Customer Reviews

The Forever Portfolio: How to Pick Stocks That You Can Hold for the Long Run

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The premise of the book is quite interesting---what are fundamental trends with significant tail wind? And, indeed, the author throws out some interesting ideas, like varicose vein treatments in response to obesity problems. That said, the book is horribly written---the author has about 20 pages of interesting content interspersed with 200 pages of random digressions, about his love of computer games and the longest words in the English language.

This is a good book and i respect James efforts to steers us towards respectable companies.
However, as a standalone book it leaves much more to be desired. The students of trading need to revisit the writings of Toby Crabel and Linda Raschke in order to learn from real traders and hedge fund managers. These could be found here or on Ebay. From what i understand James does not trade full time.

I like the basic idea of the book that time is one advantage individual investors have. Unfortunately, I found the book superficial. The author is on to something but does not develop his thoughts well enough for the reader to take away a truly useful framework for investing.

I have the opinion that James Altucher is honest and intelligent. He has been burnt like many of us. He knows the system is so rigged that an ordinary investor has a minute chance against the PhD mathematics, computers, inside information, derivatives, short selling, options, etc, etc of the greedy elite. James tries to tackfully steer us to solid companies that still derive thier value from solid business principal of growth and dividend yield. I think the book is a great read to try to get your mind clear and refocused if necessary to reality. James is trying to help the average person and he is not trying to fill his own pockets at your expense. Refreshing and ethical.

This book exposes readers to trends that they have never thought of before even though they are sometimes so obvious. For example, as computers became a necessity over the years, the growth of viruses exploded. Companies that protect us from these attacks will always be needed not matter what the economy and the stock market is doing. The author makes readers think in terms of years in the future instead of the next few quarters. I highly recommend this book to investors.

- Mariusz Skonieczny, author of Why Are We So Clueless about the Stock Market? Learn how to invest your money, how to pick stocks, and how to make money in the stock market

This book came to me quickly and was very well put together. It is very good to know what to invest in for the long term.

How often do you laugh out loud reading a finance or business book? Not often? Then, you should give this book a read, and I don't mean that in a pejorative way.

In one of the last chapters Altucher writes about the potential for a TV channel that exclusively covers people getting tasered. Once you read this book, Altuchers' description of this idea under the context of that particular chapter might have you laughing to. I found a couple of other instance to chuckle at throughout the book. But, on a more serious note, the book contains some good ideas.

Not only does Altucher write about some long term stocks and industries that have demographic tailwinds, but he also brings home the point that, while the world can be a dirty, unethical and tragic place, one cannot let those negatives swamp the positives, particularly with investment ideas.

World running out of fresh water have you worried? Instead of worry about the problem, why not just invest in companies that deliver and produce clean water? Not only might you make some money, but you'll also be providing capital to companies who might successfully address the very issues that have you concerned.

Worried about cyber attacks or getting into a car accident? Well, don't let your intellect get in the way of making money for yourself. Why not invest in companies that thwart attacks or recover totaled autos? These companies have businesses that will survive well into the future.

Altucher also writes some about closed end bond funds and dividend yielding stocks as being solid long term investments and also mentions the benefits of knowing what companies super investors and activist are accumulating positions in.

The one thing I was not really persuaded by in the book was the idea of investing in companies that are trying to develop vaccines. Sometimes vaccines end up being bought exclusively by governments, which isn't always the best customer for a business to have. Cancer vaccines: so much effort over the years and still so few results. I would prefer genetic testing companies. Find a company with lots of IP protection that will be the first to sequence your genome for a moderate fee; that would be a real winner.

It was an enjoyable book to read and I would recommend it.