On-the-money

The goal of the Dolans' book is to help you take control of your financial future. Learn how to buy mutual funds and insurance, get the job you want, and pick a financial pro you can trust.

The Preface of Monetary Reform by John Maynard Keynes is dated October 1923, in a time when there were few economists. As the Preface of this book states this dire aspect of the situation:

"Nowhere do conservative notions consider themselves more in place than in currency ; yet nowhere is the need of innovation more urgent. One is often warned that a scientific treatment of currency questions is impossible because the banking world is intellectually incapable of understanding its own problems. If this is true, the order of Society, which they stand for, will decay. But I do not believe it. What we have lacked is a clear analysis of the real facts, . . ." (p. vi).

There are charts in this book to provide the facts which Keynes was concerned about. Index Numbers of Wholesale Prices Expressed as a Percentage of 1913 on page 5 covers the years 1913 to 1923 (First half-year) for nine nations, looking most outstandingly bad for Germany, which has a final number of 765,000 for half of 1923, far larger than the maximum number of any other country. Italy was at 624 in 1920 and declined to 577 in 1921, still higher than the 510 monthly average that France had in 1920.

A chart at the top of page 18 with dates from 1815 to 1922 is supposed to illustrate "what a splendid investment gilt-edged stocks had been through the century from Waterloo to Mons, even if we omit altogether the abnormal values of 1896-97. Our table shows how the epoch of Diamond Jubilee was the culminating moment in the prosperity of the British middle class." (p. 18). But for people who were concerned about the tumble taken after 1914, things were not so great. "The whole of the improvement of the nineteenth century had been obliterated," (I'm looking at an old edition, so my page numbers might be way off from whatever book you might be able to buy today).

The basic information that is most important to Society as a whole is contained in Chapter I, The Consequences To Society of Changes in the Value of Money, considering separately the interests of the Investing Class, the Business Class, and the Earner. The power of any government which can produce money merely by printing it is considered in Chapter II, Public Finance and Changes in the Value of Money, particularly with respect to Inflation as a Method of Taxation. In order to show that a government might have some choice in such matters, Keynes also considers "Currency Depreciation versus Capital Levy." If this seems like an odd topic now, Keynes is reassuring that such a move might only be considered "when the State's contractual liabilities, fixed in terms of money, have reached an excessive proportion of the national income." This might happen (sooner or later) to any country which stops producing anything except educational opportunities, medical bills, entertainment and banking, in years when a high national debt must be refinanced at high interest rates.

Chapter III gives us The Theory of Money and of the Foreign Exchanges. Recently INFECTIOUS GREED by Frank Partnoy provided an example, early in his book, of how bankers still don't have any yardstick for figuring out how much they are making when Bankers Trust was trying to figure out how much profit it could declare on trading in the foreign-exchange markets by Andy Krieger in 1987. Being able to bet the assets of a large bank on the direction that a currency would go in 1987 allowed Andy Krieger to get a job with George Soros in April, 1988, where turnabout became his main play. "Krieger reversed the position, and bet against the pound. A single trade with Chemical Bank was for more than $1.8 billion." (Portnoy, p. 33). Really and truly, I think Partnoy blames Krieger for taking stable currencies and earning large bonuses by making them worth much less than they had been worth before he had the option to sell it at a given price. Part IV. The Forward Market in Exchanges in Chapter III of Keynes's MONETARY REFORM attempts to state three practical conclusions. First, hedging a risk won't work when the situation is so bad that there is "a fear of a sudden implosion of exchange regulations or of a moratorium." Partnoy seemed to think that the private trading in derivative contracts was where the big money was made, and public positions in an exchange could be fake positions hedging a bet in the opposite direction, but that there was no law against this kind of manipulation of the market for money. Keynes was more interested in stability. "With free forward markets thus established no merchant need run an exchange risk unless he wishes to, and business might find a stable footing even in a fluctuating world."

Second, there must be money from speculators in such a market for the market to function. "The wide fluctuations . . . have been due, not to the presence of speculation, but to the absence of a sufficient volume of it relatively to the volume of trade."

