Fourth-market Books

First, would Oprah just go away? Yeah, yeah,yeah, she's sellin' books,but not always good ones. Margot Dalton deserves far more attention than she's got as a writer..an enormously creative force at work here--this woman's books about suspense and children rank up there with the best. Yo--I'm talking about you, Henry James. Will publishing get real and put some muscle behind this writer? Hardly a chance--she ain't rubber stamp, just darned good.

Margot Dalton's Jackie Kaminski series has been a great addition to series mystery fiction, and this book keeps up the high standard she's set. Jackie's involvement in a long-ago murder explores the darker side of the human psyche,but the book never veers into the ugliness of so much slasher suspense, in part because Jackie herself is so multi-dimensional and completely human. That she's a new mother gives this thriller unexpected emotion and irony.

Margot Dalton's Fourth Horseman is a perfect combination of mystery and romance. You not only get caught up in the Jackie Kaminsky's investigation and try to solve the case yourself but you also get a peek at Jackie's romance with Paul and her baby's birth. Dalton keeps you in suspense every second of the way. I can't wait for the next one!

An always dependable author, both creative and inventive. I think that in the coal mine of mystery fiction, she may be the diamond lode.

First, would Oprah just go away? Yeah, yeah,yeah, she's sellin' books,but not always good ones. Margot Dalton deserves far more attention than she's got as a writer..an enormously creative force at work here--this woman's books about suspense and children rank up there with the best. Yo--I'm talking about you, Henry James. Will publishing get real and put some muscle behind this writer? Hardly a chance--she ain't rubber stamp, just darned good.

Holding stocks for the long run is a totally sound idea -- as long as you get in at the right time! Buying stocks after the 1929 Wall Street Crash, holding them and reinvesting the dividends, would have been a great idea. Buying stocks immediately prior to the crash, and holding them all the way down, would not have been so smart. More recently: buying stocks in mid 2007, and particularly financial stocks that had apparently good fundamentals, and holding them through the massive decilnes would also not have been too smart. To be fair, this book does allude to the importance of timing in its talk of Raskob in Chapter 1 -- but then more-or-less dismisses it.

I'm interested in the value investing vs. market timing trade-off, and so I explored it myself using real data in Stock Fundamentals On Trial: Do Dividend Yield, P/E and PEG Really Work?. I took a much shorter (recent) timeline than Siegel, so a direct comparison is not valid. But I justify this because most investors, despite their best intentions, will not hold stocks that fall in price unless the fall is very temporary. So they're market timers after all: it's just that they time their exits (badly) and don't time their entries at all.

I agree with Siegel's charts that show how well stocks have performed over the decades. In fact, I included a chart (figure 38) in Financial Trading Patterns showing how a buy-and-hold approach would have beaten market timing over a 23-year span to October 2007. But my point is this:

If I had the data, I could perhaps draw a chart showing the continual rise of horse-and-cart production over hundereds of years. But it all came to a swift end when Henry Ford appeared on the scene. Holding Stocks for the Lun Run can work, and it has worked. But we can't guarantee that it always will; and it will take you a long time to find out either way. Or, you'll give up (when you have to) at exactly the wrong time.

Tony Loton, author --
Stock Fundamentals On Trial: Do Dividend Yield, P/E and PEG Really Work?
Financial Trading Patterns

Siegel's masterpiece is a must buy for anyone who wants to stop wasting money on mutual fund fees and start accumulating wealth. I give this book and Professor Siegel an A+.

Andrew Nissenbaum

Dr. Siegel, one of the top academics in finance, has provided a comprehensive, up-to-date overview of investing in stocks. His book is based on data going back 200 years and is fact based, rather than just opinions or theories. I have been involved in investing for over 30 years and found much new, useful information. This book is a great read for anyone interested in stock investing, whether a rookie or a veteran.

In the previous editions of Stocks for the Long Run, Wharton Finance professor Jeremy Siegel offered a thoroughly bullish take on the merits of equity investing that has proved highly influential and largely correct through the end of the post-Millennial Bull Market in mid-2007. In the latest edition of this classic, released in a much more difficult period of substantial market declines, Siegel has added important and more nuanced insights derived from his previous and somewhat overlooked book "The Future for Investors," which came out in 2006. Siegel's basic advice to stock investors is to focus less on growth stocks and index mutual funds (eg., Vanguard 500) and more on looking for tried and true stocks that pay high dividends. He argues that such reinvested dividends are the true source of stock returns, or the "El Dorado." (His term). Overall, this argument is well-presented and persuasive.

