Fourth-market Books

I actually started with this book first out of the series due to my interest in the Phoenix clan. I had read about the Phoenix clan in the Rokugan roleplaying books.

Since I did not read any of the other books in the series, I base my review ONLY on this book.

I really enjoyed this book alot. The character Kaede, Mistress of the Void, was defenitely my favorite in the book. She was torn between her own self-preservation, her clan & the Empire.

One of the best book I have read in awhile. I am looking forward to the rest of the Clan books.

this book told the story of the corruption of the phoenix clan and how it palys out in the clan war a very good book for fans of the l5r game who like me came into l5r during hidden emperor

Right off the thing I loved about this book was that the author, Stephen Sullivan, was able to bring the world of Rokugan into mind so clearly that you didn't read the book, you lived it. His attention to detail was just so that you could see the waterfalls and feel the atmosphere, (I could see the entire book played out as a John Woo or Akira Kurosawa film).

Like the other L5R books this one played it's piece in the grand scheme of things by introducing the mystical pheonix clan. Every book in the Clan War series is "tainted" with a clans very biased perspective, which only makes the series better, and the Pheonix is no exception. The main character, a shugenja named Isawa Tadaka, is a great character told as an adventurous type who basically becomes a martyr for his clan (as any good samurai should). I'd tell you more about it but you should just get yourself a copy and read it!

This is a good book for any fan of Forgotten Realms, Planescape and Ravenloft and a must read for anyone who owns a copy of the Ninja Scroll!!

A must own!!

I had high hopes for this book since the phoenixian had an intriguing character in the previous book but apart from the Master of the Earth, all other charecters were left on the way. This is the weakest of the 5 scrolls. I only wish there was a proper ending to the book (like the others)

I gave the first 3 books 4 stars and gave this one 3 stars only because it doesn't wrap up a story like the other previous books. That would have been nice...

Having said that, I guess you'd have to say that "The Empire Strikes Back" was a terrible movie because it didn't have a satisfying 'good guys win' sort of ending. Or that the first two books of "The Lord of the Rings" were weak because they didn't wrap things up at the end of each.

Wrong.

This series is (I think) 7 books long. ...Like LOTR, you can't take one of these books and read it alone except for maybe "The Scorpion". Legend Of The Five Rings:Clan Wars" is a huge story that is slowly developed through each book. There are major plot elements from the previous 2 books that are described in this book and make it clear what the heck has been behind them. Specifically where the plague came from and who's sending out all these monsters and undead to wreak havok on the land. That alone is worth the price of the book.

This book takes place during the same period of time that books 2 and 3 take place. Although events from those books are only briefly touched upon just to give you some bearing as to when things are, I didn't mind. I read those events already and don't need to read about them again. "Unicorn" and "Crane" seem intertwined, but "Phoenix" is pretty much independent.

There is a lot of action in this book. Since the Phoenix use sorcery, there are a lot of battles that are not just desciption of what a guys sword was doing... although there is a lot of that too. This time there is a good deal of magic doing the fighting. Armies burst into flame, strong winds push bad guys around, rocks suddenly jut out of the ground to impale bad guys. Very cool stuff.

Some things someone posted that I thought were misleading:

1- "Then, magically, Tadaka is transformed into something EVIL. No mucking about here; Tadaka goes from an obsessed, but good, priest to a demon-worshipping man who murders his best friend."

This is not really true. Tadaka is changing, but he's not worshiping any demons. He's doing something else with demons, but not worshiping them. He also doesn't kill his best friend. It wasn't like this "friend" was someone he knew all his life... let alone was 'friendly' with. It is shocking when he kills him, but not completely out of character. I believe he did half-heartedly attack him earlier in the book (to make him go away... not something you would do to a 'best friend'). Tadaka is changing. He's been tainted by evil because he's accessed the Black Scrolls and is slowly being consumed by that evil. Using a Black Scroll is something that caused another character in the first chapter to turn evil. It's all spelled out... not coming from out of nowhere. Killing his friend is more like a device to show that he's not the same anymore. What's more, there's no telling if he really killed his 'friend' or not. Read the book and you'll probably see what I mean.

2- "He befriends natives of the Shadowlands, the hellish locale where Junzo lurks, but they somehow prove inept at surviving their own front lawn."

Not really. It wasn't their front lawn. They were actually taking Tadaka to a region that they are afraid of and don't go to. The trek took many days to get there, so it wasn't exactly their neighborhood. When some die, they are taken by surprise or natural selection takes over and they die because they were stupid. Only one in the group actually knows the terrain and that character DOES survive.

