Market-share

This may be a promising start to a new series, but I found this book quite simplistic (written at about Grade 4 level,) and the coincidences were a bit too much! Kinkaid appears to be a lame duck since he seems to yearn romantically about both women his age that he meets during the course of solving the murder. Also, I knew that it was an American author writing an English procedural (a la Elizabeth George and Martha Grimes who do it so skilfully), but I found that the story did not sound English and the characters did not sound and act like the English do. It didn't ring true. I will attempt to read another book in the series to see if it gets better. I was looking forward to beginning this series after I had read some of the reviews, so I am disappointed.

Deborah Crombie's first book A Share in Death in her series about Scotland Yard detective Duncan Kincaid and his Sergeant Gemma James shows great promise for the series. Duncan is taking advantage of a vacation at a timeshare in Yorkshire which his cousin has offered him. He looks forward to the week away from his professional responsibilities. Unfortunately, it soon becomes apparent that it will not be as relaxing as planned when Duncan discovers a body in the jacuzzi. Duncan realizes that he will have to participate in some capacity with the investigation for it to be resolve successfully.

It is a classic plot for a mystery with all of the suspects in one spot and forced to examine each others motives. People's mistakes lead them in to further danger. They begin to suspect each other and emotions heighten . To aid in the investigation, Duncan sends his capable sergeant Gemma on a fact-finding tour about the resident guests of the time share.

Characters are done with interest and the reader is caught up hoping that some are not involved in the felony and that others will not perish. Crombie skillfully uncovers a bit of information at a time until it is clear who the culprit is and there is the right amount of tension in hoping for apprehension.

At the conclusion of the book the reader is ready to read the next of the series.

This is the first Deborah Crombie mystery that I have read. It won't be the last! Duncan Kincaid is a very likeable Scotland Yard Superintendant. I get the feeling that he likes women for their own sake, and not simply because of physical attraction. The mystery itself is well plotted and provides an opportunity for the reader to deduce the murderer. I did not, but the clues were all there as the story unfolded about Kincaid's holiday at a time-share property in Yorkshire. This book has the authentic quality of an English mystery, but the author is an American. I recommend it as an excellent read.

Those people who is planning to start a chip card migration project in their bank, who is wondering about the added values of chip except preventing fraud, it is an excellent guide for you. Read it and find out what is loyalty, how RFM systems can be used on your credit cards.

.... She turns stock market jargon into material we can use toimprove our lives. The book is informative and well-written, as wellas easy to understand and to follow. And believe it or not, Julie is a very, very funny person. This is the first book on finances that did not alienate me or make me feel as if I had to get my MBA before I could understand and use her system. I can't wait till her seminars are available on video and audio. Sign me up in advance!

I couldn't believe how Wall Street has made understanding investing so complicated, when it's not.

Julie has taken a so called difficult subject and made it really simple to follow. In fact, as simple as 1-2-3 and A-B-C.

Now I can talk the Wall Street lingo with the Big Boys, while laughing all the way to the bank.

Thanks, Julie.

Businessmen and politicians learned long ago that getting the money and publicity go hand-in-hand. Not just any publicity, but solid personal publicity. If we want people to value our abilities, we must first show that we value ourselves - by making sure our accomplishments are visible to targeted audiences. If we want people to invest in our companies, to buy from us, or to hire and promote us into the corner office, they have to know who we are, what we have accomplished and why they should do business with us! Self-promotion is a valuable business tool that businesswomen MUST add to their strategies for success. Following a careful step-by-step process will help even the most timid become comfortable with the concept of self-promotion. (from Marion E. Gold, award-winning author of "The Personal Publicity Planner: A Guide to Marketing YOU")

The concept is a good one. Too many times we hear that a sale must be won or the competition will get it (regardless of profit). Unfortunately, those executives who need Mr. Miniter's message the most will probably never hear or understand it.

Unfortunately for the book, the author's writing style is mostly surface gloss and generalized facts and figures that "supports" his points. He cites numerous company examples, but I walked away with the feeling that each one was much more complex than he leads the reader to beleive and there were many more variables to the success or failure being presented as "evidence". I have little doubt that he has a good point, but I don't think he backs it up very well.

Case in point: On Page 94, he talks about the Smart car and questions why Daimler would venture into the small car market with such an introduction. Actually, they did not create the car, a small independant maker did and they acquired it. The story of this independant car maker and Daimler's insistance in buying them out would have made more interesting reading and could have added to the depth of the book.

