5 comments about You Got Screwed! Why Wall Street Tanked and How You Can Prosper.

1. Jim Cramer rules. Anyone who can mix schadenfreude (German for vicarious pleasure in others' misery), Pangloss from CANDIDE, sports analogies, and pop culture references with a straight shooting approach to finance and investing is cool. More importantly, he does a better, more readable job of dissecting big bad Corporate America than Michael Moore ever could (Cramer and Moore both got skewed in a bad-guy list of RADAR that stated the scariest facts about both, respectively, were "Is married and has children," and "Won an Oscar"). Jim Cramer isn't a get-rich-quick franchise.



2. James J. Cramer is responsible for much of what occurred during the tech bubble. He was a cheerleader for the tech boom and now says that others got screwed? HE WAS DOING THE SCREWING! This is hypocrisy at its best.
   
   From his near firing at Goldman to the collapse of his own company (TheStreet.com is down 90% plus from its IPO price) Cramer is a genius - at cashing in on his own failures.
   
   Do not touch this book with a 50 foot pole.



3. Don't get me wrong, I kinda like Cramer. He's entertaining. He's funny. He's run a successful Hedge Fund. He's made a lot of money. He's also often wrong.
   
   Here's my personal experience with Cramer. A few weeks before the collapse of Tyco, Cramer was hyping the stock on his Real Money radio program. If I remember the quote correctly he said, "I would be remiss if I didn't buy Tyco at these levels". So Tyco fell to $32, I bought 1,000 shares. Tyco went to $35 a week later, I sold and made a sweet profit. A week after that Tyco tanked. The rest is history.
   
   I got lucky.
   
   Even though I made money, I suddenly realized how foolish it is to buy stock on the advice of any pundit. I counted my blessings, thanked God I didn't get creamed, and learned a valuable lesson. I wonder how many others weren't so fortunate.
   
   This book fires bazooka rounds at the corporate excesses of the 90's and early years of the millennium. It lobs well deserved grenades into the boardrooms of the brokerage industry. Then it spits a pea shooter's worth of advice at how to avoid getting "screwed" again. Like I said, Cramer is entertaining.
   
   Clearly, Cramer is angry at something or somebody. Maybe he's feeling guilty about his own contributions to the largess of Wall Street and wants to make amends. If that's the case then I understand why he wrote this book. It's a laudable goal. Who knows?
   
   What I do know is there's nothing really new in this book. It provides some very interesting background information about a pivotal point in the country's financial history. It readdresses some of the deck stacking practices of the financial services industry, and it rehashes, in a minimal way, sage self-help advice that can be found in numerous other places for free.
   
   It's not a bad book. And Cramer is not a bad guy. I actually believe the Real Money Cramer is a far different man than the Hedge Fund Cramer. A man for the better in my opinion. So I give him the benefit of the doubt.
   
   If you know nothing about how corporate shenanigans work or how Wall Street works this book is a good primer. You'll just have to go elsewhere for the details.



4. In late December 1999/early January 2000 at the height of the tech bubble, Jim Cramer appeared on CNBC and screamed this mantra like a maniac at viewers, "If you don't buy ICGE now you are an idiot!! ICGE -- ICGE -- I SEE GE -- I SEE THE NEXT GE -- Get it -- Get it now!" If I remember correctly those were the words he screamed in a fury. The word "idiot" may have been "imbecile" but the point is he wanted to make you feel really stupid if you missed this golden opportunity.
   
   Shortly afterwards the stock started dropping like a rock and Internet Capital Group fell from something like $220 a share to half that in no time flat. Now check out a chart to see where the next General Electric is.
   
   How Jim Cramer got away with this is beyond me. I just found an article in my archives dated 12/20/1999 about "Why Jim Cramer is a Big Fan of Internet Capital Group" but because of copyright laws I don't believe I am allowed to post it here. In the article he stated that his hedge fund owned a large stake in the company and that he was looking to buy more on any pullbacks. What a load of bull. When he says BUY, you should say BYE as you switch to another TV channel.
   
   Good luck if you put your trust in this guy.