Although I liked this book a lot, there were two things that bothered me:

1- The word "cool" was used to describe something as being good. This was done by a character whose speech is a lot closer to an American than a denizen of ancient Japan, but it still seemed wrong. You could assume, however that there was a Japanese term like it that he used and that translates into English as "Cool". It still seemed wrong.

2- I think the author is running out of decriptions. He tends to use the same words to describe things over and over. I'm really tired of reading the word 'sinews'. There's always something going on with 'sinews'. Would it kill him to use the word 'tendon' once in a while? Also, there were two situations only a couple chapters apart (or so it seemed) where 2 different characters did the same thing. They stuck their swords through the eye and out the back of the skull of a zombie. I could be wrong about the sword going throught the back of the head in both cases, but jeezz. Another one through the Eye? Maybe there was a reason for this, but it seemed random enough to me that another body part could have been used. There are also a lot of other descritpions that you know you've just read a bunch of times already. There could have been different ways to describe the same thing if it had to be described again. When I read what appears to be the same sentence over again... sometimes just on the next page... it pops me out of the story and I'm reminded that there was an author to this book. It's not really happening, it was written.

Those are pretty small gripes. Other than that, it was a good read. I wouldn't recommend it unless you've read the previous books, though. But I wouldn't recommend "LOTR: Two Towers" without reading "LOTR: Fellowship of the Rings" first... This is a huge epic that requires you to read all the books to get the whole story...

Easy to order and recieved it very quickly. This edition is the same as the 6th edition and MUCH cheaper.

This book which I purchased new from Amazon is missing pages 297-344. If I tried to understand the hot topic in all of finance right now I'd be up a creek because the publisher didn't feel I should have the tools to learn about it. Ridiculous for a book in its fifth edition.

This book is not an advanced book on financial markets, but it is a good introductory book. I use this book for my undergraduate teaching. Both I and students are happy about the coverage of the book. It is well organized and well written. Improvements will be valuable in the derivatives markets and risk management areas.

I've used some version of this book for many years now, and I've seen it evolve. I think, as other reviewers have said, that there are some simplified portions of the book, especially those parts dealing with monetary economics. There are other portions which lay out the principles as only these authors can, and those parts are extremely helpful and valuable. This book allows me to teach my notes and thoughts with a textbook serving as a reference and an introduction -- it doesn't get in my way, in other words. I use it along with several other texts, and I think it gets the job done. Students seem to like it as well, mainly for its clarity. For someone wanting to learn the basics, this is an excellent choice.

Although this might be a perfect book for those looking for simplicity, I would not advise it to anybody with previous exposure to finance.
The book is a way too simple, and reveals huge ignorance on the markets outside the US.
I think the book is very much a benchmark to reveal ignorant finance - teachers.

I am using this textbook for a MBA course and I just had to stop studying and write a review. The authors must have collectively agreed to make this the most confusing read possible. For every one definition, there are two to three words that can mean the same thing, and they are interchangeably used throughout the text; after several chapters, it is very difficult to remember which term matches with which definition. Besides that, the text book was written for people who ALREADY know all the terms associated with this field. They can take a simple subject and convolute it with jargon that the average user will not understand. The writing style used is VERY technical; instead of writing simple sentences that are clear/easily understood, it appears as though they used every word in the thesaurus. I spend more time in the index and glossary than I do reading the text itself. Why couldn't they have written it more intelligently? A good text book explains itself as it goes and does not jump off the high dive into the deep end of the pool. If you are a Finance Major, this is the book for you, for the rest, I would keep looking. I'm off to wade through the rest of this book and look forward to the last page; will it ever come?

Spelling and grammatical mistakes.
Personnel from Prentice Hall - Pearson displayed little interest in request for corrections.
Recommend seek books from other publishers.

Foundations of Financial Markets and Institutions (3rd Edition)

Excellent overview with enough coverage of financial markets to see the big picture and enough detail to depict the inner workings.

I used this book for an MBA course and it is a good resource for graduate school. If you're not used to the rather technical writing style that prevails in economics and finance, you will find this text rather dry. Without pre-existing knowledge in financial markets, this book will strike you as confusing and a bit overwhelming.

If you're just learning about financial markets, I recommend watching the daily half-hour PBS show Nightly Business Report (www.nbr.com or www.pbs.org/nbr). NBR is more analytical and less hype-filled than the financial shows on cable, and I recommend it if you need some beforehand warm-up before delving into this book. If you already have a working knowledge of financial markets and economics, this book is well-written and appropriately paced.

