No comments about Learn to Earn: A Beginner's Guide to the Basics of Investing and Business (1 Audio Cassette Tape).

No comments about The Davis Discipline By John Rothchild (Fifty Years of Successful Investing on Wall Street).

No comments about The Davis Disciplinek Fifty Years of Successful Investing on Wall Street.

No comments about The Davis Discipline: Fifty Years of Successful Investing on Wall Street (Davis Edition).

5 comments about The Bear Book: Survive and Profit in Ferocious Markets.

1. When I found this book at the bookstore and glanced within, I couldn't put it down! John Rothschild draws from history to characterize US bear stock markets (from the late 1800s until publishing date in 1998). He presents the information in a witty, light-hearted, sardonic manner. The info is very up-to-date and insightful including analogies to the Japanese bear market in the 90s and the US bear markets of 1929, 1968, 1973, 1981, and 1990. The treatment of the Great Crash of 1929 was perceptive (e.g., it should be called the Crash of 1931). As a trader for the past 8 years who leans to the bear side, I relate very well to both the content of this book and the writing style. The author aptly notes, short-sellers have been cursed since the beginning of time itself; yet without them, bear markets would be more vicious and devastating. In a decline, it is the short-covering that holds the market and not the conventional wisdom of buying by cash-rich mutual funds. Hats off to the author for a delightful book!



2. This is a history of various market declines and panics. Providing some useful insight, it is well written and deviates from the normal how to buy stocks book. If you want a good read and like stock market and finance books, you should like this.



3. Someone said that the book doesnt teach how to predict bear markets. I would rate it ridiculous if it aimed at that. No one can. (The market goes where it wants to go remember?)
   Just like stop losses, shorts are a tool, learn how to use them.
   This is not a pure technical book ,but it is probably one of the most enjoyable to read about this thing we all love: trading.
   And if one recomendation is allowed on the technical side: Stock patterns for day trading and swing trading by Barry Rudd (No comissions here, lol)
   Best regards



4. Bonds
   1. Bonds are profitable as interest rates are dropping, if a capital gain can be realized. A capital gain occurs when the seller has bought a bond with a high yield rate and the sells when the market yield has dropped. The difference in yield creates value because the seller's bond is preceived to be more value because of the difference in the yield cash flow. The perceived value translated into a higher selling price, for the seller. Price is a function of the cash flow difference in the yield. The positive difference in buy and sell bond price is the capital gain.

   2. When interest rates are climbing, investor money moves back into security, treasures, funds which take advantage of the higher interest rates.

   Stocks
   1. 15 percent growth is a 20th century phenomenia
   2. Stock before 1950 averaged 6 percent. The author is not impressed with Stocks nor their long term performance.
   3. Stocks can fluctuate 50 percent in price in a given year. This can lead to mixed signal of buy high and sell low rather than buy low and sell high.
   4. Market timing to buy and sell a stock creates massive numbers of losers
   5. Buying and Selling Stocks always makes the Brokerage House the winner. The experts have 100 to 1 the advantage.

   Gold
   1. Gold doesn't earn interest. Gold costs to store. Gold is a safety against the dropping value of cash.
   2. Increases during inflation. Inflation increase as the government prints more money

   Cash
   1. Cash is the most desired medium. Cash is liquid and readily exchangable for goods and service. The decision to buy company stock or build a new company is based on the replacement value of the company.
   2. The Federal Reserve controls the inflow and outflow of the money supply
   3. The money supply effects the interest rates. As money becomes more difficult to lend the interest rates go up. As money becomes cheap the interest rates go down.

   New Bull High
   1. All the bear advisors must capitulate
   2. 80 percent of the market must be bullish
   3. The market must be in a recession
   4. Money must be moving out of mutal fund

   Bull Assumptions
   1. Bulls are very optimistic
   2. During a Bull market very little attention is given to Bear advise
   3. Global events, earthquakes, wars, oil shortages, etc have immediate impacts on Bull momentum.

   New Bear
   1. Prices are deflating
   2. The price to earning ratio are moving higher or have reached new price levels
   3. The yield curve is inversed. Deflation cause bond activity and bond sell off in a bear helps investor take a profit.
   4. Deflation, P/E, and Inverse yield hit the market only once in the 1930s
   5. Deflation has not be a factor since the great depression
   6. The best bear predictor in the market has been an astrologer. The author this Russell was pretty lucky. Averages, statistic, genetic algorithms, and simulators have not been able to find an market equation.