Third, high interest rates don't matter as much "unless the change in relative money-rates is comparable in magnitude (as it used to be but no longer is) with the possible range of exchange fluctuations.)" Possibly things have changed so much in the last 80 years that Keynes would phrase that differently today.

Chapter IV turns to "the United States, which has enjoyed a gold standard throughout, has suffered as severely as many other countries," but not as badly as Germany and Austria back then.

This book was so informative and fun!My co-partner and I could not seem to figure out who pays for what, so I made him read the book with me!! Now we have our bank accounts in order and are saving for a house. I recommend this for my single friends too!

Financial expert, commentator, and magazine columnist Nancy Dunnan presents, The Widow's Financial Survival Guide: Handling Money Matters On Your Own, a no-nonsense practical guide written especially for women who outlive their spouses. Discussing estates, taxes, IRAs, 401(k)s, common scams and frauds, the financial aspects of remarriage, government benefits, common financial mistakes, choosing an executor, dealing with tuition bills should the widow wish pursue higher education, and more, The Widow's Financial Survival Guide is a thoroughly "user friendly" instructional financial management resource of the highest quality and recommendation.

I wish this kit had been available when I was a child! The kit is a 3-compartment bank, colorful, eye-catching and fun, with lots of stickers. The tape is helpful in getting started and the children (8 and 5) are both truly learning about Spending, Saving and Investing. They have learned to divide all money they receive - allowance, birthday and "tooth fairy" money - into those three categories. They can see how fast savings can add up and how fast spending money goes! Parents who want to teach their children the value of handling money wisely will start them on this kit early. My 5 year old is the proud owner of one share of Disney now and, while he doesn't understand it totally, he does know that he saved that portion of his money for a while and can now say he owns a little piece of Winnie the Pooh! The concept is sinking in and that is the premise of the kit, helping children understand about money.

Dave Ramsey presents some very good information and IF most people appled it they could indeed create Financial Peace. The truth is as Dave says on page 271, "..Reading this book and obtaining knowledge is good, BUT IT IS NOT ENOUGH." Over 7 trillion dollars in consumer debt has families struggling with not only money but with time. They need a system that takes less than an hour a month, which is about all of the time and energy they have to break free. Dave certainly has the heart of his reader in mind when he wrote the book.

If you're sick and tired of living from paycheck to paycheck, Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace is an excellent guide of learning how to manage your money. Dave's teachings are Christian-based and emphasize learning to budget, getting and staying out of debt, bargain shopping, and ultimately accumulating enough wealth to retire with peace of mind.

My wife and I first became aware of Dave's teachings through his syndicated radio program. Since we have been following his teachings, we have learned to live on less than we make and have managed to pay off over $12,000 of debt in only 8 months.

I highly recommend this book for anyone who is struggling to keep their finances in order. I have also given several copies of this book as graduation and wedding presents.

This is the best book I have ever seen on personal finance. It is easy to read and uses entertaining anecdotes to keep the reader interested.

So much of the world of personal finance is dominated by people and institutions selling financial products. Ramsey calls for people to be cautious about financial products in favor of simply living on less than they earn and paying down debts. When a salesperson approaches us and says "May I help you?" we prepare ourselves to talk to someone who is trying to sell us something. With financial products, especially debt, people are often too eager to be sold. I think it's rare to hear this point of view because a lot of the information we get about personal finance flows from lending institutions. Think of this book as the other side of the story.

This book gives hard-to-find advice about how to deal with financial emergencies. There's a whole other side to the unctuous, friendly-sounding credit card offers that are so common-- they lend money to people who cannot afford it. When people cannot pay, they sell the accounts to bill collectors who try to get people to put their obligations ahead of basic necessities by using lies, obscenities, threats, insults, and any other tricks they can think of. Where else do you read about this?

As other reviews have pointed out, Ramsey has an abrasive personality and right-wing political views. I totally disagree with his right-wing values, but he doesn't spend enough time on them to detract from the valuable personal finance information.