Concept 4 stars, writing 2 stars

Heard the taped version of THE MYTH OF MARKET SHARE by
Richard Miniter, which presents an interesting concept that says that
being the biggest player in a market doesn't mean that you will make the
most profits . . . in fact, the opposite is often true; i.e., the
bottom line is that size does NOT automatically lead to profits.

According to Miniter, there are three types of companies in every line of
business: the profit leaders, which make the most money; the market
leaders, which have the largest share of the market; and everyone else.
And the goal, at least as it seems to me, should be to become the
profit leader. Such a company doesn't go in for the dangerous
discounts that sap the strength of its brands in pursuing market share.
It avoids foolish mergers for the sake of size. And it focuses on the
customer, rather than on the competition.

The above might seem easier said than done, but real-life examples
(Mobil, Roche Diagnostics, Dell, etc.) so how this can be accomplished.
As a result, I liked the book and would recommend it, if just for the
conclusion which drives home this key marketing point:

In contrast, companies that are profit leaders can usually survive and
gain a larger share of the market--as long as they continue to focus
on giving the customers precisely what they want, at a profit.

I've read every book on the topic and this is by far the most elementary. You don't need a degree in marketing to see the author has no experience or insight on this delicate market.

I had great hopes for the new insights I'd get from this book, but it was like the author hadn't been to Marketing 101 and thought she'd figured out the virtues of direct marketing all by herself. Some interesting case histories and anecdotes, but was it worth the cover price?

I liked this book and thought it made perfect sense to those of us who work on the Internet. If you are not sure what or who to market to this might be of help. Two others that are sure to make this one a better reference would be I Love My Life by Kristie Tamsevicius and Mommy-CEO, revised edition, by Jodie Lynn. I Love My Life will offer plenty of things that Maria often overlooks and Mommy-CEO covers parenting and family skills that both books leave out but are essential in working from home. All in all the three books make a great combination and are all excellent for the whole picture of motherhood, marketing and success for mom owned businesses.

The author demonstrates his capability to explain basic concepts of economics and marketing, but certainly doesn't define a revolutionary new approach to business as alluded to on the inside front cover flap. We are introduced to new buzz words such as 'spatial abitage' although any reader looking for insight is bound has to be disappointed in the explanations and lack of substance. In addition, most charts and tables in the book must be filler because they appear childish. The only redeeming chapters are at the end when the author disusses various market strategies, but for a better and more complete discussion, dust off an old copy of 'Marketing Warfare."

Author and teacher Daniel Spulber offers insights that are becoming increasingly relevant as technological innovations make transactions between customers and businesses faster, cheaper and more important. The strategic framework he presents - that you should view companies as transaction facilitators, not as product makers or service providers - will force you to rethink your most fundamental beliefs about your business. We [...] recommend this book to managers, strategists and students of all branches of business who are looking for a fresh analysis of 21st-century competition.

The book has a lot of detailed historical information about the financial systems. Unfortunatly the author pay too much attention to history and not enough on practical fundementals. There are several errors and steps deleted in the book. Plus not enough examples are provided in comparrison to the problems assigned. Even my professor stated that the 7th edition had plenty of problems that won't be resolved until the 12-13th edition.

The book's indicators are not for the mathmatically challenged, written for Tradestation. That is the majority of the book - BUT, the systems used to win the trading championship were very simple and basic. Not these complex formulas. Looking at the equity curve and his spotlighted trades, it looks like he got lucky, catching the right 2 markets and 3 - 5 trades that made the contest for him.

The sections on setting up your screens and computer are obviously very out of date. Nothing special here, you're not missing anything.

it's not great either. I thought it was better than the other "1 star" reviewers. I believe I enjoyed it better because I had no expectation for this book to really teach me anything spectacular.

His work is not too complex, it's just that he presents so many indicators, and then combines them. I thought his use of Kurtosis was interesting and some of his ideas are worth further research if it complements your current work. If you've already devoured your favorite books and are looking to increase your stock in short-term trading ideas, it would be worth a read.

I have to agree with the other reviewer who said that his success in theRobbins Championship came from just a few profitably outlying trades.

Wait to buy it used for ... less.

Jensen has described mathematical methods for measuring, and then for predicting, changes in price momentum. This book is not light reading, but the effort invested leads to a method for computer-generated signals which predict when a price series will reverse. This concept can be a powerful tool, with signals which are leading or coincident to turns. Although Jensen deals with other aspects of trading, this is in no way a book for beginners. For the serious student of the market, it is more than worth the trouble.