market-economics

I was curious about the nearly unanimous 5-star rating given this book by other reviewers. After picking up a copy from Amazon and reading it, let me join the chorus with my own 5-star rating! What a find! Murstein seems to cover nearly everything you would want to know about the market in a succinct and humorous manner, remarkable for a volume of only 350 pages. Of particular and topical interest: it has been published recently enough to discuss the impact of the Enron scandal and how investors should approach the market in these times. It is scholarly without being stodgy. Murstein evaluates the great variety of strategies, schemes, systems and newsletters out there with a very critical eye. He names names and doesn't pull any punches. While the book is oriented mainly toward the individual securities investor, he does have a useful section on mutual funds (my special interest). There's one outstanding chapter near the end (alone worth the price of the book) called "Maxims, Adages and Suggestions" - over 70 of these, many of which are very useful. One last word: I'm familiar with and rely on the Lynch and Zweig investment books; the Murstein volume beats them both hands down!

This book is a must for every serious investor. It is informative and based on research findings, but humorous and easy to read. I especially liked the chapters showing that serious individual investors can outperform professional money managers, and how to do it.

Finally! A book every individual investor can understand and use immediately. Murstein is both lucid and witty. His analyses are scholarly but clearly presented. Practical? Check his chapter on a rational approach to selecting stocks. My own investment strategies will never be the same. Professor Murstein, where were you when we needed you at the beginning of our investment rollercoaster?

I loved this book!

Jeff Dobkin has done a fantastic job of providing a vast resource of marketing ideas for those who don't have a marketing budget.

Not having a lot of money for marketing doesn't mean you can't be wildly successful. And if your pockets are bare, you can't live without this book.

I've got so much out of this book. In fact, my copy looks like it's been through World War 3! It's been highlighted, corners bent, notes all over the place! It's great!

This is another book by Dobkin covering his multiple exposure marketing methods. There's over 350 pages of checklists, resources, and great ideas. Here's a synopsis of the contents:

I - Big Results from Free Press (publicity) - 30 sections outlining how to create a PR campaign that gets published. This was very well done, and I wish he would come out with a book on this topic exclusively.

II - Direct Mail - 46 sections outlining how to create a direct mail campaign. These 46 are organized into 3 main sub-sections:

a - In Direct Mail Your Success May Be Just 32 Cents Away,

b -Other Elements of a Direct Mail Package

c - Lists: the Most Important Element in Any Mailing.

III - Marketing Through Magazines. This is broken into 4 sub-sections totalling 32 different topics:

a - Overview (how to integrate with PR releases, etc.),

b - Research Tools of the Trade Made Easy,

c - The One Evening Marketing Plan,

d - Marketing Through Magazines with Paid Advertising.

IV - Ads. This is broken down into 4 sub-sections containing 30 different topics. The sub-sections are:

a - Overview (writing your ads to an objective... a favorite of his, you'll also see it in his other book on Uncommon Marketing),

b - Types of Headlines

c - Business to Business Inquiry Generating Ads

d - Ad Design and Procurement

V - The $500 Campaign. Here he has 11 sections put together a complete campaign. * - He even includes a few pages in the back of the book for the "A Technique for Delaying Brain Death in Heart Attack Victims" as a public service. At first I looked at this and said "Huh?", then after I read it I was amazed at Dobkins concern for others. He really describes a zero cost way even a child could use on an adult having a heart attack.

What I liked about this book:

+ Lots of practical advice,

+ He organizes the material to help your marketing campaigns,

+ He covers PR as an important element, as well as direct marketing,

+ He pushes multiple-exposure marketing (which I agree is very powerful - as I've used in on software letters and tracked the results),

+ He gives copywriting advice for your letters and ads,

+ Very good coverage of "the offer". I particularly liked his concept of "complementing the offer" (adding on guarantees, etc.). He gives lots of examples here.

+ He describes a marketing cost model that you can use.

+ How to buy and position magazine ads,

+ Use of low cost techniques (inquiry generating ads, postcards)

+ Lots of reproduced examples (letters, mag ads, postcards, classifieds)

+ Long list of resources.

I liked this book very much. After I bought it, several years later he came out with the Uncommon Marketing book. I bought that one also. Although there is a certain amount of overlap, I'm happy I bought both. They are both rated an "A +" read, and make great reference books to keep on your shelf forever.

You can also see my my review of his other book at Amazon. I believe this book lives up to the claim in the title: you can market a product for as little as $500, or at least get it rolling.

