One up on Wall Street: How to Use What You Already Know to Make Money in the Market [Paperback]

Peter Lynch (Author), John Rothchild (Author)

Book Description

Release date: February 1, 1990

In easy-to-follow terminology, Lynch offers directions for sorting out the long shots from the no shots by spending just a few minutes with a company's financial statements. His advice for producing "tenbaggers" can turn a stock portfolio into a star performer!

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The authors argue that average investors can beat Wall Street professionals by using the information gleaned from everyday life. "Investors will be able to put the shrewd insights presented to good use," remarked PW. 200,000 first printing.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Penguin Books (February 1, 1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0140127925
• ISBN-13: 978-0140127928
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.3 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (218 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #105,553 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

252 of 268 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Be smart and BUY this book! February 2, 2001

By Lance Mead

Format:Paperback

This is the first book I ever read on investing. My cousin, Paul, who was a broker at Merrill Lynch, recommended it to me. I followed Paul into the financial services industry, toiling 12 long years peddling stocks, bonds, mutual funds and insurance products. During my tenure as a Wall Street professional (I use that term very loosely), I must have read 200 different books on investing. Oddly enough, I have discarded many of those poorly written investor guides and still refer back to this classic book penned by Peter Lynch, mutual fund demigod, investment guru, stock-picking legend!

At the heart of Lynch's case is that each individual has enough inherent knowledge and experience to be a successful investor. He uses numerous analogies to show investors:

1. The power of common knowledge (take advantage of what you already know) 2. You don't need to be a Wall Street analyst to uncover great investment opportunities 3. You are not disadvantaged vs. large, institutional investors You don't have to accurately predict the stock market to make money in stocks 4. To keep an open mind to new ideas

From my years on Wall Street, I found many of his theories and ideas to be completely accurate. Many other books I have read focus on the inherent evils of the possessed financial consultant community. Yes, the industry has its problems. However, $8 stock trades are not the only ingredients in profitable investing. In fact, I don't recall him emphasizing the need for discount trades, a fact over-emphasized in almost every other book I have read (remember, I am no longer in the industry...I don't need to strike a case for broker commissions). Instead, he shows you what information to focus on and how to apply it.

Do yourself a favor: Buy this book. Read it twice. It is not outdated...it is timeless. Yea, I know, you already know it all. My advice is to lose the ego and take a refresher course on common sense investing. When you finish, put it on your bookshelf. Do not give it to your kids or neighbors; buy them their own copies. This is a great book!

67 of 71 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars 1 of 3 books you have to have April 3, 2006

By Mat R. Diehl

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

There are 3 books any person who is new to investing in the stock market MUST have. This book, Benjamin Graham's The Intelligent Investor and Pat Dorsey's The 5 rules for successful stock investing. The insights these 3 books will give you are priceless and a MUST for anyone wanting to make money in the market. I am very happy to own all 3 and intend on passing them along to my son so he can learn how to best make his money work for him. Lynch goes through how to identify companies that may be of interest, then how to further analyze the prospects of making money by purchasing that company's stock, and then how to continue monitoring whether the stock is likely to head upward. Lynch places companies into 1 of 6 categories and gives you strategies for buying and selling companies that fall into each of the categories. As a fund manager who has proven his strategies are successful, his insight definitely carries some credibility.

42 of 46 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars IF ONLY WE COULD FOLLOW HIS ADVICE January 27, 2000

By Ahmed Bahey Alashram

Format:Paperback

This is the sixth book I have read on investment in one year. Along with "A random walk down wall street" by Burton Malkiel it has bee the best and most informative. For a while I do not think I will read any investment books before I make sure I can follow Mr. lynch's SIMPLE AND PROFITABLE advice. His classification of stocks are great and his timing for buying and selling each of these classfication are also great (fast growers, slow growers, turnarounds, asset plays, cyclicals). His chapter "stocks I would avoid" is full of sincere warnings of foolish mistakes we make over and over. Add to this the introductory chapters where he explains why we should invest in what we already know makes this book a must read. It is amazing how many opportunities we all miss on stocks that are right in front of us, yet we ignore them and waste our time finding the hottest stocks when mostly these stocks are overly priced. Let me tell you about a small example of what I am talking about. I use Yahoo finance alot in my research almost on daily basis, but I never thought of knowing the company that provides it with all this wonderful information. And while once scrolling down the Yahoo page I read that Tibco Software provides it with the quote technology. (I remembered Lynch when he says that we spend most of our time trying to find the great stock when the great stock has been striving to find us). I rushed to check the stock out. Too bad it has already increased more than tenfold in a month time. GOOD LUCK TO ALL OF YOU WITH YOUR NEXT TEN BAGGERS.