Review of Investor's Guide to Economic Fundamentals (Hardcover)

This book is excellent, as it delivers exactly what its title suggests.The book is expensive, as it is priced as a textbook.However, after reading it I feel it provides an excellent value.And, I will keep it in my personal library of quantitative books. Although the book is short, it is so hard packed with information that it takes a while to digest.Confirming the intensity of the information conveyed Amazon stats discloses that its Fog Index is 14.7 (years of formal education suggested to understand the book) and its Flesch-Kincaid Index is 11.5 (corresponding to the reading grade level).Those metrics are relatively high.However, the book is very rewarding if you want to learn the subject and manage your own capital in a better informed manner.

The book is divided into two main sections.The first section comprised of 10 chapters makes for an excellent foundation in macroeconomics, international economics, monetary and fiscal policies.The author always makes the topic relevant from an investor's standpoint. Thus, he presents the material in a practical way.Some of the subsections are particularly interesting including explanation of the implication of different yield curve shapes, the sustainability of current account deficits and fiscal budget deficits, the differentiation between the cyclical and structural components of the U.S. budget deficit, the detailed analysis of various emerging markets crisis (Asia, Russia, Brazil, and Argentina) during the nineties.In each cases, the author demonstrates an outstanding knowledge of the historical events and the underlying economic factors.

The second section includes 7 chapters covering each a specific investment (stocks, bonds, real estate, etc...). He explains how an investment is valued, what are the main drivers affecting its value, and how economic indicators and factors affect the value and attractiveness of that given investment. The author does a very good job of disaggregating the different components of economic return associated with each investment.By reading this section, you will learn in great detail how to value stocks, bonds, real estate and other assets.

The author also wrote a short third section that serves as a summary, synthesis, and conclusion. Within this section, he compares how all the different asset classes respond to various economic events.He also builds a rational expectation of real returns for stocks, bonds, and real estate going forward.He also outlines the many different investment styles of the investment pros and the challenges that each investment style faces.Overall, I strongly recommend the book.



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Review of The Upside of Turbulence: Seizing Opportunity in an Uncertain World (Hardcover)

How well we deal with changes in our business environment is the most important issue that companies face. The Upside of Turbulence is a very riveting book that captures the many times that innovation and agility have to carry a company through some of the hardest issues that a company can face. I could not put this book down; it was that interesting and that good. While companies struggle to compete, and people struggle to compete for jobs, sometimes it is the inexplicable moments where even though the idea is unpopular that carries the company through rough times.

There are sections of the book I do not agree with, but most of the book has enough examples to show why things worked when they worked. Companies are struggling now to work out how to manage in what promises to be a very long recovery, the Upside of Turbulence demonstrates how this is the one golden opportunity for companies that understand how to take advantage of downturns and changes in business environments to not only survive but take advantage of the moment. That is what makes this a very good book to read, we all know when things are going badly, but often we do not know how to take advantage of things going badly. The Upside of Turbulence shows how others have done this, and some of the ideas can be applied to issues happening today. We live in a boom bust economy, this is one of the few books that goes back far enough to show how to leverage the boom and the bust and turn it towards an advantage for everyone who is running a company.

Rated 5 of 5 stars, because I could not put this book down, ended up reading it all day, much to my chagrin.







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Review of Dalrymple's Sales Management: Concepts and Cases (Hardcover)

The projects are very realistic. All though some of the cases are long and they have unecesary scenes, they give you the big picture of a sales manager's every day life situations.



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Review of Discover the Upside of Down: Investment Strategies for Volatile Times (Hardcover)

This book was an absolute disappointment.The author promises "investment strategies for volatile times", but this volume provides little more than a collection of loosely organized, poorly written war stories and anecdotes about the market, with no real strategies to speak of.To add insult to injury, the author attempts to ShamWow readers by pointing them to a website where Coby offers a proprietary indicator he calls the "Grail".Save your money.



