Business-risk

I am an author of three books on Modern Portfolio Theory and as the director of research for an investment advisory firm I read many books on investing every year---this is one of the best books I have read in recent years, doing a great job of explaining why the markets are efficient. Ron is an excellent teacher, using simple analogies to make often difficult concepts easy to understand.
Anyone interested in learning how the market really works, and not how Wall Street wants and needs you to believe it works, (and that should be everyone)should read this book

Are you frustrated by your investment mistakes? Do you have very little confidence that you will know how to avoid the same mistakes in the future? Join the club!! Here is a book that explains why you feel so helpless, and offers, in my opinion, the only sensible way to invest. Understand this: the best you can hope for is to achieve market returns while managing risk. You will not beat the market, and all the hype of the talking heads and investment magazines is noise, not information. This is a wonderfully informative book that has helped me understand why I have made poor investment choices in the past, and given me a plan of action for the future. If you think you know how to invest and beat the market, lotsa luck. If you want to invest sensibly, read this remarkable book.

Note: this is not a book that appeals to your greed with a get rich quick philosophy. Quite the contrary. Dr. Ross takes you on a guided tour of how and why the markets work, why all the hype of Wall Street can be so misleading to investors, and how you can invest efficiently. And efficiency, as Dr. Ross explains, means avoiding waste - wasted money, wasted time, wasted aggrivation. Work smarter, not harder, as I like to say.

Correctly understanding the securities markets and how the financial industry ticks is critical to one's financial health. No other book I know does a better job in wading through the patently false, unscientific nonsense that banks, brokerages, the financial media and nine out of ten book authors typically disseminate. Why to they do that? Simple. It maximises their commissions or circulations at the expense of investors' net returns. Why is it simple? Because a large number of investors believe the rubbish that Wall Street and the media yells at them since it sounds somehow plausible and sophisticated. Other "eductated" investors allow their greed and "overconfidence" to get the better of them and hence fall for the same hogwash. This book explains it all and it is surprisingly entertaining. Strong buy!!

This book was well written for the rookies and professionals. Authors explained the trading process from pre-trade to post-trade analysis, with added topics like impact cost and VWAP. Great explanations. A must have desknotes.

This is an excellent financial resource for the seasoned professional or enthusiastic student. The book is the first of its kind to address finance and investing from the point of view of the trader.

It widely known that improper implementation of an investment decision can negate much of a manager's anticipated alpha, but how exactly should managers examine the set of potential implementation schemes? The solution to this question is the primary focus of Optimal Trading Strategies. The authors provide a very thorough investigation of transaction costs (e.g. when, where, and why they arise) and continue with an easy-to-understand analytical process to estimate, manage, and control those costs. The authors' approach to developing these "optimal trading strategies" also turns out to be the basis for achieving "best execution." The net result to managers is higher returns. I highly recommend this reference for anyone interested in understanding all aspects of finance and investment theory, and it makes a wonderful complement to graduate level texts.

Ever since Datek took advantage of the Small Order Execution System and made day-trading popular, every day people have been looking for a sensible way to make money trading stocks.
They are now learning the tools that large investment companies have been using for years. Every basis point counts.

Anybody interested in Program Trading needs to read this book.
I cannot recommend this more highly, and this comes from a comlpetely unbiased review of an excellent book.

A friend of mine recommended that I read this book...I was so impressed by the info. provided that I read over half the book in less than a day..(book has over 500 pages)...I also ordered three other books written by Mr. Givens...His advise, even though written some time ago, is very do-a-ble and easy to follow...I thanked my friend and recommend this book other books written by Mr. Givens to anyone who's serious about getting their finances in order.

It was that quote and article in USA Today that prompted me to buy "Wealth Without Risk" way back in 1989 and I have never regretted it.

According to the article, Givens was making some powerful, almost unbelievable statements like "earn 20% safely on your investments"(this was 2 years after the huge stock market crash!), "Reduce your income tax by 50%", "Better Life Insurance for 80% less", "Send Your Kids to College for Free" and "Spend your way into wealth." Sounds too good to be true, right? Wrong.