If at all possible, try to get the hardbound edition. The paperback is so flimsy that it can't possibly withstand the rigors of graduate study. If you're a hands-on reader and thorough student, this book will fall apart on you.

I would give it five stars for content, but the flimsy paperback format calls for taking off at least one star. At this price, I would expect a binding that holds up to normal reading.

Flimsy book binding aside, the presentation of the subject matter is well thought-out.

I use this textbook for my Financial Markets class and I learn so much from it. Fabozzi does a wonderful job of transfering his ideas to students so they can comprehend them and learn. Because of this book, I will definately get an 'A' in my class. I recommend this book to anybody.

Well, definitely Irvingish but without any wrestling. There is however, football - not just any football either - the Packers. The story is about a reporter, Patrick Wallingford, a television reporter who loses his left hand to a lion, but somehow in the process gains a soul. I love John Irving's writing and this didn't disappoint. There was also less angst in this one than some. I did listen to the audio version and the reader had a decidely eastern accent which didn't work all that well for the midwestern characters. And the fact that he kept calling Green Bay - GREEN Bay instead of Green BAY was annoying, but it didn't ruin the story or anything. All in all - I definitely recommend for Irving fans

It's been a long time since I read this book but I remember it as an enjoyable experience, typical Irving. General consensus seems to be that this is Irving's worst effort which is almost a reason in itself to try the book. What is John Irving's worst book like?

If you look at all the quotes and reviews on the cover and in the first pages of the novel itself, you'll see more words than are in this newsletter. All filled with praise, all accurate, and yet. Part of Irving's greatness is that all that verbiage can't even sum up why he's so damn good. Neither can I. It's sharp, it's clever, it's perceptive, it's literate, and I devoured it like the page turner it is. If you've never read this guy, you are sorely deprived.

One of John Irving's best endeavors, with an un-Irving like ending. Irving's descriptions are vivid and his storytelling becomes nearly poetic in much of this prose, however - I agree with others that this is an extremely readable encounter with Irving and would be good for first time Irving readers as well as those of us who persevered through thick and thin along the way.

Maybe the mistake was to read this book after reading both The World According to Garp (wonderful) and A Widow for One Year (very enjoyable, but with plot charactersitics oddly similar to Garp's). Maybe if this had been the first time I read Irving's novels, and met his truly bizarre characters, I would have enjoyed this book more.

But so it happens that I didn't like much this book, because in it I ONLY found weirdness and, yes, good writing, but not for a good purpose. There isn't a single character I cared about in this book. Not the main character, the hand-less "lion guy", who enjoy professional success for no clear reasons and who has an immensely varied sex life just because no woman, of any age, profession or ideological views can't help wanting to sleep with him, or even have his babies (even with no father included in the deal). The main character mostly spends his time simply being there when things happen to him. Nor I cared much for the wife of the hand's donor, not for any one of the women he has sex with, and I cared even less for the dog who eats his turds. Overall, I found this book just mildly entertaining, no more than a good airplane book (as long as you purchase it second-hand, as I did).

So, a bit of a let-down. My next Irving will likely be The Cider House Rules, for which I have higher expectations.

I've read a lot of suspense novels over the years. They tend to fall into three categories for me. On the one hand, you have those books you can't put down, well-written, entertaining, and intelligent. Second, you have those that are for one reason or another forgettable: ham-handed politics, poor plotting, lousy writing, etc. Then there are the ones in the middle: not particularly bad, but on the other hand nothing really to recommend them either. The Fourth Perimeter definitely fits into that category.

Kurt Ford is a former Secret Service agent. He left the agency, and founded a hi-tech security firm, and has made a few billion dollars running it. Now his son, following in his footsteps, has become a Secret Service agent too, and as the book opens the author shows you how a woman and her accomplices fake the suicide of Kurt's son, murdering him. You're unsure why.

Kurt, of course, is certain that his son didn't commit suicide, the way many parents are: he had no reason, he was cheerful, etc. He goes on a quest, first to figure out why someone would want his son dead, and then for vengeance once he begins to figure things out. It's a bit more complicated than this, but once you get started with the book it will all be fairly obvious.

I didn't hate this book. I also didn't like it much. There's a dead spot in the middle where Kurt "works" in his office all day, and yells at his fiance if she interrupts him. Neither the plot or the dialog is particularly interesting or intelligent. It's an alright book, but there have been many better.