However, I am perplexed on a key element. His case is largely based on historical evidence that purports to show that high dividend yield stocks, with dividends reinvested, have accumulated more total return than growth stocks or index mutual funds. However, his calculations do not account for the deleterious effect of taxes on reinvested dividend. (He says in an endnote that taxes are not significant for the portfolios he chose, but does not explain why; for most common stock portfolios, taxes are significant.) Dividends are taxed yearly and until recently at a higher rate than that of capital gains and that of retained earnings, which are not taxed at all. If taxes have been paid on dividends, only the untaxed part can truly be considered "reinvested"; the part that is taxed has to be made up by a new infusions of cash from the investor. The effect of ignoring this is that his historical comparisons are not terribly meaningful because he is not calculating the returns on true (after tax) contributions to dividend stocks vs. growth stocks. Naturally, if more is contributed to the dividend stocks, there is likely to be more at the end. (BTW, this is basically the same fallacy that sunk the allegedly huge returns of the otherwise delightful "Beardstown Ladies" of yore.) Given that the magnitude of the "advantage" he posits of dividend stocks vs. growth stocks is not all that great, one cannot have confidence that he has truly made his case.

That said, his advice is very useful for investors in tax sheltered 401Ks. Also, the new lower tax rate on dividends also helps lessen, though not eliminate, the effects of yearly taxation of dividends.

In addition to emphasizing the importance of the contribution of stock dividends to equity portfolio performance, this book also grapples with a perplexing challenge to Siegel's original stocks for the long run mantra, the much vexed question of what will happen if and when the populous Baby Boom generation attempts to cash in its stock and bond retirement portfolios by selling them to the smaller demographic of Gen X and Gen Y. An entire school of catastrophe futurologists, most notably Harry Dent, but also more mainstream voices like Peter G. Peterson (The Grey Wave) have warned that this so-called Age Wave is about to wreak havoc with stock market investments. In this book, Siegel does not dismiss this issue, but deals with it in a logical and generally less alarmist point of view. At the risk of oversimplifying a complex analysis, Siegel's bottom line is that while it is true that there are not enough younger generation Americans to absorb the Boomers stock and bond assets at current prices, investors in emerging countries, like China and India, will more than make up for that and will end up buying the Baby Boomer's paper assets as the Boomers sell them off to fund their retirements. The upshot is that foreigners will end up owning a lot of our companies by the year 2050. A potential snag, says Siegel, is whether America will be willing to let this happen, or will pass laws or adopt polices to discourage the transfer of US assets to foreign countries. This remains to be seen, but he is optimistic. On the other hand, the implications for the typical Baby Boomer's most important asset, his or her house, is rather dire, because homes can't be sold as readily to foreigners, for obvious reasons. Siegel doesn't provide an answer for the housing market, which is outside the scope of a book on stock investing in any event. Overall, this remains one of the best written and most sensible investment books available today, now offering a more nuanced and even more helpful sets of advice than the previous editions. With new information and analysis, this is well worth owning, even if you have a previous edition.

Recently published (end of 2007) very helpful to give an overall view of the world stock markets, with enphasis on the american market of course. In my opinion it gives a helicopter view of the economy and the stock market movements and in doing so it provides you with a map of the "territory" you are moving in (as it were). Great statistic amount of information.

I love this book. I read it a while a go, and I have been trying to find more in the series for a long long time, but it isn't in any library I can find. This is a great book, a greater series, and I would highly recomend it to anyone who wants to snuggle up to a great book and relax.

Enter Simon Hawke's world, where magic works and a reluctant magician named Wyrdrune is thrust into the dark world of necromancy. Simon Hawke paints a clear picture of the characters and the situation, reminiscient in some ways of Piers Anthony's fantasy works, but with a darker edge.

Hawke starts the series with the Wizard of 4th Street and continues it in several other books. Each worth reading. If you enjoy fantasy, you'll like this series. It's Ursla K. LeGuinn's Wizard of Earth Sea - meets Pier's Anthony's Xanth Series.

I am not much of a book reviewer. I just know what I like and I really liked this book and all the books that follow in the series (I think there were 7) and even the spin-off novel from The Wizard of Santa Fe called Cats Eye Gomez.

If you enjoy a creative twist in your reading then you will find Simon Hawke's books are a joy to read.

I just wish I could find his books somewhere so I could share them with my friends and nephew.

