www.unimaas.nl) . For a course on behavioral finance, I had to use this book as a reference. Though it is not quiet a hard core finance book, it is useful to learn about real life examples from the corporate field and to see the contradictions with overall acknowledged assumptions on investors behavior and real life results.
   The book is easy and fast to read and hold lots of examples. It is a perfect book for people interested in finance, but I doubt the academic use of it (no offense to both the author and my course coordinator).

No comments about Investing From the Top Down: A Macro Approach to Capital Markets.

5 comments about Inside the House of Money: Top Hedge Fund Traders on Profiting in the Global Markets.

1. MY RATING SYSTEM:
   
   * - if you have to chose between torture and reading this book, then you might want to consider reading the book - although it depends on just how severe the torture would be.
   
   ** - if you've lost your job and have quite a bit of free time on your hands, and don't have anything else better to do, then you might want to consider reading this book; don't expect to learn much or really be entertained. It will however, help you pass the time until your death.
   
   *** - meh...I'm indifferent. Reading this book will not alter your life in any significant way, yet it is not so horrendously dreadful that your taking the time to read it will be a complete waste of time.
   
   **** - Good book to great book zone here. You should probably read this book if you have some spare time. This book could be interesting, entertaining, or informative.
   
   ***** - Outstanding book! Make time to read this book - you'll learn or be entertained or intrigued. The book might even be good enough to provide original or helpful insights into the world that we live in.
   
   REVIEW:
   
   Overall, while I found Inside the House of Money to be, at times, an interesting and engaging read, I did find that my perception of the value or interest of each of the interviews varied greatly throughout the book. I have not read the Market Wizards series or any of the other trader interview books that some other reviewers have mentioned as being superior to this book, so I can't really compare.
   
   For me, the highlight of the book was quite likely the interview with Jim Leitner, with the interviews with Jim Rogers, Dwight Anderson and Scott Bessent also catching my interest. These interviews seemed to be more transparent in their discussions, more accessible, and more thought provoking than some of the others.
   
   Generally, each of the interviews tends to hit on a few main areas: (a) how their careers developed and how they got into the industry; (b) that their main strategy is and some examples of good and bad trades they made; (c) some discussion of how they obtain/analyze information; (d) risk management/portfolio construction; (e) general views on the markets and areas they like/don't like; and (f) their thoughts on global macro as a strategy. There are a variety of different perspectives presented throughout the book, and while a couple of the interviews contained some basic technical finance lingo, most of the interviews should be easily understandable by readers with an understanding of economics and financial markets. Where is jargon, the author does a good job on including explanation boxes that clarify key terms and events to provide the reader with some background that helps clarify or put the interviewee's comments in context.
   
   One of the interesting things that I picked up throughout the book is that there are a variety of different styles and techniques that are employed by these traders, and all are able to employ them in a way that achieves success. For example, some of the traders get research from investment banking research and sales groups while others avoid it. Some traders like to take vacations to clear their heads, others don't. Some traders find it valuable to visit the markets they are considering investing in, others find that doing so might make you more subject to making decisions based on anecdotal evidence.
   
   I also enjoyed a couple tidbits that I picked up along the way. One trader mentioned the idea that being right at the wrong time is still being wrong. Also, the discussions of cost/benefit of managing money for others once you've established your skills and have accumulated enough of your own capital that you can trade for your own account.
   
   In conclusion, I found the book interesting, but not captivating. I would have liked to have had more consistency in interview quality (some of the interviews didn't really seem to be that thought provoking or communicate that much of value to me). A decent read, but I'll take a look at some of the other trader books before I consider increasing my rating.



2. Judging by the reviews here, you would think that you are buying the next great book in the mould of the 'Market Wizards' series by Jack Schwager. But, trust me, you will be sorely disappointed.
   
   Drobny is a good writer and does ask some good questions of his subjects. But this is definitely NOT a collection of 'top hedge fund managers' or a collection of some of the 'greatest minds in global macro investing'. In fact some, like Andreas Drobny and Sushil Wadhwani are not even hedge managers. They are just academics and central bankers, in the author's own words.
   
   Read it if you have been through most of the other good books out there and there are no other choices. The interviews with Jim Rogers (as always), Jim Leitner and Scott Bessent are entertaining. But there is nothing exceptional or eye-opening about any of these interviews. There is no shortage of hedge fund superstars in London or New York, so it would have been nice if Drobny had gotten access to some of them.
   
