Review”This book sums up what he has observed about the stock market through contacts with hundreds of analysts, investment managers, financial consultants, brokers and professional investors. Throughout the book, he sprinkles specifics about a wide range of stocks from U.S. Steel to Northwest Airlines and many more with details that show what has made them buying opportunities for individual investors.” –Kerry Hannon, USA Today, June 23, 2008
“Gene Marcial provides iconoclas…
Buy Gene Marcial’s 7 Commandments of Stock Investing at Amazon
If this is the first investment book you read, *some* of the rules/advice might actually be new and insightful. That being said, if this is your first investment book, put it down immediately and find something more useful (Lynch? Graham? Buffett’s shareholder letters?).
The rules are so simplistic that they’re effectively common sense to all but the most basic investor but then the detailed advice seems to assume you’ve got the time and ability to spend hours digging deeply into multiple stocks and multiple news sources. Nearly every section instructrs you to read countless business publications and industry publications, go to finance websites, use Google and Yahoo. Seriously?! I paid for a guy to tell me to use a search engine?!.
One favorite:
On investing in foreign countries, Mr. Marcial recommends really understanding the economic system and political climate. Shocking suggestion. And also completely impractical. This book has such a simplistic tone (and very little supporting detail) that it is clearly aimed at casual investors with little time to spend analyzing dozens of companies in detail (as Mr. Marcial repeatedly suggests). And yet its basic advice is do a *lot* of detailed research. If that’s your thesis, you could’ve boiled this book down to a single page (which is true of most business books … sigh … scattered anecdotes do not constitute real evidence).
We won’t even get into detail about Mr. Marcial’s anecdote about a savvy investor who made a killing on AIG stock in 2007 after an investigation into accounting problems (for derivative positions, among other things) blew over. Whoops.
Or the fact that he asserts how actively managed funds often outperform index funds that hold huge chunks of the market (on average, after fees, they don’t … it’s a fact … in fact, it’s practically a mathematical certainty).
If you really only have time for very brief reads about investing, try “The Little Book That…” series. A) They’re shorter B) they do a better job of substantiating their advice C) they’re actually coherent.
If you have a little more time, invest in advice from Lynch/Graham/Buffett.
Whatever you do, do not waste *any* time on this book.
If I could give this book negative stars, I would — it would be more indicative of the return on investment this book actually provides.
3.0 out of 5 stars
Beware all ye who enter here!
Jane Bryant Quinn aptly referred to a certain kind of financial journalism as soft core pornography (Columbia Journalism Review March/April 1998).
5.0 out of 5 stars
7 Commandments of Stocks
The first and most important commandment is to buy
what other investors do not want in the short term.
So, buy low and buy cheap.
Gene has distilled his more than 3 decades of experience in the stock market into this wonderful book “7 commandments of stock investing”. The advice he offers is practical and when put to use can get great returns for even an average investor. I have been following Gene Marcial’s picks on Inside WallStreet column in Businessweek for almost 2 years now and his picks have consistently beaten the S&P500 and DJIA. Whether you are a novice to the stock market or a seasoned pro, the book has absolutely invaluable advice. Read this book and you won’t be disappointed.
Reason to read this book-Gene Marcial’s selections of stocks have outperformed both the DJIA and S+P every year for the past 10 years.
GM