Customer Reviews

Paradigm

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Paradigm is a novel written by Robert Taylor, published by Savas Beatie in 2006. It is the story of two brothers who discover the holy grail of stock market timing and then are chased across Europe and the United States by powerful dark forces who already had discovered the secret and are not too happy about sharing it. It's 600+ pages were a quick and entertaining read and I recommend it to those of you who enjoy reading and in particular, enjoy reading about anything related to the stock market.

Here's the catch: It's not entirely a work of fiction. The storyline is make believe, but the holy grail, according to Taylor, is real. Wait. It gets better. It's for sale: http://taylortrends.com

I wrote the author and asked for some back data so I could check it out for myself. I received six years of charts with the author's methodology superimposed upon a chart of the S&P 500. I then subscribed to the timing service and checked all the previous timing signals, as far back is the web site went, just to make sure that the dates were authentic.

Does it work? Here are my hypothetical results, you can decide for yourself. All dates are based on the monthly mid-points, i.e. if a high or low was set for June, I chose June 15th for the date of my hypothetical trade. I also used the SPY (rounded to nearest whole number) for prices, although the timing would work for any general market tradable.

12/15/00.....SELL 132
03/15/01.....BUY 118
06/15/01.....SELL 121
09/15/01.....BUY 101
12/15/01.....SELL 113
04/15/02.....BUY 112
05/15/02.....SELL 110
09/15/02.....BUY 89
01/15/03.....SELL 94
03/15/03.....BUY 83
06/15/03.....SELL 100
08/15/03.....BUY 99
01/15/04.....SELL 113
05/15/04.....BUY 109
06/15/04.....SELL 114
08/15/04.....BUY 107
01/15/05.....SELL 122
04/15/05.....BUY 116
06/15/05.....SELL 121
10/15/05.....BUY 119
01/15/06.....SELL 128

Those are some impressive signals. The average gain per trade signal is 7.5% basis the SPY. But when applied to the Double Beta Funds (2X the market gains) of Pro Funds, the average trade signal jumped to 11.87%. When applied to deep-in-the-money SPY options, the average trade signal was close to 100% for three-month options.

There is reason to be skeptical of any methodology that claims to be able to time the market. That reason is that so many of us have been trying for so long to time the market without success, it is easy to conclude that it just can't be done and that these posted trade signals are too good to be true.

Unless, of course, they're not and this is indeed, the key to the vault.

A

My wife bought me a copy of this book off Amazon after hearing rave reviews about it from a friend who had picked up an advance copy in New York City last year at a large book conference. It is a big book, so if you want something that is light Grisham-style reading that you can finish in a few hours, don't' buy this book. If you want a deeper, thinking-person's murder-historical-financial mystery, I don't think you can do much better than this one.

The Preface was intriguing and a real hook for me. If I don't like the first thing I read (style, content, believability), I get turned off. Taylor starts off right as the Great Depression is beginning, spinning a gripping tale of how a wealthy and powerful guy manipulates the market as it is crashing and makes a fortune. The old guy, who is dying, reveals his family secret to his son, who is then burdened and blessed with the "knowledge" his father passes to him. It was really a page-turner, so I kept reading. It hooked me, deeply. I had to know where Taylor was going with this.

Fast forward to the present. Two twin Shepard brothers, Alex (the scientific yet nerdy one) and Nicholas (the economic professor guru) and their wives form the core of the balance of the book. One of the wives stumbles across a hidden room in the Biltmore Estate in Ashville, (a lovely place, by the way, and Taylor does a great job describing it) during a masquerade ball. Inside she finds an ancient granite/cypress Egyptian box with loads of ancient documents from that era all the way to the 1980s. The brothers eventually figure out what the box did after a few days of round the clock work, and also how it can still be used today--to make them wealthier than they ever imagined.

The development to get to that point takes about 120 pages, and it is interesting, but at times a tad slow. Taylor introduces some stock market lingo, and scientific terms, etc. All of it is necessary for what follows, which takes off like a rocket and never stops until the last sentence--literally. (Great twist at the very end so don't peak.)

It is a wild ride across modern-day US and Europe, with a parallel journey through the centuries as they figure out what has been making and breaking kings and wealthy families through the ages. I don't know how he came up with this idea, but it is one original and thought-provoking book.

The characters are richly detailed and by the time you are well into the book you can see and hear them. I think Taylor's ability to make them come alive is twice as good as Dan Brown did in the "Da Vinci Code" (which I also liked a lot). They are similar books in many ways, and I would rate them overall about the same. The Shepard brothers and their wives (Cassandra and Francesca) are at the hub of a giant wheel of fascinating people. Many you love (like Father Galen or Alex's kids) and many you love to hate (like Malachi Faust--man is that guy creepy! I can hear his voice and see his face as I type.) The most intriguing character (to me at least) is Mika Hunter, a Japanese assistant to Malachi. She is one cold woman, but as the book develops we discover things about her that . . . well, I don't want to spoil it.

