Stock-market

The 2003 edition of The 100 Best Mutual Funds uses data through December 31, 2001.
The book is primarily a collection of two page profiles on each fund. The profiles start with a 5 star ranking system to grade Total Return, Risk Reduction, Management, Current Income and Expense Control. Next the author uses 5 category grades to evaluate up-market performance, down-market performance and predictablility of returns. The grades are excellent, very good, good, fair and poor. I have two problems with these grading systems. First, the categories are too broad, second the author does not specify which time period or periods he used to determine the up and down market performance.
Finally, the two page profiles should be replaced with tables. Tables would make it easier to compare the mutuals funds in each category to one another. Tables would also eliminate the "same words but different numbers" monotony of the text.
I would recommend using Standard & Poor's Net Advantage database if it is available at your local library. If not the American Association of Individual Investors www.aaii.com provides a quarterly mutual fund data table, focusing on low load funds, at a reasonable price. The table can be downloaded into an Excel Worksheet so you can use Excel's filter feature to produce a list of funds with specific criteria.

general information about mutual fund, something you can easily find on the internet.

A mutual fund is essentially held by shareholders and managed
for an investment fee. This book discusses some of the top
mutual funds in the market together with the considerable
returns. Top funds are American Century Global Gold,
Vanguard Health, Longleaf Partners, Clipper and Calamos Growth.
These funds all have a double digit yearly rate of return.
Aggressive growth funds tend to have the maximal capital gains.
These funds can turn downward in a faltering economy so it is
critical to invest coincidentally with an upturn. If you catch
the bottom of a recession and invest, it is possible to
have three to four times your money in just a few years.
Many of these funds have good investment newsletters which
are important to read carefully. The key is to diversify risk
by placing your portfolio in a managed risk mix of investments.
i.e. safe returns, intermediate risk and aggressive funds

In the large market of mutual funds, there is a good chance that you can choose the wrong fund. This book will teach you the ways in which to investigate, buy, and trade mutual funds. I found the information contained about each mutual fund, it's purpose, value, etc. to be in depth and easy to understand. The explanations of statistical data are to the point, and the mutual funds listed as the best are convincing. Williamson explains the do's and don'ts of mutual funds and all of the lingo is explained. Get this book before you buy a fund!

As others say elsewhere, a book for beginners. However, I have to say that even beginners are going to be mis-lead because the book states one thing and delivers another. The very 1st chapter states the easiest way to beat the market is the simplest and most passive. Buy index mutual funds. The advice is sound, however, what the author promises is not. The problem is this: In buying a index fund, you will never "beat the market". The best you will do is mirror the market and with mutual fund expenses, you will "hopefully" be close to market performance. This approach will NEVER be better than the market. It simply can't. I don't have an argument with the premise of buying index funds. However, the phrase "beat the market" means to do better than or out-perform it. The author apparently interprets this to mean, trail the market or come close to a tie and you beat the market.
Also in the same section, the author recommends further diversification by purchasing 2 or 3 index funds. Diversify your diversified funds? Redundant and ridiculous. Advice for "...people who don't know what they are doing." Warren Buffet
The one good part of this book is that each of the 100 sections starts with a great idea or quote. These I loved. However, of the sections I have read, not a one presents any idea or strategy for "beating the market".
Don't get me wrong, from what I have read, there are some good things to be found here. However, when the author fails to truthfully present or support the basic premise of the book, it makes the whole book suspect. Suggest the reader look elsewhere, (Search- 'Peter Lynch') and the author get a dictionary to look up the meaning of the words, 'beat' and 'mis-represent'.

The 100 ways are actually elaboration of 100 adages of diverse sources from JKF's "How could I have been so mistaken as to have trusted the experts?" to Pope John XXIII's "See everything, overlook a great deal, correct a little".

Some sayings are interesting. Most are quite mediocre, like "Buy low, sell high" "In the long run, it's earnings growth that drives the stock."

I bet that most of the experienced investors or traders, who have read more than two trading books, will be disappointed by this one.

Investors have been getting stock-picking ideas from Gene Walden for much of the last decade. His expertise comes from many books and interviews with market geniuses. Walden has his finger on the pulse and it shows here, as he demonstrates how to put together both active and passive portfolios. He shows beginners how to pick your own stocks, and how to function successfully in today's market.