   In short, there is more hype than warranted with this book. Get it from a library if you can!



3. I am the trader who is managing EZ Stock Options . com. I have been researching, developing, backtesting, and improving winning trading strategies for the past 7 years. This book has no useful information for investors. It is just talking about how in general (no details at all about strategies) he has made money for Yale University by managing their fund. Don't waste your money and more importantly your time on this book.



4. As a professional in the ETF business I highly recommend this book. After I read this book I gave it to my son as he recently graduated college and is planning a career on Wall Street-- It's that kind of book. Steven is well connected in the Hedge Fund world and this book is a testament to that. If you buy it to just read Jim Rogers section - your money will be well spent.



5. Amazing to read, how differently managers actually approach what is basically the same job: Make money in capital markets. One cannot live without stop loss limits, while another dislikes them a lot. One is riding trends, another one is contrarian. one loves to read research and newspapers, and travel, another one finds none of that of any use. But all of them claim to be successful. How comes? I'm just halfway through, and have a couple of hypothesis. Keen to see, which can be tested and falsified in the course of the second half.
   Good inspiring read anyway for all with some knowledge of capital markets.

5 comments about Goals! How to Get Everything You Want--Faster Than You Ever Thought Possible.

1. Beginning from page 1, the book doesn't stop. It takes off like a Saturn V rocket. It's a must have for anyone who is goal oriented, one who needs to set goals or one who is into marketing.



2. This book starts out slow - but within 2 hours you'll have a method to find your goals and a way to achieve them. This is by far one of the best audiobooks I have ever listened to. Definitely a winner for changing your life!



3. I have never read Brian Tracy before. This was recommended by a friend and I picked it up first from him and read. Then I realised that this is a classic. I have a Book, a *pdf and the audio book version of this book.
   
   A classic step-by-step book on just to start chganging pour own perspectives. Some of them are unimaginable, but they work. - Writing my Own Obituary, for e.g. When I first read that, I said.. "whoa.. what the hell is this". As I read more and started putting it into practice, I could see the essence of the chapters.
   
   This helps one take control of their lives. achieve what they want to achieve and not really be a victim of 'situations'. I believe in the subconscious effects that a written goal provides! The book help build some clarity into thinking and how-to tackle that clarity to become something.
   
   If yoiu do not read this, you are missing SOMETHING!



4. Pretty well everything by Brian Tracy can be summed up as a Masterpiece and it's no surprised he's the most sought after speaker in the business world. Tracy's message of clarity in what you're after, getting the right training and going for it not matter what is consistent in most of his programs.
   I found Goals to be more focused on setting targets which are measurable while achievable and outrageous at the same time. He makes too many references to list but quotes several of the great industrialists like Ford, Firestone, J.P. Morgan and so forth who started with little or no money and became the greatest of their industry simply because they made their dream happen through the detailed methods he discusses. Don't miss this or anything else Mr. Tracy does, as it's helped me in my business many times over. Also the statistical information he has is mind-blowing!



5. As far as I am concerned Brian Tracy can do no wrong. This book does not fail to satisfy. From the procrastinator to the dedicated goal setter there is something in this book for everyone. The advice is easily applied and you WILL notice a difference in your output when you apply his great advice. It's short enough to read quite frequently but long enough to get the meaty substance to keep you thinking for a while.

5 comments about Go for No!.

1. This is a great tool to increase or develop your sales ability. It is an easy read, story format, I gained significant insight and inspiration.



2. Great book, informative, encouraging, motivational and easy read!
   Not just for retailers, applies to everyone- principles to apply to life in general.



3. This book made me rethink my goals in terms of seeking yes answers. Now my goal is 15 NO's a week, there will be yes's along the way.



4. This is a must for anyone who intends to be successful! This book was a super easy read taking me about 3hrs to read. Great story and message!



5. Book is an easy read - Increase your success by failing faster by hearing no more often. Go for NO is not just for the network marketer because this is more about a shift in the way one thinks about NO. The book is certainly worth the read for anyone in any industry where NO is common on the road to success. Sales, Entertainment, etc

5 comments about The Complete Guide to Locating, Negotiating, and Buying Real Estate Foreclosures: What Smart Investors Need to Know - Explained Simply.