The kicker to "Paradigm" are the science/article/essays included at the back of the book. They seem to be legitimate peer-reviewed work about stock market movement. Taylor includes this (sort of like Michael Crichton does for his books, only much more of it) as a means of spreading it to the masses. I was so intrigued by Taylor's theory I bought the software to test it. It just can't be true . . . but what if it is?

If you like smart, classy, page-turning thrillers with real eyebrow-raising twists, I can recommend "Paradigm" to you. In that case, run--don't walk, as they say--to your nearest store or buy one off Amazon. If you are like me, you will be recommending it to your friends before you are half way through. My whole email list has just received this review!

Robert Taylor is a gifted writer - Paradigm is chock full of so much information it takes your breath away, but it is wonderful. As a native Atlantan, I am proud when a writer from Atlanta makes a difference - Taylor describes Emory University, the Carlos Museum (my family and that family are friends), different places around Atlanta that I know well. When the excellent characters go to see a friend at Biltmore House, the magnificent mansion in Asheville - Alex and his twin Nicholas Shepard, their wives, Francesca and Cassandra meet their friend Gabe there and while exploring the mansion, they find a secret room with mysterious contents - a box that is obviously ancient Egyptian, and many accompanying documents. The twins develop a theory that the box measured gravity and it predicted the high and low pressures with the ups and downs of the stock market - They all agree to keep the box and contents secret until they have all the answers about it. One of the twins in his excitement lets out that he had found this box to his grad student, and thus starts a heck of a ride - to keep their lives, and to finalize their theory. They put the theory to work with their own seed money and make $50,000 into millions! With a tragic event, the family and friends go on a quest to find answers as to who has used the box and why - It is a great ride with these characters in all the places they follow clues to - exquisitely described by Taylor, and even the bad guys are colorful. I went to Taylor Trends on the Web, and saw that Taylor would for a monthly membership, share his software so the public can reap the benefits - The theory makes sense, and am sure the calculations match with the historic info, so folks really into stocks may try it out. For us nickel and dime investors, I don't know.
But it is fascinating and a great read - Looking forward to the next novel by Taylor - he's one to watch!

I saw this book on my library's New Fiction shelf, and was attracted because it looked like a fast-paced thriller and also centered on the machinations of the stock market.
It was both, in a big way -- with endearing principal characters, traveling to great places to regain control of their family's Secret; and at the same time setting out a fascinating new theory in stock market prediction.
As a novice in understanding the stock market, I was surprised to find that as I was turning pages furiously to see what happened next, I was also learning a whole lot about the workings of the market. Two for one.
Check it out!

Robert D. Taylor is an entrepreneur, a research scientist, and has been working in the complex field of econo-physics. His debut novel, PARADIGM, is a thriller that satisfies on a number of different levels. It can be read as a straight suspense novel, with good guys vs. guys with the fate of the world at stake; a secret history novel, one that seeks to explain the past and present; and a financial thriller, in the spirit of Arthur Hailey and Allen Drury. And, at the same time, it is a work whose whole is greater than the sum of its parts.

In addition to his other remarkable accomplishments, Taylor is a past nominee for the Nobel Prize in Economics. His nomination was based, in part, on the market theory that he presents so succinctly in PARADIGM. According to The Taylor Effect, financial markets are susceptible to fluctuations of gravity and thus are predictable. I have no idea whether or not Taylor's theory is correct; certainly he has confidence in it, inviting readers to try it for themselves. Accurate or not, the premise of his theory as a motivating force in PARADIGM is believable: if such a theory was being acted upon, then the people using it would kill to keep it secret.

So it is in PARADIGM that when Alex and Nicholas Shepard discover a mysterious antique box hidden in a secret room in a palatial estate, they inadvertently start a chain of events that puts their lives, and the lives of those they love, in terrible danger. Alex and Nicholas, twin brothers and scientists, are at first stymied by the purpose of the box and its possible utility. But it is the papers they discover with the box --- financial documents that span decades and reveal vast and almost incalculable fortunes, even during times of poverty and depression --- that aid them in discovering the purpose of the box and the theory that ultimately will put them in the crosshairs of the head of a powerful family that has used its money and knowledge to influence events for generations. For what the Shepards discover is their own version of The Taylor Effect.

