Just Shows It Doesnt Have To Be Difficult

I was very surprised by how simple a system is outlined and with money management and keeping to the system exactly you can make money. <br /><br />The key is money management and keeping it as mechanical as possible.<br /><br />Worth a read.

one for all

I have no idea about investments. Never have. More to the point never thought it affected me since I didn't have any cash spare, but as my parents edge towards retirement I started thinking about pensions and my family's future so I investigated, looked at some books and found Jim Mellon. This book is great because it makes you realise you can invest regularly with the smallest sums of money ( or largest), tells you how, and then helps you to decide where you should invest it. It works on all levels, there are experienced investors out there - so skip the reassuring part and go straight to where you should put your money, because this guy knows.<br />Brilliant - thanks for the advice Jim. I'm recommending this to everyone - including mum & dad.

What bookkeeping is

The book gives an overview of bookkeeping dealing with all aspects of what is necessary to enable someone to understand how and why financial records are compiled and what those records can tell you about the finacial health of the business. The guidance offered in this book will give anyone a better understanding of how a business is performing and an idea of what to do about it. The one criticism I have would be the lack of worked examples in the book. However the book is worth the purchase price.<br />A companion book would be a work book dealing with actual examples with suggested answers to further reinforce the topics covered in the book.

Packed with Knowledge!

Jim Rogers' book is surprisingly similar in tone to those breathless radio ads inviting you to"invest now" in petroleum futures because bad weather in the northeast is sure to cause a shortage of heating oil. But, Rogers backs up his enthusiasm - dare one say exuberance? - with facts. His record as co-founder of the Quantum Fund speaks for itself. Of course, it doesn't take an advanced degree to figure out that as China continues its inevitable lumbering jog toward economic hegemony, its appetite for commodities will become insatiable. Hearing it from someone with Rogers' track record, however, gives it immediacy. Rogers seems to be talking to the general investing public, which may explain the awkward chapters that detour through commodity investment basics, but he heads for more advanced territory soon enough. As the founder of the"The Rogers Raw Materials Index Fund," he would probably relish a run on commodities. That said, Rogers makes a convincing case, and we strongly recommend his book to those looking to diversify into commodities.

A Masterpiece

Getting your performance measures right is vitally important to the<br />performance of your organisation and will mean the difference between<br />success and failure. All too often I see organisations drown in a sea of<br />useless measures (analysis paralysis) with no clear focus. Other<br />organisations see measures as something only the bean counters should do.<br /><br />Providing a complete A-Z cookbook, this book sets the standard for any<br />organisation developing their performance measures and will soon be<br />recognised as the definitive work on this subject.<br /><br />For anyone wanting to develop a new set of measures or simply overhaul the<br />existing set this book really is a must-read. If you only ever buy one book on performance measures - buy this one.

Excellent insight into the growth of the City of London

This book is a must for anyone new to financial markets, and particularly to the City of London.
It describes the history of finance in the City and how the different markets came about, what they're about, and how government policy shaped the competitive and busy financial centre that it is now.
This book isn't an in-depth study of the markets, and its easy style will appeal to anyone wishing to gain an insight into what makes the City tick.
I read this book 3 years after I started working in financial IT, and I wished I'd read it much sooner.
Buy it for your train journey.

Surprisingly good book.

I was a little sceptical about this book before I bought it. The large tabloid style typeface on the front cover and the name itself reminded me of some sort of 'get rich quick' scheme.
I couldn't have been more wrong. CAN SLIM is an ultra conservative system based on fundamental trading. You're taught to cut the guesswork out of your stock picking and really understand about why shares go up and down. I particularly liked the sections on minimising your losses. Following the books rules you will never get wiped out and will always survive to trade another day.
I learned an awful lot from this book and I can recommend it to beginners and more advanced traders alike. Great stuff.

Woods' 'A-Level accounts 1&2' are better buys

Whilst this edition retains the famed qualities informationwise, I've strong criticisms: Biz accounting 1&2 are almost exact copies of Frank's 'A-level Accounting 1&2', the sole difference being a change of press. 'A-level Accounting' had a far clearer layout and, importantly, clearly distinguishable italics which this book utterly lacks. Furthermore, the inclusion of former book 2 material is of questionable benefit as this is a two-book deal anyway (students need both).

Frank is famed for making an otherwise dry subject accessible. however, this edition's, poor prsentation makes for poor readability undermining a great work.

Good, but not the Investment Biker

I'm a great fan of Jim Rogers and his insights into the world economy, especially when his personal enthusiasm makes its way into what he is writing and his latest book on Investing in China is no exception.<br /><br />I'd recommend it as a good starter on the general situation in China and its comparison with the USA 100-150 years ago, though overall, despite being an interesting read, I know little more about how a normal investor like me can invest in China at reasonable cost, and if and when I should be doing it than I did before reading this. I also found he often talks about market highs and lows, but without any real help as to how we might identify them. Some charts showing performance of key indicators such as the major chinese markets / indexes, rises in commodity demand, etc. would have been very useful.<br /><br />One more thing about this book, it's the first mainstream publication I have ever read which appears to have utilised the services of Print-on-demand, and that probably tells us clearly where the publishing world is heading.