1. The Complete Guide to Locating, Negotiating, and Buying Real Estate Foreclosures: What Smart Investors Need to Know - Explained Simply is the best explanation I have read for buying foreclosures in a long time. It starts off in plain English, crunches the numbers for anyone not sure if they can afford it and then gets straight into the how to. While I didn't take the author's advice of skipping around it is entirely possible to skip around chapters, reading what's most interesting first, before coming back thanks to the simply way everything is explained inside. Whether a first time buyer or a long time investor I think anyone would benefit from reading this book.



2. Frankie and Marsha have truly put together a user friendly guide that examines the foreclosure process. For anyone looking to purchase a home or invest in the foreclosure market, this book is truly a gem. The book aims at helping investors take advantage of the foreclosure market. They point out the potential pitfalls and abundant gain that a foreclosure can bring investors.
   Homeowners would also benefit from reading this book. The book provides an insiders look at how the foreclosure process works and the way that investors can potentially save them before a foreclosure occurs. The best defense against foreclosure is knowing the tricks of the trade.
   The book is user friendly and well organized. Not to mention part of the proceeds are donated to a worthy charity.



3. Real estate investors can amass a fortune by purchasing foreclosed homes at various foreclosure auctions, and this guide is the resource novices and pros will find an outstanding key to locating such bargains. From auctions and online processes to making it easy for bargains to come your way, THE COMPLETE GUIDE is a survey investors will find easy to begin with, making it the perfect item of choice for public libraries.
   
   Diane C. Donovan
   California Bookwatch



4. If you hesitated about getting into real estate investing during the real estate housing boom, the new boom - the one in foreclosures - may be your chance to build wealth by buying forclosed real estate.
   
   This book is not for everyone. As a licensed real estate agent for eight years, I have seen people try to get rich quick using various schemes they have heard about on television or read about in books - with little success. This method is no fly-by-night strategy and not everyone who would be able to invest successfully. Investors need - at the very least - good credit, some ready cash and a willingness to work hard and stick to the plan.
   
   Those who are able to take advantage of the foreclosure niche in the current buyer's market can create for themselves a life making income as a real estate investor.
   
   The authors wrote this book for the brand-new investor, including not only basic information on how to choose and invest in foreclosures, but current information on where and how to find and choose foreclosure properties, current real- estate and foreclosure laws from state-to-state and detailed information on what to expect during every step of the process. The are even chapters on how to rent your new property, if you choose to do so.
   
   While this book is primarily for investors, buyers looking for a home of their own will find this book filled with useful information. Foreclosed homes can be found at bargain prices and home buyers can use these same procedures to find the home of their dreams. Too many buyers, frightened by the headlines, are not taking advantage of a once-in-a-lifetime buyer's market to buy their own home.
   
   Investors will also find the real estate dictionary and extensive list of references extremely helpful if they plan (and they should) to continue to learn about investing as the foreclosure market changes.
   
   The authors do not pretend that making money by buying and selling or renting-out foreclosures is easy and they caution that in real estate investing, money can be made, or it can be lost. That attitude is what makes this book superior to most. If your plan is to buy foreclosed homes with no money down, no assets and no risk, then look somewhere else - an good luck to you. But, if you are looking for a levelheaded approach to real estate investing in the current market, this approach is a winner.



5. In digging into this book, the author continually quoted other books. That annoyed me quite a bit and kept me asking, "Why didn't I buy the other book?" If you're starting off at "ground zero" and know nothing about mortgages, etc. this book is a helpful guide. It also contains concise explanations of different types of "legalese" and gives you places to look. Overall, a good place to start.

5 comments about Stan Weinstein's Secrets For Profiting in Bull and Bear Markets.

1. Well I bought this book about 10 years ago, it got me started in trading stocks,since then I have bought about 15 more books and passed on to friends and family ...if you could own just one book on the market ...this would be my pick as it does explain and then gives a small quiz at the end of the chapter...you can get out of this book what you put into it...when looking for help I usually buy a book on the subject ...but also look for someone sucessfull in what he writes about...Stan Weinstein is a winner ...this book is for the beginner or seasoned trader ...while I do admit there are many methods of trading this one is a must for your lirary...as I own many ...I still try to reread this one every year and do learn something I missed before...yes I still trade the markets and ...yes do make money...thanks Stan for a book that all can understand and enjoy



2. This is an old book that was hard to find (I had a photocopied version). It has sompe personal experiences in stock trading. I was pleased to find it on Amazon.



