Great idea for a book, but poor execution. The idea is to introduce novices to the stock market and teach them all the fundamentals. But this book is so poorly organized and biased that novices will be only confused, and more knowledgeable investors disappointed. The authors are the sponsors of a web service for options traders, and they never fail to recommend their service. The book is biased toward options trading, technical analysis, momentum trading, and chart analysis: not strategies for beginners. The organization is extremely confusing, seemingly random, and with lots of repetition. For example, the chapter on option trading comes before the chapters on market analysis. At the end of each chapter there is a summary of the main points of the chapter; great idea, but the only problem is that the chapter summaries do not accurately reflect the chapter contents. For example, the chapter summary for "fundamental analysis" lists the PEG ratio as a key point of the chapter, but the chapter doesn't even mention the PEG ratio! PEG ratio isn't mentioned until a later chapter on "analyzing company reports." In that chapter(p. 237-8), the authors suggest that a P/E ratio of 143(!) is quite acceptable for a growth stock (EMC corp) and that a stock with such a P/E would make a good investment!! EMC Corp. fell from $101 in 2000 to $4 in 2002. It's trading now around $10, with a P/E of 21 (July 2006). On a similar note, Enron is described as a "green" or environmentally friendly stock.
Even worse, the book presents no coherent program for investing in stocks, just a bunch of random, often contradictory advice. It turns out that all the indicators for avoiding a stock are also good indicators for buying the stock if you are a "contrarian" investor. Hardly a coherent trading program for novices.
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