The Wall Street Journal, Guide to Understanding Money and Markets [Paperback]

Richard Saul Wurman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1990

Answers the most frequently asked questions about stocks, bonds, mutual funds, tax-deferred annuities, various retirement plans, real-estate investments, trading options, commodities, and other personal investment opportunities. 50,000 first printing.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 119 pages
• Publisher: Harpercollins (November 1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0067725163
• ISBN-13: 978-0067725160
• Product Dimensions: 10.1 x 5.2 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,517,353 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Outdated Facts and Perspective on Financial Markets, July 26, 2000

By 

Donald Mitchell "Jesus Loves You!" (Thanks for Providing My Reviews over 110,000 Helpful Votes Globally) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 100 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: The Wall Street Journal Guide to Understanding Money and Markets (Paperback)

This classic of basic definitions has a new edition that came out in 1999. Although I have not yet read that one, I do suggest that you skip this one.

The book is filled with discussions of how investors value stocks that few serious investors would recognize. There is almost nothing about investing outside the United States. NASDAQ gets almost no mention. The information about discount brokers is wrong. The terminology for describing many types of stocks was never correct, as best as I can recall.

The facts that are correct relate mostly to trivia, like what the number on a stock certificate means. It could help you answer a question on Do You Want To Be a Millionaire? but has little other practical use. Many of these facts (such as how to read the stock tables) can be garnered by simply reading the footnotes in The Wall Street Journal or Barron's.

This book is a good example of the communication stall. We tend to believe everything that we read from what should be reliable sources, even when the information is often faulty.

Donald Mitchell....

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great for People New to Investing, March 27, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: The Wall Street Journal Guide to Understanding Money and Markets (Paperback)

This book is excellent for people who are new to investing and managing their own money. It is colorful, easy to read, gives great real-life examples and provides a great index to the book can be used as a referrence manual. The book can be read rather quickly to give someone a feel for understnading stocks, bonds, mutual funds, futures and money in general. It's a must read prior to investing money.