Book Review of Trading for a Living By Alex Elder 1993 Book review with a Canadian Perspective

Introduction to "Trading for a Living" (Alex Elder author 1993) reviewed by "Surfer Chris"  Garrah

 Overview of the book

This is an important book written on investing in the market.   The author is  a psychiatrist who makes the comparison of investing as an addiction and I would have to agree in the sense that I have known acquaintances who are gamblers that are attracted to investing because it gives them the same emotional highs and lows of gambling. But by learning more about investing and risking a smaller proportion of your portfolio on one stock you can reduce the gambling element in investing.
 

The Essentials of the Book

The author introduces concepts to reduce the risk of investing.  One of the key concepts is to only a risk a small portion of your investments in one stock.  He also points out that commissions must be kept to a minimum.   From a |Canadian perspective my solution is to ask your bank to match the Royal Bank commission of ten dollars per trade.   This breakthrough in commissions I believed happened in the spring of 2014.   versus commissions of thirty dollars per trade previously..

The book is comprehensive and introduces charting as well as fundamental analysis.  Where other investment books may look at companies financial well being and growth this book covers in detail the importance of finding more opportune times for buying a stock.

There are many indicators in the book to indicate if bears or bulls are controlling the market.   A starting indicator to look at is "New Highs minus new lows"    Check this out and if the number of companies reaching new highs (after subtracting out the companies reaching new lows) is rising (day after day )then  this  is supporting the view of the market as a bull market.

Investing For the Long Term

If you are intrigued by Warren Buffett investing for the long term learn about his discovery of companies with "unique competitive advantages".  These unique competitive advantages are reflected in higher than average net profit margins.  Read about Warren Buffett's method of selecting stocks by reading author Mary Buffett and David Clark's book listed in References at the end of this article.

Summary

The key point is the suggestion by the author that you should only invest a small amount of your portfolio in one stock.  This is because of the enormous difficulty of recovering your money when you suffer a loss.
With the reduced commissions in Canada the numbers work much better for the small Canadian investor.

One key indicator that reflects a stock prices growth is the price per earning growth or PEG.  As a starting point new investors should check out what this is.  Be cautious and if you enjoy investing learn as much as you can by reading and learning.  Happy investing.  In Canada the Royal Bank may have been the trendsetter in reducing their trading commissions.RBC Direct Investing - Canadian Bank with low direct trading commissions

References

Trading for a Living (1993)  Author Alex Elder
Warren Buffett and the Interpretation of Financial Statements - The Search for  The Company with a Durable Competitive Advantage (2008) Authors Mary Buffett & David Clark

 

 

The Pragmatic MBA for Scientific and Technical Executives Book Review

Concise Book Review of "The Pragmatic MBA for Scientific and Technical Executives" (written by Bertrand C. Liang) 2013 by Chris Garrah  June 30, 2014

 About the Book

Really,  I just want to create an awareness that this MBA book is available as an eBook.  The book is concise and brief and introduces anyone to the divisions of expertise by chapter with references to books that are worthy of further specialization

 Within a matter of minutes you can scan area that interest you and get an overview of some of the science and math that went into the study of the business side of businesses.   Jumping from chapter to chapter is easy in eBook layout - with each chapter being a branch of a study of business such as "portfolio management".    Interesting quotations are spread throughout the book.   Just a very interesting and useful book.

Why not check out this book and get a feel for what it would like to be an MBA - or gain a working knowledge of areas in business where you can converse more at ease with MBA's.?

...how to speak better - here a book is reviewed by Chris Garrah

 Speak With Confidence - A Personal Review  of Booher, Dianna Daniels 2003 book 

September 10, 2012

A  Book Review Chris Crispy Garrah

DOES IT HELP YOU OVERCOME YOUR FEAR OF SPEAKING?

Definitely yes. I have to admit that when I was reading the 2003 version and there was a discussion of the fear of public speaking I almost stopped reading because I was starting to relive past episodes of fear of public speaking.  That is how powerful the fear of public speaking can be,

BUILD ON THE BOOKS WISDOM

Don't give up. There is deep insight into handle the fear. For example - what do you do when you see a group of people staring at you? Do you look at one person and onto the next and onto the next without really seeing them like I did? No, No. The book tells you to look at one person and make a point in your talk - then move onto talking to another person with another point. Can't you see how this would immediately give you a lot more confidence? - instead of glancing over everyone's face and possibly causing you to panic.

ANOTHER EXAMPLE OF THE BOOKS CONFIDENCE BUILDING

The book shows you how move on stage to give different emphasis - a different structure to the different parts of your speech. Because I did not author the book I am only going to say that you need to read the book.

EXCELLENT AS A REFERENCE ON PUBLIC SPEAKING

I could see that someone could be intimidated by the book because there is a lot of material. Instead look at it another way. There is a lot of material that is going to make you a GREAT speaker. ... and the more material -well -the more you got for your money . The author is authority on public speaking after all. But that only means you have found a great reference book on public speaking. Here is an opportunity for everyone to become a confident public speaker. I recommend that if you are a little scared to just read little sections at a time and apply them.

A Cow In the Parking Lot - A Zen Approach to Overcoming Anger - a book review by Chris Garrah

The Cow in the Parking Lot -
A Zen Approach to Overcoming Anger

Discovering the Book

A book by Leonard Scheff and Susan Edmiston 2010

Reviewed by "Surfer Chris" Garrah

The Cow In The Parking Lot - A Zen Approach to Overcoming Anger

 by Leonard Scheff and Susan Edmiston                  

 

I discovered this book at the local library.  It was on a shelf that said it was a "pick of the library staff".   It is a self help book that I rate highly.  Why? Because it is a book for thinkers.  If you sometimes like to work your brain a little bit this is a book that with not much effort can reduce the amount of anger in your life.   And if you are thinking that anger in your life is a good thing , well, the book will have you reconsidering whether less anger in your life can be a good thing.

A Buddhist point of view in anger management

The book  approaches anger management from a Buddhist point of view.  The title is based on Buddhist thinking and it really will make you think twice about  whether you should get angry in different  situations.   The title is based on an analysis of someone stealing  your parking spot.

Reading the book has made me re-think  about what things make me become  angry.   This book has the power to improve your quality of life.   ...and for that reason I recommend you read it.   If you find yourself getting angry just as much after having read it then you still have the opportunity to take another look at the book!

Discovering and Fixing the Buttons that Make You Angry

I recall that a focus of the book is that a reader should write down what events  trigger you to get angry.   The book helps you find what "buttons" people can push to make you angry.  After helping you discover your "buttons"   the book helps you make those "buttons" become  smaller.

It is only a small task to read a book and write a report , but it is a much bigger task to write the book .  That is why I supply a link to the author's site to give the author his credit. Leonaard Scheff website

For more insights on self improvement stay on our site.  More Self Help Book Reviews by Chris Garrah

Comments are Welcome

If you are a fellow reader of similar type books or really any kind of non-fiction book I would love to hear from you and give a link here to your site if you have one.  Hope the book improves your life.