Of all the books on investing that I've read over the years, this one was at once, the most pleasurable and most challanging to my own beliefs. Mr. Phelps spent over 40 years in and around Wall Street and the world of investing. His activities included being a private investor, columnist, analyst, author and financial advisor. His career spanned from just before the Crash of 1929 to the 70's.

In spite of the the rather glamorous title, the book is actually about Buy and Hold investing. Yes, it is true that you could have made a million dollars by buying any of about 350 stocks he mentions if you had invested $10,000 and just sat back and watched it grow over time! Doesn't sound that exciting, does it? However, I hope you didn't miss the point that he mentions AT LEAST 350 opportunities to have done this! Most of the companies' names will be quite familiar to most readers.

With the histories of many of these companies available, Mr. Phelps goes back in time to examine what it was about these companies that made their potential as great as it was. How can one begin to see what it takes for a company to do well? Well enough to drive its stock from $1.00 to $100.00 over a period of time? This is the heart of Mr. Phelps' book. He comes up with common characteristics that show up in many of the stocks he uses as examples.

Now, what about his strategy of stock ownership? He says that the best way to preserve the wealth you accumulate from investing is to NOT SELL your stocks! Uncle Sam always wants a piece of the pie when you decide to cut it! Mr. Phelps says that no matter how long it takes, it's better to pass on stocks to your heirs than it is to sell them too soon!!

"The reason," he says, "that more people don't make 10,000% on their money is that they don't set their goals high enough!" He says that to sell a stock sooner than that is an admission that you have failed at this goal and haven't done your homework properly! Move over Mr. Lynch! Who wants a Ten Bagger when we can shoot for a 100 Bagger!

Certainly in these times of trading stocks as frequently as heartbeats, his style seems almost radical. After all, who interviews the guy that just buys stocks? CNBC will just ignore you!

Mr. Phelps shows in one example, an investor could have seen the possibilities of a 10,000% return several times during a 40 year span! This same stock returned $100 for every $1 invested if held for 40 years, 36 years, 28 years, 20 years and also just 12 years! In other words, the stock price bounced around alot over the 40 year period. This offered the investor who was shrewd enough to have perceived the possibilities several chances to have caught that 10,000% ride! The company story just got stronger with each price cycle.

We work hard to find stocks that will give superior returns over time. We are willing to risk our money based upon our perception of the company's future. Mr. Phelps develops very good selection skills. These same skills will benefit all long term investors.

I bought this book yesterday and I am taking it back today. I am pretty new to investing (maybe 10 trades in all) and even I found errors and misleading statements right from the start. For example, this book describes both bonds and blue chip stocks as investments that will never lose value, which is absolutely not true.

Here are some other misleading quotes:

"Stocks by default provide higher returns than mutual funds since management fees are not levied on stock owners." In reality, many mutual funds actually exceed the returns of particular stocks, even when the management fees are taken into consideration.

"If your stock is worth more now than what you paid for it, then you have realized a capital gain." In fact, you have not realized anything until you actually sell the stock at its increased value.

In both of these examples, I think I understand what the author was getting at, but the statements are so misleading or vague that they seem dangerous, especially for beginners. And the book is chock-full of these statements. A book if this kind seems like such a great idea, it's too bad this one tried but failed to deliver what the beginner probably really needs.

The best part of this book is it's simplicity. The author was able to put aside enough of the technical jargon that most brokers love to repeat after each other to intimidate us artistically inclined creatures.

Another aspect I love is how concise and to the point everything is in this book. It was capable of clearing away the mystery of investing. My attitude has changed from a Las Vegas casino view of the stock market to one of respect for the market.

I went ahead and opened an account with an online broker, followed some basic principles and am doing okay. No, I'm not a tycoon. I just invest a little at a time for the long haul.

In a word, this book provides enough horse sense to get you started on the road to understanding investments.

This book has all the basics you need to know about the stock market, from options to IPOs. It is indeed a great book for beginners, especially if you don't know much about all the investment terms. However, if you look for actual stock plays and case studies, look for another book.