Customer Reviews

How to Make a Fortune from the Biggest Bailout in U.S. History: A Guide to the 7 Greatest Bargains from Main Street to WallStreet

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This review is written in a letter format to Ron Insana.

Dear Ron,

Like the old lady on the Wendy's commercials used to yell, WHERE'S THE BEEF? Ron, you should be ashamed of yourself. This definitely is not a HOW TO book. An appropriate name for your book is:I WISH I COULD FIGURE OUT HOW TO MAKE A FORTUNE, THEN I WOULDN'T HAVE TO RIP YOU OFF WITH THIS BOOK. This book was a total waste of money and time. I think an appropriate price for this book should be $3.95. Your book had about 10 pages of useful information....all historical. One of the other reviewers talked about the book's brevity. It was anything but that. Yes, the book is short on pages but it is mainly short on substance. The book repeats basic information over and over and over and over again. Your generalized recommendations could have been explained in 2 pages. Your personal anecdotes are too wordy.

This was the formula that I believed you used to churn out this book in a few days or so:

1-Put the term MAKE A FORTUNE on the cover

2-Use the following phrase every 10 pages, LATER IN THE BOOK I WILL DISCLOSE HOW TO ......then never do it. You did this throughout the book.

3-Make the book appear to include a lot of technical analysis. However, most of the charts and graphs have no technical value at all. Other than Ron's "hunches" there is no information about how to objectively analyze his broad investment recommendations.

4-Over-do your index (14 pages) so that the book appears to be more authoritative than it actually is. Index terms such as "Sumeria, ancient", Will Rogers and Martha Stewart show that the book is just a mess of irrelevant historical data, quotes and anecdotes.

5-Have chapters on various bonds and collateralized investments that even many sophisticated investors do not understand. Everyday investors can not glean any information here since they are not likely to invest in these investments. Confuse them and let them think they just aren't smart enough to "get it".

Ron, I think you dictated this book on your commute to work. This explains why you repeat yourself so much. I think you meant to go back and ADD THE BEEF but it just never happened. Shame on your editors. They did not do their jobs. Where are the good editors these days anyway?

Sincerely,

Former Ron Insana fan

To anyone considering purchasing this book: please do not let Ron Insana or his publishers profit on this book. If you must read it, check it out at the library.

Also, to anyone who enjoyed the book, can you please let me know how Ron's book actually accomplishes what it's title promises. And, what NEW AND EXCITING ideas does Ron uncover?

How to Make a Fortune from the Biggest Bailout in U.S. History is divided into seven parts:

* The Sub-Prime Primer

* Don't Look Back! (Well, Look Back a Little)

* Dressed for Distress

* Wall Street in Distress

* A Crisis in Credit

* Homes, Suites, Homes

* The Really Big Bailout

Insana starts by briefly explaining how this current recession fits in the U.S.'s economic history, then describes how people like Warren Buffett and Sam Zell use these difficult times to scout for value opportunities. Insana then points out that Uncle Sam's present help is creating unique opportunities at this time through the"drop in interest rates, government support programs or assistance to buy both old and new assets."

Insana organizes a resource guide at the start of the book to help readers prepare for and research investment opportunities. The guide includes: (1) financial news websites like CNBC.com and TheStreet.com; (2) the basic array of periodicals, like The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Financial Times, The Washington Post, and The Drudge Report; (3) research services like Morningstar; (4) sites specific to real estate and foreclosure opportunities; and helpful sites provided by a wide range of government agencies and institutions.

Insana urges the consumer/"average investor" to recognize that while the average investor's response to this decline in stock and asset prices is to run from the decline, a rational and professional investor would recognize that "America is on sale" and look around to identify bargains. Insana claims that "many asset classes remain 40 to 50 percent below their all-time highs." Insana points out how the average investor behaves differently when buying on Main Street versus on Wall Street: she hurries to drops in prices of electronics or home goods but when investing, she usually buys when the prices rise instead of when they dip.

Insana warns that as inflation accelerates the value of cash will be reduced considerably and recommends that investors explore investing in stocks, Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities (TIPS), municipal bonds, and new federal bonds ("Obama Bonds"). To help the average investor evaluate stocks, Insana compares the current "Great Recession" to the Great Depression and points out areas of risk. He includes clear explanations of investment concepts such as dollar cost averaging and "buying the market" through choosing proxies for market averages through index funds and ETFs (exchange-traded funds) by way of explaining how an average investor might invest without having to select specific stocks. Insana explains the concept behind TIPS, which are Treasury bonds that pay a nominal yield and a premium for rising inflation. Since interest rates are at historic lows, Insana points out that they can only be expected to rise, but the TIPS protect the investor from the risk of inflation.

In Homes, Suites, Homes, Insana delves into his family's experience with homeownership and makes the point that a home is not necessarily an investment but it is likely to be the largest single purchase that an investor will make. Insana also recommends against taking out home equity lines of credit and instead suggests several ways to avoid having to rely on a second mortgage or a home equity line of credit. Insana offers specific suggestions for purchasing distressed real estate, whether through an actual house, whether out of foreclosure or through a short sale or from the owner directly, or through investment in real estate investment trusts (REITS) or other funds that buy residential real estate.

It is in The Really Big Bailout: TAF, TARP, TALF, PDCF, AMLF, CPFF, MMIFF, and PPIP, that Insana gives an overview of the new programs that the Federal Reserve and the U.S. Treasury have put into place to absorb the enormous amounts of bad debt held by U.S. financial institutions. Isana clearly supports the "lifeline" extended to these critically important financial institutions, but he points out that several of these programs, such as the TALF and PPIP, will also benefit individual investors directly. Instead of going into the details, he steers the average investor to websites that can serve as starting points for investment research.

Overall, in How to Make a Fortune from the Biggest Bailout in U.S. History, Ron Insana recommends areas for investment in an upbeat and straightforward manner. He suggests where an average investor might research investment opportunities based on her tolerance for risk, time horizon, asset mix and interest. I found the sections on the federal bailout programs, TIPS, municipal bonds, and Obama Bonds particularly interesting and potentially useful. If you're looking for an overview of the investment opportunities available during this "Great Recession" or if you want to make sure that you're properly tending to your money, I recommend giving Ron Insana's latest book a read.

ISBN-10: 1583333649

Publisher: Avery (December 31, 2009), 224 pages.

Review copy provided by TLC Book Tours.

For a quick, well-written look into how one well-connected wall streeter thinks you might invest your way out of the recent financial crash - THIS is a really useful easy read. Sometimes brevity is the better part of wisdom.

When the economy's booming, it's relatively easy to make a lot of money in the stock market. If you make some really great stock picks, you might even make a fortune.

The challenge is to figure out how to make the right play when the ecomomy's still reeling from the '08 meltdown. Ron Insana has a pretty good track record as a financial analyst, and he put together seven different plays which he thinks has a very good shot at making anyone aggressive enough to step up to the plate, a lot of money; maybe even a fortune.

Of course, with any investment, there's a certain degree of risk; and in order to parlay any of his top "bargains" into a massive money making income stream, you've got to be able to risk a pretty good chunk of your hard-earned cash to leverage your upside potential.

Insana's advice is sound and could help anyone successfully navigate their way through a volatile financial landscape; with any "crisis" situation there are good opportunities to capitalize, and Insana's "Top 7" gives you a very good chance to make a bundle of money. Certainly, nothing is guaranteed, but there is a great deal of upside potential here.