Simon Hawke brings about a unique look at the tales of Merlin as his long slumber had ended. He awakens to see a world gone mad. The world goverments are in chaos as all types of power are gone. They call it the Collapse. Merlin realizes that he and he alone can bring the world from ruin and he does so. Now it is the 22nd century almost fifty years since he cam back to the world. Fifty years of magic users and that with which to bring humanity back from despair. The world has seen a new age and with it things that the old world never saw until that fateful day. An acution house has many things to offer from a dig in the euprahties among them three gems engraved with symbols of untold of power. A young warlock currently thrown out of magic college for a spell that went wild tries to steal them right in front of the people willing to bid on them. this young man thinks they might be his ticket to get back in and study once again at the feet of Merlin himself. This young man is named William Kerpinsjy his magical name is. At the same time a young thief going by the name of Kira also has idea of stealing the gems. Unknown to them both the worlds greatest assasin Moprheus wants these gems as well. Unlike those going to steal them he intends to buy them. All seems to be going to each others plan until the true maddness happens. I won't give to much of this wonderful novel. I read these in high school and loved them. If you can find a copy of this book read it.

Can you imagine Merlin, Modred and Morgan in Boston or New York in the year 2200? The usual power sources have been depleted and now the world runs on magic as some run on java. Experience the adventure of Wyrdrune, Kira and a couple of other characters in a world once again full of magic and see the first experience with the dark ones after eons. Definitely a book worth reading.

Sheila's book is a must buy book for anybody interested in transsexualism.

This expanded and updated version of HORMONES, the most highly-read and recommended book on contragendered hormonal therapy for the the Male to Female transgendered individual was written to aid those of you seeking to feminize. Vital, accurate and up-to-date information on safe and effective hormonal regimens, realistic expections and possible complications are fully explained. Natural hormones, measurements & self-exam guidelines and answers to the questions I am most commonly asked are also featured. A bit about me: I am a board-certified ob-gyn specializing in transgender medicine. In addition, I lecture extensively at universities, medical conferences and symposiums both nationally and internationally and am currently conducting several Trans research projects. This September, I became the first transgendered physician ever elected to the Harry Benjamin International Gender Dysphoria Association. If you wish to contact me with a question, concern or if you need a referral to a skilled health

Can you advise me when the new revision becomes available? I looking for data concerning Estrogen Hormonal Therapy For The Male.

If you are transsexual and want to understand all the technical points of hormone therapy this is for you. Perhaps your loved one is about to begin this program. You might even be an MD who wants to learn more about the suject. Whatever your background I believe you will find Dr. Kirk's style is very down to earth and easy to follow, even for those with no medical background. She explains the importance of taking hormones under proper medical supervison and provides valid justification for this stance. She also provides several guidlines for determining your bodies progress while on HRT (Hormone Replacement Therapy). There is even a chart showing how the various hormones are metabolized by your body for those who are interested in this type of thing. Dr. Kirk is also careful to explain what you can and cannot expect hormones to do for you. This is very important and so many men and women really have no real clue what will happen as a result of this program. As a Male-to-Female transsexual who is taking hormones under a Dr's supervision I found the book to be invaluable. If Dr. Kirk's book on masculinizing the female-to-male is anything like this one FtM's would do well to obtain a copy for their reference. Caitlin Martin

One of the quirkiest science fiction novels ever written, Fourth Mansions reveals Lafferty's story-telling prowess in novel-length form. This is the timeless tale of reporter Freddy Foley, in a way a strange sort of Everyman, on the trail of things that ought not to be known. And they will not be known if a shadowy group called the Returnees have their way. Foley's misadventures lead him to a tangled web of bored suburbanites who concoct a mindweave to snare unsupecting souls. When the weave takes on a life of its own, demanding ever bloodier sacrifice, Foley is drawn toward a meeting with destiny that will take him into the secret world of the Returnees. Along with Past Master, Arrive at Easterwine, and Annals of Klepsis, I rate this book among Lafferty's best, and reread it often to remind myself that no matter how odd the world gets, it doesn't get odder than Lafferty.

An incidental remark about allegories reminded me of this little volume by R.A. Lafferty. In many ways, I think it is his finest, although all of his efforts are remarkable. Whatever your preference, 'Fourth Mansions' remains the most unusual of its genre, an allegory that refuses to take itself seriously.

When Freddy Foley, newspaperman and innocent, discovers that certain people seem to reappear at irregular intervals he insists on investigating and soon finds himself hip deep in a metaphysical odyssey. He discovers that there is not one, but four separate subcultures that share the world with humanity. The best of these are the badgers that guard the entrances of the human domain. The worst are the toads, the ones who sleep and are reborn. These are dedicated to keeping the world from evolving to the next level. Every time things get better they make sure they really get worse.

Then there are the snakes whose wild mental energy runs out of control. For them the rest of us are toys to play with, energy to use up. Finally, there are the unfledged falcons. Well intentioned, they are the premature warriors, champions of violent solutions. Best to worst they spell little good for Freddy, whose truth seeking will lead him to the tops of mountains and the cells of asylums. 'Goof gloriously,' the snakes order poor Freddy, and so he does.

