Investing Books - Page 14

The Wolf of Wall Street

Jordan Belfort

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 74 Average rating: 3.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

By day he made thousands of dollars a minute. By night he spent it as fast as he could, on drugs, sex, and international globe-trotting. From the binge that sank a 170-foot motor yacht, crashed a Gulfstream jet, and ran up a $700,000 hotel tab, to the wife and kids who waited for him at home, and the fast-talking, hard-partying young stockbrokers who called him king and did his bidding, here, in his own inimitable words, is the story of the ill-fated genius they called…

In the 1990s Jordan Belfort, former kingpin of the notorious investment firm Stratton Oakmont, became one of the most infamous names in American finance: a brilliant, conniving stock-chopper who led his merry mob on a wild ride out of the canyons of Wall Street and into a massive office on Long Island. Now, in this astounding and hilarious tell-all autobiography, Belfort narrates a story of greed, power, and excess no one could invent.
Reputedly the prototype for the film Boiler Room, Stratton Oakmont turned microcap investing into a wickedly lucrative game as Belfort’s hyped-up, coked-out brokers browbeat clients into stock buys that were guaranteed to earn obscene profits–for the house. But an insatiable appetite for debauchery, questionable tactics, and a fateful partnership with a breakout shoe designer named Steve Madden would land Belfort on both sides of the law and into a harrowing darkness all his own.

From the stormy relationship Belfort shared with his model-wife as they ran a madcap household that included two young children, a full-time staff of twenty-two, a pair of bodyguards, and hidden cameras everywhere—even as the SEC and FBI zeroed in on them—to the unbridled hedonism of his office life, here is the extraordinary story of an ordinary guy who went from hustling Italian ices at sixteen to making hundreds of millions. Until it all came crashing down…

Rich Dad's Real Estate Advantages: Tax and Legal Secrets of Successful Real Estate Investors

Sharon L. Lechter, Garrett Sutton

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 21 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

The First Book to Truly Teach Real Estate Method 5 out of 5 stars.
5 of 6 people found this review helpful.

This book does for real estate investing what Pimsleur does for language learning: it teaches you to speak the real estate language, to ask knowledgeable questions, and to make informed decisions.

I have been through dozens of books, tapes, and CD programs on investing in real estate. Some are strictly motivational with little useful information. Others are like reference works and cannot be read from beginning to end. Still others hope to be meaningful forever and so dare not give you anything too current, or disputable and likely to change. Lechter and Sutton, however, wrote a book to turn a dreamer into a real estate investor. If that's what you still want at the end - but you have all the info to make the decision. Other reviewers might say that there are no "secrets" in this book - true, I suppose - but if YOU don't have a tutor for the subject, then for YOU common knowledge is a secret!

The authors give separate advice for dealing with primary residence and for investment properties. Most other books blur these separate cases. Special cases where individual state law might differ from the general situations are pointed out. Case studies and repetition are used throughout - much like Pimsleur uses conversation in each language lesson. The reader brings everything learned earlier to each case, but is stretched just a bit to see why each case is unique. Each chapter builds on prior chapters. Included is the required amount of math, but this is clearly not a math book. On the contrary, it is an enjoyable read cover-to-cover. Some of the material is current as of 2006 and this is clearly noted. I hope this book gets updated every few years.

While technically part of the Rich Dad series, the book stands on its own. The reader is fully aware of the few tacked-on references to the Rich Dad philosophy.

This book is a must-read for anyone thinking about a career in real estate investing in all its forms. Consider it the second book you read - after something like "Home Buying for Dummies."

Editorial Review:

Real Estate Advantages is for first-time as well as seasonedreal estate investors.It reveals the tax and legal loopholes availableand most important, how they can be used together to not only maximize yourincome--but accelerate your income from real estate investing.SharonLechter and Rich Dad's Advisor Garrett Sutton team up for the first time todeliver practical, proven strategies and formulas--from the perspective ofsuccessful investors, CPAs and asset protection attorneys--for acheivingthe greatest leverage from real estate investing.Written ineasy-to-understand language, this book de-mystifies the legal and taxaspects of investing with easy-to-follow, real life examples. Real EstateAdvantages reveals how you can find good advisors, create steady monthlyincome, reduce your risk, pay less in taxes, make more money with yourbanker's money and, best of all, the government helps you!