5. This short but very informative book gives you a history lesson on how companies have been screwing over the public for years to make a small group of people a lot of money, It teaches you how to watch for it and avoid becoming a victim of insider trading yourself.
   
   Worth every penny.

5 comments about Ordinary People, Extraordinary Wealth: The 8 Secrets of How 5,000 Ordinary Americans Became Successful Investors--and How You Can Too.

1. I didn't enjoy one bit of this book. I disagreed with many of his "8 secrets", but even his examples to support his theories were outlandish and based on very rigid assumptions that aren't necessarily supported by real world conditions.
   
   And his perceived arrogance was anything but flattering. The entire time he was making his insane points, I felt like he was implying anyone who doesn't follow his advice is stupid. Fortunately, I read this book (and borrowed it for free from the library) prior to reading any of his other books, that he shamelessly plugs continuously throughout this entire waste of paper garbage of a book.
   
   Don't waste your time reading it.



2. I wish this book had been available when I first began investing! I could have avoided 90% of the (very costly) mistakes I made.
   
   Yes, the advice is simple. But that's the beauty of it.
   
   Don't switch your investments around too much. Don't pay too much attention to the financial media. These are the 2 tips I found the most helpful. I reacted out of fear and made emotional decisions. Very bad idea.
   
   I especially enjoyed the sections where Ric lets his clients speak for themselves.
   
   So, I highly recomment this book. Another, somewhat similar one I like is is "Eight Steps to Seven Figures" by Charles Carlson.



3. A lot of redunduncy. You don't miss anything if you skip "in their own words" pages.
   There should have been a mention of "retirement planning" on the title of this book. The book is mainly for 401K investments. Not a help for a reader who is after inspirational stories of "ordinary people with extraordinary wealth".



4. I highly recommend this book for those who are trying to figure out what they need in financial planning, when are they going to need it, and how to get there from here. Ric let his clients do the advising, the message is very powerful.



5. Some of the "secrets" in this book are good ideas, but not all. I disagree with the idea of not paying off your mortgage. (And I felt that way before the mortgage crisis) Unfortunately, that was the first secret in the book and it started me off with a bad impression.
   
   The book was based in interviews and research on a group of wealthy people. There are sections in the book that contain pieces of advice from those folks (best thing they ever did, worst mistake they ever made, etc) which provide some good ideas. However, many end up repeating the same things.
   
   Overall, it was an okay book but I have to admit I ended up skimming lots of it towards the end. I don't know that I came across anything really new to me (but then, I do read a lot of personal finance books). I'm also not certain that I agree with all the advice provided. My opinion is that The Millionaire Next Door offers better information. I'm glad I borrowed the book from the library instead of purchasing it.

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.

1 comments about Master Data Management (The MK/OMG Press).

1. I am very proud to have put this book together - it is essentially a compendium of best practices and guidance from our corporate experience working with clients on master data management, data quality, data governance, and metadata management projects. My objective for writing the book was to fill a gap in establishing a core set of processesfor successfully planning, implementing, and managing an MDM program, and I hope that you'll find the material engaging and interesting. I have also put together a companion web site ([...]) where I will oversee a community of practice in providing update and new insights associated with Master Data Management, Customer Data Integration, Data Governance, and Data Quality. I look forward to your participation!

5 comments about The Zurich Axioms.

1. Completely worth it! You can read this in one weekend; worth so much more than that!!! Fantastic book, so true it does indeed make you think about the "accepted" investment approach of nowadays... this book was written in 1985 and it still applies so truly to today's environment... way ahead of its' time... that's the beauty of this book... I truly do not think it will become obsolete anytime soon... READ IT... ENJOY!



2. This is one of the few books that retain pride-of-place on my trading and investing bookshelf now that I have pruned out all the useless ones.
   
   I really like the chapters ON PATTERNS, ON MOBILITY, ON RELIGION AND THE OCCULT, and ON CONSENSUS.
   
   I'm not wholly convinced by chapters such as ON GREED, which suggests that you should take profits early. Most great traders would disagree with that, I think.
   