This is a good book, not a great one. The author greatfully acknowledges the help of former Secret Service agent Larry Newman (of "The Dark Side Of Camelot" fame).
Vince Palamara-JFK/ Secret Service expert (History Channel, author of two books, in over 30 other author's books, etc.)
Pittsburgh, PA

BEST JFK ASSASSINATION BOOK: ULTIMATE SACRIFICE
BEST JFK SECRET SERVICE BOOK: SURVIVOR'S GUILT BY YOURS TRULY :)

Sounded like it would be good but dragged on forever and had little action..........Not hard to figure the bad guy early.........This was my first read of this author and I'll give him another chance........This one just didn't bring much to the table though..........

What flashes through your mind when you hear the term "Secret Service?" I'm sure you don't think of the unobtrusive way that the waiter refills your water glass at your favorite upper-crust restaurant. No, the Secret Service handles a lot of different things, but the biggie is the protection of the President of the United States. The immediate image that pops up is a bunch of big guys in nice suits and serious sunglasses, all of them flanking POTUS and looking grimly in different directions. It's not an act; no one wants another Dallas on their watch. The agents clustered around POTUS constitute the Fourth Perimeter; there is no fifth. Four is as close as it gets and no one is supposed to breach that. So what happens when a former Secret Service agent, someone who has been there and knows all the precautions and all the preparations, decides to kill the President? One answer is provided in THE FOURTH PERIMETER, the latest novel by Tim Green.

Kurt Ford is the ex-Secret Service agent who is driven to breach the Fourth Perimeter. His motivation is nothing less than heated, single-minded revenge. Ford, a retired agent turned successful technology entrepreneur, rules a perfect world with more money than he could ever reasonably spend, an intelligent and beautiful wife-to-be who is successful in her own right and an adult son who is building his own successful career in the Secret Service. Ford's perfect world is shattered, however, when his son is found dead in bed, a victim of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound. The official explanation is that young Ford committed suicide, but his father refuses to believe that and begins a relentless hunt for justice for his son. When he is told by an unimpeachable source that his son was murdered at the behest of the President, Ford's only focus is on bringing the most powerful man in the world to rough and personal justice.

He begins to meticulously plan his revenge, with his biggest problem being how to breach the Fourth Perimeter. He finally hits upon a brilliant scheme: rather than invading it, Ford will build it around himself. Ford slowly and carefully constructs every detail of his plan --- meeting the President, executing his plan and the man, as well as his escape. It seems as if the plan cannot fail. But a number of pitfalls and surprises await Ford as he rushes headlong to his fateful, carefully planned meeting with the President.

Green continues to hone his craft well, bringing together elements of suspense and thorough research to create readable and enjoyable novels with tales that are grounded in the real world. He will continue to bear watching --- and reading.

The copy of this book I read was printed on nice paper. The paper has far more substance than any of the characters in this book (they scarcely merit the name `characters'; shadows, silhouettes, paper cutouts). They just don't come across as real people. The author cavorts with their personalities as if he were yanking marionettes to be pulled in any which way. The lead character, Kurt Ford, had a gift `with people. He could read them.' Then we are told that Ford also did not feel comfortable chatting with people. Sorry, doesn't work that way. Jill is a totally unbelievable mass of wet clay who flows into whatever shape the author's whim requires. Jeremiah may weigh three hundred pounds, but he is entirely unsubstantial.

The dialogue is wooden and contrived. Here is a genuine quote from page 3, I swear I did not make this up: "My God, I love you so much," he said with quiet urgency.... "Oh, I love you too," she said fervently. "Kurt, I love you so much." The author must have toiled for hours on that exchange, tightening up the sentences and twiddling with the rhythms.

After that turgid passage, I kept reading mainly to see how badly the author could write. I was not disappointed. The plot has even less depth than the characters or the dialogue. An internet tax? There is no reasonable explanation for the bad guy's murdering the other two Secret Service agents, other than a feeble attempt to build suspense. Is the Secret Service so dense that nobody would remark on the death of three agents?

I was originally going to give this two stars for effort, but demoted him to one when the bad guy convinces two nasties to assassinate the President on the grounds that the President was preparing to sell military and intelligence secrets to the Chinese. Those nasties may have watermelons instead of brains, but if that's the best Green can do, he had really better keep his daytime job.

Since you can buy this book pretty cheaply now, it is probably worth reading. Every book has a couple of ideas in it that are interesting to think about and Mr. Acampora has enough experience in the market to offer some different perspectives. But, you are probably not going to learn much that will directly impact your ability to profit in the market.