I started following Givens strategies back in early 1989. I took money out of cd's and savings and started to invest in no load stock mutuals and a no load bond mutual fund. By October of 1989, my aggressive stock fund was up to a 34% gain. Remembering that October is a bad month for stocks plus that Allen Greenspan was lowering interest rates, I sold off most of my stock shares and rotated into bond funds. By the end of 1989, the bond fund that I had invested in early in 1989 The Scudder U.S. Zero 2000) was already up 25.7%. I was also earning 8 1/2% in my money market fund. I was investing with no commissions and no risk.

Next area was auto insurance. I followed Mr. Givens advice in Wealth Without Risk and reduced by insurance by $280. Now I knew this guy was for real.

I also pulled my credit report and found numerous errors. They even had me intermingled with someone with a similiar name who had moved into an apartment complex that I used to live in years earlier. Needless to say, I got it corrected but never would have thought about doing this if I hadn't read this book.

What really appealed to me is that "Wealth Without Risk" doesn't offer any pie-in-the-sky get rich quick schemes. Instead, iy gives you more than 250 savvy, instantly accessible money strategies--proven, powerful plans for accumating wealth through personal finance, tax reduction, and investing. Some of the other topics that appealed to me were:

* Cut the cost of borrowing money by 30%-50%

* Slash premiums by 50% on homeowners, mortgage, disability,
liability, and rental car insurance (we travel a lot)

* Make your vacations tax deductible (ditto)

* Shift assets between family members and turn family expences
into tax deductions

* Start a small business for fun, profit, and huge tax
deductions

* Create a million dollar retirement plan where you work

* Earn a safe 20% a year with mutual funds (we did that PLUS)

* Make 15%-20% government guaranteed interest with TLC's

* Realize over 20% a year in nontraditional IRA and KEOGH
Investments

* Recognize the 10 biggest investment mistakes

Another thing that impressed us was that Charles J. Givens had been named as one of the 20 most successful people in America and had dedicated his life to teaching people the practical wealth-building techniques that made him financially super successful. Givens was on a mission and was passionate about teaching people how to achieve "Wealth without Risk." Quite a departure from others.

Givens also exemplified the character qualities that Dr. Stephen Covey refers to in his groundbreaking book, "The 7 Habits of Effective People." Qualities like integrity, high values and human dignity.

I loaned my copy out and bought several more copies for friends and family members. More Wealth Without Risk is the updated version of this classic. I also recommend Financial Self-Defense and SuperSelf, all great books by Givens.

Back in January 1989, I purchased "Wealth without Risk" at our local bookstore. What a ride it has been!I was able to cut our family auto expences in half, increase my take home pay, reduce taxes to almost zero and start a investment plan.I also recommend Financial Self DeFense and Super Self.

This is a superb investment book. Bernstein first covers basic statistical topics and historical risk and return data for stocks, bonds and bills. He then presents a lucid discussion of portfolio theory and its applications for the small investor. The most important result of this theory is that the risk and return of a portfolio are very different from the risk and return of its constituent parts, so that adding a 'risky' asset to a portfolio can actually decrease the portfolio's overall volatility. This discussion requires only minimal mathematical background. Bernstein then takes on the controversial topic of market efficiency. He also describes stock valuation models, current valuation levels, growth and value investing, Fama and French's three factor model, the concept of the efficient frontier and numerous other important topics in finance. But the discussion throughout is very clear and understandable as well as practical. After making a compelling case for index investing with periodic rebalancing, Bernstein presents helpful Vanguard and DFA model portfolios. What the author has done is to take the most significant results from academic finance and translated them into English for the individual investor. He has done investors a great service.

