Customer Reviews

The Brainwashing of the American Investor: The book that Wall Street does not want you to read!

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I've spent well over $... on my investment library. So many of the books blend together with little worth remembering let alone implementing, but this is one of two that stands out. Besides being written in an entertaining and irreverant style (if you're an accountant, attorney, or Wall Streeter, look out!), it has immensely practical advice.

Steve is one of 2 authors I've read that focuses on making money on the market's inherent volatility vs. trying to guess what's next. Unlike Technicians who play volatility AND try to guess what's next, Steve just assumes that it (volatility) will be there, like the waves on the ocean (interesting that he has a beach house!). Using safe stocks, he buys lower and sells higher, no greed, just take what the market is going to give you. Saves a lot of time and appears to work.

It would be nice to see some historical results documented in the book, but his site does provide some numbers to evaluate.

The other author... Robert Lichello, recently deceased. Zany book, but accurate. Steve adds the missing ingredient - safety.

I heard a short segment on Stu Epperson's radio show as he discussed investments with Steven Selengut. I heard enough to prompt me to search for his book on the internet. As a securities rep. myself, Steve appears to be "right on the money". I didn't want to put the book down until I was through. Steve's trading strategy is refreshing information that should make a lot of people a lot of money with less risk. I have even contacted him with a couple of questions and was pleased with his prompt and courteous response. Thank you Steve for sharing your success with everyone. In your next book, please remember that all "advisors" are not "sharks", some of us do put our clients first.

As I write this (11-27-2007), the markets are getting ready to open after closing down the previous day. The Dow Jones industrial average has fallen nearly 240 points and the headline in the local paper is screaming "Wall Street suffers another big hit." Serious-faced announcers on cable-TV are saying the Dow is down 10.03 percent from its mid-October closing high, officially putting the blue chip index past the 10 percent threshold that signifies a correction.

For Steven R. Selengut, author of The Brainwashing of the American Investor, corrections such as this are as welcome as rallies. The market, he points out, is just doing what the market has always done.

"Here is some advice that you just won't hear on CNBC or read in The Journal," he writes in this revised edition of an earlier book bearing the same name. "It is based on one incredibly simple market fact: There has never been a market correction that has not succumbed to yet another rally. So when the doom and gloom noise becomes deafening, get yourself out there and party."

When the markets move into a correction, Selengut's investment strategy already has investors sitting on a pile of cash -- accumulated profits taken on stocks as the market rallied -- plus cash thrown off from fixed-income securities. As the NYSE-traded stocks he follows move down 20 percent or more, he moves back into them and waits for a 10 percent profit to cash out and then look for another opportunity to repeat the process.

Even better, for skittish investors such as me, Selengut's unique "Working Capital Model" reduces the emotional factor by taking the emphasis off market value and focusing on growth of working capital, defined as the total cost basis of the securities and cash in the portfolio. As long as working capital is increasing, market value is irrelevant.

As a recent retiree, I appreciate this conservative approach to growing working capital. I implemented and followed the trading strategy myself for about a year and a half before turning my account over to Sanco Services, an investment management company founded and operated by Selengut. The Working Capital Model worked the way it was presented. My only reason for turning the account over to Sanco was to be sure that my financial assets would be handled in such a way that my wife would not have to worry about an adequate income in the event that I was no longer able to manage the assets myself.

The Brainwashing of the American Investor is a book I wish I had been able to read 30 years ago. Those of you who still have years of investing ahead of you would do well to buy this book and read it thoroughly two or three times. It will save you a lifetime of mistakes that come from following conventional wisdom.

This is the book that Wall Street does not want you to read.

As an individual investor who has manged my own investments for over 40 years, I found The Brainwashing of the American Investor to be a terrific guideline for the future. Not only did I identify many many mistakes that I made thru the years, but the logical approach outlined by Steven Selengut has to make sense to anybody who has tried to get meaningfull portoflio guidelines (from Wall Street brokers, advisors, etc) for future investments tailored to individual needs. After 3 years of going downhill the buy and hold approach for stocks, bonds and mutual funds is dead. Great Book!!!!!

