The Art of Speculation (Wiley Investment Classics) (Hardcover)

~ (Author) "A treatise on investment needs no defence..." (more)
Key Phrases: phantom trader, intelligent speculator, unlisted market, Stock Exchange, United States Steel, Wall Street (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

First published in 1930, The Art of Speculation by Philip Carret has long been praised for its perceptive examination of the various ways that speculation impacts the worlds of both business and financial trading. Now, almost seven decades later, a newly updated edition proves as instructive as ever on this and related investment topics such as short selling, government regulation, options, and arbitrage. Chapters on reading a balance sheet and an income statement remain classics. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Description

Providing the tenets of basic value investing, this text is an accessible yet comprehensive guide to the markets. It explains the difference between speculation and investment, and discusses the 12 commandments for speculators that are considered paramount, including the famous statement "seek facts diligently, advice never". This volume also describes: the speculative endeavour to how the markets work; vehicles; market movements and cycles; forecasting; margin; technical versus fundamental analysis; short selling; bull markets; how to read a balance and income sheet; and options and arbitrage.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 368 pages
• Publisher: John Wiley & Sons; 1 edition (March 20, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0471181870
• ISBN-13: 978-0471181873
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.8 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #3,675,018 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A dry, yet enlightening book on speculative investing, July 28, 2000

By	Adam F. Jewell (Pittsburgh, PA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: The Art of Speculation (Paperback)

Originally written in the 1930's "The Art of Speculation" examines and explains strategies, tactics, and vehicles for speculating in the financial markets.

The author begins by defining speculation as opposed to investing or gambling. Markets and their inner workings are defined, as well as the stocks, bonds, and other speculative investment opportunities. Several methods for timing the market, utilized at the time of writing are explained and for the most part dismissed, which undoubtedly have parallels in the modern financial world of today.

Forecasting of the financial markets is discussed as well as the methods for increasing leverage, primarily, trading on margin. Strategies for minimizing risk, hedging, shorting, as well as put and call options are examined and discussed in detail. Specific industrial sectors covered include railroad (remember we're back in the 20's and 30's for this book) industrial stocks, utilities, and mining operations. An enlightening discussion of the business and investment potential of oil and mining stocks is presented. It serves to educate the reader on which links in the chain of exploration, development, transportation, processing, and retail sale of these industries are most suited for differing speculative risk tolerances. As we jump ahead 70 years to the markets of 2000, the reader can translate, and apply these analysis to companies occupying comparable positions and strategies in the Dot-Com world, and modern business in general.

If you've got some time to kill, there is plenty of valuable information in this book. It took me a while to get through it, cause frankly it's just not an exciting read. It may very well put you to sleep. If you are simply looking for an intro to investing and getting finances under control, one of the "Dummy" books will be a much better, more practical book to read. Buy this book if you are interested in an historical perspective on speculative investing, which is in many ways applicable to the financial markets of today.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Great Information - Difficult to Digest, August 16, 2000

By	F. Lybrand "Black Mesa" (Chapel Hill, NC US) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: The Art of Speculation (Wiley Investment Classic) (Paperback)

Mr. Carret was a well-respected financier who spent a lot of time and thought putting to paper the ideas that helped him build a fortune for himself and his clients. The ideas that he writes on, value-investing, market forecasting, evaluating a company's R&D prospects are relevant to this day, and are valuable given the age of the text.

However, this is a somewhat difficult book to read, indeed arguably one of the most difficult to read texts in the Wiley Investment Classic series. With that in mind, I would only suggest it's reading to the dedicated financier who has already digested many of the other fine historical banking books that are available.

Again, this is a good book, but it's wording is old and often not very direct. The graphs and charts need further touching up as they are also somewhat difficult to decipher.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Classic, February 4, 2002

By	Jack McGrath (Cyberworld, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Art of Speculation (Wiley Investment Classic) (Paperback)

This is one of the books that I decided to re-read. There is a little something for everyone in this book. Technical analysis, fundamental analysis, investing and speculation. The thing that really strikes me about books like this that were written 70-80 years ago is how true they are today. Sure, when the author writes about railroads, you may have to replace that with optical equipment today, but the premise and outcomes are the same. If you want some perspective of what things were like in the 30s, with some practical application in the new century, this is a great choice.