Your Money and Your Brain: How the New Science of Neuroeconomics Can Help Make You Rich

Jason Zweig

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 24 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

What happens inside our brains when we think about money? Quite a lot, actually, and some of it isn't good for our financial health. In Your Money and Your Brain, Jason Zweig explains why smart people make stupid financial decisions -- and what they can do to avoid these mistakes. Zweig, a veteran financial journalist, draws on the latest research in neuroeconomics, a fascinating new discipline that combines psychology, neuroscience, and economics to better understand financial decision making. He shows why we often misunderstand risk and why we tend to be overconfident about our investment decisions. Your Money and Your Brain offers some radical new insights into investing and shows investors how to take control of the battlefield between reason and emotion.

Your Money and Your Brain is as entertaining as it is enlightening. In the course of his research, Zweig visited leading neuroscience laboratories and subjected himself to numerous experiments. He blends anecdotes from these experiences with stories about investing mistakes, including confessions of stupidity from some highly successful people. Then he draws lessons and offers original practical steps that investors can take to make wiser decisions.

Anyone who has ever looked back on a financial decision and said, "How could I have been so stupid?" will benefit from reading this book.

The Alchemy of Finance (Wiley Investment Classics)

George Soros

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 22 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

New chapter by Soros on the secrets to his success along with a new Preface and Introduction.
New Foreword by renowned economist Paul Volcker
"An extraordinary . . . inside look into the decision-making process of the most successful money manager of our time. Fantastic." -The Wall Street Journal
George Soros is unquestionably one of the most powerful and profitable investors in the world today. Dubbed by BusinessWeek as "the Man who Moves Markets," Soros made a fortune competing with the British pound and remains active today in the global financial community. Now, in this special edition of the classic investment book, The Alchemy of Finance, Soros presents a theoretical and practical account of current financial trends and a new paradigm by which to understand the financial market today. This edition's expanded and revised Introduction details Soros's innovative investment practices along with his views of the world and world order. He also describes a new paradigm for the "theory of reflexivity" which underlies his unique investment strategies. Filled with expert advice and valuable business lessons, The Alchemy of Finance reveals the timeless principles of an investing legend.
This special edition will feature a new chapter by Soros on the secrets of his success and a new Foreword by the Honorable Paul Volcker, former Chairman of the Federal Reserve.
George Soros (New York, NY) is President of Soros Fund Management and Chief Investment Advisor to Quantum Fund N.V., a $12 billion international investment fund. Besides his numerous ventures in finance, Soros is also extremely active in the worlds of education, culture, and economic aid and development through his Open Society Fund and the Soros Foundation.

The Only Investment Guide You'll Ever Need

Andrew Tobias

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 105 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

For more than twenty-five years, The Only Investment Guide You'll Ever Need has been America's favorite finance guide, winning the allegiance of more than a million readers across the country. Now this indispensable book has been fully revised and updated-covering all the new tax laws-and reorganized with a new user-friendly design. Concise, witty, and truly understandable, Andrew Tobias shows you how to use your money to your best advantage-no matter how much or how little you have.
o How to spend smarter-and save $1,000 or more
o When to invest in stocks, and how
o The ins and outs of investing on the Internet
o Tax strategies, from tuition to retirement
o Whom-if anyone-you can trust to manage your money
and much, much more




How to spend smarter--and save $1,000 or more
When to invest in stocks, and how
The ins and outs of investing on the Internet
Tax strategies, from tuition to retirement
The basics of life insurance
Who--if anyone--you can trust to manage your money
The inside skinny on annuities, real estate, and Social Security

and much, much more

Make Money with Affordable Apartment Buildings and Commercial Properties (Make Money in Real Estate)

Gary W. Eldred

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 2 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

An Apartment Building Real Estate Book That Doesn't Try To Sell You a System! 5 out of 5 stars.
5 of 5 people found this review helpful.