   Tony Loton -- author, DON'T LOSE MONEY! (in the Stock Markets)



3. Pretty good book so far. Nothing Earth-shattering, but good supplement to a financial library.



4. I've read hundreds of investment and speculations books. The Zürich Axioms is the best, bar none.
   
   I have a web site, Speculation Rules, you will find these axioms woven through it's pages. I've given away dozens of copies of this book; but for you I will let you appreciate it more by buying your own copy.
   
   enjoy



5. Everyone's got to start somewhere and Max Gunther helped me get my start in the world of speculative investing. Of course, when I began trading in the stock market (pre-1987), I thought I was going to set the world on fire and make tons of money in the market in short order.
   
   I didn't exactly set the world on fire, but, over time, I grew as an investor, and more importantly as a business person, via contemplation of the rules set forth in The Zurich Axioms.
   
   Today I'm more an investor than speculator and a re-read of The Zurich Axioms showed me just how much I've changed over the years. I still agree with much of what Gunther conveys, but disagree with more than I thought I'd ever disagree with when I first read it years ago.
   
   For me, The Zurich Axioms is a great resource to grapple with risk, market forecasts, and the emotional roller coaster of Wall Street.
   
   Bottom Line: While The Zurich Axioms is more than a worthwhile read, the best rules for anyone will be those that they develop themselves.

5 comments about 101 Movie Clips that Teach and Train.

1. For anyone who needs to design, develop and facilitate presentations, workshops or meetings in a hurry, this book is a GREAT resource. Easy to use. Intuitively organized. I highly recommend it as a reference book for any teacher or trainer's bookshelf.



2. The book was a good book to get you thinking about movies that could be used in training and questions that could be asked. However, I was unable to use most of the suggested movies in the book. Many of the clips were inappropriate for the classroom but it did not reference in the book. Some of the movies were dated and you could no longer get them or rent them.



3. It's a good book set up for quick references and teaching points. The only negative that I had was it would have been nice if the chapters were included for the clips, since we are now completely in the digital era. Otherwise an excellent guide to help.



4. I am an educator in a hospital and this book helped me develop a presentation for managers where I work. They're a tough bunch, but they loved it. Using movies is a great stool to teach leadership.



5. This book is very helpful in identifying movie clips that will engage an audience, get them talking about a topic and set the stage for further learning. The discussion questions in the book are very helpful and encourage audience participation. Movies are categorized for specific topics which help with determining what movie to use. Saved me lots of time!

No comments about From Analyst to Leader: Elevating the Role of the Business Analyst.

5 comments about Strategies for Profiting on Every Trade: Simple Lessons for Mastering the Market.

1. I just finished "Strategies for Profiting on every trade". Just a couple of comments up front; first, I suspect that Paul Lange had much more to do with this book than he was given credit. Second, there were constant references to the color of bars and indicators in the book but the book is in black and white. At one point they labeled the lines "red", "blue" etc. but otherwise, throughout the book you had to find the lines based on the text, not the color.
   
   Having said that, this is not a book to be missed, especially for intraday traders. Although the writers make it clear that most of the techniques can be applied to any time frame and that the daily charts normally set up the trade, you will find charts all the way from the weekly level to the 2 minute level, with the majority of the lessons seemingly taught and the trades played out on the 5 and 15 minute time frame.
   
   This is a much smaller book that the original Velez/Capra "Tools and Tactics for the Master Day Trader" and doesn't contain the psychology offered in that book, but it is, never the less, a book packed with information and insights focused on bar by bar chart analysis, much of it, I believe, gleaned from Paul Lang's daily, live, real world experience in the Pristine trading rooms.
   
   If you are new to Pristine trading methods, this will give you an insight and depth into chart reading that you may not have realized is possible. If you are a Pristine trained trader, as I am, this book reinforces what you should already know but will give you many "gems" that I am sure will be new and of value. In either case, this is a "must" book for the serious trader.



2. The senior author uses green and red candles in his website. Hasn't any reviewer, including Velez himself, noticed that the candles' colors should have been changed to black and white before publishing the book? A bad start for an otherwise welcome addition to every trader's library.