3. This book educated me on understanding how a stock moves. There is healthy movement, and there is UNhealthy movement. Stan teaches you to buy stocks that will move higher. I can't stress enough that you SHOULD READ THIS BOOK. I learned a lot, and "YES" I do consistently make money in the market using what I learned from this book. I have read lots of other investing books, and for me, this was the book that put me on the path to making money.



4. Weinstein deals with breakout, realtive strenght and volume, has good suggestions for longterm / shortterm stop movement, while he is not interested in the quality of the company, it is a worthwhile read also because of his stock stages description that is also important for industry groups or the market in general.
   If you want to make it much easier finding stocks that might advance big time I would suggest to also read O'Neils "How to make money in stocks..." and focus on top notch stocks. But the stock stages focus of Weinstein is great, as mentioned in O`Neils book on when to sell, the quality of the stock -e.g. stellar growth outlook- is not important only price/volume action - a hint for DISTRIBUTION, in the stock market the future is now



5. While this book is insightful to individuals who have never utilized technicals for investing it is somewhat dated. Adjustments to the moving averages and use of various time frames would enhance its value.

5 comments about Lessons from Private Equity Any Company Can Use (Memo to the CEO).

1. I borrowed this book. I could not put it down. Three times in my career, 30 yrs, I have worked for private equity and loved it. This was my favorite line from the book and one that I can verify from experience:
   Private equity sees its employees as part of the solution, not part of the problem.



2. When I ordered this book, I didn't realize how small and short it would be, so I was a bit caught off guard when it arrived. However, it was densely written and to the point, and chock full of good advice for executives looking to groom their company for a sale in 3-5 years at a multiple of its current value.
   
   The authors state up front that there are 6 key principles or steps in maximizing the value of your company and proceed to do a short chapter on each of these principles, with 1 or 2 anecdotes to illustrate their points. Some of their ideas are probably easier said than done, such as defining the strategy or reshuffling the Board of Directors to be more useful. The overall message of relentless focus, goal-orientation and accountability, high rewards for the management teams who succeed all are spot on.
   
   The only downside to the book, in my view, is that it is very focused on large companies rather than how to take those principles downward to a smaller scale. Saving $3 billion in G&A costs is impressive but not very relevant to most prospective readers of the book. Some examples from mid-market companies would have made it more relatable. Some parts are also quite technical, when they get into managing debt-equity ratios, structures of the Board, etc. so I don't think the book will really be relevant to middle management types either.
   
   Overall I would recommend it for anyone in an executive position at a mid- to large-scale enterprise who is looking to turnaround a business and flip it, or who is anticipating getting private equity investments and wants to better understand in advance what the PE guys are probably thinking.



3. 
   This is one of the titles in the "Memo to the CEO" series published by Harvard Business Press, each less than 200 pages in length and superbly produced. In fact, none of them is a "memo" nor were any of them written only for CEOs. In this volume, Orit Gadiesh and Hugh MacArthur explain how to make any business more valuable while acknowledging that the lessons to be learned from the private equity (PE) industry are not rigorously and consistently applied by businesses around the world. Why? "We see two main reasons for this: first, the application of these lessons drives real change in many businesses, and, for better or worse, change brings risks, both real and imagined...Second, many leaders apply the lessons that we will discuss, but incompletely. It is easier to do "fine" than to the "best" a company can do. We call this [begin italics] satisfactory underperformance [end italics] - a pervasive disease in business that is the direct target of this memo."
   
   Gadiesh and MacArthur are eminently well-qualified to identify and then examine the tools and techniques used by the best PE firms. She is chairman of Bain & Company, the first management consulting firm to develop a global PE practice that is now the largest of its kind. MacArthur heads it. Moreover, even a cursory review of their respective careers suggests a scope and depth of real-world business experience in all areas of operations with global companies in a variety of industries. They speak with unique authority when asserting that the smartest PE investors "have realized that the only way to reliably increase the value of their portfolios is to maximize the operating value of the underlying businesses in them. For this reason, the best PE firms have shifted many of the resources that they once poured into financial engineering to ward creating value - and they are doing it in a way that is more systematic, focused, and aggressive than the practices in most companies."
   
