The Neatest Little Guide to Stock Market Investing [Paperback]

Jason Kelly (Author)

Book Description

Series: Neatest Little Guide to Stock Market Investing | Publication Date: January 1, 1998

Solid investment know-how is not just for savvy Wall Streeters. The Neatest Little Guide to Stock Market Investing provides novice investors with all the information they need to make smart stock choices. Author Jason Kelly deciphers seemingly complicated lingo on stock markets with his easy, conversational style and shows beginners how to tackle stocks with confidence. The Neatest Little Guide to Stock Market Investing combines friendly guidance and sound financial expertise, giving readers a solid foundation on which to build a profitable portfolio. *Includes important tips from Wall Street masters Peter Lynch, Benjamin Graham, Warren Buffett, and others. *Fun visual format will appeal to the Gen-X audience of the bestselling Get a Financial Life. *The natural sequel to the author's very successful Neatest Little Guide to Mutual Fund Investing, already in its third printing months after publication. *Jason Kelly is a regular correspondent for CNNfn's "It's Only Money," and has been featured in Kiplinger's, Mutual Fund Magazine , and Entrepreneur.

Product Details

• Paperback: 257 pages
• Publisher: Plume (January 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0452278708
• ISBN-13: 978-0452278707
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (47 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #259,253 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Jason Kelly is the author of nine books including "The Neatest Little Guide to Stock Market Investing," a BusinessWeek best seller now in its 2010 edition, and his newest title, "Stock Market Contest," published in November 2011. He also publishes "The Kelly Letter," a curiously readable weekly investment advisory.

He graduated from the University of Colorado in 1993 with a BA in English, but not before a professor told him that he would never succeed as an author because he "lacked a basic command of the English language." Luckily, IBM disagreed and hired Jason as a technical writer at its Silicon Valley Laboratory in San Jose, California. Once income from his freelance writing matched his income from IBM, Jason left corporate life to become a full-time freelance writer. About IBM hiring him for the only "real" job he's ever had, Jason wrote in Financially Stupid People, "I keep a special smile for Big Blue because of that break. It was the only company that believed in me. I never knew the meaning of the term 'competing offer.'"

One of Jason's Japanese publishers, Shueisha, brought him to Tokyo on book tour in 1999. He took that opportunity to visit his old high school exchange student friend, and wrote a funny article about the experience. That article remains one of Jason's most widely read. It's still on his site, at http://is.gd/cLe5V. Japan went straight to Jason's heart, and he decided to live there. He rented out his home in California and moved to Sano, Japan in 2002 for what he thought was going to be a one-year stay. Eight years later, he still lives and works there.

In addition to writing new books and "The Kelly Letter," he's also the angel investor in Red Frog Coffee in Longmont, Colorado, a delightful little shop managed by his sister and business partner, Emily.

Learn all you could ever want to know about Jason at jasonkelly.com/about.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

378 of 384 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beginner to Guru in 7 easy chapters, March 12, 2001

By 

Ken (PORT ANGELES, WA, United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Neatest Little Guide to Stock Market Investing (Paperback)

Kelly has put together an excellent book here. In 7 chapters, he covers a breadth of knowledge that every serious or potential stock investor should be familiar with. I learned more in the week I spent reading this book, than in 6 months of listening to tips from co-workers, on-line discussions, and self-directed research.

In chapter 1, he defines all the terminology you'll encounter in stocks. In a very readable manner, he quickly covers EPS, P/E, PSR, ROE, Beta, and numerous other concepts that are useful.

In chapter 2, he describes the methods of 6 all-time top investors (including: Buffett, Lynch, O'Neil, etc.) comparing and contrasting there methods.

In chapter 3, he explores what some historic evaluations of stock growth show. This is great stuff, especially during a down market.

In chapter 4, he explains in detail the Dow Dividend Strategy. Anyone can understand this and with only 30 minutes of work per year have a relatively successful investment plan.

In chapter 5, he covers the process of choosing a broker and placing orders.

In chapter 6, he covers some of the many methods you can use to research stocks. With a ton of web-sites, newsletters, and books, Kelly's advice can save you countless hours wasting time looking for information from the wrong source.

In chapter 7, he explains his own strategy. With easy to understand worksheets and using the knowledge gained earlier in the book, he guides you into an investment plan that will suit you.

Not only is this book full of good information, but it's written in a very readable manner. I highly recommend reading this book BEFORE making another investment decision. Even if you have a broker that you like, you owe it to yourself to educate yourself with this book.

137 of 139 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Clear, Concise, User-friendly, January 16, 2000

By 

Michael L. Perla - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Neatest Little Guide to Stock Market Investing (Paperback)

If you've never read a book about investing in the stock market, this is a great book to start with. Having read many of the authors that Jason cites, I found his distillation of their concepts quite good. Jason first teaches one how to evaluate stocks, and then what the Master Investors (e.g., Buffett, Fisher) can teach us about investing and stock selection. Jason also focuses on a book entitled "What Works on Wall Street." This book by James O'Shaughessy revolves around his study of 43 years of results from 1952-1995 contained in Standard & Poor's Compustat database. Jason's book ends with chapters to help you set up your own core portfolio utilizing the methodology he has set forth.

Bottom line: if you're looking for a thorough discussion of the Capital Asset Pricing Model or the Equity Premium, then I would look at more academic texts, but if you want a clear, user-friendly, well-researched discussion of the stock market, I would buy this book. The average 5 star review from 25 people (as of this review) is substantial evidence to this book's value.

37 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Don't Miss This One!, February 19, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Neatest Little Guide to Stock Market Investing (Paperback)

I can't write enough about this book. It covers so much in such a tiny amount of space that I found myself flipping back through the pages just to see how I learned it all. The word economy here is unbelievable. It teaches much more than books three times its length. The truly magical part about Kelly's writing is that it never gets boring. It's funny, instructive, convincing, and thorough. This book will not only get you ready to make big money in stocks, it will teach you how to write well. The part I enjoyed most was the section about market volatility. Kelly tells the story of Intel in 1994 when its chip failed certain math calculations. He showed how foolish investors abandoned the stock when nothing fundamental had changed. In the end, they needlessly lost money. You will never lose money after reading this book. Instead, you'll understand how to use fluctuations to your advantage and always come out ahead. This should be the first investment book on anybody's list and should be re-read every year. As you can tell by now, I loved this book!