Customer Reviews

The Successful Investor: What 80 Million People Need to Know to Invest Profitably and Avoid Big Losses

5 star:		(30)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

If you've ever read Bill O'Neil's "How to Make Money in Stocks" you've already been exposed to every single bit of information in this book. There really is nothing new, sadly--in fact, this book is more or less just a condensed version of the earlier book, with a few things updated. Since O'Neil claims his method has worked for 50 years and will continue to work forever, though, there really was no need to update.

On the other hand, this book was a decent refresher course for me. Repetition is good, though you could acheive the same result from reading "How to Make Money in Stocks" again. Like that book, this one is more or less a plug for IBD--it explains the premise behind the IBD way of investing but tells you over and over that you won't be able to apply O'Neil's precepts without a subscription to the site or the paper. It's also tiresome that O'Neil thinks his is the ONLY method of investing that works (he even insists that, when choosing a broker, you find one that has attended IBD's paid workshops and subscribes to their paper).

To really understand the IBD philosophy you must read one of his books. I see no reason why it should be this one, though, and can't help think this recycled material was just brought to market in order to capitalize on the success of the first book. I really like the IBD way of investing, and use it often, but I would recommend "How to Make Money in Stocks" over this book any day. In fact, if you have that book you don't even need this one.

I'm a professional investor who has studied every conceivable investment theory imaginable. I use my own research and invest 10% of my portfolio in each position up to a maximum of 10 positions and a minimum of 0 positions (100% cash at times). I do extensive research every January and narrow the field of stocks to 100 - 150 companies. I value them using EPS estimates from I/B/E/S, Book Value Growth, Cash Flow Growth, EPS Growth, ROE, debt, etc (basic Buffett stuff). From this, I set my target buy point and wait. I look to buy stable companies at bargain prices before they resume their upward trend. When one of the 100-150 companies hits my chosen buy price I reexamine EPS estimates, technical, and sentiment data and then invest 10% of my portfolio in the company (must have guts here and EPS estimates help tremendously). I have averaged over 50%/year since 1998 with an average of 52% in money market the entire time. My worst year was 2001 at +41% (had over 60% in cash that year). I'm considering writing a book about my methods if there is enough interest. The point I'm trying to make is that you ABSOLUTELY need to AUTOMATE your investment strategy. Without a doubt, O'Neil can do this for you. For proof, goto www.aaii.com and look in the stock screen section. He is up 700% since Jan 1998. O'Neil has a great system of investing and I think it will work well for those who diligently apply his techniques. I would take it one step further though and apply EPS estimate revision data in addition to the quarterly reported EPS growth hurdles he outlines in the book (for EPS estimates goto Zacks.com, Multex.com, Yahoo finance and look for estimate trends).

I have to agree with the previous reviewer who said that all you really need is IBD along with this book. By contrast, I found the review by an obvious book peddler indicating that he has "averaged 50% gains per year" and "is considering writing a book if there is enough interest" laughable.

Where do you suppose this guy is going to get his information? That's right. From O'Niels book and IBD! You can do the same yourself.

Be wary of certain reviewers who are trying to peddle books. On the other hand, I highly recommend O'Niels books and IBD.

O'Niel has certaintly pioneered a powerful strategy that works, works all the time and will work for everybody. I bought O'Niels first book, How To Invest in Stocks. This one is similiar but better. It covers the stock market meltdown and for new investors, it may not be too pleasant to realize how much they could have made instead of losing money during the Clinton bear market.

I know a lot of investors who buy IBD but who are lost. This book will make sense out of IBD and show you how to use it.

If nothingelse, I would recommend that you buy just the Monday edition and check out the top 150 stocks. These are selected with IBD proprietary data. Just start there and continue your research.

I have made alot of money playing stock splits and I contend that the real reason was I checked the data from IBD before investing. Not all stocks that split do well. One prominent example is Compaq which split and ne ver returned to it's normal price. I passed on Compaq based on research in IBD. Thank God for IBD!

O'Niels other book 24 Essential Lessons for Investment success is also excellent. However, if you were to pick just one of O'Niels books, I would go with The Successful Investor. That book along with reading IBD (at least Mondays) will give you the edge to become a successful investor.

Good luck.

I find it amusing that some people like to compare people like O'Niel with Warren Buffet. Not only did Buffet start with $7 mil way back then (more like $35-$40MIL) in todays dollars, an amount which only those with rich parents could do, what is Warren Buffet doing to show the average investor how to make money?

O'Niel provides a paper and his newest book that can show anyone how to make money predictable and consistently. Buffet is okay for those who those who already have a wad and can handle missing opportunities (like Buffet missed the technology boom in the 90's and again since Oct 1992) and are into "buy and hold." I don't know about you, but "buy & hold" didn't work for me and it certaintly didn't work for the 80 million who lost over a trillion during the Clinton bear market.

This book is O'Niels best book to date. Use and it profit.

Good luck!