   It should be noted that the lessons they discuss and the recommendations they provide with those lessons can be of substantial value to decision-makers in any organization, whatever its size and nature may be. For example, "to improve profits and stock price [or value if the company is privately owned], you need to make strategic choices with a clear picture of the full potential of your company in mind." Define that potential by answering, with rigor and accuracy, this question: "How high is up?" Next, develop as "blueprint" or "road map" for getting to that full-potential destination. That is, the "who, what, when, where, and how" while establishing and then sustaining strategy, resources, execution, and measurement in proper alignment. The next objective is to accelerate performance at all levels and in all areas of the given enterprise while harnessing the talent (i.e. hiring, "growing," and retaining only those who possess the talent, skills, experience, and character needed) because "the best-laid plans go nowhere without the right people to implement them."
   
   Gadiesh and MacArthur also urge their reader "embrace LBO economics" which in part means getting comfortable with leverage. For
   example, "eliminating unproductive or underperforming capital, often by cutting pieces out of the business. It also may mean finding new ways to convert traditionally fixed assets into sources of financing." A number of excellent books have been published in recent years in which their authors offer excellent advice on how an organization can become more agile. (Two of the best are Fast Strategy: How Strategic Agility Will Help You Stay Ahead of the Game and Corporate Agility: A Revolutionary New Model for Competing in a Flat World co-authored by Charles Grantham, Jim Ware, and Cory Williamson.) Meanwhile, the best PE firms "work their magic" by helping C-level executives in their portfolio companies foster a results-oriented mindset that ensures results-driven performance.
   
   By devoting a separate chapter to each of these six core principles, Gadiesh and MacArthur are able examine all of them in much greater depth. "We use the best private equity practices as the benchmark, but in reality [lessons to be learned from them] have been around for a long time. They just haven't been codified as formally by most businesses. Whatever the ownership of your company, our advice is to look at how the best PE people operate, and to use their techniques to compete against them and everyone else."
   
   None of the lessons to be learned from private equity that Gadiesh and MacArthur have identified is a head-snapper, nor do they make any such claim. Ultimately," winners" and "losers" will be determined by the results their people produce. However, it is at least as important (if not more important) for decision-makers to understand what not to do as it is to understand what must be done and how to do that. In 1963, Peter Drucker spoke to this point: "There is surely nothing quite so useless as doing with great efficiency what should not be done at all."
   
   Frankly, I am surprised that so much valuable information and (especially) advice can be presented, and presented so well, within a narrative only 122 pages in length. Orit Gadiesh and Hugh MacArthur are to be commended on their brilliant achievement.
   
   Those who share my high regard for this book are urged to check out the aforementioned Fast Strategy and Corporate Agility as well as Roger Martin's The Opposable Mind, Gary Hamel's The Future of Management, Henry Chesbrough's Open Business Models, Richard Ogle's Smart World, Frans Johansson's The Medici Effect, James Kilts's Doing What Matters, Dean Spitzer's Transforming Performance Measurement, and Enterprise Architecture As Strategy co-authored by Jeanne W. Ross, Peter Weill, and David Robertson.



4. Two business experts from Bain & Company believe that successful practices adopted by PE players can be applied to different industries around the world. After having abundant consulting experience of working with PE players, they maintain that there are at least six deceptively simple rules in which PE players set a concrete and inescapable benchmark for corporate performance.
   
   Like other non-PE players, the key objective of PE players is to keep generating attractive returns for their investments within a specified time. Nowadays Gadiesh and MacArthur conclude that top quartile PE players adopt six rules to build values in their investments instead of relying mainly on asset stripping and debt loading exercises. The six rules encompass every pre- and post-acquisition step from due diligence, business renovation, and performance management to talent retention, capital allocation, and corporate culture. At first blush, senior executives from non-PE players might argue that ownership and business models of PE players are not homogeneous so that their business practices cannot be fully applicable to non-PE players. However, the six rules, particularly performance acceleration, working capital management, and talent management, are all that non-PE players should learn from if they intends to build value for their investments.
   
   This book is not too lengthy but covers many successful practices done by well-known PE players such as Bain Capital and Charles Bank Capital Partners, Centre Partners, Newbridge Capital, CVC Asia Pacific, Crown Castle, and Cerberus. It is highly recommended for senior executives who are not too familiar with business practices of PE players and for those who are getting lost in the clouds or being handcuffed by tradition-bound and antiquated systems while spearheading operational performance improvement for their firms.



5. I read this over the weekend, easy read and a MUST read for everyone in business

5 comments about Executing Your Strategy: How to Break It Down and Get It Done.