I would have to agree with John Bogle's endorsement: "This is a great book!"
While Malkiel's Random Walk covers Modern Portfolio Theory, Bogle covers the virtues of index investing, and Graham, Lynch and Fisher cover individual stock selection, studies show that asset allocation alone is responsible for over 90% of a portfolio's performance in the long run. Yet asset allocation theory seems to me to be under-represented in the investment literature for non-professionals.
Bernstein's book goes a long way to correct this gap. He starts out almost too simply. Bernstein takes the reader step-by-step through a discussion of basic financial math and statistics (hitting variance and correlation coefficients in particular) as he builds the case and explanation behind asset diversification. He writes to an intelligent audience but does not assume a mathematical or financial background. I like that he encourages the reader to take a chapter at a time. He instructs the reader to finish the chapter, and then put the book down and get back to life. This adds to the methodical tone of the book: a step at a time.
In the final chapter "Odds and Ends" the author changes gears. Suddenly we are in the world of - well - odds and ends, the finer points of portfolio management. This was the most interesting part of the book for me. Here Bernstein reviews the case for index investing and - of special interest to me - value investing. What is the premium in returns for small vs. large caps, value vs. growth? Which MPT stat, P/E or P/B is the better predictor of future performance? Why is value averaging so important and yet so counter intuitive? This chapter alone was worth the price of the book.
Finally, Bernstein shares the wealth. The bibliography and recommending reading sections are terrific. This alone might be worth twice the price of the book.
In a time when we are all more intimately involved with the management of our retirement accounts, I cannot recommend this book highly enough to anyone and everyone. You cannot afford not to be familiar with the contents of this book. Highly recommended.

When you pick up this book and look through it the graphs my scare you. Don't let your math phobia kick in. William Bernstein does a great job of walking you through each chapter. In fact at the end of one of the first chapters he tells you to put the book down for a few days and just digest the information. I would rate myself as at least an investor with moderate investing knowledge. I found this book helpful and the charts held validate the points Mr. Bernstein is making. I suspect I will refer to it often when I have a guestion about investing.

This book is more academic than practical, which is not a bad thing. I enjoyed reading it and found it to be well researched and very educational. Just remember, however, that any systematic strategy that makes money in the stock market will become ineffective as soon as it becomes well known (anyone remember "Beating the Dow" or its offspring, "The Foolish Four?"). So read this book if the topic interests you, but don't expect to cash in by exploting these anomalies.

Also, A Random Walk addresses some of these anomalies and explains why, given transaction costs among other things, one cannot profit from them.

The financial markets give investors a chance to make money when they work - and when they don't. When markets work efficiently they uncover the true value of an asset by pegging its fair price for informed buyers and sellers. When for a variety of reasons markets are inefficient they misprice assets. When the specific circumstances of that mispricing are recognized and persistent (viz. predictable) it is an anomaly. The regularity of anomalies offers investors, at least in theory, the opportunity to profit by taking a position that recognizes the temporary nature of the mispricing before it rights itself. These anomalies are the subject of Singal's study which takes its title from the updated 1970's classic exposition of the efficient market hypothesis by Princeton Economics professor Burton Malkiel.

This is a detailed look at ten market anomalies. Singal's goal is to move us well beyond descriptions and academic evidence and offer trading strategies intended to achieve an outsized market return. Each chapter summarizes key points and projects potential returns from implementing the outlined strategy. Additional market anomalies are briefly identified in the final chapter. As a bonus of sorts an appendix gives the most detailed explanation of short selling I have read.

From a practical standpoint some anomalous situations would appear to be more exploitable than others. Mergers between public companies occur with some frequency, so an understanding of how to play the merger premium paid by acquiring companies for their target is useful. Changes to the composition of the S&P 500 Index and their impact on stock prices occur with less frequency, but this is balanced by opportunities from the January and "New December Effect" (mark your calendars). From anecdotal observations, I am not convinced by the author's discussion of the Weekend Effect, and the chapter on International Investing seems like a fair argument for diversification rather than an anomaly. The so-called Value Line Enigma identified in the final chapter is perplexing to this reader, since the supposed outperformance of their recommended stocks runs directly counter to a similar study of mutual funds picked by Morningstar. An apples to oranges comparison to some, perhaps, but it is a sufficiently known study to warrant comment. A chapter dealing with currency forward rates will be beyond most non-professional investors. I would have liked to have heard more about spin-offs, the long-term overperformance of "independent" subsidiaries occasionally distributed to shareholders of a parent company. Singal identifies the simpler, "sharper" corporate mission as the reason. Actually, it may be strong sponsorship and generous, upfront management incentives which spark those returns.

The question remains, does this serious academic study offer practical trading strategies to investors bent on gain. The answer is that Singal has so many ideas packed into the book that investors will be influenced in the aggregate in their trading decisions. Not to be aware of these market biases exposes traders to more uncertainty and risk than may be necessary.