The book was written at the end of the dot com boom days and it forecasts bull market for another 10 years. Of course, we all know the market is still below 11000, but this would be to easier to blame the author for that. What is more interested is why he made that prediction. One of the key reasons is that according to him peace is always bullish and end of a war pushes the market up. It's not straightforward how to apply that to the current situation. The author was sure back in 2000 that the US is secure and no war is coming. Ok, he obviously missed the war on terror. Also, it's not clear what would mark the end of this war. By the way, according to the author the Korean war and some other onces were not big obstacles for the bull markets, but the others were. Would be interesting to know how the war on terror is supposed to be treated? So even if his conclusions sound convincing, it's really hard to apply them and even the author was wrong in many of his predictions based on his own ideas.

So this is a typical techinical analyst book. Everything seems to reasonable looking back in history, but the crystal ball is hazy and can be read either way.

Overall, this is a nice overview of the US market history for the last 150 years, but I wouldn't take the boldest predictions about the mega bull market too seriously.

Peace is bullish. The 1980s were characterized by double digit inflation. Inflation is a stock price killer. Inflation cost individuals thousands of jobs. The prime rate reached 21.5%, at the same time US bonds became a terrific investment, the dollar climbed, consumer spending increased, LBO increased as opportunist bought undervalued companies with small cash and heavy financing. By 1987 the DOW hit 2,700, a 300% increase in five years then Iran bombed an Iraqi oil tanker and the DOW fell 508 points, 23%, in one day. A stealth bear market had emerged with 70% of the stock issues losing 20% of their value. However, the 50 day moving average had moved above the 200 day moving average, a buy signal; interest rates were coming down; by 1995, the DOW was experiencing a 900 point breakaway lead by IBM; technology was ushered in combating inefficient practices; Bull signals were strong: 96-DOW 5,778, 97-DOW 8020, 98-DOW 7539 (Transportation remained flat), 00-DOW 11,722 (Dot com); Ten bull rallies were very profitable yielding 24.5% gains on the average of 4 ½ months with the worst sell off in 98 with a lose of -20.8%. GE looked good. GE had adapted and turned their focus too new technologies maintain a three prong domain focus of appliances, heavy industry, and finance. Jack Welch cut costs eliminating one hundred GE businesses cutting out coal mining, oil refining, and housewares; cut 40 of the workforce; changed the domain focus to advanced medical devices, improved productivity, and new technologies that benefited the consumer and increased profit margins. 1995, a Bank Bailout by the IMF saved the economy. Mexico had a huge trade deficit and as the deficit balloon so did the borrowing. The over extension of credit devalued the Mexican currency; as the Mexican currency devalued money moved out of the country; the Mexican bond market nearly collapsed and credit vaporized and loan defaults escalated; the IMF infused $35 billion in loans to save the failing Mexican economy.

A bull market needs peace. The results of a peace dividend are decreased spending. However, today, the war on terrorism has increased government spending and enlarged the national debt. The peace dividend reduces government debt. Today, war has moved the national surplus into a national debt. Military spending is predict to increase funding paychecks for 450,000 military personnel, 136 military installations in NATO countries, investments into new weapon technology, and rebuilding of decimated countries, after military conflicts. The peace dividend expands global trade and allows manifests itself in efficient free trade markets that operate on principles of supply and demand. Today, the WTO espouses free trade but interferes in the operations of trade through regulation that artificially create demand. The WTO weakness is its belief that it is smarter than the free market. The peace dividend lead too the fall of communism as military industrial competition, dollar hegemony, and economic pressures forced communism out of business. Today, American jobs are being outsourced to foreign countries, a bet that the dollar will demise. The net affect of job redistribution has been a rise of capitalism in China, Japan, S Korea, South East Asia, and India. Peace dividend encourages employees to work beyond retirement leaving 401k investment untampered. Welfare programs are expensive: Social security unreliability and Medicare insufficient funding and coverage threaten the old, as rising medical costs hamper need medicine and treatment.

Trade axioms are as follows: 1. War is inflationary 2. Peace is deflationary 3. War is unproductive 4. Peace is productive 5. War is a time of fear and despair 6. Peace is a time of hope and prosperity. Investors fear losses but gain confidence when profits start to flow and eventual succumb to greed. Skittish buyers come back into the game buying conservative stocks: solid earnings and secure dividends. Bears become complacent, experience concern, and capitulate. Your fortune is measured by how well your stock price has fared. Phase I-the stock price is pronounced neutral, phase II-price is in an upward trend, phase III-price reverts from strong upward bias towards neutral price range swings, and phase IV-price breaks down. A/D technical indicators tell the investor when the majority of the stocks fail to confirm the strength of the leading blue chip stocks, market leadership is said to be too narrow. The author does admit that A/D can not predict a sudden change in the price and further reinforces that after a peak sudden price drops will happen.