I read O'Niels book How To Make Money in Stocks which was excellent. The Successful Investor covers much of the same information with some new. It is excellent and particularly pertinent to investors who have become "gun shy" after the last three year long bear market.Obviously a lot of new people became investors in the late 90's and were totally unprepared for what happened post March 2000.Fortunately I moved out of aggressive stocks and funds and partially into cash (money market funds) and into other investments that produced a 20%-40% annualized return even during the bear market.IBD is the first thing I read and I read it voraciously. I would not be in the maket without it. In particular, I check the Monday edition with the top 100 stocks based on eps. I AM NOT TOO PARTUCARLY CONCERNED ABOUT P/E RATIOS AS LONG AS THE STOCK IS GROWING AT AT LEAST A 20% LEVEL QUARTER OVER QUARTER.IBD mas finding these stocks so easy.In 2003 I stayed with tech stocs even though many thought they were overbought, had risen too far and too fast. I bought good names like INTC, DELL, IBM, CSCO, YHOO and EBAY. I also bought some no tech names based on eps and information found in IBD.Interesting is that these stocks are still moving up despite continually hitting new 52 week highs.The Successful Investor covers an easy 5 step method that anybody could follow. O'Niel once again has a chapter on CAN SLIM, the whole basis of his system---which does really work.The Successful Investor is a must read for anyone who is currently in the market or wants to be. I also recommend Winning On Wall Street by Martin Zweig and More Wealth Without Risk by Charles Givens. In More Wealth Without Risk, Givens details his "money mvement strategy" (a technique that I used back in 2000 and still use today) which has you in the best investment for the times.Good luck with your investments!

While there are many books on investing, this book by O'Niel is one of the very best. I read this book and read IBD everyday. Following his CANSLIM formula I have been making money inthe market while others have lost or are just treading water.

O'NIELS advice has also saved me money. I almost bought a under $15 stock LU @ $4.25 based on a brokers opinion but elected not to. LU tanked and is now trading at around $3. Thank you Mr. O'Niel!

I purchased the book after a known acquintance of mine made a million bucks in stocks AFTER 911. When I inquired how he could beat the market by such a big margin, he said he used the inputs from the book -Called CANSLIM(among several other inputs) . and sugggested this book as a basis for his investing .He is also a subscriber of IBD

And it was true.. This book should be rated as one of the best books on stock markets in recent times.There are two approaches to investing
1. Buy and hold ( Warren buffet's value investing)
2. Buy /Hold and Sell

If you buy and Hold, more than likely u will retire in peace..but forget being rich..How successful you are in the buy /hold / sell strategy could mean the difference between living in Trump towers or in the subways of New York. But for most of us, we will fit somewhere in between . I can guarantee this book is one major asset in finding our way in the stockmarkets(and eventually to Trump towers)..and could take some of us into financial independence .

The book is all about 'Scientiic Speculation'..Little confused ?
- Companies that have high quarterly earnings ( scientific analysis)
- Companies that have acceleared earnings( scientific analysis)
- 3/4 companies follow the market trend(emotions)
-New Product line ( scientific analysis)
- Institutional support(emotions)
- Relative strength of the industry ( scientific analysis)

While the high level philosophy looks simple, execution is the key. the book goes thro a perfect blend of market sentiments and technical analysis ...The book goes thro bench marks on each criteria ( ex :relative strength should be 85). The book is also well written (ex :Bubbles come in different size, shape, color, time and place. That makes spotting one difficult.
Once upon a time it came as Tulip flowers in Holland; Cotton Mills in UK; Gold in Alaska; deregulation in India; technology breakthru on Nasdaq and now as Real Estate in some parts of US. It is a repeat charade of human emotions.)

After reading this , have kept a portion of my investments in vanguard ( risk aversion) and sold all my stocks that i had purchased without the knowledge and wisdom acquired after reading the book (ex : Wiating for Oracle stock to go up for past 4 years). Cut the losses and go on..My first round of CANSLIM approach has worked very well... HANS, SNHY etc was purchased, held and sold exactly as in the book ..Irrespective of whether i am successful and disciplined in stock market in the long run, this book has been a valuable insight.subscribed to online IBD and is also working well

I suggest..Do yourself a favor..Buy this book !also buy another great book from john murphy (technical analysis of the financial markets)..that one is also very good...but lacks the feeling of reading a 'thriller' like ""The Successful Investor: What 80 Million People Need to Know to Invest Profitably and Avoid Big Losses""

I have read this book of O'Neil as well as his previous book - "How to make money in stocks". I liked O'Neil explanation of his investment methodology (CANSLIM + trading rules), which sounds very level headed and employs combination of fundamental and technical criteria. Since this book was published in a "post-bubble" time, there are some good pointers on how to try and identify stock and market tops. That I also liked.

What I found to ellicit a negative "knee-jerk" response from me is a constant attempt of O'Neil's to sell his IBD newspaper and services. One typical quote:"It should help if you know for certain your broker has attended one or more of IBD's paid workshops". "Telemarketing" and "infomercials" like that are sprinkled all over the book and in my view significantly cheapen the effect of this book. One can't help but wonder if the whole point of the book is to just sell IBD newspaper. Also, I felt like O'Neil ran out of enough content to fill up this book (it is small as it is). So, O'Neil then goes on a tangent on how he thinks the US economy should be run and on what a good buddy he is with George W. Bush (and prints his letter to the President). These negative factors translate for me into -2 and perhaps even -3 stars, giving a total of 2-3 stars.

I have never read any of O'neils previous books but after reading this one i see no reason to. The Successful Investor by Willaim J. O'Neil is such an easy read even a child could grasp the concepts given by CANSLIM. I loved the many chart patterns this book presented as well as a brief overview on shorting which O'neil has never really given any helpful hints on how to do correctly. Everything offered in this book has given the reader no excuse to fail in investing. Stick with the CANSLIM methedology given by O'neil and also pick up "Way of Warrior Trader" by Richard D. McCall which further goes into the mastery of pyschology in trading. I highly recommend this book for any active investor!