The format in which this book was written is outstanding. Simply because I don't have an interest in all the chapters, and the way in which it was written allows me to read several chapters without reading the entire text. The anomalies are based on backtesting and research, and not just feel or emotion.
Singal shows that there are temporary mispricings in the market and offers suggestions how individuals can implement strategies to profit from them.

The stories featured in A. P. Martin's Harnessing the Power of Intelligence are fun to read and talk about, at work and at home. I have used some of them to alert my customer-service team about hidden risks and untapped opportunities. We have been applying the ideas of the first six chapters (Part I) for about three months. Our interactions with customers are yielding better results. We are now moving aggressively to prevent tampering with our information assets as noted in the section titled "How Good Organizations Lose Intelligence".
Four of my high-school educated supervisors, who read the book, found Part I a down-to-earth eye-opener, and right on target, for making wiser choices and avoiding costly errors. They, however, thought Part II would be more applicable to middle and senior management. A drawback: the cases in the chapter on Psychographics lack the detail necessary to be useful.
I have also read C. S. Fleisher's Strategic and Competitive Intelligence. Both books represent, in my opinion, two different, credible and complementary approaches to intelligence-based decision-making. Except for some references, there is virtually no duplication of content. A big bonus!

Alain Paul Martin gives us a new, non-traditional, and thought-provoking guide to intelligence gathering and strategic planning. This book is must reading for decision makers. Its incisive analyses, practical framework, and real-world examples provide valuable lessons that can be immediately put to use as we cope with our ever-changing world. Mr. Martin deserves our congratulations and our gratitude for this masterful work.

"Ninety percent of the information used in organizations is internally focused and only ten percent about the outside environment. This is exactly backwards." -- Peter Drucker

As usual, in one pithy phrase, management sage Peter Drucker captured the central problem facing organizations in uncertain environments -- they look in the wrong place. In volatile times, humans tend to hunker down in the cocoon of the controllable. Effective leaders embrace such times as an opportunity for greatness, when the prepared organization can jump ahead of ostrich-like competition.

Yet, few management advisors opine on how to combat these human tendencies and systematically scan, analyze and act in uncertain environments. Michael Porter's classic works on Competitive Strategy and Competitive Advantage did dispense advice on competitive intelligence gathering, but did not attend to the conversion of intelligence into commercial advantage. Alain Martin's new book "Harnessing the Power of Intelligence" compiles tested processes which create such value.

Martin's frameworks are based on research at American Express, Boeing, Dell, DuPont, GlaxoSmithKline, and Microsoft as well as application of his ideas in businesses, government, and the military. The book has the most up to date, and complete list of intelligence sources. For example, Martin cites the University of California at Berkeley "invisible web" project, which has shown that search engines only document about 15% of the business intelligence available publicly, because the vast majority of it is either not in a standard hypertext format or not linked to a public domain name (the silent campers). His framework on issue incubation, shows that large scale issues go through a relatively predictable process of incubation and development. Many leaders make the mistake of getting on an issue too early or too late. The issue incubation process delineates ways to recognize the progression of topics, and provides advice on if, when and how to intervene. Martin also has a tool called, Factional Analysis that helps a manager analyze who is likely to influence a volatile situation (from allies to adversaries). This tool is much richer than the traditional stakeholder analysis for it includes roles that do not fit in the normal economic calculus. For example, he includes "fanatics" in the analysis -- people whose sole purpose is to disrupt.

A leader can take the advice in this book and use it to guide outward looking intelligence, assess the current state of issues (or do a triage on a surprise event), and then take concerted action.

At points, the book does suffer from the same weakness of Porter's books in that its desire for completeness, the text often has a "list-like" feel. But, on balance this book provides a framework full of tested tools to turn uncertainty into value.

Although Mr. Reiss has lots of experience (which he reminds us of quite a bit throughout the book) most of it is in inventing / product development / manufacturing / wholesaling. If your interests lie in this area, the book will most likely be of benefit to you.

For me, as a burgeoning retailer, I found I skimmed more than half the book, because the content was of no immediate value or interest to me. Also, the service sector is barely touched on.

I realize that 3 stars may not be fair, given the limitations of my own area of interest, but 1) the book description should give some indication of its limitations, 2) the book cries out for less philosophy and more concrete examples of the points being made, 3)the writing itself is average at best...the book wants to be somewhat inspirational as well as practical, but Mr. Reiss' writing is not up to the level of inspirational.