This book is very well written, and the logic and analysis seem sound. I'm sure this is an excellent strategy for range bound markets which need a sound trading strategy. It probably is not as good in bull markets because you'll have a very small selection universe, and stocks left behind in a bull market usually deserve to be left behind.

The real danger is a bear market. You'll have many good stocks to choose from and will quickly fill your portfolio. Then you'll have the displeasure of watching your equity constantly decline. Your working capital won't decline, but it no longer has any rational relation to the value of your account. If you're young and can wait it out, you'll probably do okay, but older investors won't be able to handle the draw down. Being fully invested with no hedge during a bear market is very painful.

If you have a defensive strategy for bear markets, this book can be useful once the bear hibernates. You must beware of the bear; unfortunately, this book won't protect you from becoming bear food.

I heard Steven Selengut on a talk-radio program and was intrigued by the premise of the book. My intrigue led me to purchase the book, which was an eye-opening experience. After reading it, I'm convinced I had been sucked in by my former financial advisors to purchase products which I didn't need and cost too much. Instead of jumping in with both feet and totally revamping my investment habits, I've followed Steve's advice and gone into it slowly. I'm migrating from mutual funds (and annuities) to individual, high quality equities. My next step is to start purchasing bonds, as soon as the rates recover. Although the information provided isn't anything new, it was a slap in the face to make me stop my destructive investing habits.

What an eye opener! At last a book about investing that tells it how it is. Those who read "THE BRAINWASHING of THE AMERICAN INVESTOR" will be a lot harder to fool. Selengut helps investors learn to "watch" the lemmings and not follow them to financial ruin. Wall Street loves to convert investor funds to their own bottom line. Here the author tells it like it is and shows how to avoid being "BRAINWASHED" and "HOW TO" plan to successful investing. Way to go!

This book is an expanded version of the author's first book, originally titled _A Millionaire's Secret Investment Strategy_.

This book is part exposé (about 30%) and part technique (70%).

It explains how the author made his million (in real dollars, not in market value) actually investing (not writing about investing, not by commissions, and not by salary from a mutual fund company). That background separates the author from about 99% of all other authors who write about the stock market.

It's defintely an eye-opener book. The technique or strategy presented is almost a "why didn't I think of that?" kind of strategy. Basically, the idea is to run your portfolio the same way you would run a business. It's not a get-rich-quick kind of plan, but because stock market investing is a compounding activity (the more you make the more you can invest), you can grow geometrically instead of linearly.

The other nice feature of this strategy is that it requires a minimal amount of analysis compared to many others that I've seen. You just focus on the essential measures of quality (and they are essential).

Be warned though: every business has it's good and bad times. Sometimes your portfolio will very profitable, but other times the profits may be slow in coming. It's the nature of almost all businesses. The key is to maintain your plan during the slow times and reign in your greed during the boom times.

I brought the book a year ago, and both my wife and I read it cover to cover. Based on the book I instituted a trading system using simple tools as Steve suggested, but putting in the time on a daily and weekly to analyze the market.

I now plan to retire on my 60th birthday and use the Steve's investment logic to generate added income from our previous investments. I have changed my approach to investing by ignoring the stories that tend to addle and down right confuse the brain.

I know that I as continue I will probably change a few things here and there that I find will find to be better. I believe that having a logical approach to investing that takes you away from the normal hysteria associated with the financial news can allow you to relax and enjoy life.

Great book Steve and thanks for not keeping it to your self.

Unlike the many other investment books, this book is a real eye-opener! The methodology presented is a real world technique that seems almost too easy. This is not a get-rich-quick plan, but it is a strategic plan that can definately increase financial worth. After a few months of mock investing, I fired my "Securities Manager" and with a minimal amount of analysis, I have out performed his yearly return every since.

As every investor should know, every business has it's ups and downs. Sometimes your portfolio will be very profitable, while at other times the profits may be slow. The key is to manage you losses correctly. All of which is covered in the book.