I read a fair amount of real estate books. However, when I choose a book, I try to stay away from the ones that just try to sell you on a system. Those books that scream, "Buy me and I'll tell you how to make a million dollars in a month from real estate using none of your own money!" I have never found that useful.

Mr. Eldred's book is not like those books. He is not trying to sell the reader his system. In fact, he even states in the book that systems typically do not work. Sure, you could buy a book from an author living in Southern California that made a million flipping homes between 2004-2007 but is that really going to work in Cedar Rapids, IA? Probably not.

I bought this book after being impressed with Investing in Real Estate, Fourth Edition. (The link is to the Fourth Edition, which I read. Note, however, that there is a newly updated Fifth Edition available now.) In fact, I recommend reading "Investing in Real Estate" before reading this book.

This book is all about multi family residences. It does not discuss buying single family homes since the process for those are different.

What makes this book so valuable are all of the areas that Mr. Eldred touches on that should affect not only how you decide whether or not you want to buy a property but how you see a property's potential before purchase and then fulfill that potential after the purchase. And it is not just focused on the buying process. He discusses formulating a PVP (Preferred Value Proposition) and using that PVP to guide your purchases. He talks about performing market analysis to locate the right markets, finding the right properties within those markets, determining what improvements will help raise the property's value and rents, and more. Sure, he has a chapter about working the numbers, but this book is about much more than just running numbers. It is about learning to create the right strategy, find the right markets, ask the right questions and see opportunities that others have missed.

I will be reading this book again because there is just too much valuable insight to try and capture it with just one read. Even if you are someone who owns a couple properties and has been doing this for a little while I believe this book will have you thinking and doing things differently after you read it.

Before I sound too positive, I will point out two minor issues I had with the book:

First, the title is "Make Money with Affordable Apartment Buildings and Commercial Properties." Mr. Eldred mentions commercial properties a bit in the book but this really is a book about apartment buildings (yes, I realize that apartment buildings fall into the realm of commercial properties but if that's what he was going after, the title is redundant). If you are looking at buying commercial properties that are not apartment buildings, this is not a fantastic book for you.

Second, he talks a lot in the book about calling up owners of other properties, asking them about units that are for rent, visiting those units, and following up with those owners after a short period of time to see if the units have been rented. To me, if I were an owner of one of those properties I would consider it somewhat bad form for another investor to take up my time inspecting a unit I have for rent if the investor knows he is not going to rent it. Maybe that's just me and maybe this is an OK practice (as I said I am just getting started in this area of investing), but it doesn't seem to be the right way to go about it.

In summary, I highly recommend this book. Buy it, read it, and start working on your own system for making money in real estate!

Editorial Review:

Make Money with Affordable Apartment Buildings and Commercial Properties, Second Edition, shows you how to build wealth with affordable multi-unit residential and commercial buildings. Low-priced income properties can yield higher returns than single-family homes?especially if you manage them yourself. This book shows you how to find, assess, buy, and manage apartment buildings, retail offices, self-storage, and other overlooked investment alternatives. In today?s tough housing market, these properties offer great returns.

Series 7 Exam For Dummies (For Dummies (Career/Education))

Steven M. Rice

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 23 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

In order to become a stockbroker and sell securities, you must first pass the Series 7 exam—a 6-hour, 250-question monstrosity. Unlike many standardized tests, the Series 7 exam is harder than it seems, and people who score below 70% must retake the test, having to wait at least a month before retaking it and paying hefty registration fees.