I see from the other reviews here that lots of people love this book. That's why I ordered it. But I have to admit I was disappointed. But I also can see how for the right entrepreneur, it could be of some value.

In today's world with women fleeing corporations to start their own businesses coupled with mature executives forced out of corporations due to mergers or downsizing, Bob Reiss' book is a life raft. Frankly, I think risk management is the least important lesson Reiss offers. His real gifts are how to get started, how to build the company, and how to create, build, and sell products not only to the buyer but to the consumer. For those with a great idea who may be financially challenged, he also offers info on how to create a cash flow, a product cost analysis, a break-even analysis, and a business plan that will help get money. If ever a book were written for the fledgling entrepreneur or entrepreneur wanna-be, this is it.

Reiss' book gives ideas you can use obviously gleaned from his personal experiences "where the rubber meets the road."My sons are buying my business and I've given them the book as assigned reading; particularly the chapter"Numeracy".I personally used his ideas from the chapter "Building the Company" about how to get free publicity instead of paying for advertising. I'm building a condo project and received 8 newspaper articles, with photos- some front page- in three different newspapers! The articles generated 16 inquiries and 1 sale so far.Bob's 16 common attributes of entrepreneurs in Chapter 1 are fascinating. I teach literacy to a foreigner who is keenly interested in business and I used this chapter with him.If you own a business, want to or deal with entrepreneurs, get this book and study it!

First, let me start by saying that I liked this book and have been recommending it to others. As a "tempered radical" I wish that I had read this book early in my career. I had the wrong impression that hard work and results were enough as long as there were no bodies along the way. Young, naïve, and idealistic. Consequently, I am recommending this book to people starting their careers so that they get the reality of work as well as to others who just do not get that their approach is a major irritant to the powers that be.

I also liked this book because the author used her premise to package her ideas so that her tempered radicalism around race, gender, and other legally protected groups could be better heard by others. I came from academia too (and even received my PhD from Michigan where she had an early appointment in her career) but left that environment because of the oppression of free thinking and any kind of difference. This background added to my wish that this book had been around 10 years ago. I might have better succeeded in that environment if I had had this framework from which to work.

Although I like this book, I did not give the book 4 or 5 stars because the best of her book and the most important aspect of her premise was saved until last - the downside of the "tempered" approach. I do believe that revolutionary results can be achieved by evolutionary steps - small steps can achieve great things as they add up without the major heartburn or resistance that a revolution can cause. However, maybe evolution is not the best means to the ends and that cannot be decided until one decides whom they are and what they are about and decide whether tempered or full scale radicalism is what they want to do. This is a choice and is worthy of exposing at the beginning of the book. So although I may have succeeded in academia if I had had her premise from which to work, I would not have been happy because I would not have been true to me and the essence of who I was or am.

Evolution vs. revolution. To choose one must first know what one is willing to give up.

This is an important book for you to read if your gender, ethnicity, or lifestyle makes you an outsider in your workplace. Debra Meyerson gives examples of how employees have successfully taken small steps to change their companies so they are accepted and their voices are heard.

Many of us work in places where we have a vision for how things could be better -- how we could work differently, treat people more respectfully, act on our values. If only, we think -- we could do something different--then we would really feel good about ourselves and proud about the places we work. This book inspires you to lead that change, to act on your vision. In these times when the impulse is to hunker down and just do our jobs, Meyerson gives us role models of people who have been everyday heroes, leading change that made their organizations better for everybody.

Have you ever thought your manager (or yourself) was missing some fundamentals in doing their job? The context of the book is primarily about running your own business. But truth be told, if you have any type of management or team leading role in your company, you are formally or informally charged with the responsibility of running some part of the business.

What I like most about this book, is that its easy to read and the personal experiences really nail the situation and topics presented. Forget about all those "Business Management" bestsellers, focus on getting your grass-roots first. Where better than to learn from the experiences of people who really run their business!

Delightful in its view of business. Remarkable in its organization. You can turn anywhere, start reading, and not feel like you missed the first 165 pages. The lessons are memorable. My favorite: "Every customer has a sword in one hand and a bag of gold in the other. When you have properly assessed customer risk, you will get the bag of gold without falling on the sword." This book should also be listed under motivational tools, cross referenced under philosophy, and indexed under religion. It is a business bible

That's what we have here in Peterson's book. And it's so brilliantly written that the dot com word isn't even buzzed once.