Another criticism is that Ramsey uses his "ministry" as an advertising vehicle for the very financial institutions he's criticizing. He claims that institutions that he endorses operate by his principles. I doubt, however, that he is picky about his endorsements, so follow Ramsey's advice from this book-- be skeptical about financial products, even ones he endorses on the radio.

I highly recommend this book. It can be easily understood by someone without a high school education and no experience with money. It has advice aimed at helping such a person with financial problems. At the same time, it has equally valuable advice for someone with an advanced education and high-paying job. High-income people often feel pressure to live an affluent lifestyle at the expense of other priorities. This book is a good antidote to that pressure.

After he spent years managing mutual fund that is bigger the GDP of most countries, Peter Lynch has learned a few things about how to invest wisely.

While a lot of investment books will tips that claim will triple your money (but only make you broke instead) Lynch preaches from the pulpit of common sense when it comes to making investments.

One up on Wall Street should be required reading for every investor who wants to succeed if you have never invested a nickel or hold stock in 1,000 companies, Lynch's life time of investing experience can help you make better investment decisions.

This book helps you categorize and what phrase different stocks (and the companies behind them) are in and then what strategy you can use when investing in these different stock categories.

It will help you sort through the maze of financial numbers and makes it easy for anybody to perform simple stock research that professional perform everyday and are often overpaid for.

Lynch's lessons are timeless and his common sense approach can work in any market, up or down. If you have never invested before and looking for some help or you have spent years investing, buy two copies of these books in case you lose the first one.

I borrowed my copy of "One Up On Wall Street" from a friend who is a longtime professional equities investor. He received this gift as recommended reading from a veteran investment analyst he knows. While Peter Lynch has written an easily comprehendible advice book on common stock investing - very much written in layman's terms and without emphasis on industry jargon - the principles he puts forth are fundamental and worth reviewing by anyone, amateur or pro.

Within the 300 pages of this book, Lynch outlines a useful rubric against which all stock selections might be measured. His stocks fall into six categories: Slow Growers, Stalwarts, Cyclicals, Fast Growers, Turnarounds and Asset Plays. Screening, buying and selling advice are outlined for each of these six flavors, although nothing revolutionary (eg., Sell a slow grower when the dividend is unattractive.) He delivers a wealth of the basic analytical tools (well, more like rules of thumb) for stock research, explaining price earnings ratios, the import of tax loss carry-forwards, goodwill accounting, inventories, and other basics of P&L statements and Balance Sheets. It's a pocket guide financial course for those who may have slept through Accounting 101.

Lynch urges stock pickers to do their homework, and suggests the regimen of a "Two Minute" drill, whereby an investor can recite a brief monologue of reasons for selecting a security: Reasons for selection, what the company needs to do to succeed, and pitfalls that stand in the way. Obviously, this is not a book for the technicians or chartists. Nor even speculators, as Lynch reminds the reader that his "ten-baggers" or "forty-baggers" all come as a result of having held at least three to four years.

Quite a bit of the book carries a populist bent. There is plenty of advice to pay more heed to what's happening in the local shopping mall than to investment brokers ("oxymorons"), and to avoid stocks with exotic names or that may have been whispered to be hot. Of course, we've all been aware of this, and we're all wealthy and drinking daiquiris on the beach now, right?

In sum, it is worth the investment of the few hours it takes to swallow this information. At worst, it is an entertaining look at some high-fliers the former Magellan manager scored with, but at the very least it serves as reminder that basics need to be followed, and nothing works as well as solid research, good discipline and old fashioned hard work.

A Good book of investment for beginner as well as veteran.
I like the most about how he classified companies into six categories and talk about what you should reasonably do to make a profit out of them.

Also, the witty writing will give you a laught even if you are not interested in investment.

Read this book as a civic duty. Even if you don't want to know, you need to know how utterly corrupt our government, corporations and media are.

Greg Palast is the muckraker of our times, and he's virtually exiled from America because no one will print his work. PBS won't even show the documentary illustrating how the voter rolls in Florida were tampered with before the 2000 election.