Lafferty performs an unexpected deconstruction of the mythology of man's progress, and creates an entirely unique narrative for inner progress. Foley is Everyman (Foley = The Fool) on a journey towards a higher plane of being, impeded by creatures that symbolize his own weaknesses. The tale is told tongue-in-cheek, a burlesque parody of one pilgrim's progress. Filled with more mad characters than all of 'Canterbury Tales,' the reader is often left unsure whether to laugh or take notes.

Of course, this is the great flaw of allegory; it never loses the taint of lecture. Plot serves message unforgivingly. 'Fourth Mansions' is only partly fiction as we progress from lesson to lesson. The good news is that Lafferty refuses to fall into the trap of being tedious, and, instead, allows the allegory to parody itself. Still, this is unusual entertainment, and not meant for everyone. Full of mind games and obscure symbolism made garish, it is a child of the late 60's, although I think it's intent is more valid now then it was then. Nowadays I sometimes wonder if the toads have managed to win after all.

R. A. Lafferty writes like Schrodinger theorizes. FOURTH MANSIONS is perhaps the greatest novel-length work by Lafferty. Lafferty gives the impression of a sort of bumbling, provincial rube, but underneath the strategic humility is a steel-trap mind and a terrifying erudition. Lafferty seems to know everything there is to know, and he'll mention it all offhandedly. He also casually and constantly throws off words that have me scrambling for the dictionary-- but they aren't pretentious, five dollar words, they're usually gorgeous, old, almost forgotten slang terms. Lafferty was an electrical engineer who started writing at a rather advanced age. I am convinced that in his technical work he must have been involved in some pretty otherworldly stuff-- maybe he took a couple rides with Otis T. Carr or something. Unbelievably brilliant, but if you don't know what you're looking at, or if you don't have a capacious American-style sense of humor, you might not get it.

Before reading any classical texts from Watts & Zimmerman and Beaver, I think any junior accounting doctoral sdudents should read this book!
Excellent introductory book for anyone who wants to do capital market research in the future!

Strongly recommend!

Professor Scott explains financial accounting theory drawn from recent research. He provides a clear, easy-to-use framewaork for students to 1) place this theory in a financial accounting context,2) explain and analyze the theory intuitvely and 3) reveal the theory's relevance in understanding the practice of accounting. Similar good textbooks in this field includes Positive Accouning Theory by Watts & Zimmerman, Financial Reporting: A Accounting Revolution by Beaver and An Introduction to Aplied Professional Research for Accountants by Ziebart.

This is an excellent book. The author has done a great job in pulling together the elements which spell success in the quest for employment. I recommend it.

Wayne D. Ford, Ph.D., author of "The Accelerated Job Search" docwifford@msn.com

Set in 1862 Leavenworth, Kanses this is the first in a series by Mary McBride, the second being "Forever and a Day."
This is about a couple, Kate Neely and Race Logan who have one heck of a time getting together. Their heart-warming journey from Kansas to New Mexico Territory to finally find each other holds the interest of any true western romance fan. I especially liked the added character of Isaac Goodman whose faithfulness to both characters was beautiful. A really good reading experience from a truly great writer.

Fifteen stories from the period 1956-8. There are some very strange items included int his one! If you don't collect the magazines, these Readers are a must-own.

CONTENTS:


I Am A Nucleus Stephen Barr
Name Your Symptom Jim Harmon
Horrer Howce Margaret St. Clair
Man of Distinction Michael Shaara
The Bomb in the Bathtub Thomas N. Scortia
Your Were Right, Joe J. T. McIntosh
What's He Doing in There? Fritz Leiber
The Gentlest Unpeople Frederik Pohl
The Hated Frederik Pohl (as Paul Flehr)
Kill Me With Kindness Richard Wilson
Or All the Seas With Oysters Avram Davidson
The Gun Without a Bang Robert Sheckley (as Finn O'Donnevan)
Man in a Quandary L. J. Stecher Jr.
Blank Form Arthur Sellings
The Minimum Man Robert Sheckley

Elite 26th-century commandos, the ARC Riders patrol time to protect all human history...

The USSR crumbles, Russian hardliners jump from 1991 to AD 9, when their modern weapons can warp the course of the Roman Empire and create a world ruled by the Kremlin-using time technology that doesn't exist in the 20th century...or the 26th.

To solve the mystery, the Riders must split into teams separated by millennia. And while three Riders are trapped between the Roman legions and a blood-maddened barbarian horde, their comrades are at war on the Moscow streets. And fighting an inconceivable enemy.