Reviews (33)

Old patterns / techniques / analysis still works in today's computer age!
After edited by Professor Bassetti, this classical book come alive again. Initially, when I started learning technical analysis I had the question that whether these classical technical analysis method works in today's internet oriented market. To my surprise after reading Professor Bassetti's comments on last dot com bust, it made me realized that same techniques still works. Moreover, I think this book can only be understood by the experienced trader and not by the new traders. If you see other experienced trader's book recommendation list you will find this book in there. It takes time to get to a level when this book start to make real change in one's understanding/trading. That's what I make of it. Initially, I myself did not understand many concepts what this book talks about. Now as I am getting more and more experienced and it stats to add value to my trading. Recently I experienced up and down of google and aaple live in action. And if you refer to the book then it make sense how still market works in the same fashion as it worked a decades ago, even though most of the trading is done by computers these days. For a new readers of this book, I would suggest don't give up easily keep. Read it a number of times and get some real experience with live trade not the paper trading.
Good, Bad or Indifferent - still a must have
In my opinion, this is one of a handful of books that any good student or practitioner of technical analysis has in their library.It's not an easy read but making money in the market isn't easy either.

excellent update to a classic
Version 8 of "Technical Analysis of Stock Trends" is an excellent update to a classic - one which all serious students of technical analysis should study.At least one of the earlier reviews ignores the many contributions editor Bassetti made to the 8th edition: significant among them are Pragmatic Portfolio Theory, discussions of modern finance theory and practice, as well as restoration of portions of the book butchered in the 6th and 7th editions.In addition, most readers to whom I have spoken find Bassetti's ironic style amusing and inspiring.
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Subjects:  1. Business & Economics    2. Business / Economics / Finance    3. Business/Economics    4. Investment Analysis    5. Investments & Securities - General    6. Investments & Securities - Stocks    7. Securities    8. Stock exchanges    9. Stocks    10. United States    11. Business & Economics / Finance    12. Stocks & shares   

Reviews (1)

An Indispensable Resource
This book is the single most comprehensive source of commodity and futures market information available.Since 1939 traders, hedgers, portfolio managers, and speculators have relied rely on The CRB Commodity Yearbook to help them navigate the vagaries of the commodity markets.
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Subjects:  1. Business & Economics    2. Business / Economics / Finance    3. Business/Economics    4. Commodities    5. Finance    6. Reference - Almanacs/Yearbooks    7. Yearbooks & Annuals    8. Business & Economics / Finance    9. Yearbooks, annuals, almanacs   

Subjects:  1. Business & Economics    2. Business/Economics    3. Investments & Securities - General   

Reviews (30)

Visual Investor - Good Starting Point
For the novice investor this is a good starting point.It speaks to the beginner trader.It intruduces you to chart analysis, intermarket relationships and Stock and Market trends.However, it is 10 years old and some of the technology discussed is out of date.The basic concepts of oscillators, indicators and trends are solid information.The CD provided did not work in my system and I viewed it as worthless.I think it was created for an operating system well below today's standards.Interesting book and nice starting point for the beginner.

Good starter book but that's it
This is a good starter book for the beginner, although it will be much too basic for the intermediate or advanced trader. But if you're just starting out, the first 133 pages will give you a basic introduction to the different technical indicators and chart reading. The next half of the book deals with the application of the indicators to mutual funds and other topics. I would just read the first 133 pages, and then go on to one of the more advanced texts now that you have some background, as this book by itself isn't enough to give you a good understanding of the subject. Murphy himself has a more advanced book, and Martin Pring also, and many others. Just be advised this is really just the beginning. The book is also a bit overpriced but I will say it's probably the easiest book I've seen recently for getting your feet wet on the subject. Yet another trading book
Absolutely nothing special at all.Target audience is on par of those reading Elder's Trading for a Living.Teaches a little bit of everything, but nothing very well.An advanced trader should literally be able to flip through the book, look at the charts and infer all that is necessary from this book.The few strong points that I saw were linked to intermarket relationships which Murphy has already written an entire book about. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Business & Economics    2. Business / Economics / Finance    3. Business/Economics    4. Investment Analysis    5. Investments & Securities - General    6. Portfolio management    7. Business & Economics / Investments & Securities    8. Investment & securities   

