Investment-strategy

Comments from Neeka: Investing the Dream is an excellent book, it answered so many questions for me. I'm only in my early twenties, but you have inspired me to get my financial house in order. I've read so many books on investing, but this one truly gives you a clear understanding on how to get started . Thanks so much!

Date : 1/6/2000

Comments from Chrsty E. Cummings: I will be purchasing your book from Sisterspace bookstore. I'm getting the book for my mother who will be getting a small settlement from an accident and asked me how she should invest it. She is 72 yrs. old and I don't know if mutual funds would be the the best investment vehicle for her. After she reads the book I will have her get in touch with for advice on who she can talk to in NY. Thanks for taking the time to reach out.

Date : 1/21/2000

Thank you for writing the book Investing In The Dream.. My girlfriend insisted I read it and i am glad she did. Although I had some knowledge of investing your book made it so much clearer. I feel better able to prepare myself for retirement. THANK YOU!!!!! Denise M. Bagby

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.

This book review consists of two parts. The first focuses on who could
benefit from studying and using the book. The second part reports on and
elaborates some relevant or interesting aspects of the book.

This book can be highly useful to financial advisers, and to entrepreneurs
who plan to start a new business or who are already running a business of
their own. The book can be used effectively in courses on entrepreneurship
taught in Schools of Business (Management), or sometimes in Law Schools.
Some of the book's chapters as 3, 4, 10, and 18 can be assigned in
introductory courses on management. If the instructor does not require
students to buy the book, then the college or university library should
acquire a few copies of the book so that the relevant chapters could be on
a reading list for introductory management courses.

The book has very good explanations of many topics related to
entrepreneurship.  We describe below, a few of such well treated topics.

Many of my MBA students would like to eventually, or right after
graduation, found their own business. They ask many questions about what
legal form should their entrepreneurial venture take. Lane's book provides
an exhaustive explanation of the benefits and costs of several legal
organizational forms:  proprietorship, partnership, corporation, S
corporation, and incorporation in Delaware or in another state. The book
also reports on a more recent legal form entitled: Limited Liability
Company (LLC).

Lane's book provides a well-written explanation of how to evaluate a new or
existing entrepreneurial venture. He describes the ins and outs of
breakeven analysis, simple forecasting financial models, and relevant
aspects of financial statements which the entrepreneur must be able to
understand for his/her own sake as well as for presentation to his/her
audience of potential investors. The book is a good source for providing
knowledge of other topics which the entrepreneur must understand to be able
to run his/her business efficiently. These include the ebbs and flows of
the processes of cash and receivables. Additionally, it provides a
discussion of other business processes. If the entrepreneur's business is
one of producing or reselling physical manufactured goods, then for such a
situation the book provides a good discussion of the inventory process.
Also provided in a comprehensive discussion are the ups and downs of the
liabilities process which has to be monitored closely by the entrepreneur.
The book performs well in providing the necessary understanding of business
processes. It presents its concepts and ideas in a lucid and clear fashion.

Among other analyses, the book offers in-depth analysis of risk management
for the entrepreneur. It discusses and explains the very important
insurance principle. It delves into the types of insurance that are
relevant for any business enterprise: property insurance, liability
insurance, self-insurance,
and specific insurance for directors and officers of the business entity.

Another important topic received a thorough going treatment: valuing the
business. This topic is especially of interest to entrepreneurs who own
their businesses and whose ventures achieved a measure of success. When
success and growth become permanent features of the business the notion of
selling the business to other entrepreneurs or to a large company may
become an option.  Some older owners would like to sell to attain a
comfortable retirement without the pressures of running a business. Young
owners may wish to sell, cash in, and move on to other experiences. Thus a
guide to valuation and selling is a useful part of the book.

This review focused on a few of the many interesting topics covered in
Lane's book. However, it should be borne in mind that the book covers many
more topics of interest. The book unravels its presentation over 310 pages
and 18 chapters.  It contains a wealth of information relevant to the
founding, running, financing and selling of business enterprises. It is and
will be useful for financial advisors and entrepreneurs...