At some point in their nacent lives, even dot com companies are going to have to make a profit. That means selling goods or services for more than they cost to produce. It also means the company- wide adoption of sound business practices that control much of the free-floating risk in their businesses. It probably wouldn't hurt a few thousand of these start-up

companies to read Peterson's book and live by the lessons. Sure would change the horizon of the dot com industry, though. Companies would have more revenue, better cash flow, and actually make a profit (GASP!) And what would the market think? Shareholders would be happier, have more money to spend, employees would be more realistic and grateful for a job. Oh, and managers would make better business decisions.

This book had page after page of epiphanies. You know, the sudden

realization where you get to "Ah-hah!" that the dot commers' as an industry group have obviously overlooked in all of their technical innovation.. It's one thing to call yourself an entrepreneur and make a profit. It's entirely another to manage a business with a torrid cash burn rate that goes ripping out of the shareholders pockets, dragging the stock price down with it. Well, should you expect anything less if you can't recognize or manage business risk?

The real benefit to me from this book is the realization that although e-commerce companies these days must spend to develop all the sustainable competitive advantages possible, they must also instill throughout the employee base a strong sense of fiscal discipline and the impact of risk on every business decision.. Fundamentals my friend. It isn't about cold fusion or landing a crew on the nearest star. It's about people, external partners, internal partners, and the right way to deal with them and their

little and not-so-little bundles of risk..

Belt tightening? Well, it's in there. It is always a daunting task for well-managed companies, but it's frequently a fatal one for free spending ones. And boy, did the March 2000 meltdown in the NASDAQ ever bring the matter to the attention of every stunned investor.

Picking the right partners? Working with banks? How to avoid shooting yourself in the foot? Trust me, it's all in there and it's all relevant today if you run a business. And there's one heck of a lot more.

What's most important, and Peterson spells it out in The Complete Entrepreneur, is a clear path to avoiding fatal business risks. He identifies them for you! The lessons are put on the table in a light-hearted fashion but don't be mislead. They have a heavy-handed impact on your business and it's success. Every lesson that makes you smarter ultimately saves you money. That's one path to profitability that builds shareholder value. You can either learn from the lessons in the book or for pay for them. Or have your shareholders pay for them which is a fairly ungainly expectation after the market has applied a 95% haircut to the price of your stock because you didn't know the first thing about recognizing business risk..

One day soon, the next generation of dot commerce entrepreneurs are going to step to the front with innovations we just haven't imagined. Brilliant individuals, all of them. The ones that stay there will have started with the fundamental lessons about business risk in Mark Peterson's The Complete Entrepreneur.

I'm a technical analysis/trading systems book "junkie", having bought most of the major titles in the trading genre (and I've tried to use a bunch as well!). If I had to cull down my trading psychology titles down to one or two titles, I'd probably choose "Market Wizards" and this title. I especially like his A.C.T.I.O.N. plan upon which the book is organized, because it outlines a framework through which one can get into the hallowed mental "zone" that so many other authors love to talk about, but so few give solid methodology to achieve. It was the best kind of book: an easy read, but I became a better trader afterward. Well worth the money.

The Way of the Warrior Trader is the best book I have ever read on being mentally prepared for any activity that you do. Dr. Richard McCall, a psychologist who teaches martial arts principles to professionals, has used his background in the martial arts and the samurai to add a zest to an easy read about discipline, mental approach and adding confidence to your stressful daily activities. I am a skilled craps player, or rhythm roller, and staying in the zone when I am throwing the dice is important to winning money at the tables. I had heard that McCall does his training of discipline at the craps tables so I decided to read his book. What I found is a book that is a must read for any trader, athlete, gambler, or anyone that needs to be mentally prepared for their daily tasks or activities.

Dominator

I've read em all - Douglas,Steenbarger,Toppel,Tharp,Kiev, Koppel, well you get the idea, and they are all helpful but this book is the best of the lot. It gets you mentally prepared to trade or what other challenges you face in life. Don't fail to read and study "The Way of the Warrior-Trader" by Dr. Richard McCall - you will be glad you did.