The fourth Mega trend started in 1994 based on the A/D line and the 50/200 moving average. PE ratios are low. Over 1,100 large cap companies had PE ratios less than 20. If you take technology stocks out of the entire group the PE ratio falls to 12.1, a number below the mean of 15/17. The 4th Mega Trend experienced 24% growth over 4 ½ months, the 3rd Mega Trend experienced 38.6% growth over 16 months, the 2nd Mega Trend experienced 18% growth over 3 ½ months, and the 1st Mega trend experience 40% growth over 16 moths. Between July 1998 and Sep 1998, the DOW dropped -20.8%
Prediction 1, the DOW will hit 13,725.60 by 2009, Prediction 2, the Dow will hit 21,545.58 by 2003 (oops), and Prediction 3, the Dow will hit 22,354.67 by 2011. 2006 is expected to be a bad year for the DOW. The author must be betting on rising Oil profits and new technology too support the bull and new militarism will produce peace and the expanding production/taxes will support the interest payments on national debt.

Ralph Acampora is an outstanding technical analysis for Prudential Securities. He is probably most famous for his 1995 forecast that the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) would hit 7,000 within a few years. Back then the DJIA was in the low 4,000 range and this was a bold forecast at a time when many considered the stock market overvalued. Acampora nailed both the target and the timeframe.

Unfortunately, anybody in the public eye as much as a stock market prognositcator is bound to be wrong many times, and sometimes at important junctures. Acampora was negative on the stock market at the key bottom early in October 1998 (though to be fair, he was presciently bearish 2 months earlier when stocks had been soaring). Although he reversed course and was bullish during the bubble era, he did miss the bottom and some of the "lift-off" rally. And judging by the book, it appears his Big Picture view was wrong in 2000, though whether or not he moved to the sidelines in his daily Prudential commentaries during 2000-2002 is something I am not privvy to.

Of course, Acampora's book predicts that the DJIA could hit 20,000 by 2011. At the time of publication, this was a seemingly big number but one which only implied about 7% compounded returns. Five years later, at about the same DJIA level, we are now looking at a more attractive 12% annual return IF we can hit Mr. Acampora's stock target (actually, 14% if we use the specific 22,000 DJIA level he foresees). It remains to be seen if that can happen.

The book itself is easily readable for anybody who is not fluent in stock market terminology. Acampora is at his best when he talks about past mega-bull markets and discusses the key individuals, stocks, and sectors that made up those eras. His discussions of the bull markets of the 1920's and 1960's are very informative and give you a flavor for the similarities and differences to today.

Focusing on certain stocks at certain times -- railroads, steel and oil in the late 1800's; RCA in the 1920's; IBM and LTV and Xerox in the 1960's -- Acampora gives you a good overview of the characters of previous bull markets. By focusing on the length and extent of previous bull markets, as well as what type of sectors outperformed and by how much, Acampora is able to come up with similar projections for today. Of course, the fact that technology and related sectors had already made percentage gains similar to or exceeding previous sectors that led earlier bull markets might account for the fact that the book was published more or less at the top of the 2000 bull market.

Acampora defines a mega-market as one which lasts at least 8 and up to 17 years, with a move of 300-500%. Since he used 1994 as his starting point, it's understandable why he thought the overall stock market and DJIA had both some point upside as well as time left when the book was published. I would note, however, that as a long-term cycle observer Acampora must certainly be aware that there have been past periods -- approximating 15-20 years (1929-1954, 1966-1982) -- when the stock market was essentially flat.

If the DJIA is destined to "burn off" excess valuations in sympathy with the U.S. correcting domestic imbalances, then it's quite possible that we are one-third of the way through a period where the major indices make little progress, even though some sectors prosper. Needless to say, most investors don't want to think that the market might have another 10 years of treading water before we can see the kinds of moves we saw in the 1980's and 1990's.

I think the best thing about Acampora's book is that it will give you a sense of how long market moves can last and how much money you can make in a REASONABLE amount of time. Anybody who makes 3,200% in the S&P Computer sector during the 1949-66 bull market, or who makes 1,800% in Technology stocks during the 1994-2000 run, doesn't want to lose it all or a good portion of the gains in the ensuing bear market. Investors have to understand that they need to "take some off the table" and reduce exposure.

In the parlance of Wall Street, "Bulls make money, Bears make money, but Pigs get slaughtered." If nothing else, Acampora's book will enable you to make some money as a bull or a bear, and avoid becoming a broken piggy.

