Customer Reviews

It's Your Money: The E*TRADE Step-by-Step Guide to Online Investing

5 star:		(34)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

As online investing is brand new to me, I found this book easy to follow and extremely interesting. The book guided me through the online process in a way that was easy for me to understand as well as increase my knowledge surronding online investing. The glossary of terms is a great reference to help one learn the variety of terminology. The book was filled with tons of useful information and I would highly recomend anyone who is investing online to read it!

This is the first personal finance book I've read that talks about investing in plain, easy-to-understand language. It's great for the beginner and useful for folks like me who've been investing on their own for awhile but who want to expand their knowledge or want clarification on how the markets work. I recommend it highly!

This may be the first, and is certainly one of the first books to spell out the process of online investing, and as such it is a valuable resource for the "layman" investor. As a reader with minimal knowledge of the stock market and online transactions, I was particularly impressed on three counts. First, Cotsakos has written the entire volume in an flowing, easily understood style, sort of as though he were just talking you through the process. This is helpful for those of us who don't really understand much of the typical jargon, and it also makes it easier to remain interested in what could be a very dry subject. Second, he goes back to the very basics of computer usage (purchasing the right machine with the right capabilities, etc.), which still could be quite mysterious for some people. By doing this he has anticipated and already answered some of our potential questions. And third, the book really progresses in a step-by-step fashion, with refreshers at the end of chapters, and many helpful side-notes. I think the final thing to recommend this book is that although it is, of course, written from the standpoint of E*Trade (an online trading provider), Cotsakos has avoided making it one big commercial for his company. This book is a "must read" for anyone who wants to start trading online, and also for those who already trade in this way and want to hone their skills, regardless of the service provider they choose.

I can't believe how people criticize Chritos Cotsakos. Sayingthat this book was just for publicity is ridiculous. I was surprisedwhile reading this great book how he did mention other competitors ofhis. This is a quote from his book, "At this point you probablythink I'm going to tell you to go directly to [Etrade] and sign up foran account with Etrade. Even though I am very, very proud of what wehave accomplished, I'm not going to do that. The whole point of thisbook is to empower you. The worst thing you can do when managing ourown money is to blindly follow someone else's advice-no matter whoseit is. If I thought that was a good idea, I wouldn't have bothered towrite this book. Managing your own money online is a way of takingcontrol of your actions, your research, your information, yourdecisions, and your own account. It's not a form of gambling. Makingfinancial decisions without knowing what you're doing is a form ofgambling. Instead of telling you what to do, I'm going to give yousome guidelines to help you select the best possible financial serviceprovider, and then set you loose on the Internet to make the rightdecision-for yourself. So, how do you evaluate and choose a goodfinancial service provider? Start with what I call 'the six Ss':security, speed, simplicity, service, sharing, and scalability. Thebest financial service providers do all of these very well." Nowof course he does mention how great Etrade is but if it was my book, Iwould to. Anyways, the book is great for almost anyone. The book ispretty simple in the beginning, but it helps later on in the book. Thechapters are as follow:

Welcome to the Revolution

Step I: GetReady Chapter 1: Your Financial Future Is Online

Step II: Get Set,Get Online Chapter 2: Turn On, Tune In Chapter 3: Get Your ModemRunning Chapter 4: Make It a Good One Chapter 5: Open Your AccountToday Chapter 6: Know Where You're Going

Step III: Meet the StreetChapter 7: Start with Stocks Chapter 8: Bonds. TreasuryBonds. Corporate Bonds. Municipal Bonds. Chapter 9: Funds, Funds,Funds Chapter 10: Where to Stash Some Cash Chapter 11: KnowThyself

Stop! (the stop just tells you to go back and make sure youunderstand everything said) Go! (just says go ahead and read)

StepIV: You've Got the Power Chapter 12: Online Stock Investing Chapter13: Online Bond Investing Chapter 14: Online Mutual FundInvesting

Chapter 15: Keeping Track

Step V: High Gear Chapter 16:Your Options Chapter 17: Stock Investing 2.0 Chapter 18: Let's TalkTrends Chapter 19: IPO's and More Advanced Stuff

Talking the Talk (auseful glossary of terms) Bibliography & e-contact sites Stay inTouch (contact information) Acknowledgements About the Author Index

This book is great for most people and he just explains how to readstock information and what everything means. It's not an equation ofhow to find the next Wal-Mart or Cisco. I don't know how people saythat this book won't help you at all.

This brand new 223 page book teaches you how to easily and successfully use E-trading to your best advantage. There's not a whole lot of technical jargon or theory and detail that you probably wouldn't use anyway, but it provides you with the ammunition to help you succeed. It provides guidance on buying the right computer, how to use it, Internet Service Providers and goes on to help you set up your account, participate in short and long-term plans, bonds, stocks, futures, options and mutual funds. You'll be shown how to use your computer for setting up your best financial plan. This is something beginners really need and often fail to take the time to do. The book is very informative and fun to read. Along the way Mr. Cotsakos throws in some commercials for his own products, but they don't have to be purchased for successful trading. Overall, this book is an up-to-date, valuable source of information that can only benefit your successful E-Trading. Most investors can benefit by this book, even those who think they know it all.

As others have stated the book is little more than a 200 page advertisement for e-trade.

I read the book because I know very little about investing in the stock market and I would like to learn.

Even as god awful new to the stock market I am, I learned almost nothing from the book. Many of his descriptions of the way things are "Why do companies go public?" were oversimplified to the point of being wrong.

I went into the book with a bunch of questions and left will all of the same questions.

At best the only thing the book does is convince you to invest money in the stock market through E-trade.

If you are going to trade online, the $13 per trade commission E-Trade charges you is much higher than the $7/trade rate offered by Scottrade, or the $10/trade Ameritrade offers but you won't find that in the book.

If you want to learn about the stock market, I would recommend instead Jim Cramer's 'Mad Money' or 'Sane Investing in an Insane World'.

If you managed to make it here to read this review then it is a fair bet you already know everything 'It's Your Money' has to say. The book is really that worthless.

Okay, Christos says in his book that Cheri Oteri says he may NOT use that word again ...but I am going to go ahead and say it anyway. His book is BODACIOUS. I ordered one for my sister who just switched jobs and has to roll over some money and doesn't know what to do. I ordered one for one of my fresh-out-of-college clients who is eager to jump into the fray but is dizzied by all the financial brouhaha. In this chaotic market, with the NASDAQ wildly rollercoasting, Christos' perspective is even more valuable. I also loved the part on Options. He makes a murky,misunderstood subject very clear. Lots of personality comes through but it still feels like education rather than spin. Bravo!

I bought this book because I had been investing off-line for some time, but the thought of actually trading over the Internet terrified me. This is the perfect book for anyone in that situation: Cotsakos does not assume that you know anything at all about computers, or about investing, for that matter. He walked me through the basic steps (finding an Internet Service Provider, for example) with idiot-proof instructions.

In addition to being extremely useful to novice online investors, the book is a pleasure to read. My sister, who has never bought a stock in her life, read most of it simply for amusement value. I recommend this book to everyone.

I purchased the book to satisfy my curiosity. I was not expecting to learn much since I've been investing for some time. I was wrong. Not only is the book crammed with useful information, but it is very easy to read with abundant graphics and humor.

I recommend the book to all, both beginner and experienced investor.

This book is great for those who know nothing about investing and those that know quite a bit. It doesn't just apply to those interested in online investing, it covers all aspects of investing. Christos writes in a very easy to understand style with humor thrown in.