   Bear Assumptions
   1. There is no known scientific way too predict a bear trend. At best Artifical Intelligence system can mimck the behavior patterns of one expert in a simulation.
   2. Bear markets cycle about every six and half years, however, there is no way to predict the cycle is reliable. Some of the worst bailouts came because of leverage billions of dollars hedged against a downturn in the market, a downturn that didn't happen on time.
   3. Bear warnings such as six months of downward price pressure is inconclusive proof the market will move into a bear market.
   4. Company can be performing excellent and demonstrate increasing earnings; however increasing earning does not guarentee higher prices. So, a doubling in earnings one year does not mean a doubling of price, also, only the market's players desire too move the price higher will cause higher prices. Some have tried to model market player emotions/expectation with little success.
   5. Contratrism will not always work and in many cases increases the pain and carnage. Going against the pattern of the crowd goals is too find bargins during cycles of fear and greed.




5. 1. Greek leaders had a huge federal payroll too meet and many bureaucratic mouths to feed, on top of expensive wars and costly road building and drainage.
   2. Three escapes: a. raise taxes b. fire bureaucrats and cut government spending c. spend at the usual carefree pace, but put less precious metal in the coins.
   3. The continental colonist could not pay for their revolution with taxes. They financed the war with a huge print run of "Continentials" sent to troops and suppliers as payment for their services. Nothing of substance was backing the new currency. When merchants began to refuse the new currency the revolutionist made it a crime to refuse the new currency.
   4. The Continential congress issued new paper worth twenty of the originals. The new money quick lost its buying power. By issuing sham currency, the Revolutionary government had imposed what amounted to a 97.5 percent tax on the recipients.
   5. By the late 1700s paper money was discredited and the United States along with other countries put themselves on the Gold standard. Banks could issue notes redeemable in gold. The Gold standard created the first reliable cash in human memory. It created problems because banks could only distribute notes proportion to the gold they had in their vaults. Congress did not renew the Bank of the United States charter; the second bank of the United States came under political attack and its demise caused the panic of 1819 and a third bank was not created until 1913. After the panic of 1819 the gold standard was relaxed and state banks appeared to take advantage printing more notes than they had tangible assets to cover.
   6. In the mid 1800s, the federal government force banks out of the money business by imposing a huge tax on their cash. Every since the U.S Treasury has had the monopoly on money.
   7. The U.S Treasury created a huge supply of greenbacks to finance the Civil War and terrible inflation made the greenback as worthless as the continental. Two World Wars and the Vietnam War were financed in similar fashion.
   8. To fight inflation the central bank raised interest rates. The remedy was too create a recession.
   9. Sep 1944, politicians and bankers from the Allied nations met at Bretton Woods to devise a new system of fixed exchange rates.
   10. Each currency was assigned a price range within it could trade, in relation to the US dollar. So for example if the Swiss franc was too expense, the Swiss Central bank would enter the market and sell francs and buy dollars. This action would push the Swiss franc down and the dollar up. If a country refused too devalues, other countries would amass the non-conforming countries currency, approach the country's central bank and demand a swap for gold. The choice remained devalue or deplete. The pressure to devalue was considered the lesser of the two evils.

5 comments about A Fool and His Money: The Odyssey of an Average Investor (Wiley Investment Classics).

1. This book was first published in 1988, after the 1987 crash. The wisdom and essence of the book is still as valuable now in 2002. It is entertaining as well as educational. The author went out of his way to describe his experience or experiments in various areas of investing, giving knowledge and first hand information on how the investment world runs from different perspectives. The author took a year to study investing and invest with his real money, with the assignment of writing this book about it at the end. As a result, his investment decisions and variety and frequency of his investment may be atypical of an average investor. However, his description of the phychology of an average investor is quite accurate.



2. "A fool and his money" is the story of buyers remorse of one very lucky investor, who walked away with 50 percent of his money. Zero game means one person is a winner and another person is a loser. John got a bad taste, as he discovered the hazards of his margin being called and being forced too come up with 8600 dollars, too cover his investments and learned once again the average investor can not afford too invest. Bottom line, the lucky disappear into anomity, no one knows there name only their story; the losers feed the winners; and the winners are always looking for new losers.