What a Book!!!

This book is better than the accounting standards themselves! The style is down-to-earth, easy to understand, concise, contains real-life example (which I think is always a bonus) and is just really well written.<br /><br />Students doing any sort of financial reporting paper for professional exams NEED this book. It's been highly accredited in a well-published student accountancy magazine, has received good feedback on a well-established accountancy forum - so it's definitely well worth buying.

Great for fundamentals

One of the most difficult tasks for a writer of DIY and LIY books is conveying complex processes is easy to understand language. Michael Durbin has successfully acheived this; explaining the fundamentals of derivatives in concise laymens terminology with myriad of analogies and examples. As a business analyst working with both IT and IR derivatives trader, I have found this book to be the best I have read so far. The book provides the reader with a solid platform from which to delve into more complex mathematically-based books such as Hull and Fabozzi. Thoroughly recommended for the derivatives beginner or for those seeking a high level understanding of the complex derivatives world.

An easy read with a few pearls of wisdom.

I found The Warren Buffet Way to be a very enjoyable book. I also feel that Hagstrom does himself (and WB) credit by pointing to BH's shareholder's reports as often as he does. If you don't have a computer or the $2500 to buy BRKb to obtain shareholder's reports, this is a good replacement.

Also, with regard to A Reader in California, the introductory anecdote about meeting WB is written by Peter Lynch, not Hagstrom.

Book-keeping made easy.

This excellent book makes it easy to keep accurate income and expenditure records week by week. Most figures are only entered once, which saves time. The headings used are the same as those used by the Inland Revenue, and the book can be presented to your accountant as an acceptable record at the end of the tax year.

Poorly written, but not a total loss.

Biggs isn't wise and he isn't smart. Don't read this book for investment advice. That said, the book does give a decent insiders view of the Wall Street culture, with plenty of character sketches and a good description of the mental agony of investing.<br /><br />Overall I was left wondering how this joker survived on the street for as long as he did. I think Emanuel Derman had it right - all the brains in banking are in fixed income rather than equities"because there's no competitive edge to being smart in the equities business".

Good overall guide to the stock market

A comprehensive guide to the main aspects of the stock market aimed at beginners. Good starting point for anyone thinking about buying shares, you need information, an entry and exit strategy plus a broker to execute and a good knowledge of how the market works.

Unleashing the power of Excel in Corporate Finance!!

In 2001, I was working for an investment bank in London where I was trying to come up with a consistent framework for my Excel models as applied to everyday corporate finance issues. My boss showed me this book he'd recently purchased in the High Street that set out a standardised methodology for developing models and unleashing the power of Excel. This book was Day's first edition and I had to have it but for some reason it slipped off my book purchase list. Try as I might, I was unable to find a copy these last six years (mainly because I'd forgotten the title & author!!).<br /><br />Anyhow, I finally tracked the book down (completely by accident) together with its counterpart"Mastering Financial Mathematics" recently on a trip back to London. This book is great for those seeking to develop intuitive models that are likely to endure and serve the needs of the business. The corporate finance theory is kept (deliberately) a bare minimum as the focus is on structuring a consistent framework that maximises the presentational aspects of modelling and at the same time minimises the potential for errors. The model templates serve as a springboard for in-house customization and the techniques used are both simple and intuitive. <br /><br />Although there may be superior Excel modelling books out there, I believe Day has truely laid out the stage for the common or accidental modelling analyst to deliver high impact corporate finance presentations using Excel.<br /><br />Highly recommended!!

Only the very basics

Having recently completed a six month accountancy course, with this book as the primary text I can only recommend it to those with no prior grounding in the subject and studying at a very basic level.

It provides the very basics required to compile cash flows, profit and loss accounts and vertical balance sheets but is not sufficiently in depth to be of major use in the analysis of real world company financial statements or indeed to create ones own.

It would benefit greatly by expanding into the use of T-accounts, double entries and more thorough consideration of the horizontal balance sheet method.

That said it is saved from being a two star book by merit of a good chapter on the basics of investment appraisal and some excellent worked examples.

Overall rather dry and recommended only to those with no prior experience.

Excellent Read and a Good Primer...

I completely agree with"Chris Gooden". This is both an entertaining and informative read and I keep seeing practical examples of his techniques in the daily charts. My trading and knowledge has steadily improved since reading this book and I find myself re-reading sections of it and utilising in practice. It is not as scary as it first looks. Hope Marcel treats other subjects e.g Options similarly. <br /><br />Highly recommend for the serious beginner like yours truly.