Luckily, there’s Series 7 Exam For Dummies—the perfect guide that not only shows you how to think like a financial advisor but also like the test designers. Rather than an all-encompassing, comprehensive textbook, this guide covers only what’s on the test, offering formulas, tips, and basic info you need to study. It empowers you with the ability to think each problem through and get to the bottom of what’s being asked, providing you with everything you need and want to know about:

• Distribution of profits
• Types of securities offerings
• Investing in all types of stock
• Bond types, prices, yields, and risks
• Handling margin accounts
• Characteristics of different investment companies
• Direct Participation Programs and other types of partnerships
• Option selling, buying, and trading
• Security analysis and security markets

Packed with valuable information and know-how, this no-nonsense guide provides a full-length practice exam with answers and explanations. A bonus CD with another simulated practice test is also included. Whether you’re preparing to take the test for the first time or the fourth time, Series 7 For Dummies is the book for you!

Note: CD-ROM/DVD and other supplementary materials are not included as part of eBook file.

The Coming Economic Collapse: How You Can Thrive When Oil Costs $200 a Barrel

Stephen Leeb, Glen Strathy

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 80 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Speculations about the Coming Economic Collapse 2 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

At the end of the book Leeb gives some solid tips for picking stocks
that will benefit from higher oil prices and inflation. His general
thesis that the next decade could mirror and exceed the trends of the 1970's does seem compelling. Unfortunately I have some serious concerns about the soundness of the research that he uses to predict that an imminent and prolonged oil shock is on the horizon.

In general he seems to draw from his experience as a PhD psychologist
more than from either his math or economics background. He repeatedly
makes the assertion that "group think" is responsible for the experts
ignoring the fact that we are reaching a peak in oil production and
that demand will far outstrip supply in the near term. This assertion
is the core of his thesis. If you allow that there exist experts that
depend on accurate analysis of oil reserves and demand that do not
suffer from "group think" then the book amounts to little more then a
speculative stock picking book. I also noticed that most of the
references he makes in the book are to Scientific American articles or
popular non-fiction books such as Jared Diamond's "Collapse". His
research does not appear to be any deeper than what any layperson
could cobble together from the books and magazines they normally read.

I believe in the end that speculative stock picks is all this book has
to offer. It is a stock picking book by a professional stock picker,
who has accurately identified trends in the past, and has found a new
concern among investors and capitalized on it. His previous
prediction about the collapse of technology shocks shows he has good
timing, but good timing does not guarantee that everything he believes
will come to pass in the time frame he predicts. If speculating on
the market is what you want to do, then his book is as good as any on
the topic. It does not appear to offer principled investment advice
based new research or insights though.

I took notes, see below, on the points that led me to my conclusion.
Perhaps you'll want to review these sections to see if you also find
them troubling.

Pg 66-68 - Author shows his support of Keynsesian economics. He
argues for government spending is a preferable response to inflation
then balanced budgets. He never discusses the place that increased
productivity plays in decreasing inflation. If "Chindia" does become
modernized in the next ten years, as he asserts, won't that increased
productivity have a negative impact on inflation?

He advocates a get rich quick scheme is better then a get rich slow
system offered by modern portfolio management. The saying, "you can't
cheat an honest man" comes to mind when I read that.

Pg 82 - Leeb writes: "The government wll likely resist conservation
for fear of the economic consequences." This does not appear to ring
true to me.

Aren't poor nations likely to conserve even more then the U.S.A.? He
says Chindia must grow - but can they afford to grow if oil becomes
expensive?

He claims US Natural Gas has peaked, but I thought there were large
untapped gas deposits in the US.

Pg 86 - Leeb writes: "Safe to assume Saudi own energy consumption will
again grow by about 10% a year" and will consume 1/2 of new
production. This does not ring true to me. Seems like more complex
story here.

Pg 96 - "no new energy supplies waiting to come online." But what
about Alaska? If things get tough, we have the Arctic National
Wildlife area right?

"Government debt at record highs ($7.8 trillian)" BUT - as an
inflation adjusted percent of GDP how big is our debt? He doesn't
say. Using absolute values like this is misleading.

Pg 99-100 - Leeb down plays downside of letting inflation rise to
devaluded the dollar. Focus on inflation hurting returns, but not
cost to business planning. Fed may not allow inflation for that
reason.

Pg 112 - Leeb claims best strategy in the 70's is essentially to buy
at start of a rally and sell at top of a rally. Nothing more then buy
low, sell high. Not a great insight and no plan for the future.