   John made a few mistakes, acted on weak advice, and held on too long after realizing his mistake. John gave some very insightful information about mutal fund managers. At the time of the book 9200 fund managers were controlling 75 percent of the wealth. John says, mutal fund managers don't outperform the averages because they collaborate between each other on selection. Outperformance is shunned because it distinquishes one mutal fund manager above another and makes the other look bad; and his claim for why mutal fund managers don't beat the average.

   The Federal Reserve buy Bonds and use bonds too control the money supply. The Bonds represent assets which banks can loan money against increasing the available money supply to the consumer. If inflation increases, the Fed sells Bonds decreasing the money supply and increasing the interest rate. So, the Fed regulates inflations by controlling the amount of money supply.




3. +++++
   
   This easy-to-read book, by former editor, author, and writer, John Rothchild, is a unique and hilarious book that tells us of his adventure as an average investor in the stock market.
   
   Rothchild's original plan for writing this book was as follows:
   
   "In the late summer of 1985, during an extraordinary bull market [rising market], I decided to drop everything and devote an entire year to learning how to invest, especially in stocks. I resolved to begin at the beginning, finding out as much as I could about the business and how it really operates, meanwhile putting my own funds [of $16,500] into whatever would make the biggest profit. After achieving [this] winning strategy, increasing my net worth, and achieving financial independence [or security], I'd return to tell you how I did it."
   
   Rothchild learned how to invest by doing things such as watching late night television programs "on how to get rich;" going to financial planning places with their money managers; reading newsletters, business publications, and historical financial books; talking to successful investors in order to perhaps learn some inside information; and going to stockbrokers for information on hot stocks, making fully-informed investment decisions, and avoiding irrational markets.
   
   During his journey, Rothchild does a good job in explaining the mechanics of investing especially in the stock market and imparting the psychology behind investing. Even though the author does a good job in explaining terms, I feel knowing some basics on investing before reading this book, will help the potential reader appreciate the humor and practical advice of this book even more. (There are over twenty short useful tips in boldface type peppered throughout this book.)
   
   Finally, the title of this book "A Fool and his Money" gives an indication of what happened to Rothchild's investment. As a consequence, at the very end of this book, Rothchild has a short glossary of major investment and stock market terms that he has defined as a result of his experience. He defines the terms found in this review as follows:
   
   (1) Average Investor: born loser
   (2) Bull Market: a time when your neighbor's stocks are going up
   (3) Successful investor: liar
   (4) Inside information: something you wish they'd tell you; what everybody else has heard
   (5) Stockbroker: salesperson for stocks, mutual funds, etc.; a person who will never go broke
   (6) Money manager: expert who manages your financial affairs; someone to whom you pay a large fee so you'll have less money to manage
   (7) Hot stock: stock everybody is buying; what your brokerage firm calls any stock it wants to sell
   (8) Irrational market: a market that isn't doing what you want it too; every market
   (9) Fully-informed investment decision: wild guess
   (10) Financial security: perpetual care enjoyed by insurance companies, brokers, money managers, and others in the financial security industry.
   
   In conclusion, this is a practical and hilarious book that serves as a warning to the average investor!!
   
   (originally published 1988; acknowledgements; 31 chapters; postscript; glossary; main narrative of 250 pages)
   
   +++++



4. This book is definitely educational and funny! All the tips in the book sound funny but are real. I was laughing so hard from reading this book, my sides hurt...This information although written in 1987/1988 timeframe is definitely timeless! This book was nice break from serious investment books and should not be thought of as less because it is humorous... it kinda reminds you of the humor in the films that Michael Moore creates (although this info is legitimate).



5. The lure of easy money in the stock market encourages more and more people to become investors. Mr. Rothchild decides to become one too, and his journey into the financial world is told in this engaging and hilarious book. He does a fantastic job of injecting life into the dull subject of finance and investment. I smile and laugh through much of the book. I like it even more than the classic The Money Game by Adam Smith.

5 comments about The Davis Dynasty: Fifty Years of Successful Investing on Wall Street.

1. I personally don't care for dry investment books. I read for entertainment. This book provides a great combination as it is a biography of a family steeped in money management and also gives tips of how they were able to grow their fortune.