Whether you are starting a business, buying or selling a business, or are just curious about the most important financial issues in doing so, this book is a comprehensive "must-have" guide. I found Chapter 12 (Buy-Sell Designs) to be particularly well written and informative, and believe that this single chapter is well worth the entire purchase price of the book.

I bought a few business planning books over the last months because I am starting my own hair salon. They all had these big lists of things to do, but never really explained why. I asked my brother-in-law, the accountant, for some help, but he gave me the same sort of stuff, which I still didn't get. This book I can take at my own speed while I am on the train. When I did meet with an attorney last week, I had a list of everything that I thought was important that I got from the book. He was impressed and my dream is closer than ever to coming true. Thanks, Marc!

When I started reading this book I was disappointed. The background chapters that attempt to teach Technical Analysis for example are covered somewhat better in other books (see John Murphy).

But the treasure of this awesome book is in the examples and stories in the later chapters. I wish I had read this book a couple of years ago. From a number of books that I have read, it talks quite a bit about short selling and risk. In my opinion .. it is a five star book ..

I have been an investment professional for over 20 years. I have read dozens of books--most long before the flood of "you to can be a super trader" trash of the 1990s. This is the best one. Mamis is an original and independent thinker. The book deals with psychology, tactics, technical indicators. His "How to Buy" is not nearly as good.

If you invest, wish you had a mentor on the trading floor, but don't know anyone who works on the exchange, you should read this book. Mamis discusses not only market indicators so you can better time buys and sells, but explains what happens on the trading floor and how the professionals -- the "they" many investors refer to grudgingly -- benefit from herd psychology. After reading this you will better understand why the "average investor" is more likely to lose than win, and why many people, in fact, subconsciously prefer to lose. Mamis has an easy style which reflects his many years of investing experience -- it is not a dry, academic discusson of the market.

Along with "Reminiscences of a Stock Operator" and a couple of others, this is one of the best and most informative books I've read about the market.

This book delivers, I did not know about options prior reading, the simple and yet comprehensive presentation allows to develop a good grasp of how to use options on a conservative and solid fashion.
What he advocates (protection and enhancement) of a portfolio is well presented and plan to use his advice.
More likely will now seek more information and knowledge with more elaborated books (not sure is really needed) but the basics are here.
thank you Wolfinger

I found this book to be just what I was looking for. After a complete introduction to the topic, Mr. Wolfinger helps the novice options investor clearly understand one conservative strategy. The author is very dedicated and thorough in explaining the concepts. He makes no assumptions that the reader has previous knowledge of what he teaches, yet he is never condescending. I also appreciate the easy to read font size. The text is large enough that I can read it without my glasses! Many thanks to the author for having the patience and know-how to start a beginner from "square one". I look forward to other books on the subject by this author.

Enjoyed this book! It delivers as promised. I picked it up hoping to get a clear understanding of options and how they work. I was more than pleased, as this book provided all I was looking for, and more. The author presents material in pleasant, easy to grasp language. I now have a very clear understanding of options. The covered call writing strategy sounds good to me. I never knew it was so easy to obtain some safety for my stocks. I have already opened my options account and my broker is offering encouragement.

Reviewer: The author, Charles M. Cottle *** charles@RiskDoctor.com
Although this original text was written for professional market makers, it proved to be a valuable resource for sophisticated retail investors and hedgers. I therefore created a new book, "Coulda Woulda Shoulda" (available for free download at www.riskdoctor.com) which borrowed about 80% of the original text and added more tools for non-professionals including an email dialogue with a relative novice, spanning 2 months. Most of the strict market making tools have been removed but will be resurrected in book 3; "Taming Your Portfolio" due out later this year.

There are basically two types of options books: mathematical
books on valuation that tend to be filled with solutions
for ever more exotic contracts, and books for traders that
go over the practical workings of positions in various
concrete scenarios. Cottle is definitely of the second type.
There's not really much math in it, unless you're intimidated
by three-dimensional graphs. What it does have is an incredible
wealth of insight, from experience, into the tricks and the

exceptions--the rent-a-call, the dividend plays, contract
risk and post-expo deltas, complicated synthetics, the
interrelations between greeks.

