Customer Reviews

Take Stock: A roadmap to profiting from your first walk down Wall Street.

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Ellis Traub has gotten it *just* right: a beginning investing book that isn't so basic that it doesn't say anything (experienced investors can get a lot out of this), yet is very approachable and easy to read. The basic philosophy of "buy quality growth stocks at a reasonable price" is clearly illustrated - - - he doesn't just talk general philosophy, but instead shows you exactly how you can do your own stock analysis.

This approach to investing has long been a core part of the success of the "investment club" phenomenon, but with "Take Stock" Ellis makes it available to everyone. I strongly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in investing in the stock market.

Ellis Traub has reduced the complexity of stock market investing to simply how to identify good companies worthy of purchase and then how to buy them at an appropriate price. He explains in simple and easy to understand terms what constitutes a good company and good value. He starts very basically by listing mistakes he has made so others can avoid duplicating these and in short order how to become a more successful stock market investor. I wish Take Stock had been available to read before making my first investment.

I especially liked his new investing term "technamental" which applies technical graphic methods to fundamental analysis. Simply stated he uses the pictorial aspects of graphics to enable easily identifying how to recognize aspects of good companies and good value.

This is must reading for both the new investors as well as the investor who may wish to improve their investment batting average. His easy to understand step by step methods should enable all investors to improve their investing performance.

When I say unique I genuinely mean unique. I challenge you to find another book on investing that gives you an entirely specific METHOD for evaluating growth companies for investment. You can find lots of investing books that tell you all sorts of good general principles about investing, but then they leave it up to you to apply these principles. "Take Stock" presents a completely specific method, step by step, and provides you with a CD containing software allowing you to apply this method on your computer. (Instructions for non-computer users are there too.) The method is essentially automated so you can use NO personal judgment at all or as much personal judgment as you wish.

The book is written in plain straight-forward sentences and is remarkably easy to understand.

The method it describes selects companies very, very conservatively too. This is extremely important because if the method were too "loose" it would encourage beginning investors to make too many mistakes. As Traub points out it is better to be overly conservative and be surprised at better than expected performance of your portfolio, than to be risky and lose money too often. His method will lead you to invest in only the most consistently performing growth companies.

So do yourelf a favor and buy a book on investing that really tells you how to do it!

"Take Stock" by Ellis Traub is a must read for the serious investor. Specific steps guide the reader toward picking growth stocks using fundamental analysis. This book does not describe a mechanical method for stock selection. Nevertheless, well-reasoned guidelines aid both the beginning and experienced investor. It is a difficult task to enrich a wide spectrum of readers but "Take Stock" does an admirable job vaulting this hurdle while blending both growth and value investing. The author clearly defines terms, provides adequate graphs, and summarizes the cogent points at the end of each chapter.

If you want to begin your investing career on the right track, there is no better place to start than by reading "Take Stock". If you are well on your way and are looking for some added refinements to your investing skills, "Take Stock" is well worth reading and studying.

We know that the stock market is the place to go with our investment dollars. What we don't always know is how to proceed. In plain language, Ellis Traub leads us through the process. He teaches us how to seek out companies of high quality, how to determine a reasonable price at which to purchase them, and how to follow them up after purchase. Peter Lynch told us that we can do this. Ellis Traub tells us how to do it with step by step instructions that will be of immediate value to novice and advanced investor alike. Take Stock is a must read for anybody interested in accumulating wealth safely through investing in the common stocks of fundamentally sound growth companies for the long term.

Don't let the size of this book deceive you. This is a suberb book. The software included with the book alone is worth twice the cost of the book. The book descibes investing in a "technamental" way, a term Mr. Traub uses to describe the visual analysis of fundamental data via charts and graphs. I've been reading investment books heavily for five years now, and have read it all. This is quite a unique way of understanding how to buy stocks for the long term at the RIGHT price. Also, early in the book, Mr. Traub writes a short biography, and quite a positive story it is. I'd recommend this book to everyone.

Ellis Traub makes investing 'doable' for the novice. Take Stock is a well written, informative book for the beginner, intermediate or advanced investor. Anyone reading this book will benefit in their investing decisons. Mr. Traub makes what may be 'simple' to some people understandable for the rest of us. I felt I was listening to him speak and seeing him draw diagrams rather than reading a book. Learning to invest can be painful, this book is 'medicine' to heal the pocketbook as well as the mind.

I absolutely think this book is a must read if you want to learn how to have a financial future. I have gained a great deal of insight into the entire study of stocks from the book. I have already bought 5 copies to give out and recommend it highly. Buy it for anyone you care about, they will thank you. Ellis Traub just make stock analysis clearer than anything I have read before. Thanks for writing the book.

Ellis Traub is well-known among long-term investors for his ability to make the NAIC (National Association of Investors, Corp.) approach to investing, easy to understand and implement. In a nutshell, he boils down NAIC stock selection to core fundamentals, providing a means for NAIC practitioners to enhance their methods and/or share with others. The investment club approach to long-term success in investing has been adopted by millions. We hope that millions more will Take $tock soon, achieving a better understanding of equity ownership and a program of buying the best companies at the best prices.

This book gives a simple, yet time honored approach to selectiong stocks. It uses fundamental analysis to select quality growth companies. So don't look here for technical analysis. Look here to find good stocks for the long term.

With the included Take Stock software you can now access online data (subscription required) and have the forms all filled out for you. You can manually fill them out also at no other charges. The program applies conservative judgments and gives you a analysis of the company's quality and the risk reward benefits of buying the stock from the current price. What could be simplier.

Also included is a demo copy copy of Mr. Traub's other software he writes for the NAIC called Investor's Toolkit which is a full blown stock evaluation, stock selection, and portfolio management tool. It requires more understanding than the Take Stock program does, but the online help screens do a good job of explaining its purpose.

My only complaint is that many of the stocks I've romanticized about are not quality companies. At least they are not companies I'd invest my money in for retirement.

I've read this book several times and learn more each time.

Mr Traub has mentioned the NAIC & AAII investment organizations and I recommend both of them to further your investing education.

Reviewer: Nikki Ross author of LESSONS FROM THE LEGENDS OF WALL STREET: How Warren Buffett, Benjamin Graham, Phil Fisher, T. Rowe Price, and John Templeton Can Help You Grow Rich

With excellent writing and great visuals, Ellis Traub explains the fundamentals of investing. He covers items on financial statements--the balance sheet and income statement in an accessible manner and explains how to find stocks that meet the criteria of the National Association of Investors Corporation (NAIC). This book gives a new dimension to NAIC rules and guidelines. A wonderful refresher course for experienced investors, beginning investors should find Traub's work beneficial, especially members of NAIC.