Customer Reviews

The Neatest Little Guide to Do-It-Yourself Investing

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I've read several of Jason Kelly's other titles prior to this DIY title. I have also worked in the Wall Street community as a low level hack, perhaps, but I had access to 'big gun' reports ala big name firms. Jason's writing style is head and shoulders above the rest. He grabs your interest and keeps the interest flowing from start to finish, and that's not an easy feat for someone like myself, who had been used to very dry and somewhat esoteric texts with the kind of writing one reads to fall asleep. That is definitely not the case here. I like the fact that his books are full of clear, concise and useful hints, AND there is very very little, if any, overlap from his other books. Some authors sometimes take bits and pieces from prior books to fill gaps or holes, but frankly, and I've read the Personal Investing and Stock Market books several times over, there is none of that here. I tip my hat to Jason for great style, wit and depth of information. Really quite remarkable.

I was just getting started as a do it yourself investor when I came across this book and I'm glad that I did. The author helped me avoid some big mistakes and really helped get me off and running in the right direction.
This book is easy to read with explanations of terms and phrases that the novice can understand. Everything he says is backed up with facts as well as resources you can turn to for additional information.
I found this book a valuable guide to investing in the new millenium. There are plenty of references to information on the web as well as useful sites for investing.
Additionally, the author has his own web site with a great deal in information as well as other books he has written.

Being new to the world of investing, one of the first things I bought for reference was this book. Not really knowing what to expect, I was very impressed with the wealth of information that streamed from it. As others have said, it is very easy to read, objective and entertaining. I have passed the book on to my sister who also has just begun investing on her own. I can't wait to read the next Do-It-Yourself guide from Jason.
I truly can't say enough about this great publication nor can I thank Jason enough for the skillful advice he's rendered by writing it.

Thanks,
Nolan

Beginning investors as well as professionals can find sound advice in Jason Kelly's new book, although his target audience seems to be small investors interested in stocks. He is cool toward real estate and limited partnerships, and he does not recommend daytrading in the stock market.

Kelly offers practical advice on matters ranging from how to construct a portfolio to identifying shysters. His recommendations as to periodicals, books, databases, and websites are also useful.

Written in a witty style and with numerous anecdotes, Kelly's book is highly readable. It's main drawback is the lack of an index, although each chapter is summarized, and Kelly concludes his narrative with an eight-page "recap" of the entire book.

Anyone interested in investing in the stock market should find this book useful.

When I picked up this book and began reading, I fast realized that I already knew what Mr. Kelly was delivering. The URL's for many websites are helpful. In a nutshell, if you need help to understand dollar cost averaging, then this is the book for you. Jason also provides varying suggestions on where to come up with funds to invest in the market. This is an informative read for stock market starters.

Written for the experienced and novice investor alike, Jason Kelly's book, "The Neatest Little Guide to Do-It-Yourself Investing" is a must have for those who wish to gain the greatest return for their investment dollar. Written in the language of the common man, this book provides insight into how some of the most successful investment portfolios have been built. Patience, persistence, and learning to think like a long-term investor are but a few of the pearls found in this book of gems. Along with O'Niell's book, "How to Make Money in Stocks", Mr. Kelly's series is a requirement for every library of the serious investor wishing to build a solid retirement portfolio even in rough markets.

- Dan Ball *

* Daniel C. Ball is a Portland author whose books include "Please Stop the World, God, I want to get Off!", "The Proof for the Existence of God.", and "The Instant Millionaire."

Jason Kelly provides some great resources for do-it-yourself investing, in particular Investor's Business Daily and other publications. He is rightly harsh on analysts and economists, who are notoriously wrong in their predictions on the direction the market will take. However, I think some of his advice can be very harmful for your portfolio. In particular, I'm thinking of averaging down and buy and hold. If you learn just a little bit about technical analysis and trend following, which is not too difficult, you will learn how to spot trends. When a stock is trending down, why would you put more money into it? On the hope that it will go back up eventually? It may indeed go back up, but not for a long time. There are lots of examples of stocks, including IBM, GM, and many others, that lose 75% of their value and stay way down for a very long time. You need to set a sell-stop to protect your capital. Also related to the cyclicality of the market in general and individual stocks in particular, every stock goes through cycles. Again, using basic tools of technical analysis you can learn to spot trends and close your position in a stock that is trending down.

I have read several books lately about learning how to build your own trading system and investing in general, and the best ones always stress the importance of having an exit strategy, knowing when to sell. Even Warren Buffet occasionally closes a position, like his current unloading of Petro China and his dumping of his silver a few years back. Don't just blindly buy and hold. That's a losing strategy.

Give "Stan Weinstein's Secrets For Profiting in Bull and Bear Markets" a try.

This book is written in a way that is easy to understand for someone who is new to investing. For those familar with investing it gives some great ideas to try. Kelly resources that he recommends are all excellent. ...This book is well worth the read, I highly recommend it.

First of all it should be noted that Jason's recommended long term investments that he says in the book would be good for the ages have not panned out at all. All were destroyed by 9/11 but whose to say such an event won't happen again. Nonetheless it greatly questions the wisdom of buy and hold strategies like his. Some of the companies don't even exist anymore after only 7 years. From my experience there are better systems, and I agree with another reviewer, why would you buy something careening downwards at high volumes?? Just dumb.

There was some coffee damage but for under a dollar who cares? lol Really good condition besides that. Thank you so much :-)