3. This is close to the poorest written book I've read. However there is useful info in it if you can decipher Velez's lingo. Basically Lange, the "co-author" typed what Velez recorded in his classes at Pristine. After I started crossing out hype and BS, I found the book much clearer.
   Also I agree with other reviewers comments that the book is an advertisement for Pristine. You can get some details on how Pristies are taught to trade, but don't think like I did that Velez covers much of it.
   The hardest part in finding useful info is that it appears Velez is so "elite" that he has to use his own slang in lieu of standard trading terminolgy (Ex: a play ILO a trade, topping tails ILO shooting stars on candle charts.) Velez names trade set-ups as though he discovered them. If he knew candlesticks he would realize many of his ideas are not his discovery. So why name them? Maybe because Velez seems to have a "special" word for almost every normal trading term. That's not teaching, nor conveying information which is what books like this should be written for, that's probably just to intimidate clients, make them feel like he is the master.
   I don't know that I would recommend buying it as I own it and am not sure I will ever reread it to jot down the useful parts.



4. Although there are many insightful and terrific lessons to be learned here if you are a Pristine Trained Trader you will recognize the book to be a compilation of Paul Lange's weekly trading lessons. A free weekly service from Pristine. I suspect Mr. Velez' name was added for name recognition and, thus more sales. It is Mr. Lange's book, however, make no mistake. That said Paul Lange is one of the most astute traders and best educators around. I had the pleasure of working with Mr. Lange and was constantly amazed at his trading prowess and his ability to convey the information. It's simply this book offered nothing new.



5. Purchased this book based on the introduction and the comments by a third party. I was intrigued by the title, but disappointed in the content. One very agravating thing is that most of the time the book is describing charts that are on the other side of the page. I should have figured this out by the words "Simple" and "Mastering" being used in the subtitle. 90% of this book is devoted to day trading. So if your strategies have you holding overnight this book may be a waste of time. I respect Mr. Velez's record and feel this book doesn't do his accomplishments justice.

5 comments about Investment Psychology Explained: Classic Strategies to Beat the Markets.

1. I had read over a hundred trading books by far and written many reviews here on Amazon. This is the first time I used the term "book of books" to tell how far an author had tried to incorporate the trading ideas/concepts/rules of other gurus into his book. I dont mean that this book is simply a product of copy and paste. I believe the author had the good intention of covering as many "classic" strategies as possible to deliver the promise of the book title to his readers. In my opinion, most of the essential trading psychology concepts had been there.
   
   This book is divided into three main parts. The first one tries to break popular trading misconceptions/errors with topics like no holy grail, myth of expert, marketitis (overtrading), tickeritis (too close to a quote screen), price-news drug effect (too easy access to prices, news and analyses), damage from tips or rumors, cult of guru, greener pastures effect (survival bias of industry funds), pride of opinion, specific difficulties facing successful businessmen and so on. The second part is about contrary opinion. Historical big crashes are discussed, as well as means to avoid or even profit from them. The third part is primarily rules and regulations of legends like Warren Buffet, John Templeton, Paul Tudor Jones, Bernard Baruch, W.D. Gann etc, and those developed by the author himself.
   
   I agree with some reviewers that the author's writing is quite dry. To me, that's acceptable because it's not easy to elaborate with vivid words and stories, or the book will be far more than 265 pages. It would be eye opening for those who had read less than three trading psychology books. For serious trader readers, this book is still satisfying with the opportunities provided for the traders' own health check. Not a must, but certainly a valuable asset in one's own trading library.
   
   Warning: Though my comment above is quite positive, please take this as a reference book only before you completely understand yourself and your best trading style. Otherwise, the third part of the book may lead you to become a Jack of all trades and thus meat for your fellow traders/investors.



2. This book utilizes the historical events of various markets (mostly the US stock market) to explain various behaviours of market participants. The information is concise and each chapter deliver its points clearly. Part 3 of the book even list the trading rules of various well known authors/traders so that the readers can feel the importance of discipline as these well known individuals have to list a set of rules to remind themselves what not to do.
   One thing I do not like are quoted results from research on trader psychology. The conclusions mentioned do not really sound very scientific nor making any sense. e.g. only "successful" traders are studied and conclusion is made without mentioning any similar study to prove such quality do not exist on "unsucessful" traders.
   Overall, this is a good read for someone who already have experience in trading the market and would like to start learning something about the psychology aspect of trading. It will not be useful at all for a beginner who has not experience the emotional ups and downs related to trading, as the beginner is not likely to be able to connect with the content at all.