That said, what moved me to write a review was to take
exception with a previous reviewer's comment: "No lazy
editing or prose here". The prose is okay, but the editing
is worse than lazy--it's horrendous. Flipping my copy open
at random I come to p.151-152 on Break-Even analysis. Try
finding column 7 in exhibit 4-23, or the supposed arrow in
column 4. It's all a mess. That's an extreme case, but
throughout the text, it's hard enough trying to pick up
the bond options lingo (futures in 32nds but futures-options
in 64ths--all "ticks"; and the different multipliers for
indexes and futures), without having to deal with missing
words, inaccurate references, etc, etc. But ultimately, working
to figure it all out gets you to understand it all the better.

With five years of floor trading as an equity options market
maker, and having read and reread and rereread... Natenberg,
Baird, Hull, Connolly, Cox Ross Rubinstein, Chriss, Taleb--and
others--I'd say Cottle is clearly the best book. That said,
however, I don't know how much use a non-professional--someone
who doesn't manage a large, actively traded book of options--
will get out of it. It should be intellectually rewarding if you
can figure it out. Maybe inspire you to go look for a minimum
wage clerking job in Chicago, NY, Philly, or SF to get abused
for a year or so and then maybe get a badge.

I read Options: Perception and Deception at least 3-4 times before many of the advanced concepts began to sink in. This is not a book for an options novice; in fact, I would suggest that most people read Natenberg's book on options prior to engaging in this incredible text. While many of the advanced 3-D graphs were beyond my grasp, I particularly liked Cottle's description of "real world" options positions, how he executed them and how he managed them throughout their duration. Of particular interest to many readers should be the concept of "gamma scalping", and the section on wingspreads and adjusting positions. This text is so far beyond "mainstream" options books, that words do not describe how important this book will become.

I always wondered how to interpret economic data but thought it was either boring or to complicated. This book "Inside Greenspan's Briefcase" makes it easy to understand and enjoyable to read. The author entertains and informs with some wonderful and funny stories. The book has the same great tone as the authors articles which I have been reading for years ....... I am even considering opening an account with his money management firm.

Rob Stein's book is a work of genius. He gives brilliant strategies in an easy-to-understand way. The foreword, written by Laura Cohn is simply the best foreword I have ever read. I follow her work in Businessweek magazine and am a huge fan of hers. I'm just waiting for her book...

Rob Stein's Inside Greenspan's Briefcase is a real treasure. Rarely can you find an investment/ecomonics book that is able to bridge the gap between complex economic analysis and real life practical experience. Mr. Stien's logical enconomic approach is not only educational but necessary in assisting you to negiotate your every day investment management obstacle.

IRA Wealth provides a series of alternatives to the traditional IRA Stock Market investment opportunities. The book is organized to first dispel the myth that investing in real estate with your IRA is illegal and second to explain how to structure your IRA investments with a "self-directed" IRA. The following chapters identify IRA real estate investments based on the level of risk associated with that particular type of real estate investment. The final chapters discuss some of the nuances of liquidating your real estate investments upon the time of your mandatory IRA distributions. Finally, IRA Wealth provides several appendices to help you start your own due diligence with regard to IRA investing in real estate.
Overall, I enjoyed reading IRA Wealth and found that it opened my mind to new ideas on IRA investments. Most of us have probably felt the sting of lackluster stock market returns during the past few years. So the prospect of low to moderate risk real estate investments is clearly of interest. I found the organization of the book to be well thought-out and comprehensive. If you have already read several books on real estate investing, you will realize that several investment methods continue to pop-up. IRA Wealth takes those methods and ties them to your IRA.
Regardless of your level of experience with regard to real estate investing, I believe you will find IRA Wealth a worthwhile read and well worth your time.