Would be worth reading "The Prize" by Yeagin. This is written by a
true oil industry insider.

Pg 141 - Leeb writes - "Only massive effort by Federal Government will
be able to solve the energy crisis". Here he shows his statist bias.
How about some trust in the power of capitalism?

Pg 149 - claims oil/gasoline price is subsidized by the US Government.
He sites tax breaks, but this does not ring true to me. It seems
like the government taxes gas and oil more then it creates special
targeted subsides.

Pg 136 - Claims hydrogen from wind is a viable technology. This
ignores massive problems with hydrogen storage and inefficiency of
straight electrolysis. Basic physics is completely ignored.

Pg 173 - According to chart, gold peaked for a very short period
around 1978/79, then has averaged approx $350 since. 1975 deregulated
gold which accounts for the big increase and he uses that short peak
when he describes the profit made from gold. Using such precise stock
timing to make his point strikes me as dishonest.

Editorial Review:

In The Oil Factor, Stephen Leeb accurately predicted the current oil shortage and showed how savvy investors could profit. But now the world is facing an energy crisis of unprecedented scope, and the recent surge in oil prices is only the tip of the iceberg. With meticulous research and analysis, Leeb shows that due to strong competition from India and China for the world?s oil reserves, prices could soon top an astounding $200 a barrel, bringing an economic collapse that most countries and investors are ill-prepared for. Now in this groundbreaking book, Leeb shows how this crisis will affect you, but how savvy investing can turn these dire times into financial gain.

Options As a Strategic Investment (4th Edition Study Guide)

Lawrence G. McMillan

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 71 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Decent reference material 4 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

I actually ended up finishing this FAT book, even though I felt I was reading the same rhetoric again and again all along the book. This book could have been a lot SLIMMER. Although not a bad book to have in the library. I use it every now and then for reference (like margin requirements, prospective gamma changes, etc.).
Considering there are very few books on options trading out there that has good substance (although, there are decent amount of articles and research papers on options out there), it's a must have for your library, whether you are seasoned options trader or an intermediate options trader.

Editorial Review:

This blockbuster bestseller--more than 100,000 copies sold--is considered to be the bible of options trading. Now completely revised and updated to encompass all the latest options trading vehicles, it supplies traders and serious investors with an abundance of new, strategic opportunities for managing their investments. Examples make clear the power of each strategy in carefully defined market condition.

Freedomnomics: Why the Free Market Works and Freaky Theories Don't

John R. Lott; Jr.

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Total reviews: 96 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Eyes Glazed Over 1 out of 5 stars.
7 of 22 people found this review helpful.

I'm all for countering claptrap like "Freakonomics" and I'm sure it's of value that economists take on arcane social issues with arcane data from arcane studies, but one grows weary of seeing the world through the lens of economics, which after all does not, despite the beliefs of some economists, encompass all of life. This book, like so many of its genre, makes the eyes glaze over, as it hammers on the obvious. In contrast to Freakonomics, this book doesn't attempt to impress with cleverness, which is a virtue, but since when does economics become the science of how policemen are selected and assigned to beats? Please go back to monetary and fiscal policy and the virtues of free trade. No one who is not an economist is going to think like an economist or arrive at a framework of action that satisfies an economist. This fact is what gives rise to books like this one in which, despite claims to objectivity, the ideology of the author precedes any analytical approach.

Editorial Review:

As the blockbuster bestseller Freakonomics demonstrated, economics can explain everything--from why people behave the way they do to how governments and businesses organize themselves. But are the basic assumptions and conclusions in Freakonomics true? Does the free market usually lead to unintended and negative consequences? Quite the opposite, says John Lott, who holds a Ph.D. in economics. In fact, says Lott, a wide range of fascinating and peculiar case studies prove the simple adage that if something is more costly, people will do less of it. And, in a refutation of Freakonomics' most controversial idea, Lott shows why legalized abortion leads to family breakdown, which leads to more crime.