Do not waste your time reading Ralph J. Acampora's book. It is another way Mr. Acampora is trying to make money is today's world. When will he have enough?

I've read some English dictionaries and really I regard this as the best I've ever read.

Although this CD-ROM predates Office XP, it can be made to work correctly with it.
1. Locate the file named AHDLookup.dot, on the CD or on your hard drive, if you have copied the data to your hard drive. Select (highlight) this file and type Ctrl-C to copy it.
2. IF YOU HAVE WINDOWS 95, 98, or NT: Paste AHDLookup in C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office 10\Startup. Restart your computer.
3. IF YOU HAVE WINDOWS ME, 2000, or XP: Paste AHDLookup in C:\Documents and Settings\[your username]\Application Data\Microsoft\Word\Startup. Restart your computer.

I bought this CD because the Editorial review claims it has same information as the Text version of the book. Not true. There are only 1000 images in the CD version while the text version has 4000 images. There is only 450MB on the CD so I doubt they couldn't fit the rest of the images on CD.

The interface is very old (as old as from the time of Windows 95). The scroll wheel does not work. There is no automatic spelling correction/suggestion when searching for words. You have to choose a "spelling suggestion feature" from the
menu every time you run the program to find correct spellings. The convenient word look-up feature (right click on a word to launch the dictionary) is only available in Microsoft Word and excel. It makes more sense to have this feature available for Internet explorer. Do not buy the CD, stick with the text version.

I have a Pentium II PC. I installed the dictionary on my hard disk. Even after I bring up the dictionary, the response time for it to provide the entry for a word I want to look up is about 10 secs. I did an experiment (several times, with different words) to check the response time and it is never better than 8 or 9 secs; sometimes it is 15 secs. In comparison, the response time from the dictionary included in Encarta is only 1 sec and Encarta is accessing a CD-ROM; it is not on the hard disk. I even asked customer service if there was something I was doing wrong; they said Pentium II was a rather old model. Disgusted with this, I bought the Merriam Webster CD. Its response time is around 1 second or perhaps less.

NB: This review is for the CD-ROM only! First to get the obvious out of the way. If you are going to have a single dictionary of American English, this is it. But buy it in print if you want to access the full text. I have loaded it successfully, but NOT all of the roots links WORK. And etymology is just part of the fun (and the price tag) when buying a high-end lexicon. There are roots in both the Indo-European and Semitic sections that are not functional. Yes I tried exchanging the disk, yes I tried multiple reloads (in which all other sections worked), yes I tried customer service (the latter claimed that there were no known issues with the software.) Is the problem just for Windows XP? I do not know. I do know that I would like to own this once all the bugs are out. It is a shame that as of Nov 2003, they are not.

I really feel this book was written by a fan of Leela. She is the most important character in this book since she saves countless people, including the Doctor more times than I care to remember. The plot seems to go awry mid way and just gets more confusing after that.

For some reason, none of the 4th Doctor Virgin MAs had Leela in them. Now we're in the second 4th Doctor BBC MA, and it is the second time we're treated to her appearance.

The book was written for her, really. On many occasions Leela's instinctive "primitive" instincts are the salvation of both her and the Doctor, in addition to the many others the duo encounter on a strange planet they become stranded on.

The whole planet is the perfect place for Leela to show off her skills. Even the alien technology that makes the planet so mysterious and dangerous was made so that only Leela, and not the Doctor, could understand and master it. At one point in the book, there's a big, scary monster that threatens to eat some people. Leela killed that big, scary monster and a few others too.

In fact I would go so far as to say that the main purpose of the book is the exploration of Leela, since in the book everything, including the planet, the Doctor, the alien technology, the soldiers, the TARDIS, and the monsters all work together so she can show off her skills in survival, tracking, conflict resolution, leadership, working with alien technology, hunting, and of course fighting. The exploration of Leela turns at times to adoration. But this is really toward the end of the book.

Regrettably, the book ends in a strange way, even though there is a good buildup of suspense. Toward the middle of the book a sideplot is hatched, which does not really have a lot to do with the last plot running. Furthermore the main plot is split too evenly by the physical middle of the book, into a first half where a mystery is being solved and a second half where a danger is being escaped.

In summary, Last Man Running is a fun book because it gives wide berth to Leela's character and the topics explored as a result give refreshing insights into a number of down-to-earth topics. However, the ability of the alien technology to create anything at all is stretched beyond its elasticity, resulting in a bland toss of action and little enjoyment for the reader.