Reviews (1)

Comprehensive introduction into the world of Private Equity
This new book gives a very good insight and overview into the world of private equity for the interested student and practitioner.
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Subjects:  1. Investment & securities   

Reviews (23)

A Practitioner's Guide
Though I strongly dislike how this book preaches to you and tries to convince you that the only way to make money is by being a value investor (which is simply not true, though value investing is a very useful strategy), I believe the text does a brilliant job of covering the nuts and bolts of long-term value investing. More importantly, Pat Dorsey is a good writer, who uses clear and concise language, which makes it a lot more enjoyable to read if you are a practitioner. The book also does a brilliant job of covering specific industries, and it is this part of the book that sets it apart from other value books, which only touch on the broad macro-economic aspect of the market.

Good Summary
I believe this book will provide any investor with a good foundation for successful investing.

Investors Seeking Liberation Need Apply
This book is best suited to those that have some understanding of stock investing, and are wanting take greater control over managing their portfolio.Unlike so many "how toos" on stock investing, Morningstar's Guide starts with a basic explanation of understanding financial statements (something that too many investors simply ignore), and building upon those basics then introduces the reader to how to value the stocks market value relative to "real" value.Finally, the Guide ends with an almost 100-page analysis of the pertinent characteristics of stocks in major industry groups (eg, energy; healthcare).
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Subjects:  1. Business & Economics    2. Business / Economics / Finance    3. Business/Economics    4. Consumer Finance    5. Finance    6. Investment Finance    7. Investments & Securities - General    8. Investments & Securities - Stocks    9. Personal Finance - Investing    10. Stocks    11. Business & Economics / Personal Finance / General    12. Stocks & shares   

Reviews (54)

The Options Course is worth the read
I have looked for a book that teaches basic instruction, and that can be used as a reference in the future -- The Options Course fills the bill. I recommend this book if you are interested in trading Options, if you are already a trader that wants explainations of terms, or are already a trader and are interested in Fontanills' strategies. I read all the reviews and noticed many referencing online websites. Be careful with the motivations of these reviewers.

Why I gave George two stars
How accurate is George Fontanill's "proven" system? If you're a gambler buying books and courses and then trading real money, never mind, move on. With luck, you'll be a "happy" testimony. Everybody else, give me a percentage. Every professional trader records every market-transaction for tax purposes. Every successful trader keeps score, for example, with a win:loss ratio. When did George create Optionetics? I'll answer that. In the early 90's, and that's over ten years ago. I gave George only two stars, because in all his talk, he is not being fully responsible. I can know all about spreads, but where's the percentage, after taxes and commissions? That is beginning to change now with "accountability" websites like Collective2 where every system signal is tracked in real-time, so customers know exactly how the system has performed in all types of market conditions. The problem is not just with George. In an apparently loosely regulated industry, so many of these investment gurus make claims without providing factual performance statistics, and to me, it is inexcusable, even criminal. Even if you're going to trade somebody else's system, you still have to use your brain. How accurate is Bernie Schaeffer's stuff? Carleton Sheets? Robert Allen? Robert Kyosaki? Ken Roberts? A few "happy" testimonials means nothing to me, when a hundred other beginners might be getting burned.