1. A really good book. It is a pleasure for me to write my opinion about it. Especially the first 3 chapters have opened my eyes. Almost every important aspect is supported by a relative case study.
   
   Finally, the fact that important research and findings of other prestigious authors is used in a beautiful way along with the author's research makes it really a masterpiece. I feel like I have studied 5 different books on the topic.
   
   I certainly recommend it.



2. Strategy Execution seems to be the new buzz in making businesses work better. This is good. All that closer to an holistic view of how it all works together seems to be, at least in part, the holy grail of business performance nirvana.
   
   "Executing your Strategy" is a thoughtful and interesting addition to business literature which provides useful insights worth exploring into making business work better. Unfortunately, amidst the insights, it falls into a genre of books which try to generalise from a limited number of examples by generating a business hypothesis / framework which extends beyond the bounds that the data from which it appears to derive can support. There is simply little theoretical depth from which the practicalities of execution can be launched.
   
   Ironically, the weakest parts of the book were the part about "strategy" itself and the part which I thought would be the strongest: the execution side. Given its centrality, I'm still trying to work out how the book actually describes / defines strategy beyond the "strategic path" argument, what goals relate to what long-range intentions, and what relationship these have to "goals" depicted in strategy maps and milestones which drive project plans.
   
   It's probably just me!!
   
   However and alas, the difficulties are not unexpected: a beautiful framework punctuated by some hand-waving argument at critical points which tries to obscure the inherent difficulties of making "strategy" and "strategy execution" practical. The different parts of Strategy Execution Framework (SEF), as described, are not as well aligned as the diagram makes them out to be, although I'm sure that can be improved.
   
   In my younger days, when I didn't know any better and I was looking for something to order my thoughts about this type of stuff, I probably would have given it 4 or 5 stars. But now, for me, as the number of books of this type that I read increases, it simply can't reach the 4 star threshold. It simply doesn't tell me anything fundamentally new. Nevertheless, it is a good try which provides quite a few clues which may, with further exploration, lead to something. For me, again, I suspect moving forward will rely on me NOT reading books of this genre any more. A good blend of theory, craft, insight and experience perhaps is what I need. Time to move on methinks!!



3. It's hard to get positive about a management book that begins with a ridiculous quote: "There may be a thousand little choices in a day. All of them count." Ever hear of Pareto's Law?
   
   The first paragraph then tells us that "The spectacular flameouts of Carly Fiorina at HP, John Akers at IBM, John Sculley at Apple, and Pehr Gyllenhammar at Volvo are merely a few high-profile examples among thousands of CEOs whose strategies fail every year because of poor execution."
   
   But it's just not true. Gyllenhammar failed because his strategy (make factory jobs less repetitious, and more interesting) created higher costs and lower quality - especially vs. the Toyota Production System. Carly Fiorina failed partly because of her abrasive personality, poor focus (her management meetings were dreaded), and lack of a quantitative approach, but mostly because her focus on creating a single sales force created poor performance, reduced accountability, and high costs; similarly, keeping the PC and printer units together allowed the latter to cover up the former's weaknesses. John Akers made three enormous strategic errors - failing to see the future in manufacturing PCs (allowing Intel to create a commodity market that IBM was unable to add significant value to), allowing Microsoft to take over the market for PC software, and not moving to solidify IBM as an overall problem-solver instead of hardware seller. Finally, John Sculley wanted to destroy Apple's competitive advantage (its easier-to-use software and uniqueness) and become a commodity PC producer selling to large corporations.
   
   Summarizing, "Executing Strategy" makes two unrecoverable blunders in the first half-page, goes on to conclude that "something like 90% of companies consistently fail to execute strategies effectively," and then focuses the next 260 pages on good execution (extremely likely, given its flaunting of Pareto's insights) of what are highly likely to be flawed strategies.
   
   Readers would be much better served reading material that guides deciding what business their company is in (Drucker), determining the relative roles of low costs and high quality, fast new product development (possibly each has a role in differing areas of the company), fast operational change, and how to establish a sustainable competitive advantage.



4. I must confess, even if you have the above intentions, you will need a lot of patience to read this book. One of the most eclectic, boring, dull and terribly academic books on the subject. The authors obviously are new to the subject of strategy that they hardly know the area. What they have obviously done was to cut and paste their expertise on project management on the topic of strategy and claim that they came up with a strategy formulation and execution methodology. Nonsense. It is a complete mess. It not only lacks in depth knowledge about strategy, but also very poor on coherence. It is just a meaningless patchwork. God save you, but if you make the mistake of implementing what is preached here, be sure that your organization will turn into a big mess and bankruptcy will be imminent. Avoid it at all costs.