I was so excited to see a new story with Leela. However this plot was so full of holes that I had to re-read several chapters before I could comprehend what was going on. It's poorly written and the Doctor is not the same person at all that we know from the show. It was great to see Leela actually be the warrior that she is however. It was the one bright spot in the story.

Yay - a story that shows that Leela is intelligent instead of a stupid savage. Put in her own jungle environment, Leela shines through as the star of this book even making the Doctor realise that even he has underestimated her. The only flaw with this book is it does tend to get a bit confusing at times. Well worth a read!!! Recommended!!

Funny thing about Chris Boucher - he wrote 'The Face of Evil', set in a jungle, then 'Robots of Death', a science fiction story with robots. His two novels, which follow on directly are 'Last Man Running', set in a jungle, and 'Corpse Marker', a science fiction story with robots.

There is a real resemblance between this book and Leela's first appearance - there are strange and vicious creatures in the jungle, but the real threat is from lost technology.

The book's best point is the characterisation of Leela - as the creator of this character, Mr. Boucher shows a real mastery of how to portray her. It would have been better if the story had been different from the earlier story, it would have been more worthwhile.

Even though my professor didn't use the book as much as I expected, the content of this one were merely boring lectures explained the reason why my school changed the book after this semester.

By games I mean the fact that the answers to about a third of the questions are found in a solutions manual that, last time I looked (in early Sept '07), was unavailable for purchase. The answers to another third of the questions are not to be found anywhere. The answers to the last third of the questions are in the book--but these questions are not very interesting or challenging. Why must we play this game? Why not just put all the answers in the back of the book? (I know, I know: it's all about the money, etc. But still . . .)

As for the content of the book, I'm told that this isn't Hull's authoritative book (that would be 'Options, Futures, and Other Derivatives'). I feel like a sucker for having bought it. Is it good to make your customer's feel like suckers, Mr. Hull?

I am a student who happens to have read both John Hull's 'Options, Futures and Other Derivatives' and his 'Fundamentals'. To say that 'Options, Futures and Other Derivatives' is a good book is a great understatement, and can even be considered an insult. Yet, this book, which is targeted at readers who are not as acquainted with derivatives fails to impress. Through out the book you can feel how John Hull struggles to explain things in a simple manner. Sadly, his efforts have failed, and this is most evident when my fellow classmates had a hard time understanding the materials starting from Swaps. When we reached the section on options pricing, the book lacks the rigorous math that is needed for students to fully appreciate the beauty of deriving things like Black-Scholes. Overall, if you are a beginner, go straight to 'Options, Futures, and Derivatives'. This book is not worth wasting time over.

As promised this book contains no calculus.However it looks more like a formula sheet.There are some typos in some important parts.The intuitive explanations for some important topics are omitted or not well explained.Solutions manual is just a waste of time.Actually the book doesn't contain good questions at all.Despite the fact that it's one of the most used textbooks for the entry level in options and futures it's really not worth the money.One can find online lecture notes and do with them without having to pay that much money.

I needed to understand everything I could about Futures and Options in a short time and this book was perfect for that purpose. The introduction about futures and options is great and the content in general is very easy to understand and follow. I really liked the examples and the way the author explained each topic. However, I have to confess that maybe my engineering background helped me to understand the math behind, but I believe that even if you don't have much mathematical knowledge you can follow the book.

A big plus of this book is that it contains a chapter about Value at Risk and one focused more on more recent types of derivatives contracts (e.g., energy, weather, etc.).

In general, I think that with this book you could cover more ground more quickly than with other books.

Everyone should have this book. This book is the quintessential guide to flea markets. It contains every flea market imaginable around the country. My wife and I are avid collectors and we use it regularly every weekend when we travel the country going to flea markets.

For such a current edition there are so many flea markets that are not listed showing any detail. Most of the flea markets are listed under "other" which only gives name, address and phone number. A dealer needs the detailed information. I have three directories which are 2 to 3 years old which give much more. I thought I would shop for something current. This was my first purchase with Amazon and reluctantly have to return the book and eat the S & H. Oh well, is it back to the local bookstore? I guess it's only fair to give some examples of what's lacking. Washington state: only one market is listed with details (Puget Park); Prosser - that only runs one w/e in Sept; and Tacoma Dome Antique and Collectible Sale is really not a true flea mkt and it only runs three times a year. The two big markets which run year around are listed in "other" giving only address and phone number (Kent[Seattle]and Tacoma {Starlight]) In the chapter for the state of Georgia there are ten markets listed in detail of which four have "antiques" in the flea market name and there are 146 markets listed under "other" which give only name, address and phone number. I can find these shortcomings in any state that I've have worked and glad to comment further at your request.