Need Part II
The book "The Options Course" presents some of the technical aspects involved in trading options but does not provide specifics.An example is computing Delta the formula given in the book only yields an approximate result.Also some of the strategies use futures for examples, does that mean that the strategy is to be used for futures only?
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Subjects:  1. Business & Economics    2. Business / Economics / Finance    3. Business/Economics    4. Finance    5. Futures And Options Trading    6. Investments & Securities - Options    7. Options (Finance)    8. Business & Economics / Finance    9. Business & Management   

Reviews (4)

House Flipping Made Easy
One of the biggest misconceptions about house flipping is it requires a great deal of money and paperwork.After reading this book, I learned that house flipping is not just for the wealthy and well-connected.Fast Real Estate Profits in Any Market breaks down the flipping process into easily understood segments.
Do you want to flip houses?This book will be your best resource!
Flipping homes is very popular nowadays with all of the how-to shows on the television.This book goes through the flipping process from what to look for in properties, to getting financing, to renovating the property, to selling the property.If you are not sure of the process of buying properties to flip, you will find that this book fills in the information gaps that you may have.
A good book for those interested in Real Estate Flipping
Sebastian Howell begins the book with an explanation of why real estate is a great field to make a lot of money in. Howell also tries to present as many cons as possible, in order to make sure the reader knows the risks involved. While the benefits and reward can be very high, the risks are also pretty high, and Howell wants to make sure you understand that.
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Subjects:  1. Business & Economics    2. Business / Economics / Finance    3. Business/Economics    4. House buying    5. House selling    6. Real Estate - General    7. Real Estate - Investments    8. Real estate investment   

Reviews (17)

Not for the beginner
The book does not have a glossary in the back of the book so we can look up words that the author failed to tell us the meaning. I emailed the author and asked him what certain trading terms meant in his book and I received an email back from somebody named "Lisa" that told me to look it up in the dictionary if you can't find the answer in the book. I think this person "lisa" was very unprofessional in the way she handled this email and her customer service skills need improving. There are better books than this one. This man is from another country other than America and he uses weird words to describe his examples. It's hard to understand.

Good Introduction for the beginner or as a refresher.
Pring does an excellent job of providing the beginner with all of the basics of technical analysis (TA). I have traded stocks for over 15 years and have been trading the spot Forex market.I learned quite a bit about TA several years ago, but thought I would like to continue my education in this area.My only problem with this particular book/CD is that the CD presentation could/should have been more polished.However, the information is all there if you take the time to look, listen, AND USE it!

View from the beginning trader
As a beginning trader I have no previous experience with which to determine the value of this book.But I'm glad that I purchased it.First off it is easy to understand and through some repetition it actually drives home the basic ideas.The CD-ROM could be a little more interactive, but having the quizzes included helps the process of self-learning.I'm sure the material can be found online, but to have it all in one book is wonderful. The basic concepts are probably academic to more sophisticated traders, but are easily applied (eg. I predicted the Intel pull-back in Aug 05 and correctly sold out my position).Whether you aspire to be a technician or a fundamentalist (Or if you're like me, you don't care) this book is a great place to start. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Business & Economics    2. Business / Economics / Finance    3. Business/Economics    4. Investment analysis    5. Investments & Securities - General    6. Business & Economics / Investments & Securities    7. Business systems analysis    8. Investment & securities   

Reviews (5)

A good book for the designer of energy risk managment tools
If you develop computer code in this field it could be a help, but if you are more interested in knowing more about the ways to avoid risk in the energy business I would recommend another book. There are also not enough practical examples to give a good understanding of the principles.
Not for the average industry professional
The authors have written a very detailed, well structured text on the different models and developments in the power and fuel markets.It's a very complex, mathematical analysis of the different techniques being used, and the text may lose a number of readers in the overly rigorous formulations.For those involved in risk management, market modeling, or asset management, the book would be a good secondary or tertiary read after you've established a sound understanding of stochastic models and current hedging and pricing techniques in the marketplace.For the layman in the industry, the book will be far too heavy and not worth the read.

