Customer Reviews

The Next Big Investment Boom: Learning the Secrets of Investing from a Master and How to Profit from Commodities

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Mr. Shipman has written an excellent, slim volume on futures investing. (Notice that I said "investing", not "trading".) "The Next Big Investment Boom" is not for anyone learning how to daytrade S&P Minis, swing trade energy markets, etc. Shipman discusses irrational markets of the past, like Tokyo real estate in the 80s, the tech bubble of the 90s, and everyone's perennial favorite, tulipmania in Renaissance Holland. From there, Shipman advocates a long-term view of commodities much like that of Jim Rogers in "Hot Commodities", the main factors fueling commodities price rises being increasing demand in Asia and other emerging economies, coupled with low profitability in recent years having forced many producers out of the markets. Unlike Rogers, Shipman combines long-range fundamental analysis with simple technical analysis a la Richard Donchian. Position sizing is simple: use a maximum of double margin (i.e. if the margin for a contract is $1,000 then you should have $3,000 per contract invested). The only part of the book that I did not find useful was the chapter on taxation, because Shipman is British and the book's discussion of taxation is not useful for traders in the United States. Other than that, this book is an excellent read!

I give Shipman the credit for tackling the history of several investment booms and smoothly explaining the phsycology and human factor behind hype. However, I don't see the book relevant when it comes learning about investing in commodities. I wish it explained more how to study the fundamental of each one instead of including an elementary schoolbook paragraph. If you have an investment background and know a bit about commodities, this is not for you. I would have rated the book higher had it been relevant to commodities as it claimed it was.