John Dunbar

An extremely informative and fun book to read Jeffrey Dobkin is incredible. Not only did he personally respond to my phone call to him after I read his incredible book, but he dropped a note in the mail to thank me for reading his book and used some of his personal contacts to help me market my disc jockey training materials. I was able to generate a 73% response rate on a lead generating direct mail letter that I crafted straight from the step by step easy to understand directions in this brilliant printed marketing seminar. This letter was to potential wedding clients for my companies' DJ services.

We booked 5 sales from it which resulted in $2,000 in deposits and $4,975 in gross income. Not a bad time investment.

I definitely consider myself knowledgeable in the copyrwiting area, but I became extremely knowledgeable after reading Mr. Dobkin's book.

The reason that I'm writing this review is because I am preparing to read the book again. I'm sure that I will pick up many more new ideas that will help me market even more effectively.

If Jeffrey Dobkin writes another book (it could be on harvesting avecodos) I'll be in front of you in line to get it. Though I would like it autographed Mr. Dobkin!

Dean LeBaron has crafted an insightful volume that is part travelogue, part cultural analysis, and part memoir. The resulting book will bring you up-close and personal with the forces that shaped the two great cultures of Russia and China. The text is adorned with vignettes, anecdotes, parables and humor that keep the read as entertaining as it is weighty. We from getAbstract strongly recommend this book to anyone looking to understand two countries that have greatly influenced the last century of human history and will play a central role in the next.

This first-hand account of some of the most momentous events of the twentieth century is an extremely compelling read. The account is lucid and engaging, but it's the analysis that takes it over the top. It was a pleasure to read.

I'm a graduate student, earning my MBA at Stanford, and I just have one point to make: Dean LeBaron deserves all of our attention and respect. Here's a man who risked his (considerable) reputation to help transform the economies of Russia and China. And unlike the most folks these days (dare I mention Enron), he wasn't in it just for the money. LeBaron is a thoughtful, insightful, highly original analyst. Read this book and you will discover, as he writes, that "nothing is as contrary as reality." I can't wait for his next book.

I am in a women's investment group and we used Ms. King's book as a textbook--it was VERY HELPFUL. I would recommend it highly. After working through the book, we invited her to speak to our investment group (she lives about 150 miles from us). She came and we learned even more through her lecture.
She will return and give us more information and even do a book signing.

This text is a Best Best for investment clubs and individuals who want a clear understanding of stock market investing. My investment group has read several other texts on investing but this one gets our vote as being the most user-friendly and informative of the bunch. We like it so much that it has become a regular part of our Club agenda.

I have read a good number of books on investing and Nancy King's book is one of the best. It is well laid out and easy to understand. It is for new individual investors as well as those of us who have been doing this for a little while. I found the information on how the New York Stock Exchange works very interesting. I never knew exactly what happens after I place a buy or sell order - the author explains the whole process. I am ordering a couple more of Nancy King's book to give as gifts to friends who are interested in investing.

Hi,
I'm a longtime reader, first time writer. (into amazon) However, I felt very strongly about Stocking Up on Sin. Honestly, this book made me laugh out loud so many times and it was about investing! This was a joy to read and immensely useful.

Grant Show
NYC, NY

I personally know the author, but believe me it hasn't colored my decision. Ms Waxler's sin-centric investment advice is invaluable to anyone who need big and speedy profits to get you through any rough patches. Every artist or freelancer should invest the $20something bucks to access their own little financial security net, cause not only is it an interesting read it really works. High risk living doesn't have to mean a risky bottom line! Sin to win!

This is simply the best investing book I have ever read. Period. There are facts here that ring so true and many principles to apply. These are facts based on research, not just a nice theory.

The primary thrust of the book is to present a very good analysis of what so-called sin stocks are and what investors have to gain by investing in them. Do they outperform the S&P? Can we increase our retirement funds by investing in them? Will we be doing something morally reprehensible by putting our money there? The author's arguments comments are simple and convincing.

I like all the case studies in the Stocking Up on Sin. Through clean and entertaining examples the author shows us why sin stocks are a good buttress to the market. She argues that by putting 15% of your assest allocation there you are alleviating some of the risk in the market

I've read a lot of books that about diversification. Yada Yada. You've heard it before but this really makes sense. She also explains about Beta and Sharpe ratios in an easy to understand way so that the reader really understands a. what they're dealing with and b. why they're important and c. why the sharpe and beta ratios of these vice stocks are critical. I never would have invested in a sin or beer stocks before I read this. (I don't drink.) But this book showed me why these stocks are important.

The book is very well researched. The author assembled an amazing arsenal of facts to make--and win--her convincing case. The facts are precise - they are financial performance versus peers - something that can be determined with precision.

Read the book. If you are putting your money in the market it is the type of book that you will keep within easy reach and look at from time to time.