Good overview
The management of risk in the context of energy or weather is quite different than in other contexts, due to the peculiarities of the data that occurs in energy prices. The high volatility of energy prices can range, as the authors of this book point out, between 50-100% for gas, to 100-500% for electricity. No doubt this kind of volatility, and other properties such as correlations and mean reversion, entails that some different mathematical strategies for modeling energy derivatives be devised. The authors give a good tour of some of these strategies, and anyone interested in energy derivatives will gain a lot of insight into their modeling when reading this book. Due to space constraints, only chapters 5 and 7, which this reviewer considered the most important of the book, will be reviewed here. Read more

Subjects:  1. Accounting - General    2. Business & Economics    3. Business / Economics / Finance    4. Business/Economics    5. Energy industries    6. Entrepreneurship    7. Finance    8. Industries - Energy Industries    9. Industries And Trades (Economic Aspects)    10. Investment Analysis    11. Portfolio management    12. Risk    13. United States    14. Business & Economics / Finance    15. Commodities   

Reviews (6)

TOP SECRET
At first glance this may seem like any other trading book however I can assure you after much exhaustive computer analysis there is much more here than meets the eye.What many people do not know is that the exact methods which Toby Crabel uses for managing billions of dollars are disclosed within this book.I have in my possession due diligence documents which state his exact trading methodology and markets.I have pursued and collected almost everything that is available on the subject of Toby Crabel and his career.This book deserves a very slow in-depth and at sometimes painful read through over and over and over again!Of course it helps to be a computer guru so that you can make complete sense of all the patterns and become confident in them.Mark Brown www.markbrown.com

Great book in 1990, but not unique anymore
Well I bought this book in 1991, when I was just learning about technical trading.The ideas were mostly unique then, or at least had not been published together yet in one volume, from what I know. Crabel manages $2 Billion for a reason
The book is basically a series of studies on reoccuring patterns in the stock and commodities markets.Crabel found that volatility is mean-reverting in the speculative markets.Just as night follows day, volatile markets follow quiet markets.There are more than a dozen robust volatility patterns evaluated and explained.The only real weakness I can see is that Crabel used point values instead of percentage values.This was a common mistake of professionals back in the early 1990's.You will need to convert these.For example, if the S&P 500 is currently meeting the criteria for one of the low-volatility "set ups" then place a buy stop 2.5 points above the open and a sell stop 2.5 points below the open.If filled set your mechanical stop-loss 1.5 points outside the current days existing range.Read more

Subjects:  1. Business / Economics / Finance    2. Business/Economics    3. Commodities    4. Commodity futures    5. Day trading (Securities)    6. Investment analysis    7. Investments & Securities - Options    8. United States    9. Economics, Finance, Business and Industry   

Editorial Review

This is the one book you ought to have if you want to expand your knowledge of online transaction processing (OLTP) and learn how to apply it to the real world. Read more

Reviews (8)

This is the bible for Transaction Processing!
This book is the base for all who want to be a Gurus in a bigs systems OLTP with hundreds of TPS and hundreds or thousands of customes conected doing transactions or using a terminals. This is a book that you mast have mandatorily.

This book is a revelation
God himself has spoken. You will understand what is the difference between real computer science (Jim Gray) and changing configuration values at random in your MySQL setup (Jeremy Zawodny style)

Perfect
Well organized, complete, nontrivial, wealth of sample code, interesting historical notes, good index. Magnificent work. Definitely worth the money. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Computer Books: General    2. Computers    3. Computers - Data Base Management    4. Data Processing - General    5. Database Management - General    6. Distributed Computer Systems    7. Information Storage & Retrieval    8. Transaction systems (Computer    9. Transaction systems (Computer systems)    10. Computers / Information Storage & Retrieval    11. General Theory of Computing    12. Investment & securities   

Reviews (2)

Now I can sleep at night?
I have always had problems anticipating economic change -- predicting it, and getting ready for it -- from 1965, when I took the final exam in macroeconomics and the question was something like "Here is the current economic situation, now what do you do?" until 2002, when the internet bubble burst and I found myself seriously over-invested in high tech stocks.With America's Bubble Economy,I know what the bubbles are, when they will burst, and how to position myself for them.Thank you to the authors -- now I can sleep at night!
quick, interesting read
It's a quick read -- big type, cartoons and relatively simple concepts cut it down to one or two evenings -- and not too brain-bending ones at that. The authors feel quite confident about their points, and present them swiftly, without delving deeply into statistics or high-level economics (most points take a common-sense, "when x people do y with z, z goes up or down" approach...often with heavily simplified charts and graphs to illustrate).
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Subjects:  1. Business / Economics / Finance    2. Consumer Finance    3. Debt    4. Finance, Personal    5. Financial crises    6. Investments & Securities - General    7. Personal Finance - Investing    8. Political Ideologies - General    9. Political Science    10. Politics/International Relations    11. United States    12. Business & Economics / Personal Finance / General    13. Investment & securities   