   The book traces the investment history of Shelby Davis to his son to his grandsons. Shelby had family money through his wife and starts investing shortly after the crash in '29. Like many people, I assumed the market has been a somewhat continual climb with some setbacks. This books traces the history showing the many periods of lackluster stock value growth and how most Americans shunned the stock market for bonds. Quite a difference from today.

   The original Shelby was a miserly value investor who never spent an extra dime. His investment hits were insurance stocks when no one liked that industry and some prudent investments in Japan, also mainly in the insurance industry. By leaving these investments to compound for years, Shelby built a great fortune. But the hidden engine behind this vast growth was the use of margin to leverage his returns. The original Shelby eventually grew his fortune to over a billion dollars in value.

   Shelby's son Shelby did not work with his father until late in his life but eventually became a money manager of some renown also. His philosophy was similar but different and his large money winners tended to be from other industries. The book ends with the sons of Shelby Jr. taking over their father's money management firm and establishing their own identity.

   Along this 70 year history, you will learn about the markets and the different stages of development over the years. A significant amount of time is spent in the 60s and 70s as both of the Shelby's were investing at that time. I strongly recommend this book if you have interest in the market and its history.




2. This is one of the better investment books on the history of post-WWII stock investing. While there are a number of absolute classic books on the 1920s and earlier periods (Lefevre's "Remininscenses of a Stock Operator", Galbraith's "The Great Crash", Brooks's "Once in Golconda", to name just a few), there aren't as many great books on recent history. This is one of them, however.
   
   The Davis family, starting with Shelby Collum, is used by the author as a vehicle to traverse the history of the stock market from WWII through the late 1990s. Followers of mutual fund investing in the past 25-30 years are probably more familiar with Shelby Davis the younger, than with his father Shelby Collum. But it was the elder Shelby that made the family fortune. His is one of the great fortunes ever created strictly through long term investment and is a story of buying extreme value and holding for very long time periods. It's also about venturing into uncharted waters -- like being one of the first to invest in Japan.
   
   This theme is carried forward to the story of his son, the well-known former portfolio manager of New York Venture Fund. Shelby the younger came of age in the go-go sixties and picked up some bad habits. The savage bear markets that followed chastened him and forced him to revert to a style of investing closer to his father's in the mid 1970s. The tensions between them created a sort of competition with the son posting a tremendous record with his mutual fund vehicle, New York Venture.
   
   The relationship between father and son would be best described as "semi-estrangement." It took Shelby's sons, Andrew and, particularly, Chris to reconcile their father and grandfather's differences. The human story is interesting, and the elder Shelby was quite a character. I found the chapter on Chris's "apprenticeship" with his grandfather fascinating -- perhaps the best part of the book. In short, Shelby the elder is getting old and wants to retire and turn his portfolio over to a younger generation for management, but because of the bad feelings he doesn't know how to approach his son. And it's clear that he greatly admires the record his son has build with NY Venture. So he talks grandson Chris Davis (now the co-manager of NY Venture and Selected American Shares) into inventorying his portfolio. Chris then brings his father into the picture and the two of them work long hours reading through the 5 decades of trades and holdings. The portfolio at that time was close to $1 billion.
   
   The story ends with the younger Shelby's semi-retirement and turning the reins over to sons Andrew and Chris, and Ken Feinberg, who continue with this style of investing. The mutual funds and separate accounts run by the Davises typically have portfolio turnover rates less than 20%, often less than 5%. This means they buy and hold, and hold, and hold. However, it's the price they pay for stocks that really juices their returns. The pigeonhole mentality at mutual fund rating agencies like Morningstar don't adequately describe Davis funds because of this. The Davises buy deep value, but after a stock recovers from whatever temporary trauma caused the bargain price, they continue to hold as long as the company meets their growth expectations. So Morningstar, for example, will call them a "blend" fund, which seems to say absolutely nothing about such a distinctive methodology as the one the Davises follow. This book is an elucidation of the emotional discipline and intellectual process behind this style of investment. Both the book and the investment style are highly recommended by this reader.



3. This book is listed as Elementary Reading for the [...] Hidden Gems Newsletter. It provides great historical reading about the Davis family. Before the reading the book I had no idea who the Davis family was. I did not even realize we have the Davis Fund as a choice in our 401k at work. The fund has proven returns and been around for years. This was a great book to read for any beginning investor.