A must buy and 5 stars.

B. McJangles
Waycross GA

This man is a salesman, which means first he sells himself,which he does quite succesfully in this book, a bit to the detrimentof the book. It makes it appear that anyone can go to people with a pretty good product and have it sell. It may sell, but a years worth of 60 hour work weeks isn't worth $10,000.

Found his little tricks like counting competitive products on the shelves, and other stuff, very useful. Resources are OK but have a larger variety as compared to other invention books. Throughout the book he stress low cost and investors, which to me seem contradictory, although his information on both is good. Not much of what makes a good product and clear steps to bring items to market.

For those I recomend Marketing Your Invention by Mosley and Winning At New PRoducts by Robert Cooper.

Overall this book is worth buying and reading.

The Debelak's rock my face off! GTO says: This book is amazing - such good stuff happens!! Marketing banzai!!

This is probably the best book on new product development... for the entrepreneur (those with a great idea, and somewhat limited budget). I ordered this book from Amazon after I read another of his books, Infilitration Marketing). I thought the previous book was A+, and I give that score to this book as well. I have also ordered his Marketing Plan book, but haven't read it yet.

I put this book up their with those of Barry Feig (Straight to the Heart, The New Products Workshop). But this book, Bringing Your Product To Market, is the best overall book for product development - more encompassing. It has lots of marketing material, but also lots of new product development ideas, how (and if, when) to license, how to manufacture (mostly contract manufacture). His book is the best over all book... and thus would be that one book to buy that includes it all.

Unlike other books on new product marketing, he doesn't go endlessly on about how to patent your product, how to hire a lawyer, and other side issues. This is much more practical: it presents a phased plan of new product development, market research, market testing, etc. Contract manufacturing, patents and licensing (excellently done) is then discussed in terms of this phased approach.

The purpose of this book is to get you away from developing a monument to yourself and to control urging of your ego to not listen to what the market is trying to say. His checklist and phased approach almost forces you to spend less on the front end than you normally would, and to constantly check the market's reactions. In this regard, the book is EXCELLENT PLUS. I have not seen any other book that is so practical, yet filled with marketing insight. I would say that if you followed his advice, you would triple your odds of success.

Every page oozes with practical experience (he consults with new product developers). He gives ratios and rules of thumbs for many subjects... again, based on his experience. He also provides lots of examples that illustrate his points. I would recommend that you order any of this guy's stuff. His marketing book was great, and I look forward to reading his marketing plan book.

I would also recommend your reading Feig's book, which goes into more detail in the market research and product idea development phase.

Oh, one last thing, I underlined about 60 % of just about every page in this book. I've filed it under the Dewey Decimal System of "A+".

John Dunbar

This was my first book on investing, three years ago. It starts with the assumption that you know nothing, but it treats you like an educated, intelligent person. The pace goes quickly, and by the end of the book you know everything you need to know to be an intelligent investor.
I have recommended this book to several friends who wanted a good investing primer.

Groz's book is just the kind of investment book that has been needed to fill the gap between market kitch and high-brow professional narrative. It leaves the reader feeling well informed but piques her curiousity -- and prepares her for -- an even deeper understanding of the markets and investing. It is clear that this was Groz's intention. A great book for journeyman investors seeking to negotiate markets and market-speak on a daily basis.

After reading many books on investing, this is the first I've found that offers keen insights to beginners and advanced investors. I would have no problem recommending this book to any of my Wall Street friends--or to my parents.

This is the best book available on interest rate models. Very detailed. Much more focused and readable than Rebonato's book. More pragmatic and explicit than Musiela and Rutkowski. Not as theoretical as Hunt and Kennedy. James and Webber also looks very good, but I'm not that familiar with it. All other books have only bits and pieces on interest rates.

With all the due respect to the other authors I would say that if one is interested in a good theoretical book whihc is also good on the implementation side then the book of Brigo and Mercurion is definetly the best book I have ever read on the subject.

Anyone interested in implementing the LMM/BGM/MSS model in practice is well advised to read it.

I would just say that this is certainly a must have in the field.

In the late nineties I went through Brigo's innovative work on stochastic nonlinear filtering with differential geometry techniques. I was favorably impressed by results and style, particularly in his dissertation and in his 'geometry in present day science' very readable overview. Interesting results are found and nicely told with accurate - but not pointlessly complicated - advanced mathematics for the problems at hand, I reasoned.

I've followed a similar path from control to finance, and having worked with interest rate models, I couldn't help but order this Brigo-Mercurio book. I had high expectations 'cause these two guys are working in a bank on the real thing.