Editorial Review

Invoking the words and spirit of Thomas Paine, investor-turned-historian John Bogle concedes that his ideas for revamping the mutual-fund industry are perhaps "not yet sufficiently fashionable to procure them general favor." But despite likening the "ills and injustices suffered by mutual fund investors" to those "our forebears suffered under English tyranny," Bogle--founder of the Vanguard Group--makes a strong case for index funds with this exhaustive study of investing.Read more

Reviews (60)

Great book!
This book has the fundamental of indexing and why we should consider it as part of building our financial portfolio. Bogle is at his best preaching the value of indexing and how it relates to lower cost investing. This eventually translates to higher return for the investors and less profit to the brokerage firms that make money on trading.
Insight on The Concept of Indexing
Mr. Bogle, the founder of The Vanguard Group, does an excellent job explaining the value of indexing and shows historical and relative information that bases his knowledge on facts. A great book for any investor, both new and experienced, that will help make your investment strategy more intelligent and educated - especially if you believe that it's almost impossible to beat the market on your own. The book can be difficult to read at times, so make sure your energy level is high before you indulge.

Bogle is Required Reading
Bogle, Bob Brinker, and Jane Bryant Quinn sold me on the idea of index funds. There are some who believe you need to stick to actively managed funds to, as one money manager told me, "be there to steer the plane away from the mountain at the last minute." Hogwash, especially when you consider a lot of blend funds have 95 percent the same allocations as comparable index funds, only you pay the higher expense ratios.
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Subjects:  1. Business & Economics    2. Business / Economics / Finance    3. Business/Economics    4. Finance    5. Investments    6. Investments & Securities - General    7. Investments & Securities - Mutual Funds    8. Mutual funds    9. Business & Economics / Finance    10. Investment & securities   

Reviews (2)

Good basic information and enjoyable reading
A good introduction to investing in Gold, Silver and mining stocks. The author is knowledgeable as well ashumorous and entertaining. No shrinking violet either! It helps that I was already a huge believer and practitioner of the methods he puts forth though. An enjoyable read and well worth the money. But I will caution that , as is usually the case with these types of books , there's a lot of cross-promotion laced throughout , from ads for his own newsletter , to other ancillory services. Some things kind of stick in my craw , such as statements like "There is no best- or worst-case scenario in which I can conceive of gold and silver being losers. You can mortgage the kids and bet the farm!". Some claims I find questionable: "If you add up the dollar value of all the gold and silver supplies in existence, plus the market value of all the stocks of the mining companies, it would total far less than the market capitalization of Google or Microsoft." Don't know what is meant by this. Google has a market cap of about $123 Billion. The giant mining conglomerate BHP Billiton has a market cap close to the same , at $112 Billion. Microsoft has a $271 Billion cap. But 'According to the World Gold Council (and others) there are between 4-5 billion
Ruff's Little Book of Big Fortunes in Gold & Silver
If ever there were a timely book, Howard Ruff's Ruff's Little Book of Big Gold and Silver Fortunes" is it. With precious metals heating up, who better to bring your knowledge current than this wily veteran of the gold and silver markets. Howard was there in 1980 when precious metals went through the roof and he's outlining a similar scenario for today. And he got out at the top.
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Subjects:  1. Business & Economics    2. Business / Economics / Finance    3. Business/Economics    4. Investments & Securities - General   

Reviews (9)

Fibonacci Ratios With Pattern Recognition
This book is a jumbo of Fibonacci charts and of little assistance with the application of the Fibonacci ratio.