Don't dismiss Palast for being partisan in the sense of Republicans and Democrats; he dishes the dirt on the Clintons and Gore, as well as Bushes Jr. and Sr. and Tony Blair. He is, however, biased towards social justice. If you are more concerned with corporate profits than corporate responsibility, you will find this book to be rather obnoxious.

Greg Palast was at a book signing in Chicago on May 4, which this reviewer attended. He said that the centralized Florida voter database is being held up as a model for every other state to follow. Republicans take heed: Palast pretty much said that Democrats in Democratic-controlled states were just as happy to have the opportunity to monkey with their voter rolls, as Republicans are. Meanwhile we are switching to ballotless voting booths and doing away with exit polls, with no way of knowing if our votes were counted as we cast them. Draw your own conclusions folks - how long before our vaunted democracy becomes another banana republic?

Greg Palast is not your typical journalist. He doesn't varnish the truth based upon ideology, political leaning or who's paying his salary. His background as an investigator shines through in his writing. Unlike a vast majority of so-called investigative reporters, Greg does his homework by scouring sources and providing evidence, not by rewording what's already been dictated to the media.

Greg reveals what really happened in Florida. Jeb Bush and Katherine Harris fixed the election. Plain and simple. The proof is in the book....This book doesn't spare the Clintons or Gore. If you've wondered why the Democrats didn't jump on the Palast bandwagon during the election fiasco and publicize the voter purge of primarily black Democratic voters, Greg's got the answers. You may not like them.

The chapters on the WTO and IMF may bring tears to your eyes when you stop and think about what they've done in the name of progress. The wholesale destruction of economies and people seems to be the new definition of progress, with the US leading the pack. Ever really wonder why America is so despised? Here's one answer.

Media myths are destroyed in this book. Read about Walmart, Tony Blair, Pat Robertson, the Exxon/Valdez coverup, Volvo, etc. This is the most explosive and accurate portrayal of our new globalized society that you can find in America. No fluff, only substance. If you care about civilization, read the book.

Get it. It's priceless. I just started reading for a Social Change class. Get it!

This is not my first Stephani Plum novel. I picked up 'High Five' from the end table one day while waiting on a guest. My wife had left it there. Before I knew it, I was thirty pages into the book and had had several good laughs.

I was looking for something light hearted to read to wittle away some spare time the other day, and I decided to give 'One For the Money' a shot. I loved it every bit as much as 'High Five'.

Janet Evanovich has created an incredibly funny cast of characters. Stephanie, a down on her luck former lingerie purchasing agent, leads them all. At five foot seven, she is not the prototypical bounty hunter, but facing desperation and a depleted bank account, she blackmails her cousin vinnie, who has a fetish for kinky sex his wife doesn't know about, into giving her a chance to bring in a few bond jumpers.

Stephanie's grandmother, Grandma Mazur, is probably the next most charming character. In a way she looks up to Stephanie. Impressed with Stephanie's black biker shorts, Grandma Mazur runs out and buys herself a bright blue pair, which she wears with her knee high stockings and cotton blouse.

This is a funny and great story that follows Stephanie as she determinedly bumbles her way through several apprehensions while in pursuit of a cop accused of shooting an unarmed man. She hopes to collect the $10,000 bounty and get her financial life in order. Evanovich has skillfully written this book interjecting wit in just the right places and making wonderful characters out of everyone, and in some cases, Stephanie's cars. There is even a bit of a twist to the end.

I'd recommend this novel for more mature readers that like humor and crime fiction. Elmore Leonard fans should enjoy this novel. Its an easy read and would be a wonderful way to pass a plane ride.

This is my first Sephanie Plum novel--I actually tried reading the first book first for a change. I enjoyed the book a lot, and would recommend it to James Patterson fans as well, for a good read.

The main character, Stephanie Plum, is wonderful--very real and funny. The situations she gets herself into are not realistic, but that's all part of the fun. Lots of interesting twists and Stephanie gets hersef in and out of trouble.