When Alex and Nicholas dramatically demonstrate the correctness of their theory, they find that they are living on borrowed time. And when one of the brothers ultimately meets an untimely end, the other is driven on a two-fold quest to avenge him and to protect his own family. To do this, he must discover the secret of the box's origin and the secret society that has passed it down from generation to generation --- a quest that takes him on an intercontinental race against time and across the centuries, in which he encounters a series of truths that will shake several institutions to their core.

Taylor is a fine and talented writer --- one wonders, given his accomplishments, if there is anything he cannot do well --- and the close of the novel certainly would provide him with the opening for a sequel, should he choose to write one. Let us be thankful, however, that we have PARADIGM to read now.

--- Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub

Paradigm is a unique novel - it contains a traditionally told thrilling fiction plot about two brothers and the discovery that changes their lives and everything they believe about the economies of the world. At the same time, it reveals and explains the author's exciting discovery - a way to predict the stock market *without* relying on standard, flawed, "internal" signals.

At the beginning of Paradigm, Alex and Nicholas find a box hidden in a mansion and discover they can use the secrets hidden in the box to predict the stock market. The first 100 pages or so are a bit slow, but when the previous owner of the box learns his secret is out, the book becomes a real page-turner. The brothers realize their families are in jeopardy and one travels to Europe to uncover the secrets of the box. On the trail, they learn the ancient box has been linked to the world's richest families for generations, who will stop at nothing to maintain their power.

Taylor describes locations in Europe in great detail and develops the minor characters and subplots well. He writes in the style of current popular thriller authors such as Michael Crichton, Dan Brown, and Robin Cook. He packs the book full of twists and turns and sprinkles revelations about his discovery throughout. The result is a pleasantly exciting read, and an enticing invitation to follow up on his claims yourself.

I recommend Paradigm to anyone who enjoys reading mystery or technological thrillers, and to anyone interested in new theories about the stock market or investment.

Wow, "Paradigm" is one great reality-mystery novel! It will change your whole outlook on the stock market, church history, and how you look at the world's most wealthy and powerful families. You get caught up in this novel and then you realize that some of it is based on scientific or historic facts; it really changes your perceptions of how you will view business and financial decisions.

Author Robert Taylor presents a theory of how the ebb and flow of the stock market actual follows the earth's gravitational energies. He makes a great case with lots of proof and enough data to have gained himself a nomination for the Nobel Prize in Economics. The back of his book goes into great scientific detail with supportive data. What you really have is a great action thriller novel for 80 percent of this book followed by an equally interesting non-fiction appendage at the end of the book with Taylor's economic theories. It is a combination that causes one to lose track of what is fiction and what is real in the story.

Taylor makes his story great entertainment and fun while also educating his reader in many varied areas of interest from Egyptian and Roman histories to secret societies, art, the Vatican, royal families and even some scandalous background on some of America's most wealthy families. It is fascinating and hard to tell the speculative from the hard facts. He weaves both aspects together to make for a compelling and very convincing thriller. The reader will find (like I did) that they will be unable to put this book down once they dig into the story a few pages.

This book is destined to become a best seller and a movie!

The American Authors Association (AAA) has just awarded this book its coveted "2006 Gold Medal Award" for Outstanding Fiction!

The Military Writers Society of America gives this book their highest rating of Five Stars. This is a must read. It is personally recommended by this reviewer - buy it and read it

I loved the book. I couldn't put it down. The action and the plot was very suspenseful.

The information from Taylor Trends web site has me 3 for 3 in succesful trades. He is planning upgrades to the website so there will be tips and opportunity for new investors like myself to receive tips from the pros.

Buy it!!!!

I took Paradigm with me on a long business trip... and regretted it. Too many late nights reading - followed by tired mornings trying to work! In the mode of Michael Crichton or David Baldacci, Paradigm pops with energy as the heroes - twin academics who stumble upon an ancient and mysterious artifact - set off on a wild ride for answers. With more culinary delights than most cookbooks, and more vivid descriptions of exotic European locales than Fodor's, this is a very nice beginning for first-time novelist Robert Taylor. And the economics behind the plot? If "The Taylor Effect" is real, it will change socio-economics forever.

I only read this book on the suggestion of my husband who was fascinated by the "Taylor Effect" on the World Market and Economy. Once I started the novel, I could not put it down. One mystery reveals five more! I was so caught up in the lives of the characters that I actually wanted to warn them when another twist was coming in the plot! The technical data and explanations given at the back of the book need some economical and mathematical knowledge for complete understanding, but the novel itself is good, fast-paced,interesting reading. In fact, you will not be able to stop reading until the surprising last paragraph hits you with full force!