Short-selling

Don't buy this e-book. Save your $10!!!! It is a selling tool for a trading website and it only gives you reasons why you would want to short a stock such as overvaluation, duh!!!

I recommend this book for any new beginner. The main reason I say for beginners is that I have not seen another book that adequately describes the emotional forces of the general market concerning short selling. As any finance student can tell you. One of the best ways to learn about short selling is through particular case studies. Many people have criticized the author for this type of instruction because the book does not explain in detail everything the reader should know about each case. This book was defiantly worth it because I further researched each case explained in the book. This is what any investor should do in order to get the big picture when looking for possible shorts. Look up the past articles and company reports that were published concerning each case. Observing certain trends within the financial media and company managers was extremely helpful to recognize when case examples were just beginning to fall.

The real complaint about this book is that the author could easily have provided this information, especially for the price range of this book. I give it four stars simply because it is helpful to beginners and so few books cover this topic.

Best book available on selling short using fundamental balance sheet analysis. If you already read her prior work "When Stocks Crash Nicely" 1991, Don't waste your money on this minor update. It adds 2 or 3 new examples but no significant insights

I came across this book years ago in a bookstore, browsed through it, and put it away. Being caught up in the study of technical analysis at the time, I clearly wasn't ready at the time to find value (pun intended) in Staley's fundamental approach to the market. This time, however, I'm listening to her.

With a bit more experience, I can appreciate 3 of the many lessons _The Art of Short Selling_ teaches:

1) Fundamentals drive market action...eventually
2) It is often a costly mistake to short a stock simply because it apepars overvalued. A catalyst of some sort is needed to encourage massive selling.
3) Markets can ignore negative fundamentals for significantly extended periods of time--giving the astute trader ample time to sell at a profit, or even turn and sell short. Positive fundamentals are more rapidly incorporated into stock prices, but significant inefficiencies still exist on both sides of the market--long and short.

The author uses case histories of significant corporate failures from the 80's and early 90's in light of the publicly available info at that time, which clearly demonstrated the inivetable fall of Wall Street's institutional favorites.

Numerous fundamental techniques are discussed, such as tracking changes in inventory and receivables, as well as tricks companies play to make revenues and earnings appear better than they are.

Also interesting--a high short interest ratio in a stock is often a significant sign of potential trouble in a company. Do not let those analysts lead you to believe a high short interest ratio is always bullish. Check the fundamentals and make your own call.

Qualitative factors are also discussed, with specific examples on how a close reading of public financial data on one company would have lead you to a profitable short sale of another. This occurs frequently in the finance and insurance industries.

This book is especially important, because every book I've seen teaches which stocks to BUY on a fundamental basis. No book ever mentions what fundamental factors suggest you SELL. Even if you never sell short, this is profitable info.

Being a student of technical analysis, what struck me is the insight those skeptical shorts had about the companies mentioned. Clearly, they knew the eventual outcome in each specific instance.

Yet, despite being right, most of these guys lost millions by going strictly by fundamentals. Those who survived incorporated additional (ie. technical) factors, such as relative strength or momentum. As Keynes stated, "The market can remain irrational much longer than you can remain solvent."

It is clear to me that using both fundamental and technical analysis is the most efficient path to market profits.

I often recommend novels to my sales training clients to help them get into the heads of people unlike themselves, to experience unfamiliar worldviews so they can better empathize with prospects. I recommend this collection of fiction to salespeople to help them get more comfortable in their own heads.

This collection of short stories and novel excerpts covers the history of sales in modern America, from rail riding drummers who had no homes to today's realtor next door. I was pleased to see that most of the portrayals of salespeople were sympathetic and insightful, not the usual huckster bashing. Each selection captures the poignant human experience of making your living and earning your self-respect from the approval of strangers.

Salespeople will learn that their concerns and fears, their appetites and distractions are shared by others in their profession. Perhaps this insight will give them the freedom to accept some of what they are trying to fix about themselves, leaving energy and attention to work on more satisfying projects.

I particularly recommend the book to people who live or work with sales people. The stories of the people in this book will tell you more about what it is like to be a salesperson than you would likely learn by knowing one for twenty years.

While I'd recommend this as a "must read" book to anyone in business, this book should be read by a wider audience as well. The stories cover a gamut of emotions and reactions to the art of the "pitch" and many are thought-provoking. Yes, this is fiction, but there are some classic lessons here about the virtues of persistence and drive and a willingness to go the extra mile to reach a goal. In addition to such well-known writers as Thomas Wolfe, John Updike, David Mamet, Philip K. Dick and Flannery O'Connor, there are other writers which should be new to the reader. I'm not in sales (unless you consider convincing a reluctant teenager to clean his room or take out the trash a "sales pitch") but I couldn't put this book down. I came away realizing that the core values of a good salesperson are ones many of us hold dear- being persistant, having drive and ambition, reaching a goal.There are too many stand-outs in this collection to say that any one is the best but I was particulary intrigued by Philip Dick's tale about a robot who wouldn't take no for an answer, an unpredictable tale with a great twist at the end.