Customer Reviews

The Bull Hunter: Tracking Today's Hottest Investments

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

I've been a subscriber to the influential newsletter, Strategic Investment, for many years. From that exposure, I've often learned about new investing ideas before I found them mentioned in other parts of the financial press. While I don't buy all of their recommendations, I've prospered from the ones I have bought.

I found out about Dan Denning when he became the stock picker for Strategic Investment. Although I was initially skeptical about his thinking, I have come to respect it.

In The Bull Hunter, you will find many of his latest recommendations from Strategic Investment. If you are going to buy, read and apply this book, do it soon. Otherwise, the advice will become stale in terms of particular emerging markets and commodity-based plays.

As a result, I've graded this book for how well it will inform you about how to invest in the future . . . rather than the recommendations it has today.

The book's key themes are:

1. The negative outlook for the dollar, American stocks and bonds and the U.S. economy as the debt-driven binge will eventually run out of steam . . . to be followed by a long, ugly period of reckoning in which buying power will shrink, asset values will drop, and many will be overwhelmed by a pile of debt.

2. The promising outlook for scarce global commodities such as oil, soybeans and raw materials where there has been no new capacity added for 20 plus years. Globalization means that many more people will be able to afford to consume these commodities, and their prices will be on the rise for a long time to come. You can prosper by picking particular companies who are well positioned to supply these needs, such as Bunge.

3. World trade is about to soar. Those who will facilitate such trade should do well such as those who will build LNG carriers.

4. Unless a stock is an incredible bargain (such as Korean Electric Power), you are usually better off buying ETFs to get exposure to non-US bull markets, especially in emerging markets (which you can buy through EEM and individual country ETFs like EWS, EWZ, EWY and EWW).

5. You should search the world looking for bull markets to play . . . rather than hunkering down in the doomed U.S. markets and dollar. When a bull market is over, move on to another one.

Basically, he is arguing that you invest like being your own global hedge fund manager . . . but by employing less risk . . . rather than being a buy-and-hold type (which used to work well in the U.S.).

Only time will tell if he's right or not, but a good quality of this book is that Mr. Denning looks for low-cost, less risky ways to play the main trend. I like that about his advice.

If you do find you like the book, I recommend that you subscribe to Strategic Investment. That will keep you up-to-date with his latest ideas, and you may well prosper from some of them.

Why do I rate the book down to a three-star level? The book doesn't give enough guidance to help you select your own investments in the future. So most investors will soon be off in the wrong foot if they try to apply this book on their own after 2005.

By the way, if you are a subscriber to Strategic Investment, you can skip this book. There's nothing in it you haven't read about before.

I expected more of this book than I got, and by the end realized I'd been "had". I subscribe to several of the Agora Publishing newsletter services, including the one that Dan Denning writes. I like Dan's newsletter, but found the book a regurgitation of his themes in the newsletter, hurriedly thrown together, with some of the same stock recommendations he has given in his newsletter many, many months ago now. Which meant the themes and the recommendations are old news; if you want them hot off the press, join the newsletter. I found the book poorly edited too, with many typos and missing words. I expected more of the Agora editors and proof readers. The one that took first prize was the reference to the "cubes" as QQQ. The ticker symbol was changed to QQQQ several months ago now, long before the publishing date, so they could at least have caught that one to engender confidence in savvy readers. Of course, the immense power and might of the Agora publishing machine was thrown behind the promotion of the book. All in all, it left me with a bad taste in my mouth: a mediocre book at best, and strong overtones of conflict of interest in the way Bill Bonner pumped the book in his "Daily Reckoning" newsletter and emails to all of his paid subscriber lists to get the book to #1 at Amazon.com, and also the recycling of material long ago published to paying subscribers of Denning's newsletter in what could be viewed as pumping old recommendations. (To all of you who bought based on your reading of the book, "Thank you!" You pumped up my portfolio for me!) The success of this book is yet another testament to the fact that Agora publishing has skillfully adapted old direct mail copywriting techniques to the internet. Long may they prosper, but I will be putting my copy of the "Bull Hunter" up for sale on eBay. It's not a keeper in my opinion.

If you are already familiar with many of Denning's cohorts and the general rants and raves of the Agora Publishing crew and their free daily newsletters, and especially if you know Dan's own fee based monthly Strategic Investment newsletter, this book is a little soft. Still, it is of paramount value to someone fresh to the message since it will go unnoticed that the core theme is a retread from the last year of Strategic Investment.

Bull Hunter holds itself out as an informal back end to Financial Reckoning Day, an Agora family book that frames the current global macro structural problems fairly well in a concise, stinging rebuke / expose of American financial recklessness and structural imbalance. Reckoning Day wraps up leaving the reader with the question, "So what do I do??" Enter Denning, who provides readers with a summary on options, ETFs, a sophomoric introduction to China and India as investment opportunities (he's no Jim Rogers "Investment Capitalist", which Denning himself acknowledges in the book), finishing with a couple of investment recommendations thrown in for good measure to serve as an example of the soundness of his logic, front to back.

That's not to say the book is not worth a read. Definitely if you are new to the perspective, you should give it a go (if not as an immediate follow-up to Financial Reckoning Day). Even for one familiar with Denning's day-to-day ranting, Dan's opening third on what he calls "The Great Money Migration from The West to The East" is entertaining, even if it is a bit familiar. For newcomers, this migration is the crux of a very important paradigm shift taking place at the moment, and one that is going virtually unnoticed by the mainstream of America and much of Western Europe. That fact is to be ignored at your own peril, and this book is well ahead of the curve in framing the issue in sober terms.