4. This was not a bad book, but I was hoping for more info on how the Davises evaluated stocks for purchase. There is a lot of background family drama in this work which didn't really interest me, but did illustrate what kind of personalities Davis and son had. For the most part, the elder Davis bought insurance stocks and held for the long term--the best way for all of us to invest(the long term, that is. I don't know much about insurance stocks). This book wouldn't be my first choice but anyone that turned 50 grand into 900 million without ever adding additional capital is worth a look.



5. This book is about The Davis strategy - the result of five decades of trial, error, and refinement, that worked its way through father, son and grandsons, and each generation tweaked it and tuned it to fit the era. The 10 basic tenets remain the same: avoid cheap stocks; avoid expensive stocks; buy moderately priced stocks in companies that grow moderately fast; wait until the price is right; don't fight progress; invest in a theme; let your winners ride; bet on superior management; ignore the rear-view mirror; stay the course.
   
   This book is both a biography and the analytical work devoted to the stock market. If you like such a blend, I would recommend the books by Roger Lowenstein: "Buffett: The Making of an American Capitalist", "When Genius Failed: The Rise and Fall of Long-Term Capital Management" and "While America Aged: How Pension Debts Ruined General Motors, Stopped the NYC Subways, Bankrupted San Diego, and Loom as the Next Financial Crisis". The books by Roger Lowenstein are much better than "The Davis Dynasty" in terms of the depths of the analysis, as well as when it comes to liveliness and variety.
   
   In addition to this book, I can also recommend my favorite title on investing "The Only Three Questions That Count: Investing by Knowing What Others Don't" by Kenneth L. Fisher.

5 comments about Learn to Earn: A Beginner's Guide to the Basics of Investing and Business.

1. I thoroughly enjoyed this book for three reasons:
   1)It was written for teenagers, so it was easy to grasp its
   concepts, plus very humerous!
   2)It gave a good foundation to finance by teaching a short
   history of capitalism in the US which I found to be
   extremely fascinating.
   3)The whole book was very informative. I learned so much
   about history, how a company gets started and how it grows
   and of course about investing and why we should be investing
   money from our youth.
   You can tell the authors have a good grasp for finance and
   a genuine love of the subject and I applaud them for explaining
   the topic in a down to earth way that anyone can understand.



2. This is book is a great primer on the basics of investing. The language does seem geared towards a younger audience, but the information presented is useful for new and would-be investors of all ages and is very easy to read (I finished it in 3 days). For me, the book was a good brush up on different investing options. Lynch weighs the pros and cons of different investments and strategies, but in the end stresses that the most earning potential at the end of the day is in stocks. The book also includes great tips and advice on how to choose strong companies with potential for growth. This book was definitely the gentle 'shove' I needed to start investing and building a strong portfolio.
   
   I think the book would be even better with a little updating- a bit of information or insight on the different online brokers would have been very helpful.



3. This is a great book to understand the basics of investments.
   Unlike a TV set where you could buy it and least care how it works as long as you know how to work on with the remote control. Stock investing is a different venture, the fundamentals of economics need to be there. One must know what does P/E mean, net cash flow, P/S ratio, forward eps estimate.
   Why the penultimate year before the elections for bull market. Without fundamentals its hard to succeed in investing. Good foundation of terminlogies along with discipline and evaluating one own traits in stock investment makes one confident and a sure winner in the long run. Wall street is the same has been 100 years back there has been bulls and bear session, usually bear sessions have outpaced the bull session. But if one has picked the right stock and waits through the bear session when the bull session is around he is likely to make the maximum return. If one makes 10% return on a year to year basis one is a successful investor. All the eye catchers in newspapers and magazines with >100% return are seldom reptative. If inflation is around 3% and one makes 7% profit per year, with compounding affects anyone can become a wealthy person in the long run. Ofcourse, the real joy is to do your own research and invest and trade wisely. And with time one only excels.



4. I studied economics in college, and thought this book was as good of a general economics book as any I've read. It's unlike the very few investing books I've ever read--the title is more descriptive, it is a learn to earn book. About why companies grow, how one can earn from their growth, historical trends affecting growth, and the actions of these on financial markets. One can go through an entire major in economics and not know much about financial markets, their contribution to business, and how people make them work. This book is a great overview of this process.