I'd recommend this book, and will be reading others in this series.

What a book. This was hilariously funny. Stephanie Plum is from NJ and having some money problems. Sold her furniture, her car has gotten repo and next she will be needing a place to live if she doesn't come up with an idea fast. She goes to see her cousin Vinnie ( Bail bondsman ) looking for a job. The job had just been filled but the bounty hunter he used was having surgery. Stephanie, newly employed as bounty hunter. After all you get 10% and she would get 10k for bringing Joe Morelli in. Joe is a former cop and is running from Murder One. Stephaine and Joe do go back to growing up. This was a great book! Very funny, Ms. Evanovich really has a gift for writing a story in a very refreshing way! The " who done it " I couldn't tell until it happened. The pages just kept turning as the characters were very real, and enjoyable! I can't wait to read the next one!

This is definitely a book for the novice, the intermediate and the professional trader.

The psychological section of the book is useful more towards the intermediate and the professional trader, whilst the trading tactics section is more designed for the novice and the intermediate trader, and the money management section for all three types of traders.

I found this book very helpful throughout my trading career and I would highly recommend that once you have read it not to discard it. You will find it greatly more beneficial to your trading career if you were to read it at least once every 1-2 years of your trading life, because certain areas in the book become highlighted and more readily understood as you mature.

The only reason why I gave it the 4 stars was Elder's fairly lack-lustre Money Management section (accounts for about 6% of the book). However if you find you would like to know more about Money Management (which is an integral part of trading) I would highly recommed K. van Tharp's "Trade Your Way To Financial Freedom."

Dr. Elder is a practicing psychiatrist. He is Russian origin and today he is well-known in Russia after his Moscow course of lectures on short-term investment in 1996. This book is translated into Russian and was published twice in Moscow ...

The first half of the book is pure psychology. The stock market in fact is a reflection of the human psychology. As the author points out, so many people who are educated think that because they are "school smart" that they must be able to master the financial markets just as well. It's the psychology and the mentality that goes into it. The author likens a typical losing trader (in other words, most traders!) to an alcoholic in denial. Traders are addicted to losing money. They get such a thrill from trading that they don't care if they win or lose.

The second half (Trading for a Living) is the core of the book. It is various trading strategies and technical information. If you're an experienced trader, you'll recognize most of it. The rule is simple: "buy low, sell high" or "short high, cover low". I think the author did an excellent job of covering a wide variety of strategies and trading tools. If you are new to trading, it may confuse the daylights out of you.

This book is a must have for anyone venturing into online trading. Dr. Elder lays out the three essentials of becoming a successful trader: Mind, Method and Money Management.

1. Mind: The psychological aspect of trading. Tells you to observe your own emotions as you trade.

2. Method: Technical analysis. Almost every major indicator is discussed here.

3. Money Management: Gives you some tips on how much to risk.

I have found a lot more detail in this book than in any other I've read so far. It is very enlightning. I give the book five stars. It is really good. If you don't mind the high price, buy it. It pays. You won't be disappointed. I highly recommend it to those traders who wants to improve the quality of their lives.

Alexander Petrochenkov

This is the type of book you keep on your shelf and read again and again. I just finished reading it for the third time and each time the learning becomes more valuable than the previous. The first reading gave me a broad understanding of the game, some of the formulas of the technical indicators seemed a little dry for the novice. But now I am so thankful for the formulas, they are the most treasured part of the book. I have used the formulas to plot my own graphs with my spreadsheet and have developed my own triple screen trading system witch is a system that isn't based on blind faith but a through understanding (which leads to confidence)of each indicator. So many people trade based on using an EMA or Stochastics or MACD, but what actually is it?
Buy this book and stop placing confidence and relying on other peoples data feeds and opinions, gain confidence and grow from within, trade from stable ground, your own. All the information you need to build a trading system can be found in this book along with the psychological aspect needed to trade it.
I place this book on par with Street Smarts and Dave Landry on Swing Trading.