Sure enough I'm not disappointed.

1-factor models are handled with great care, a ton of formulas and recipes are given. I've never seen this kind of analysis of pricing with Gaussian 1-f models. The new upgrade of the CIR model is interesting and accurate. "CIR++" is now my favorite 1-f model. I like the treatment of lognormal 1-f models and the explanation of Monte Carlo and trees -- the flow-chart for Bermudan swaptions is crystal clear! Plots of market implied structures and volatility calibration are useful additions.

The chapter on 2-f extensions has one of the best discussions on volatility, and two tons of useful formulas/recipes. Two dimensional trees!

The HJM chapter size is OK. I agree - the useful models embedded in HJM are short rate models and market models.

Market models - these three chapters alone are worth the book. You'll find yourself nodding as you read the guided tour. They make it look easy all the time. The exposition is focused, clear, intuitive, detailed. There's also new stuff, just check the calibration discussion! Smile modeling begins with a brilliant tour and ends with Brigo-Mercurio's new approach - the mixing dynamics - deserving a whole chapter if expanded.

The detailed explanation on products is a much welcome original addition. Cross currency derivatives!

Quotes - as in Brigo's old work - are a pleasant diversion while reading. The 500 and more pages are a treat given the competitive price.

Still there's room for improvements - more "CIR2++"! Something on 3-f models. Historical estimation of the correlation matrix and low-rank optimized approximations. Expand smile modeling! More hedging. Something on structured products. Cross currency libor model. chapter 9 - other interest rate models - sounds out of place and can be suppressed for other things.

This book rings true and has useful teachings for students, academics and practitioners. Although it requires some background in stochastic calculus, it's hard to beat on the pricing front. Kudos to Brigo and Mercurio! It only harms there aren't enough books like this.

David Andrusia draws on his varied experiences - in marketing, as an executive, and as a career consultant - to teach you to create and deliver the perfect pitch, in person or on paper. Cleverly and clearly written, this book provides plenty of winning pitches from real-life employees and prospective employees. It includes ample insights into getting your next job, winning a promotion, or obtaining approval for your idea. It shows you how to get what you want by meeting the needs of those hearing your pitch. We [...] highly recommend this book to people in business at every level. After all, everybody has to pitch something to someone nearly every day.

The Perfect Pitch really gives you the right mindset you need to sell yourself to companies and other people. Sometimes the sample cover letters in this book seem a bit to casual for conservative industries, nonetheless, the attitude is what is important. Well-written style keeps you interested. What I like most is that Andrusia will not BS you, he gets down to what you have got to do. I especially liked his advice on networking, how it is an important thing to do, but not something to be relied upon to find a job.

David Andrusia provides a very unique yet upbeat approach to job-hunting. I used his techniques to land interviews and a nice job with a fantastic company. The best thing about the book is that it provides tools to perfect your delivery and obtain results by marketing yourself effectively. Not only does it emphasize on what to say but how to say it. My resumes, cover letters, and follow up letters used to be bland, uninformative and trite. Now, I am more concise, elegant and upbeat when looking for a job or promoting my credentials.

The book itself paid off by helping me land a position with a compensation of 50K per year and is now helping me land another job with a salary of 65K per year. Another good thing about the perfect pitch is that it is not just intended to high caliber professionals but for everybody be him/her a white collar executive or a blue collar worker.

I can't thank David enough for such a fantastic book

I bought this book midway through the market correction in August, when I was considering "getting out" of the market altogether and selling great stocks that I've owned. I used a collar strategy from the book and bought some zero coupon treasuries, plus bought a stock that fit the description of a "defensive". My portfolio is now worth 7% more than at the market high in July, even though as of today the Dow is still 1000+ points off that high. Best of all, I didn't touch any of my core holdings. Best 20 bucks I ever spent. It was also valuable to finally read about bonds in a way that I can understand. The book could use an index and a bit more detail on convertibles and derivatives that are discussed, but overall the best thing I've seen yet. Very friendly read.

This book is almost prophetic as it was written in 1998 and describes strategies that would have allowed someone to stay invested all through the incredible late 1999 stock market and yet avoided or hedged much of the risk that killed so many people in 2000. Wish that would have been me! It isn't too complicated but isn't dumbed down, and explains things thoroughly. A few areas could have used more depth to really answer all my questions, but in those cases he usually points you to where to get more information. A great read, and still very current and applicable in today's market. Many of the investment stuff written is based on the latest fad, this is a good basic textbook on a subject that most people think only professional portfolio managers can really use and understand.

This author ties together all the elements of smart investing in one easy to follow book. Set your compass by this lighthouse and you won't run aground.