3. A serious trader or investor can never dismiss this book. It's a must read considering there are not very many investment psychology books written with a comprehensive coverage. And if you know Pring's background and have read more of his books, you will understand this work better. He has done a good work in nailing the points of Investment psychology specially by dedicating a section on "Knowing yourself". Easily one of the best books written on the subjet. One reading is not enough if you want to really get "IT".



4. This is a more advanced strategy based bible for the busy trader and the mindset involved. I bought this one along with Trading in the Zone and found the two of them compliment each other quite nicely. He covers a wide range of philosophies from the greats, and helps you see through the problems of over trading today with an overload of access to information, and a media full of pump and dump charlatans.



5. I knew him through IFTA annual conferences in the last two year. Mr. Pring is gentleman with great passion to share his long experience and knowledge with others in setting during breaks and after conference hours. Passion that makes you feels like you are listening to a music concert you do not want it ever to end. So you can imagine what his books content would be. I have read his books on 1) Technical Analysis Explained and, 2) Introduction to Technical Analysis: A CD-ROM Seminar and Workbook and keep them handy references all the time. A lot of books written for financial markets' technical analysis have great contents, but most are difficult to grasp by beginners. What set Mr. Pring in the top of others is not just the contents, but the beauty of his writting simplicity which makes his books easy to understand by beginners in the financial markets. In his book Investment Psychology Explained start with the following short paragraph that get you hooked to read the rest of the book, and I will:
   "For most of us, the task of beating the market is not difficult; it is the job of beating ourselves that proves to be overwhelming", etc.

3 comments about You're Nothing but a Number - Why achieving great credit scores should be on your list of wealth building strategies.

1. Finally a book about credit reports and credit scores written by someone from INSIDE the credit industry rather than by someone simply researching the industry. If I read one more book about sending dispute letters to the credit bureaus I was going to puke!! The book is loaded with stuff that I didn't know and have never read in any other book, blog or website before. At first I thought $24.95 was a little pricy but it was totally worth it. In the foreword it says "this book wasn't written by a guy who knows a guy who knows the story. It was written by the guy who helped write the story." Ain't that the truth. Just to make sure he wasn't full of it, I did a search on his last name and he's quoted in like tons of national press articles. Good book.



2. Hello, this is John Ulzheimer and I wrote this book.
   
   For those of you who have purchased it, you can and should consider it an investment in your financial future. Why? Because having great credit reports and credit scores is the best way to keep more of your hard earned money at home, where it belongs.
   
   A little background...
   
   I actually started writing this book in 1997 after I left Equifax. The original title was going to be "Inside the Walls." I had about 30 pages finished when I realized that any book about credit needed to have a significant dedication to credit scoring. I had just taken my new job at Fair Isaac (FICO) and I decided to put the book on hold until I was well versed on the subject of credit scoring.
   
   When I left Fair Isaac in late 2004, I started re-writing the book from scratch. I finished it in early 2007. What you have is a 10-year labor of love and insight into the inner workings of the credit industry. I certainly hope you enjoy it and I hope you can leverage what you learn into better credit health and all that it entails.
   
   Why is this book different...
   
   This book is NOT about credit repair and it's not a bunch of quotes and research results. This book was written by an industry veteran (still in the industry) and it's all about learning how the system works so that you can function better within it. It's not about how to fool the credit reporting and credit scoring systems.
   
   If you're trying to figure out how to beat FICO or have accurate (but negative) information removed from your credit reports under false pretenses then do NOT buy this book because it's not for you. If you are ready to learn how to EARN better credit using lessons that will last a life time and can be handed down to your children and their children then this is the book for you.
   
   Enjoy!!
   
   John



3. This is an excellent book and is especially good for those of us who do not understand the world of finances very well. I took a class before this book and found the information to be contradictory to what the author has written. It is written in a matter of fact, truthful way. It's worth having.