Investment Reads , books , good books

When I read Vervoort's new book Capturing Profit with Technical Analysis, I was so impressed with its straightforward, no nonsense educational format that I felt compelled to invite him in for a Q&A. Mr. Vervoort's book is the best trading book I've read this year.

Mr. Vervoort has earned high respect among the traders who develop their trading strategies on rigorous backtesting and technical analysis. His claim to fame more recently has been an excellent series of articles that have appeared in Technical Analysis of Stocks & Commodities Magazine. Many of you are already quite familiar with his work as you've seen at least one of his indicators, the Modified ATR Stop, at use in many of the stock charts I share. Though I've used a variation of ATR analysis for many years, his variation and other indicators Vervoort has developed have been useful.

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Mr. K. top favorite books

Getting Started in Chart Patterns

I gave this book five stars because no more stars are available. Otherwise I would give it ten or twenty. Why would I buy this book?
1) First off, this is a cheap way of learning about the chart patterns from the expert.
2) Secondly, the book presents very nice section on failing patterns ( busted ).
3) Thirdly, while there is some literature out there on the patterns, I believe Tom Bulkowski was the first in the history of TA who actually conducted so thorough research on pattern performance.

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How I Made $2,000,000 in the Stock Market

1. It's very readable.
The author describes his investing style as a narrative. It takes you through his investing evolution step-by-step, detailing his actual experiences. This made it very easy to follow, and also more real.

2. It emphasizes both technical and fundamental criteria.
This is critical to good investing. Both areas tell a story. This is the best book I've seen that details an investors journey through to discover that both matter, and integrate the two pictures.

3. It makes for a better system, in some ways, than Investor's Business Daily.
I noticed other reviews that noted the similarity between IBD and Darvas. While they are similar styles, there are some key differences. First, Darvas looks for companies that have a good high-growth STORY, but does not necessarily require the company to have high-growth earnings. He doesn't look at ROI, earnings growth rate, etc. (at least not in this book)

asr: Mr. K screening also seems looking for high-growth story before technical setup (based on his blog)

The potential advantage of this approach over IBD is that sometimes stock prices reflect earnings potential BEFORE actual earnings show up. Alternatively, sometimes stock prices reflect perceived earnings declines BEFORE the actual decline in earnings.

4. His system makes sense from a technical standpoint, but is actually harder to do than you might think.
I like his system because it's technically sound. For example, it emphasizes taking small losses and being patient for large gains (among many other things).

other review of this book:
As I flip back through it's pages, what stands out to me most now, is how extensive and illustrative (yes, actual photos of his charts, And original Western Union telegrams, in black & white) his trading activity is proven and presented to the reader. And what's great is that even his ongoing Profit/Loss math that is well-placed throughout the book in basic facts and figures, doesn't take anything away from his otherwise suspense-fully fascinating story. They actual help maintain it's authenticity.
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Fire Your Stock Analyst!: Analyzing Stocks On Your Own
asr: I need this fundamental analysis book....

review
My problem: I've tried to read various books on fundamental analysis, but most put me to sleep.

This book is different. It is packed with solid, step-by-step directions on how to perform your own fundamental analysis. Tips include screening for candidates, determining a stock's current valuation, setting a target price, and how to determine if the company is a potential Enron or Kmart. This is far from an exhaustive list of what you will learn.

Best of all, these techniques have been taken from money managers with a track record of beating the S&P, from Richard Dreihaus to the infamous short seller Jim Chanos.

Domash provides a highly readable, useful, and important book for the intelligent stock investor. Whether you are an investor or a trader, you will understand how those who move the markets tend to think. Read it if you want to make money.

review 2:
For example, Domash explains the difference between Return on Equity (ROE), Return on Assets (ROA), and Return on Capital (ROC). The author is obviously a very experienced stock analyst with a wealth of practical techniques for readers to use.

review 3:
The Best and Only Complete Book on Stock Analysis!!, November 11, 2008
By Ozan S "engineer_c" (USA) - See all my reviews
Domash has done it. This is the book that covers everything you need to know abaout analyzing a stock. And that is what makes the book "the best" book on stock investing. Many say that Graham's Intelligent Investor is the best, but I think it is not, since although valuable all it does is giving you a bunch of screening criteria at the end of the day. This is coming from a person who knows the CFA curriculum inside out!!

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Technical Analysis of Stock Trends

Finally this book is also on Mr. K top book list ...