Bull-market

In a book about poor recommendations, I find it hilarious that the authors give their own market opinion, which has proven to be incorrect.

Page 119, in reference to Abby Joseph Cohen's S&P 500 forecasts:

"Last we heard she was still calling for a twelve-month of 1,150. From 835, that's a pretty heady reacceleration."

Last I heard, the S&P was at 1.110. That's up 36% in 9 months, 3 months left in the twelve-month forecast. Hopefully, no one was listening to the author's opinion in early 2003.

This book chronicles the hype, promotion, conflicts of interest and outright lying by the financial media, pundits and corporate leaders. It also shows the serious recriminations for the few analysts and brokers who went against the market madness of the late '90s. On any financial bulletin board today, "strong buys" issued by the large brokerages are normally perceived as a sure sign that they want to dump stock on the naive small investor. I trade the stock market almost daily, and eshew all the major media new sources - the hype, no matter how absurd, never ends. This small book confirms my worst, cynical beliefs. Read it and laugh, read it and weep.

The authors have performed a valuable service in providing this record of the mania.

I predict it will occupy the same position in future study of stock market history of this period as has a similar account of the 1920s experience.

(Surprisingly there's already enough new material associated with the 2003 stock market rally for a sequel)

I read "Bull" with much anticipation based on a recommendation in the Berkshire Hathway annual report. The book basically strips away all the glitz of the past 12 years surrounding the U.S. stock market and shows what was really going on. If you were aware what was happening--and many market students were--you probably don't need to read this book, but if you were new to the markets in the late 1990's and got hosed, I would read this book before throwing in the towel on this fun game.

On the positive side, "Bull" offers some funny vingettes, including a CLASSIC--almost fable like--story about how the "Last Bear is Gored." Ms. Mahar recounts how Louis Rukeyser, host of America's most popular financial show, fired market analyst Gail Dudak from his program at the very height of the bull market in 1999. The reason: she was the only market analyst left on his program who perisistently predicted lower stock prices ahead. This woman should have been given a raise for her brains! This vingette is a powerful reminder that journalists like Mr. Rukeyser are not to be confused with skilled money managers, and one should be weary of following the advice of ANYONE except those, who like W.E. Buffett, have made lot of money in an honest way in several different market environments over years and years and years (these people do exist!). As Ms. Mahar points out, the media (and analysts at the big brokerage companies!) had and have almost no incentive to report independently derived market analysis.

However, I believe at times Ms. Mahar goes too far in blaming the media for financial events over the past 12 years. For example, she belabors the failure of CNBC journalist Mark Haines, who I think overall is one of the better financial journalists, for failing to uncover the scandalous nature of ENRON's books while he was interviewing the CEO. Despite this failure, which several money managers who had millions invested in ENRON also made, I think Mr. Haines was appropriately critical of events that transpired during his tenure at CNBC.

If you want to buy 1 book about market history buy this one.

This book is really recommended (also by Warren Buffet, see his latest letter to his shareholders).

First of all it's nice written. It is easy to follow for not native English readers (so very simple for native English people).

This book is recommended if you want to learn something about market history and you think the bear market of 2000-2003 is over.

This book covers the bull market of 1982 - 1999. It also covers 1961 - 1982 and 1999 - 2003 and some chapters 'looking ahead'.

After you read this book you will be pretty scary about current stock valuations (especially in the US). Especially the 1961 - 1982 give you a 1990 - 2010 feeling.

The 1982 - 1999 part (the largest part) gives all major events and importent people (junk bond, netscape, Greenspan, AOL, CNBC, etc). It also covers the dilemmas of mutual fund managers (investment risk vs career risk, and fired fund managers which thought the hype was ending and moved into cash).

It also covers how analysts, traders, bankers where thinking and doing in the late nineties. To make it complete it also covers how those people look back (in 2002/2003) at this period and judge their own appearance in the late nineties (e.g. how stupid they where)!!!

This book only convers the US stock cycle (but I didn't except something else). It only mention the Japanese bear market. If you're looking for a book about non-US cycles or non-stock cycles (eg commodities) I recommend to buy an another book.

I have a bookcase groaning with investment books and I rate Mahar's book up with the works of Ben Graham and Peter Lynch. A very well written book that shines a light into many a dark corner. I defy even the most well-read and battle-hardened investor to come away denying that Mahar has produced a book cheap at twice the price.

One River was one of the best books I have read in quite some time. As a Ph.D student in Botany, I was inspired by the accounts of Shultes, Plowman and Davis' journeys to the Amazon seeking tropical plants and learning from the people who have been using them for generations.. Davis has a rare ability to mix technical science writing with a deep knowledge of history, culture, and politics and make it flow into a coherent narrative. Any student of ecology, evolution, (especially of plants) will love this book as will people with an interest in the cultures and history of the Amazon basin.

This book is a beyond-detail-rich look at the enterprise of ethnobotany in an extraordinary region of threatened biological wealth, through a biography of one of the field's greatest figures. It is a planet of a book, a book to get lost in like the rainforest itself; I read it in deeper and deeper skims to take it in. I felt like Davis was giving me, not some facts about the Amazon, but a transferred chunk of the reality of the place itself.

Curiously, I was advised that this would not be a good book to recommend to a family member who is very interested in biology and in indigenous cultures - because of all the objectionable hallucinogens in the book, which are typical of the region. (Once all the remnants of the peoples discussed have been converted to alcoholism, doubtless it will become permissible to know about them...) That would be one reason to support this book: it is a window out of our preconceptions, or at least out of the the ones that are uninformed or that don't know they need to *be* informed. This book is worth sitting down with, and worth passing on.

This will be a very short review on a book that has long been with me. While working on a reproductive biology macaw research project climbing into the canopy of the Amazon each day for 3 months i found ONE RIVER one night piled amongst the research literature. Even though i had the Amazon literally ground into my bones after so many days of hard labor i could not put this book down each night reading by candle. Could one gourge on steak then still enjoy reading about cattle? This is simply a fascinating, and most well written book on arguably the most complex wonderful ecosystem as experienced by a most hard working curiously gifted individual. Do your soul a favor and read this book 5 times!!!

as I am, then you'll learn a great deal from "Bleeding Bull". I lost money in the stock market last year and this book has begun to open my eyes to the games played on naive investors like myself. The writer's style is clear and lively, and he gives many examples of Wall Street's tricks. A real eye opener!

In Bleeding Bull: The Stock Market Bubble And The American Middle Class, Vladimir Sarkoff reveals the role of Wall Street brokerages, the Feds, the media, and the ordinary, unsophisticated investor in the creation of the stock market bubble of the 90s and the democratization of stock ownership during that turbulent decade. An insightful and sardonic writer, Sarkoff's focus on the aftermath of the stock bubble bursting is as insightful as it is revealing. Of special note is Sarkoff's warnings that the next bubble might be forming. Vladimir Sarkoff's Bleeding Bull is highly recommended reading for anyone contemplating investing in the market or who has already engaged in the development of an investment portfolio.

Well, what can I say. As a novice in relation to finance this book was indispensible in giving me tips that has turned a $2000 investment in March this year into over $6000. This man is a genius.