5. Those wishing to read more about Peter Lynch's investment philosophy are better-off reading one of his two other books, particularly "One up on Wall Street," which is his best book. In this third and most recent book, Peter Lynch laments the failure of our high schools to educate America's children on investing for their financial future. No more job security. No more company pension plans. Good-bye social security. How can we teach "home economics" in school, but not the basic investment skills needed to succeed financially? The stakes could never be higher.
   
   Besides homeownership, only stock investing for the long-term can secure our children's financial future. Lynch fervently believes in the power of stocks as a tool for both wealth-building and democratizing markets. He writes, "Being a shareholder is the greatest method ever invented to allow masses of people to participate in the growth and prosperity of a country" (19). It appears that 50 million Americans agree.
   
   The stock market has grown to over $7 trillion dollars comprised of over 13,000 publicly-traded companies. From the United Dutch East Indian Company to Berkshire Hathaway, Lynch tells us how we got there. Those interested in the development of financial markets may also benefit from reading Peter Bernstein's book, "Capital Ideas." I also recommend that people read Robert Kiyosaki's book, "If You Want to be Rich & Happy Don't go to School," for a more detailed exposition on our public schools failings, and what can be done to rectify the situation. After laying the groundwork, Lynch moves on to discuss the "Basics of Investing" where his position can be summarized:
   
   "Twenty years or longer is the right time frame...A market timer tries to predict the short-term zigs and zags in stock prices, hoping to get out with a quick profit. Few people can make money at this, and nobody has come up with a fool proof method" (115).
   
   Agree or disagree with him, Lynch clearly prefers long-term investing to trading. Thankfully, not every stock takes 10-years to show a profit. Johnson & Johnson stock treated investors to a respectable "one-bagger" in just 18-months! More realistically, expect a longer lag-time for stock prices to catch-up to earnings. On average, the market price of a typical NYSE listed company can swing a total of 57% from it's 52-week high and low. For example, if Bank of America currently sells for $50 per/share, then it would not be surprising to have it trade between $36 and $64 during the year. Fortunately, this short-term noise dissipates over time. And while you can invest "play money" in internet stock market games, there is no substitute for having some "skin in the game."
   
   Those interested in treading slowly may want to visit the National Association of Investors Corp website at www.better-investing.org. Lynch focuses his final two chapters on profiling several companies, and the "heroes" driving their success. Besides these anecdotal stories, the book concludes with two appendices on "Stock Picking Tools" and "Reading the Numbers," which appear to have been hastily put together.

5 comments about Beating the Street.

1. If you are looking for books that will sharpen your skills as an investor put this one on the top of your list along with books about Warren Buffett and Phillip Fisher. Peter Lynch was one of the all time greatest mutual fund managers ever during his time at the Magellen Fund. We are fortunate that he wrote several books in his retirement. This book will give you a good understanding of Mr. Lynch's investment style which include: investing only in companies you understand, use the knowledge you have of your own industry to outperform Wall Street analysts, trips to the mall are great opportunities for research by looking at which stores are the busiest, and keeping your eyes wide open to hot trends around you. Lynch believes in buying stocks at reasonable P/E ratios, and loves to buy if the P/E matches the earnings growth rate of a company. He shys away from companies when the stock price out performs the earnings and the stock becomes over priced. Lynch believes that eventually the stock price will reflect the value of a company, so it is great to get an excellent company for a low stock price.You get many examples of how he picked stocks for his Barron's round table in 1993, this gives excellent insight into how his mind works, Peter Lynch is truly a genius at stock picking for long term investment. You will receive 25 golden rules from Peter Lynch in this book, follow them and you will do very well in the market.



2. After managing the Fidelity Magellan fund for thirteen years, mutual fund guru Peter Lynch retired on May 31, 1990 at the age of forty-six. Since then, Lynch continues to propound his message that the amateur investor has a distinct comparative advantage in stock picking relative to Wall Street professionals. For example, mutual fund managers are restricted to investing no more than 5% of their total assets in any one stock, and they cannot own more that 10% of any one company's stock. These constraints limit their profit, but not for the average investor. Lynch adamantly chants his mantra, "Buy stocks! If this is the only lesson you learn from this book, then writing it will have been worth the trouble" (18).
   
