Customer Reviews

How to Buy Stocks

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

The world is full of books that claim to teach you how to make millions starting with nothing, in only a few minutes a day. Unfortunately, these books skip over the basics that everyone needs to know about buying stocks. Where can you get those basics? How to Buy Stocks is the source you need.

I would suggest that you first read John Bogle's book, Common Sense on Mutual Funds, to determine whether or not you will even want to buy individual stocks. For most people, indexed mutual funds are a much better alternative. If you've read that book, and want to have a small portion of your money in directly purchased stocks, then you are ready for this book.

I have read dozens of books on how the basics of how to invest in stocks, and think that this is the most valuable and objective one around.

I had an amusing experience a few years ago. I attended a "sophisticated" seminar on stock market investing that was very expensive, and found that main speaker drew all of his material from this book. So you can save a lot of money, and simply buy, read, and use this book in the first place.

Another benefit of this book is that is dispels a lot of myths about stock market investing that most people have when they first start to invest. I routinely give this book to family and friends who want to know more about investing. By the way, I consult with large companies who want to improve their stock price, so I have a useful perspective on this issue from my work.

After you finish enjoying this book, I suggest that you pay particular attention to the section on writing covered calls. That is a very good way to increase your returns if you plan to hold your stocks for a long period of time. You will find this approach works best after you have passed the capital gains holding period, or for IRA money (or any other tax-deferred accounts).

Compound your wealth appropriately!

As a beginner in investing, I had a hard time understanding the market terminologies. I did not know how the market works until I found this book. In this book, you will learn the basics of investing; how the stock market works, mutual funds, common stocks, preferred stocks, bonds, options, trading on margin, selling short, how to deal with brokers, and a lot of other topics. One thing that I found confusing is that the author talks a lot about the rules of investing in the 60's, 70's, 80's and 90's, to an extent that you got confused and don't know what is the current investing rules. You have to dig between the lines until you get the information you are looking for. I think it is not important for us to know the investing rules back in the 60's. Other than that, the book is excellent and definetly should be in your library, at least as a reference.

The problem with so, so many investment texts on the market is that the authors of the texts have a clear conflict of interest: read my book, buy my tapes and come to my seminar, and they'll teach you how to make a million dollars. A sucker is born every minute, and the dark scary world of investment books is proof of it.

This is the best book on investing, and how to measure value generally, that I've ever read. It's very, very old school. If you feel yourself attracted to the NYSE like a big exciting roulette table, but you don't know what a P/E ratio is or what a stock split really means, buy this book before you do anything stupid.

This is a book for all times, very well rounded lots of good information. In todays Bull market there are so many disillusioned newbies that think todays market will last forever. The information in this can help you to be a sober investor.

The eighth edition of this extremely thorough, classic stock market primer has been completely revised. Louis Engel wrote it more than forty years ago, and in this eighth edition, Henry R. Hecht up-dates it for contemporary readers. This critically acclaimed book provides a ground-level explanation of every aspect of the stock market and investing, while also offering savvy investment principles. It provides an introductory base covering terms and a broad picture of stock investing, and then builds a solid package of information. The book is clearly organized, as befits a traditional reference in the field. As the author says, "This is a book about how to make your money earn more money for you by investing it. It is not a book about how to make a fortune..." We at getAbstract recommend this book as a standard for anyone interested in making investments, and anyone intrigued by the investment industry.

If you are a beginner in the area of stocks, and have a lots of basic questions, this book is for you. All the terminology and the functioning of the stock market is nicely developed. I definitely recommend it instead of frantically searching on the internet for learning the basics.

I first read this book more than ten years ago after a particularly rough day at work. I thought "There must to be an easier way to make money." Instead of going straight home I headed to the Boston Barnes and Noble in Downtown Crossing. There I saw this book. For someone who has no idea what the stock market is or how it works this is an excellent book. Though the prose could be a little dry, it provides a basis on what stocks and bonds are, it differentiates between stocks and preferred stocks, it explains why you need a broker to buy most stocks. You definitely should read this before attempting to read more classical investment books because the terminology used can be daunting. This book also complements Tobias' "Still the Only Investment Book You'll Ever Need"

This is a great book to understand stocks and debt instruments market. The author explains the various stages in the growth of a company using his fictional Pocket Pole Company and his writing style is lucid. This is a book dealing with a considerable number of terms and Hecht's examples helps one in easily grasping the concept.

The book is big, more than 400 pages long and covers various investment techniques using Stocks, Bonds, Treasury Bonds, Mutual Funds and also discusses the making of a stock market, guidelines to follow while investing etc. It is really a wonderful read for anyone interested in understanding money flow and how corporations are born.

Personally, I enjoyed reading about Pocket Pole and the author's comparison of Pocket Pole with companies like IBM and Walt Disney. It is amazing to note that this book is around half a century old and the concepts haven't really changed.

One thing I didn't like about is that the book needs to be updated, and should discuss the Enron and the recent stock market crash. Louis touches upon incidents of 1994 and I feel that a revision is very much due!

Overall, a great book if you are new to the investment market.

I have bought this book at least six times since the 5th edition came out, simply because I recommend it to EVERYONE who asks me for a good beginner's book on stocks and I loan them mine, never to get it back again! I read dozens of books on the ins and outs of buying stocks and found none to be as detailed as this. It starts assuming you know practically nothing and explains everything in laymen's terms. The parts on dealing with a broker (defining all the common terms), and short selling are especially excellent. You can become a stock trading expert (or at least sound like one :) very quickly with this book. Even "old-hands" will learn a thing or two from this handy book. If you like this book, I also recommend the older title, "How I made a million dollars trading stock".

This is a good introduction to the world of investing. The author educates readers about investment products such as common stocks, preferred stocks, corporate bonds, government bonds, municipal bonds, mutual funds, options, and futures. He also writes about the New York Stock Exchange, NASDAQ, and other exchanges, and how trading is conducted. Other topics covered are buying on margin, short selling, and following investments.

The subject of investing may seem too complicated for the general public. I thought the author of this book did an excellent job explaining the subject in an easy to follow language and format. I would recommend this book to beginning 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