A wily stock market strategy presented in an informative, if somewhat muddled, manner.
Financial advice from a longtime investor focuses on stocks that sell for less than $10 per share.
For investors who want to buy individual stocks, Carach has an intriguing proposition. Why not consider cheap stocks rather than the more common blue chip ones? A former real estate appraiser and lifelong investor who wrote Forty Years a Speculator (2007), the author calls stocks selling for less than $10 per share “the most ignored and detested sector” of the market—but this has not stopped him from pursuing them for decades and making a tidy profit. For the first 100 or so pages of this book, Carach shares his observations about the market and his “conviction-contrarian” philosophy of investing: buying low-cost stocks “when they are being hammered into the gutter” and holding them for “at least two to five years.” This early material provides intriguing insights into how the author invests, but it is unevenly written and highly repetitive (a fact Carach acknowledges; he apparently collected previously penned articles and included them as chapters). The second half of the book moves from the general to the more specific as the author delves into several market sectors, including mining, oil and gas, high tech commodities, gold and silver, and real estate investment trusts. He assesses some of these sectors as well as the American economy in blunt style; for example, he asserts, “The next chapter in the history of gold and silver will be written in Asia where it is adored and not in the west where it is scorned and regarded as a barbaric relic.” Carach lists some of his favorite stock picks with only spotty details about them. Readers may, of course, regard these choices as recommendations, but he cautions investors to do their homework: “Research your stocks before and not after you buy them. Diversify broadly, no more than 5% in any position, and the riskier the play the less of your money should be in it.” While some of the prose seems amateurish, the author’s unorthodox investment advice may spark serious interest.
A wily stock market strategy presented in an informative, if somewhat muddled, manner.Pub Date: Dec. 17, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-67674-617-1
Page Count: 216
Publisher: Self
Review Posted Online: April 6, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2020
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Useful, credible and smart.
A handy guide to personal finance and a convincing argument for improved financial literacy.
Secrets is a near-encyclopedic compilation of financial advice from Mincher, a self-made multimillionaire. (He made his first million by the age of 25.) And though much of his wisdom derives solely from his own experience, the seven-figure investment portfolio that backs it up is difficult to deny. In many ways, the story of how the author made his money is as interesting as the financial counsel he provides. A born businessman, he formed his first company in high school and won awards as a young entrepreneur. He earned his fortune as the owner of a charter-bus service and, later, as a regional telecom baron. Mincher offers brief chapters on just about every conceivable area of financial inquiry, from credit checks to buying a car to investing in the stock market. His volume works more effectively as a reference than a how-to to be read in a few sittings. But as such it is very valuable indeed; clearly organized and helpfully broken up into bite-size sections, the information is easy to digest. Underpinning it all is the author’s fervent belief that most people need to know more about their money. Mincher has an autodidact’s ambivalence toward traditional education; a college drop-out, he preaches “street smarts” and inveighs a bit too frequently against odd targets like high-school calculus in his introduction. Nonetheless, his call for more and better financial education rings true, especially as subprime lenders have recently wreaked havoc on world economic markets by preying on the financially non-savvy.
Useful, credible and smart.Pub Date: Nov. 26, 2007
ISBN: 978-0-9797003-0-9
Page Count: 426
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 23, 2010
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A valuable addition to the financial mathematician’s library.
Mathematician and consultant Shestopaloff thoroughly explores the world of financial mathematics in a volume that will be valuable to anyone in the field.
Beginning with interest and considering annuities, mortgages, and investment and risk measurement methods, Shestopaloff uncovers the complexities of investment mathematics with clear, understandable text accompanied by numerous derivations, examples, graphs and tables. Topics studied include the internal rate of return–which the author considers in a lengthy discussion that includes its relationship with similar calculations–and nominal and effective interest rates. He also considers compounding using various computational methods and linking–a more accurate alternative to geometric linking, which is applied to financial trading. Shestopaloff discusses measurement of risk with details of the various risks and quantifying methods that are involved in investing, such as risks in interest rate, volatility, operational risk, downside risk and more. He briefly explains the probabilistic calculations involved. The introductory text includes definitions of all terms and rapidly advances through equations to allow mathematicians of different skill levels to follow the explanations. An associated software package is available, and the author briefly reviews computation methods, as well as the accuracy obtained by different methods. Shestopaloff ends with a caution that–although software may make many of these calculations invisibly and easily–it is still imperative to understand the mathematics behind the software. His explanations are thorough without excessive wordiness and the text smoothly accompanies equations and derivations. The author helpfully analyzes business consequences alongside the mathematics. The detailed index and table of contents, with paged references to subtopics, make this a very convenient reference book. Although additional editing could have corrected minor linguistic issues, readers will find the text easy to comprehend. Shestopaloff has presented many of these topics in previous peer-reviewed journal papers, but academics, students and professionals–from programmers to financial mathematicians–will find this a convenient one-volume guide, well-written and seamless.
A valuable addition to the financial mathematician’s library.Pub Date: Sept. 22, 2009
ISBN: 978-0980966701
Page Count: -
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 23, 2010
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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