5. 
   In this volume, Mark Morgan, Raymond Levitt, and William Malek focus their attention on "engaging in strategic project portfolio management for successful execution" and more specifically on the six domains of the strategic execution network, their acronym INVEST: Ideation (clarify and communicate purpose, identity and long- range intention), Nature (develop alignment between and among strategy, structure, and culture based on ideation), Vision (create clear goals and metrics aligned to strategy and guided by ideation), Engagement (engage the strategy via the investment stream), Synthesis (do projects and programs right, in alignment with portfolio), and Transition (transfer the projects and program outputs into operations where their benefits can be realized). Morgan, Levitt, and Malek devote a separate chapter to each. In the final chapter, they respond to a question their reader has no doubt by then asked: "Where should we start?" Although much (if not most) of this material examines strategy execution in an organization, the authors use Lance Armstrong as an example of how an individual can also "align all the [strategy-making] domains and invest every precious minute, and every personal resource, accordingly."
   
   I was especially interested in the material provided in Chapter Three as the authors examine how to align an organization's culture and structure with its strategy. This is precisely the approach Louis Gerstner took after be assumed his duties as CEO of IBM. His mindset could be described as "outside-in" as he carefully determined how to achieve a strategic fit with IBM's external environment and then redefined his company's "nature." That is, he ensured that strategy, structure, and culture in the nature domain were in proper alignment with the ideation and vision domains. That is why IBM, previously a maker of branded products, redefined its "nature" to be that of a provider of custom integrated IT solutions for its global clients.
   
   Morgan, Levitt, and Malek note that, in contrast, many strategists "focus on designing strategies that fit the external environment. They underestimate, as [Carly] Fiorina and the HP board appear to have done, the equally important issue of strategic fit with the internal environment. As [Mark] Hurd's early results revealed, the idea of combining with Compaq was not inherently flawed but misaligned with the nature of HP - its DNA as Gerstner would put it." I presume to add that, to a lesser extent, the same challenges await those companies that are considering a strategic alliance.
   
   In the same chapter, they also examine four generic types of culture and agree with William Schneider (author of The Reengineering Alternative: A Plan for Making Your Current Culture Work) that in each of the four, its members share a dominant value. For example, "A competence culture believes in the `Field of Dreams' principle: make great products and people will flock to buy them. It values technical values above all else." The other types of culture are Collaboration (understanding the unique needs of customers), Cultivation (recruiting, retaining, and nurturing creative employees to produce unique products), and Control (low cost production of standard outputs).
   
   Readers will appreciate the authors' skillful use of dozens of Tables and Figures throughout their lively narrative that consolidate key points. In Chapter 3, for example, the Tables illustrate "The four archetypes of organizational culture" (Page 101), Measure your organization's culture" (Page 135), "Measure you organization's structure" (Page 136), and "Measure your organization's strategy within the nature domain" (Page 137). In the same chapter, these are the Figures: "The nature imperative: Invest in projects to align culture, structure, and strategy" (Page 94), Align strategy with culture: Charting your culture egg" (Page 101), "The culture egg for a custom manufacturer" (Page 102), "Template for testing the alignment of strategy and culture" (Page 103), "HP's strategy-culture alignment map" (Page 103), "Formal matrix combines functional excellence with product/program focus" (Page 113), "Identify the apprriate alignment of strategy, structure, and culture" (Page 115), and "Achieving the nature imperative at DPR [Construction]: Aligning strategy, structure, and culture required careful ongoing investments" (Page 133). The other five chapters have equally informative Tables and Figures; also additional real-world examples of how some companies successfully executed strategies and other companies tried but failed to do so.
   
   In the final chapter, the authors reiterate six imperatives of strategic execution (first displayed by Table 1.1 on Page 17 and then duplicated by Table C-1, Page 241), cite several real-world examples (e.g. Airbus and the perils of misalignment), discuss Lance Armstrong and the lessons to be learned from his successful execution of various strategies, and then pose what they call six "Acid Test Questions (on Pages 256-257) that could be read first, before proceeding through the Introduction and the six chapters. I wish I had done so because they provide an especially valuable frame of refernce for the wealth of information, insights, and recommendations that Morgan, Levitt, and Malek provide.
   
