Ebook A Fool and His Money The Odyssey of an Average Investor John Rothchild 0723812251384 Books

Product details Paperback 268 pages Publisher Wiley; Wiley Investment Classics edition (March 30, 1998) Language English ISBN-10 0471251380

A Fool and His Money The Odyssey of an Average Investor John Rothchild 0723812251384 Books Reviews

• At 20 bucks this read is overpriced. However, if you are attempting to learn more about investing, this book could save you from making expensive novice mistakes. This was a refreshing break from more academic studies of investing. Buy it on sale or find a cheap-used hard copy if you can. Because it is now a bit dated, it doubles as a historical picture of investing culture in the 1980's (The author complains about savings account yields as only being about 5 percent in 1984ish).
• This is a nice little book where the author takes us through the inner working details of Wall Street HERD. Though this was written in 80's hardly anything would have changed in the content of the book even if it is written today (December 2010). At one point the author mentions Ben Graham as trying to popularize another investment methodology which is an interesting view point. If you enjoyed this book you may like "Traders, Guns and Money by Satyajit Das" which is even funnier and also tries to explain how a different section of the herd works.
• He is not what i would call an "average investor", since he went around visiting exchanges and brokerage houses in person in chicago, washington d.c. and new york city and he would tell them he's writing a book so they would be extra nice to him. But its definitely an "odyssey". He basically teaches you about random mechanical aspects of the finance industry. I liked it cuz it gave a real life view of how things work. People dont seem to like my reviews so ill just give a list of the chapters.
  
  1 An introduction
  2 My expert credentials
  3 Wanting to be rich
  4 Money in the bank
  5 The financial checkup
  6 The lessons of history
  7 Some practical advice
  8 Shopping for the broker
  9 Buyer's remorse and other side effects
  10 How the experts pick their stocks
  11 A fool at the stock exchange
  12 On the floor
  13 My second investment
  14 What the fed was going to do
  15 Going over the counter
  16 Seeing the analyst
  17 A walk on the buy side
  18 Among the billion dollar brains
  19 On becoming a stockbroker
  20 Selling Myself Short
  21 Reflections on my progress to date
  22 On to Chicago
  23 Opening a commodities account
  24 My killing in commodities
  25 My doubts about futures
  26 My ethical dilemma
  
  there are some more but im tired...
• Calls into question the competency of financial advisors to predict the future.
• Though a bit dated, many points still hold true, and on top of everything, the narrative is hysterical. Really drives home the many pitfalls that average investors continue to make.
• This should be standard reading in all areas of education.
• entertaining book that offers a good change from heavy stuff in financial and trading literature
• Fast read. Interesting perspective and a good sense of humor. Provides more data to support my take that investing is a game.