Customer Reviews

FORTY YEARS A SPECULATOR

5 star:		(43)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

What a great, great book! I don't usually leave reviews, but I am something of an investing book guru, because I own dang near all of them. In the past year or so I've read 12 "penny stock" books and (while this isn't entirely all about penny stocks) this the best one hands down. Aside from being an entertaining read, this book is filled with information regarding sectors I never thought about for penny stocks. This book is worth whatever I paid for it just for his one single penny stock strategy. Let alone he gives his whole investment strategy is this 100 or so page book. I enjoyed reading this book and wish the author would write more, because his hatred for the wall street hypocrit/coward nearly matches mine.

This book opened an entire new world to me! Fred does an excellent job of making a case for investing in scarce resources that WILL go up--gold, silver, oil, etc. Then he shows step by step how to find absolute rock bottom bargains on oil, silver, gold, and other stocks. This is not your run of the mill book.

My favorite discussion in the book is on penny mining stocks. These are stocks that give you incredible leverage because they cost anywhere from .05+ a piece. Not only do you get leverage but you also make enormous sums if these stocks go up even a few cents. And the risk is minimum because you can buy a ton of stock when their price is so low.

Not only was the book an excellent read but it also entirely and permanently opened up a new world to me. It changed my paradigm completely! Out of all the books on investing I have read (I read 1 or 2 a month and have been doing so for some time), this is one of the top two I have read!

Fred Carach speaks from the weight of experience gained from the
school of hard knocks. As a futures and options trader myself with
twenty years in the industry, even from a brief reading it's readily
apparent that the author truly knows his craft -- the business of
small cap investing within the natural resource sector.

His trading style and philosophy are completely unorthodox (a big plus
point in my book). His views on technical analysis, stop-loss orders
and other conventional Wall Street wisdom surely would have him
condemned for heresy, however, I suspect the author would feel such a
charge be considered a badge of honour.

This book is full of common sense and a distillation of wonderful
investment stories. I can highly recommend it.

A good read for the person who is trying to turn a little money into a lot of money. This book gives you many categories of stocks to consider and the author lists his favorites in each sector.

A word of caution because these are very speculative stocks with high volatility. I like his practice of keeping one third of his portfolio in speculative plays while allocating two thirds to income stocks producing dividends of at least 6%.

Very entertaining with just the facts and no fluff.

Bob

This is a wonderful book. I have to agree with all the positive remarks in these 5 star reviews. The strategies are different and unique and I believe will work. I'm sure going to give them a try anyway. But, to me, the background material Mr. Carach includes adds so much to the book. It makes whats been going on in our economy much more understandable and thereby helps you understand why the investment strategies presented will work. The section called "The Wrath of Adam Smith" for example is a real eye opener. I highly recommend this book.

Although humor may be sprinkled throughout this whole book, it should be taken very seriously. He gives a very well thought out, and examined approach to very high risk investment. He gives not only relevant stock examples, but also relevant historical examples. My only recommendation is to read one or two general trading books, before reading this one, otherwise you won't be able to fully appreciate his alternative view of investing.

This is a great little jewel of a book. After reading it, the writer has provided great details about his strategies and how he plays the market to make a good return on his investments of about 106 different stocks.
The best part is that you can start small and build up your investments and get paid doing so. This book should be in every serious investor's library and you won't find any hype or fluff in this book, its compact with just hard hitting facts and how to make money on a shoestring budget.

This is a great book and a quick read. While it's appropriate for everyone, you will get the most benefit if you are already familiar with the various investing schools mentioned (value, growth, efficient markets).

Now, what did I like most?
First, it was very valuable to me to see Fred's journey as an investor & how his view changed as he tried different methods--I felt his writings about rejecting growth investing & large caps had a lot of credibility because it came out of his own experience. Specifically, he told us what he tried before settling on his current method, and why it didn't work. This is really valuable because most investment books aren't that transparent, leaving the reader to wonder "well, that sounds good, but did he try this other approach first?" and in his case, yes he did. I also appreciated his insights about investing psychology, which is that success depends more on how you deal with losses, than with gains -- and if you are a long term investor, you have to be comfortable with riding out large losses in order to get large gains. Finally, his note about "dancing slicks" also struck a real chord - that you make more money riding your winners than selling them after they go up 20% and trying to replace them.

Second, I really benefited from learning about certain asset classes I had never known about (income trusts, energy trusts)--most investment books cover the same asset classes over and over again.

Third, the discussion towards the end on portfolio allocation was fascinating because it is very different than the traditional take of 50/50 bond index fund, stock index fund. I feel the crucial insight was putting 2/3 of your money in high yield investments, and the remaining 1/3 in penny stocks. Also, the note on compound interest, while not new to me, was eye opening in the context of the difference that high yield assets can make over long periods of time. Fred put 2/3 of his money in high-yield assets, freeing him to take much higher risk with the remaining 1/3. Moreover, it is extremely diversified (100+ stocks) My hunch is that the bulk of the investments stay about the same, a few wipe out, and there a few big winners which provide most of your returns.

all in all, a great read.

I wish I had read this book before donating a lot of money to the markets several years ago. I especially like the strategies he spells out for profiting with gold and silver miners. They are a different breed of equity that can provide life changing wealth if chosen properly and this book will help you navigate the perils of market makers and manipulators along with your fear and greed.

Surprisingly, Mr. Carach lays out his blueprint for success with wit and humor, tempered with common sense and great advice.

I back tested several of his strategies and they were very profitable minus slippage and commissions. The strategies are designed with hedges to offset draw down. As with any strategy, you will have losses but the key is cut them short and let your winners run. Detach yourself emotionally from your portfolio and use money management for position sizing.
This is a great education for any trader/investor.

Shawn Fitzgerald
infolode

Fred Carach is not a momentum investor, nor a wall street Acolyte. He is a conviction value investor. He makes an excellent case for his style of dividend plays mixed with a salting of junior mining stocks. I was a momentum player myself, yet his damning account of trend chasing rang true with the results I have experienced.

His writings are full of experience, and original thought. Ranging from his view of a resource scarce world, to the down to earth high dividends of trusts and REITs. Leave the big player arena of the S&P500 to the mutual funds, learn to put the odds on your side, and learn what this real investor is made of.

I must have read over 80 books on stocks now, and yet this is the one that is my imprint for my investments to come.