Good
I've read Profitable Patterns and his Diary so far, and would have to say this book is clearly the best of the three.Sadly though, one would have a tough time discerning the difference between the three books .. since they all present the same ideas and the titles of the books could be changed without anyone noticing.Typical Pesavento Gartley, Fib, Cycle stuff.. if this is a set up you use, then this would be worth reading.

Best Fibonacci Book
This is some of the best work on Fibonacci I've seen.It is very advanced but if you expend the effort to learn it the patterns are profitable.For example, I use the Gartley "222" Pattern and the Shapiro Iteration regularly.There are many example charts to graphically explain the patterns. Highly Recommended ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Business / Economics / Finance    2. Fibonacci numbers    3. Investments & Securities - General    4. Reference    5. Speculation    6. Stock exchanges    7. Stocks   

Reviews (26)

Unbiased, Informed Financial Advice in Easy-to-Understand Form
Most people don't have time to read dozens of books about personal finance and investing. Even if people did have that much time, they would seldom be able to integrate what different authors had to say into a consistent approach.
Simple Straight Forward Investing Guide That Works
I've been saving for 20 years - The first ten years I discounted my father's "conservative" advice and bought the hot sector funds, stocks and gold coins.I thought I was doing well.Now I'm a little smarter - I see that my returns during the great bull market of the 90's were only single digit, while my father's approach produced far better returns. Now my Dad's advice is common sense to me and I know that I missed-out on a large chunk of the bull market because I thought I knew it all.I should have followed his straight-forward, common sense advice.
Excellent Introduction to Investing
The Bogleheads'Guide is easy to read and can help investing "newbies" develop a plan that works for them (rather than just for investment salespeople). The Guide also contains quite a bit of information of interest to more advanced investors, including an entire section on follow-through strategies to keep you on target (including chapters on tracking progress, keeping your focus, keeping your emotions from undermining your investments, making your money last through retirement, keeping adequate insurance, and passing on your estate). The book is backed up bythe "Bogleheads" web site that provides friendly and comprehensive assistance on investment issues and concerns. I have recommended this book to my extended family and recommend it highly! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Business & Economics    2. Business / Economics / Finance    3. Business/Economics    4. Capital market    5. Investments    6. Investments & Securities - General    7. Personal Finance - Investing    8. Portfolio Management    9. Stocks    10. Business & Economics / Finance    11. Investment & securities   

Reviews (23)

Solid Book on Investment Analysis
This is an excellent book on Investment Analysis and one of the best books recommended by the CFA Institute for its curriculum. Very good book - a combination of academia and Wall Street
In my judgment, this book is one of the leading academic books on all things Wall Street. Yes, it is true that this book is difficult to read at times, however, this book was never intended to be all things to all people. This is a text book written for staunch investment professionals and those seeking to become one. The mere fact that this "R&B" book is part of the CFA exam curriculum should say it all.
Bland
I am enrolled in a masters level quantitative finance program and we use this text for an intro class.I found the portfolio management sections to be pretty good and the bonds and derivatives sections to be pretty weak.Furthermore, the important information in the book does not seem to clearly presented; you really have to dig through the text to get the relevant points.I guess all the important stuff is in the book, it's just hard to find.The book is big on theory and small on practical application.True, there are problems at the end of each chapter, but the chapters often don't provide clear enough explanation of the concepts to solve them adequately.
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Subjects:  1. Business & Economics    2. Business / Economics / Finance    3. Business/Economics    4. Finance    5. Investments & Securities - General    6. Business & Economics / Investments & Securities    7. Investment & securities   

Reviews (2)

A good reference
A good reference book for anyone connected with a pension or profit sharing arrangement.It is not a guide to IRAs, Keogh plans, SEPs, rather it focuses on traditional defined contribution and defined benefit plans.While this book seems written for more for budding actuaries, those wishing to study design alternatives or asset management will find this book provides a good background.I find two flaws with the book.