   Their book is a brilliant achivement.
   
   * * * * *
   
   Those who share my high regard for it are urged to check out Schneider's aforementioned book as well as Lawrence Hrebiniak's Making Strategy Work: Leading Effective Execution and Change and Doing What Matters: How to Get Results That Make a Difference - The Revolutionary Old-School Approach co-authored by James Kilt with John Manfredi and Robert Lorder. Also A.G. Lafley and Ram Charan's The Game-Changer: How You Can Drive Revenue and Profit Growth with Innovation, Noel Tichy and Warren Bennis' Judgment: How Winning Leaders Make Great Calls, Dean Spitzer's Transforming Performance Measurement: Rethinking the Way We Measure and Drive Organizational Success, and Enterprise Architecture As Strategy: Creating a Foundation for Business Execution co-authored by Jeanne W. Ross, Peter Weill, and David Robertson.

5 comments about Options as a Strategic Investment.

1. I actually ended up finishing this FAT book, even though I felt I was reading the same rhetoric again and again all along the book. This book could have been a lot SLIMMER. Although not a bad book to have in the library. I use it every now and then for reference (like margin requirements, prospective gamma changes, etc.).
   Considering there are very few books on options trading out there that has good substance (although, there are decent amount of articles and research papers on options out there), it's a must have for your library, whether you are seasoned options trader or an intermediate options trader.



2. Well written with lots of examples to help you understand the concepts. I've used it as a reference many times as I've constructed trades. It's a big book but it's value will pay off for you handsomely.
   
   One cautionary note on this book is that it was written when trading costs were substantially higher. There are examples in the book where it will discuss trading 500 shares and paying $300 in commissions which clearly doesn't apply anymore. As you read through the book, you may need to alter your strategies accordingly.



3. I worked at Larry's office for over 3 years and anyone who would rank this book a 1 or 2 simply doesn't have the mental capacity to be a true options trader. First of all, I left his office only because I wanted to get out of sales. I still trade options and the lessons I learned from him and his books are used daily. I read people's review about his presentation style and it makes me laugh at how people want to be sold. They want to be duped by a con artist guru so bad and don't even realize it. Larry is a former mathematical programmer turned Wall Street trader - not broker. What do you expect from someone like that? Believe it or not, Larry likes to sell him seminars, books etc. simply for exposure and to get out of his office to have a beer with like minds. Anyone who likes an option book because it's an easy read is a schmuck!
   
   Nate - Nashville



4. Don't get me wrong, I do like the book but the author has an annoying habit of providing an example to illustrate every point that he makes. The book has 962 pages of main text including the appendix but there is really only about 100 - 200 pages of commentary - the remainder is constituted by the authors examples. You can read the book to the exclusion of the examples.
   The author, McMillan,is an experienced arbitrageur and therefore does not focus on directional trading. The first 410 pages concerns option strategies. EXAMPLE: buying and selling calls and puts, 3 advanced strategies for professionals, calenders and butterflies.
   He describes each strategy then suggests follow-up action to apply if the trade goes right or wrong EXAMPLE: leg out, roll down, roll up, roll out, adjust the delta neutral ratio, close the trade.
   He then states how to select the best option for the strategy EXAMPLE: " stock nearing striking price initially, 2 to 4 months remaining until near term expiration, near term straddle price at least two - thirds of long term straddle price" (page 354)
   He then applies the option strategies to different markets EXAMPLE: futures, structured products, stock indexes.
   The author also discusses pricing models however Sheldon Natenberg's book "Option Volatility & Pricing" provides a superior discussion to that of McMillan.
   I recommend the book.Options as a Strategic Investment



5. I am only 100 pages into this book and it has already made me money. (My review is based on the hardcover not the workbook) I have been investing my own retirement funds for years and have dabbled in options from time to time.
   
   I was focused on one strategy and didn't think of all the others. Mr. McMillan provides good examples of all the strategies and refers back to previous charts to reinforce his points. My options trading is now more focused because of the discussion on the discipline and psychology of trading.
   
   At first I was hesitant about paying $50 for a book but it made me 8 times that much in one day. I would recommend this book to anyone who already knows what an option is. While the book starts with the basics it quickly moves on to strategies. Mr. McMillan I may be retiring a bit earlier than I thought. Great book!!!!