All said, the broader message promoting thinking outside the box / being global-macro and geo-politically aware when investing, is important given the present cult-like mass psychosis of passive buy-and-hold asset allocation in the U.S. among professionals and non-professionals alike. The Bull Hunter will likely come across a bit like a set up for Denning's newsletters for those more experienced on the subject matter, but there is still some fresh meat on the bones. For others, that's not a bad thing, as more than a few Americans could use the sober message to balance excessive amounts of investment hype (from folks with journalism degrees) via the more popular outlets.

I found this book to be excellent in every way. I recommend it highly for any investor who handles his own money and is interested in investing in today's world.
The Bull Hunter does not recommend individual stocks, but shows what we need to do in the new world environment. It also has a great introduction to the world of ETF's, something that is very important to understand---that alone is worth far more than the cost of this book.

As a profesional investment writer and editor myself, maybe I am fussy, but I couldn't believe how badly put together this book was.

Nice idea for a book though: in the words of John Templeton, "There's always a bull market SOMEWHERE."

The authors' thesis in Bull Hunter is that, for the next decade or so at least, that bull market won't be in US stocks.

Maybe so. And, some good alternatives are offered for consideration.

However, I found the book badly written and repetitve. It could have benefitted tremendously from being properly edited. Then I might not have become dizzy from going round in circles as I read.

All in all, a disappointment.

There are a number of books on the market with similar themes, ie. the falling US Dollar, the trade deficit, the rise of China and India, the scarcity of commodities, etc. The case is persuasive and while noone can predict the future with certainty, preparing for these untoward possibilities or even profiting from them is worth reading about. The book is lively, interesting, informative, even if you are familiar with these arguments. I purchased the book from amazon.com and have since given the copy to a good friend. In some ways, we seem to be on the verge of a similar condition that took place in the 1970s, but today one can prepare through exchange traded funds and other vehicles that did not readily exist back then. History tends not to repeat exactly, so my thinking is that there will be some unexpected twists and turns, however I think it would be wise for most investors to read this book, especially if one is not diversified into commodities, raw materials, foreign equities, etc.

The book uses almost two hundred pages to state that you should invest using ETF's, that China will grow for many years, that dollar is going down due debt, that oys should use call options when prices rise and put options when they decline. Constant repetition of these same simple ideas throughout the book. I do not know who this book is for, serious investors will learn nothing new and beginning investors certainly should not invest via options.

I applaud Denning's work in The Bull Hunter. It's outrageously insightful, and has a brand of humor and personal insight into investing that one rarely gets to see these days.

Moreover, the book really makes you reevaluate how you position yourself and your portfolio in today's financial climate. Denning makes the point clear and effective: the old investment styles and strategies of even two years ago are gone. And not only antiquated, but downright dangerous to your financial future!

As he points out early in the book, today's financial climate is one that has seen the huge impact globalization has had on investing. In the section entitled America's Killer D's he points out that this is especially important because the U.S. dollar (down 30% over the past 5 years), as well as U.S. blue chips have been either stagnant or on a downward spiral. With the old stand bys crumbling a smart investor needs to diversify with foreign investments. According to him, globalization has given investors a "new reality" which in turn, calls for a "new strategy" in order to profit from these changes. What the book helps you understand is that in today's global economy, an investor needs to equate the word bull with the word opportunity.

As he points out so readily, in a world teeming with markets: stock markets, bond markets, commodity markets, there are so many opportunities for investors. If you are educated and savvy enough to recognize where to put your money, you can become very wealthy.

After reading the book and learning about the great profits that can be had, I've already started to diversify my portfolio using Denning's techniques. Several of my positions are already up in the double digits.

In a nutshell, Denning turns the "World is Flat" idea on its head...and goes one step further...showing you exactly what you CAN DO to make globalization work for you. I highly recommend this powerful little tome.

Having just finished the Jeremy Siegal book on Stocks for the Long Run, I can say Denning looks to be right on the money with his macro prediction that a world-based portfolio - versus just a U.S.-based one - makes a ton of sense.

I was surprised that he manages to squeeze in some really intriguing and specific recommendations - like one for a commodity company in Argentina that is also a great, and relatively safe play on the boom in the world's populations.

Another good thing here is that Denning has traveled the world and visited the countries and investments he's writing about - instead of writing from an office somewhere. That makes a huge difference, as Jim Rogers has proven over the long run.

All in all, a fantastic read - with some great specific investments to consider, right down to the stock symbols. Don't want to give away too much but enjoyed it a lot.

Overall I gave this book 3 stars because of the strategic thinking ideas - and that as investors of th 21st century, we must look out for bull markets EVERYWHERE in the world.

I would divide the book into 2 parts - ETFs and China.

The first portion being a strategic overview and the use of 'precision' insturments like ETFs. That alone is worth reading especially since this class of investment vehicles are likely to grow immensely in the future.

The next portion describes why the author thinks China will dominate the global landscape this century. The fact that the chapter describing India blended into a description of Chinese dominance made no doubts as to the author's orientation.

Good book - not great though