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Review of Naked Guide to Bonds: What You Need to Know--Stripped Down to the Bare Essentials (Hardcover)

In this very good beginner's guide to the bond market, author Michael V. Brandes addresses all of the fundamental questions clearly and concisely. Bond math can be daunting, but while the author includes a few equations for illustrative purposes, he clearly addresses his book to the general run of individual investors. The book, which has moments of surprising good humor, says right off the bat that bond investing can be dull in comparison to stock investing, not because the stakes are lower, but because the elements of personality and surprise are considerably more muted in the debt market than in the equity markets. We highly recommend this book, even though it is pedantic at times - a risk you take when you venture into the complex realm of bond investing.



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Review of Think Twice: Harnessing the Power of Counterintuition (Hardcover)

Over the millennia, our brains have been developed to be the most energy conserving part of our bodies due, in part, that our distant forefathers had to make quick decisions of friend or foe. Therefore, we rarely take time, and energy, to think or rethink things over. If one does not spend a little extra time to think thru your important decisions, you tend to be on "Thin Ice". For example, take another look at the title of the book, did you notice the double entendre ?!

This book is about mistakes and bad decisions of smart people, business executives, doctors, and others. Many of the reasons all these people and professions make bad decisions, in part, is that we all have a similar framework of having the same mental software basics. This can and does lead to false beliefs and bad decisions due to mental traps as the author describes. These default false beliefs that we all have inherited prevent clear thinking. As the author describes throughout the book, "To make good decisions, you frequently must think twice - and that is something our minds would rather not do."

The book is a nice enjoyable read, very clear with the necessary psychology jargon, and has a very nice set of notes to follow-up on if you would like. All in, though short, this book comes highly recommended for any bookshelf on how to make better decisions.


As a side note:I have pointed out in other reviews of other books below that are in the same genre and which are some of my favorites. So if you like this somewhat introductory book, then you may be interested in more hidden traps our minds fall into, or other social influences, I provide the following recommendations:Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion (polymath classic),How We Know What Isn't So (very good),Mean Markets and Lizard Brains (Hidden Gem),The Psychology of Judgment & Decision Making (Classic), orPoor Charlie's Almanack (Charlie's Insights). Good reading and enjoy :)




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Review of Think Twice: Harnessing the Power of Counterintuition (Hardcover)

Over the millennia, our brains have been developed to be the most energy conserving part of our bodies due, in part, that our distant forefathers had to make quick decisions of friend or foe. Therefore, we rarely take time, and energy, to think or rethink things over. If one does not spend a little extra time to think thru your important decisions, you tend to be on "Thin Ice". For example, take another look at the title of the book, did you notice the double entendre ?!

This book is about mistakes and bad decisions of smart people, business executives, doctors, and others. Many of the reasons all these people and professions make bad decisions, in part, is that we all have a similar framework of having the same mental software basics. This can and does lead to false beliefs and bad decisions due to mental traps as the author describes. These default false beliefs that we all have inherited prevent clear thinking. As the author describes throughout the book, "To make good decisions, you frequently must think twice - and that is something our minds would rather not do."

The book is a nice enjoyable read, very clear with the necessary psychology jargon, and has a very nice set of notes to follow-up on if you would like. All in, though short, this book comes highly recommended for any bookshelf on how to make better decisions.


As a side note:I have pointed out in other reviews of other books below that are in the same genre and which are some of my favorites. So if you like this somewhat introductory book, then you may be interested in more hidden traps our minds fall into, or other social influences, I provide the following recommendations:Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion (polymath classic),How We Know What Isn't So (very good),Mean Markets and Lizard Brains (Hidden Gem),The Psychology of Judgment & Decision Making (Classic), orPoor Charlie's Almanack (Charlie's Insights). Good reading and enjoy :)




Click Here to see more reviews about: Think Twice: Harnessing the Power of Counterintuition (Hardcover)