   One major reason for touting stocks is that they have grown by an average of 11% (i.e. 8% capital gain + 3% dividend) per/year over the last seventy-years, despite over forty market corrections. Aside from short-term stock-price fluctuations, Lynch believes that in the long-run there exists a strong correlation between the success of a business and its stock price. Therefore, anyone can successfully invest in stocks provided they use common sense observation, and proven valuation strategies that they recheck every three-months. Lynch recommends the NAIC (National Association of Investors Clubs) to neophyte investors who want to learn how to evaluate a business, and be part of an organization whose methods routinely beat the market averages. Amazingly, 75% of professional mutual fund managers fail to outperform the S&P after fees.
   
   When searching for possible companies to invest in, Lynch visits the Burlington Mall in Massachusetts to see where everyone shops. Lynch says, "The very homogeneity of taste in food and fashion that makes for a dull culture also makes fortunes for owners" (152). When analyzing stocks Lynch looks at several prospective indicators:
   
   Fundamental Analysis:
   1) Look at for stocks whose charts show earnings above price. These businesses have value that have yet to be priced-in
   2) The P/E ratio shouldn't be greater than the business' earnings growth rate
   3) Particularly in retail stocks, look for an increase in same-store sales
   4) Best conditions for businesses to grow earnings are in niche or regional markets where there is little competition and much room for expansion
   5) Insider buying is a good sign that the business is doing well
   6) Look for arbitrage opportunities where a business is selling at a discount relative to its peers despite similar composition and performance
   7) When taking a "top-down" approach look at the "affordability index," median home value, and % of mortgage defaults published by the National Association of Home Builders
   
   Technical Analysis:
   1) Buy stocks on Mondays, and from October through December when historical prices are lowest



3. After reading this book, I felt I got everything I set out to gain from this informative book. The content is relative today as it was when it was first written, the change in mindset gained from this book has been quite extraordinary.



4. This book is old school, but boy is it a classic. I've always been fascinated with stocks and the stock market but in the late 90s, past the apex of the day trading craze, I decided to set a small amount of money to partake in some of the action. I set up my account, started watching CNBC like a nut, and dove right in. Before doing so, I used Mr. Lynch's book as my guide and the biggest thing I learned is to stay grounded and avoid the mania and manic depression of the market. This book is not for slick, know-it-alls with pretensions of timing the market and making fast money, Vegas style. No, this book is for sober grown-ups who are willing to take a longer and more rational approach.
   
   I think the best lesson the book offers is to stick to investing in companies you know and trust (and buy from). By following that simple advice I've been able to earn very handsome gains. In addition, the primer on how to read a balance sheet is easily worth the price of admission. There's just lots of great information presented that will make you a relatively savvy investor. This book demystifies a lot of the perceived complexity of the market and shows ordinary people how to get in on the action. It's sober and timeless advice you can use even today.



5. Peter Lynch discusses his successful 13 years of running Fidelity's Magellan mutual fund. After a short professional autobiography, he explains his methodology for selecting stocks and explores a few dozen January 1992 stock picks in detail. Lynch wrote this book in the last days before the ubiquity of personal computers and the Internet's copious and accessible financial information. Still, Lynch offers pithy investment advice (each unfortunately titled with a boldface "Peter's Principle") that transcend the book's early-1990s setting. His enthusiasm should inspire most beginning to intermediate investors for whom this material is recommended. Due to its age, used copies of this book should be widely and cheaply available.

5 comments about One Up On Wall Street : How To Use What You Already Know To Make Money In The Market.

1. I got the book about a week ago and have read the first couple chapters. I'm new to the stock market and investing world, and this book has already educated me about several key topics in the investing world. I also bought "The Intelligent Investor" by Graham about the same time i bought this book. I have been reading them in parallel and finding the Lynch book a better read so far. His style is easy to read, humorous, and obviously educational in financial aspects. I won't be able to go into details about the book since I'm a noobie in the market, but i highly recommend "One Up" to anyone out there looking for a "beginner's" and fundamental guidebook to the market.



2. i was expecting the full book, not the miniature edition. note: this is an abridged, pocket size version of the book.



3. Very nice book for everyone who is interested in the financial markets. Highly recommended. Rich and detailed content.



4. It's a small book with no depth. Might be relevant for people who are clueless about stocks but definitely not for people with general idea about stocks.



5. I thought this book was an abreviated version of the full book, however this book is actually a miniture ~2inch micro-pocket version of the full book. Text is full size, thus it only contains a very few high-level comments. I was hoping for a boiled-down version, but got mini-me.