If It's Raining in Brazil, Buy Starbucks [Paperback]

Peter Navarro (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 23, 2004

IF IT'S RAINING IN BRAZIL, BUY STARBUCKS

The hardcover edition of If It's Raining in Brazil, Buy Starbucks first introduced investors to "macrotrading." Instead of just theorizing, the breakthrough investing strategy actually quantifies the impact of global economic forces on specific sectors of the stock market. This paperback edition delivers macrotrading to a new and wider audience, identifying which economic indicators are essential to follow, how to trade profitably in times of recession or inflation, subtle signals that indicate imminent turning points in the market, and much more.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

The Breakthrough Trader's Guide On How to Spot--and Profit From--News-Driven Market Swings

The hardcover edition of If It's Raining in Brazil, Buy Starbucks first introduced Professor Peter Navarro's authoritative "macrotrading" system to traders around the world. Now let this paperback edition introduce you to the market-proven power of macrotrading, and show you how to increase your trading precision by more precisely quantifying the impact of economic events on specific sectors of the stock market.

"Learning to interpret news correctly is a key in successful investing. Peter Navarro gives lots of great examples to help you learn."

--Jim Rogers, Author, Investment Biker

"In targeting the market events that cannot be ignored, If It's Raining in Brazil, Buy Starbucks does a great job separating the thought process of the amateur investor from the professional. Navarro's book gives the reader a valuable insight into market psychology."

--David S. Nassar, CEO, MarketWise Securities, Inc., Bestselling author, How to Get Started in Electronic Day Trading and Rules of the Trade

"Witty, fun, and very informative...Peter Navarro has come as close as you can to creating the ultimate roadmap to understanding how news and economic events affect markets. I wish this book had been available when I started my trading career."

--Oliver L. Velez, CEO, Pristine Capital Holdings, Inc., and www.Pristine.com, Author, Tools and Tactics for the Master Day Trader

About the Author

Peter Navarro received his Ph.D. in economics from Harvard University and is a professor of business and economics at the University of California-Irvine. The author of When the Market Moves, Will You Be Ready?, Dr. Navarro has appeared on NPR and written articles for Harvard Business Review, BusinessWeek, the Wall Street Journal, and other prominent business publications.

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill; 1 edition (January 23, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0071433198
• ISBN-13: 978-0071433198
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 5.7 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #862,988 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Peter Navarro is a business professor at the University of California, Irvine. His latest book is "The Well-Timed Strategy: Managing the Business Cycle for Competitive Advantage."

He is author of the bestselling investment book If It's Raining in Brazil, Buy Starbucks" and the bestselling audio lecture course "Big Picture Investing: How, When, and Why the Stock Market Moves." His weekly newsletter on the economy and stock market is distributed widely and is available to the public at www.peternavarro.com .

A widely sought-after and gifted public speaker, Navarro has appeared frequently on Bloomberg TV, CNN, CNBC, NPR, and all three major network news shows. Navarro's articles have appeared in a wide range of leading publications, including Barrons, Business Week, Harvard Business Review, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and Sloan Management Review.

Professor Navarro holds a B.A. from Tufts University and a Ph.D. in economics from Harvard.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

29 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Dangerous, February 24, 2005

By 

Jeff Lipkes (Tampa) - See all my reviews

This review is from: If It's Raining in Brazil, Buy Starbucks (Paperback)

...because it's seductively written, and is liable to give readers unwarranted confidence in their ability to speculate/gamble (a distiction without a difference if there ever was one). The book is filled with entertaining fictionalized case-histories of people who both ignore and practice "macrowave investing." Problem is, of course, it's not as easy to play chess while everyone else is playing checkers as Navarro makes out. Case in point: throughout 2003, after March 12, he was calling market tops week after week, dissing the rally, eagerly adding to his short positions. Have no idea when he finally covered.
Investing is about a lot more than interpreting news alerts. When a major computer virus breaks out, it will occur to a lot of people to buy Symantec. It's awfully hard to get in first, even if you have time to sit in front of the computer all day, while glued to CNBC. And you'll be wrong half the time even if you do react instantaneously, because too many other things are contributing to a stock's valuation. From bitter experience, I've come to conclude that the best you can do is to respond to the over-reactions of Wall St. But then you have to know the companies you're buying, and there's zilch here on analyzing and evaluating businesses.
Though ostensibly written for all kinds of investors, the book is, of course, all about momentum trading--riding trends. For people who want to do this, _If It's Raining_ probably covers the basics as well as any book. He even throws in a glib and inaccurate account of the history of economic thought in the 20th century. The coverage of the business cycle and the introduction to the economic indicators is a lot better. Hence the 4 stars. But if this book fires your enthusiasm for "macrowave investing," do some paper trades for a few months first. Better still, take a look at the archives of Navarro's old columns from his website, if he's kept them.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Just about the best stock investing book I ever read., August 27, 2005

By 

Marc "I am the grantor of wishes." (delray beach, florida, United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: If It's Raining in Brazil, Buy Starbucks (Paperback)

This book gives you different scenarios as to what can happen to the stock, currency and bond markets with every economic report that comes out. Be sure you dont get overwhelmed by all of this and perhaps focus mainly on the 3 and 4 star data that comes out for a while. I am a semi-professional stock speculator myself, and even I was overwhelmed at how much info he gives. I will surely have to keep this one on my shelf for constant reference.

He gives many entertaining samples of how real speculators would act on news and economic data. The funny thing is, many fundamental and technical analysts pay too little attention to this data, and some pay it too much heed. So you need to find the balance. I will say this; I always found economic data very boring until Peter showed us they are all pieces of a puzzle and that makes it very, very interesting indeed. I will never look at CNBC the same way again. As well, the resource guide for websites and news sources at the back of the book are worth the price of this book itself! (...)Marc

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Quest to predict the future, August 12, 2009

By 

Mariusz Skonieczny "Author" (Schaumburg, IL) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: If It's Raining in Brazil, Buy Starbucks (Paperback)

For ages, humans were trying to figure out a way to predict the future. This book is a continuation of this same old quest. The authors argue that investors and traders can use different events to predict price movements in order to profit from them. This book is more for short-term investors and traders than long-term investors.

However, just because I personally do not believe in what the authors are teaching, I am not going to say that this book did not help me. It did. Most of the investment community is short-term oriented and as a long-term investor, it is extremely useful to understand what indicators or events make prices move up and down. I want to know what my competitors are doing even though I do not agree with them.

- 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