IRA Wealth: Revolutionary Strategies For Real Estate Investment is the collaborative effort of Patrick W. Rice (investment columnist and the owner of IRA Resource Associates -- offering expertise in investment real estate for self-directed retirement accounts) and Jennifer Dirks (personal finance and real estate issues staff, and winner of the U.S. Small Business Administration's 2002 "Journalist of the Year award for the Pacific Northwest), diverges sharply from the common understanding that IRA holdings can only be invested in stocks and certificates of deposit. In response to the decline of the stock market, IRA Wealth presents real estate as a profitable and worthy investment venture, and one that is perfectly legal to hold in any personal IRA account. Examining both low-risk and high-return real estate ventures, IRA Wealth is a superbly presented, "reader friendly", informational presentation for anyone seeking to diversify their IRA account holdings into property as a hedge against the volatility of the stock and bond markets.

I have just begun to read your book and it is perfect timing as my husband and I have a sum saved in our IRA. We plan to read the book together and investigate the investment strategies suggested. Thank you. The book is an easy and inspirational read on a complex subject.

With so many investing books out there, what a pleasure it is to read one that has practical information that actually works.

The "Profit-Line" Strategy will have you in the right investments at the right time and out before the roof caves in.
Dicks also goes into detail discussing sector funds and international funds. When to be in a money market fund and when to be in a bond fund. He also discusses "Investing for the times of your life" offering tailor made advice for people in their 20's, 40's and during retirement.

Overall, a very practical and workable book on how to successfully invest in funds. Also interesting is that Dicks was one of the first to warn about back-end loads and hidden fees and costs that most mutal fund companies used to keep hidden in the small print.

Although the book was written back in 1997, the principles are still very sound. I would like to see Dicks write and updated version with perhaps his feelings on ETFs which are low cost but charge commissions.

For business owners, I highly recommend Dicks "How to Incorporate series" and "Form Your Coporation and Launch a Business in Any State."

This excellent book by J.W.Dicks will take you from thinking about investing to actually investing and more importantly, investing profitably.Mutual funds are still the safest, most powerful way to invest in securities despite what is going on right now in the industry. The key is education and taking personal responsibility in lieu of turning your money over to a broker and saying "Here you invest it and watch it for me."J.W. Dicks will show you how to take control over your investments, start with little money but get big returns.I also recommend "Moonlght Investing", another book by Dicks as well as two other books by Dicks that were recommended to me and I jsut read are "Form a Corporation and Launch a Business in Any State" and"The Small Business Kit.Dicks is an attorney as well as a successful entrepneneur. Beware of other books written by people who are essentially brokers and write strategies to match the products they sell. There are also some book written by "How to Incorporate" by people who have yet to launch their own business, save selling used books and writing self published books.

This book by J.W. Dicks is possibly the best mutual fund book available today. I have been using his profit line strategy for the past 3 years and have made money while others have lost money. Dicks is one of the very few that recommends moving averages and relative strength factors with mutual funds.The chapter on how to reduce taxes was also very helpful.I also recommend Moonlight Investing also by J.W. DICKS.

The book was very straight forward and very interesting,. I have found alot of the information was true.

I just finished ready this book for the second time. I had ordered it prior to release on the basis of Harry Schultz's reputation, alone. This book is worth ten times it's cost. If you are committed to wealth creation, if you are willing to do the work and are open to other's opinions, then read this book. Harry does not preach the merits of technical analysis; he presents the history of market action, correlates it to technical indicators and lets the reader accept or disregard the evidence. He also challenges the "Ameri-central" view of geopolitical and geoeconomic events and activity, and further challenges the reader to seek the most accurate information on which to base decisions. Lastly, he's a fluid and entertaining writer. The book is filled with relevant quotations from Dow, Churchill and Emerson.

If you had acted on the advice in this book 3 years ago you would be rich, but don't let that stop you from reading it now. By most historical models the stock market remains wildly overvalued and the information in this book retains its validity today. This book is a joy to read and offers balance to the talking heads at CNBC and the other mainstream media outlets that could never call a top to the market, but issue new prognostications about a bottom every week. The information on short selling alone is worth the price of the book.