Rating: 
Summary: This book is a must for all investors!
Review: Having being "robbed" by my broker, I wanted to get a fresh start on investing. I was referred to the Motley Fool by a friend, and have read all their books.This book is a very good book, not only for those who want to take control of their own investing, but even for experienced investors who need a fresh look at investing. The techniques for investing in this book are well researched and well proven. In addition, the Fool do not recommend trying out their techniques unless you think that their investing methods will work. I ...found this book to be the start of my investing, and I must say it has been a fruitful start.
Rating: 
Summary: Motley Fool Whatever
Review: I highly recommend all of the Motley Fool's books, but which one is this? The title is You Have More Than You Think, but the picture shows the Motley Fool Investment Guide.
Rating: 
Summary: Pompous and uneven
Review: This is a poor introductory guide to some forms of investment, specifically stocks. There is very little coverage of any other forms of investment, and what coverage there is, is biased strongly against anything other than stocks on the Dow or small-cap growth stocks fitting their criteria. Calling this book an "investment guide" is pretty misleading. The book is written in a know-it-all style that you will no doubt either love (apparently a lot of other reviewers) or hate (me). The pages are full of their cheesy and repetitive medieval references concerning "fools" and "wise" men. And if those don't grate on you the unending plugs for their online services will. The basic premise of the book is basically as follows: investing in mutual funds is stupid because you are virtually guaranteed an average 25.5% return by picking 4 stocks on the Dow Jones using a formula. Now, this is obviously absurd. Yes, the system worked over the past, but it isn't working currently (check fool.com under portfolios to see how they're doing this year -- DOWN 1.84% as I write this) and there's no proof it will work in the future. Also, the hypocrisy is overwhelming as they continually dis those who claim to have systems and also those who use technical analysis to make stock picks. There are a couple of strong points to the book: the five chapters on small-cap growth stocks and how to evaluate them are very well done. They show you how to analyze a company's balance statement, and what sort of general financial indicators to look for when picking small-caps. Oh, and the Joey Roman penny-stock parody in appendix C is extremely funny. I can't honestly recommend this book at all. There are many other books that explain the same material, and with a more even approach. This whole book oddly reeks of a get-rich-quick mentality, while they shoot down everyone else's get-rich-quick schemes. The poor advice combined with a hokey writing style make this book a pretty painful read.
Rating:
Summary: pretty good
Review: the book is good but are the strategies persistently applicable across time?
Rating: 
Summary: Good, but out of date
Review: MFIG was a great book at the time, but Father Time has not smiled on the book or the strategies contained within. In short: if you a market novice looking for a good intro book, look elsewhere. These are the sections of the book: 1. Mutual funds. They point out that most funds actually do worse than the market averages, and you would do better to invest in the average itself - an index fund. This is good, solid advice, but nothing too revolutionary nowadays. 2. The Dow Dividend Strategy, aka the Foolish Four. Unfortunately, this strategy has been all but shot down - it has done very poorly recently. Even the creator of the original Dogs of the Dow strategy has disowned it, and the Fool doesn't pay much attention to it anymore. Time to move on. 3. Small cap growth stocks. The Fool has abandoned this in favor of newer strategies. 4. Shorting stocks. The Fool doesn't do this anymore, and it is much too risky to be talking about in a beginners book anyway, because you can lose more money - potentially much more - than you invested. If you want to learn the basics of finances, try Jane Bryant Quinn. If you want to learn to invest in stocks, try O'Neil's "How to Make Money in Stocks", or some of the Fool's newer books. This is not to book to get anymore.
Rating:
Summary: Great starting point for investing
Review: The message of this book is that investing is easy, and you don't have to use any complicated mathematical formulae to succeed at investing. The Gardner brothers go through a few proven money-making strategies, each a little risker than the next, but each that are simple, and, if you put in a little time (they constantly emphasize how little time you actually need, usually about 15 minutes per 3 months), you can beat the street. As a caveat, I liken investment strategies to those golf shows you see on TV. Some golf pros have weird little inventions that claim to take the strokes off your game, but it's always the common sense ones (like keep your eye on the ball, keep loose, and for goodness sakes, don't worry about it) that usually work. This is a common sense guide to investing, with common sense, easy to use formulae, and time-tested, real money investment tips (meaning they put their money where there mouth is, following their advice with their own money). This should be the starting point for every investor (or wanna-be like myself).
Rating:
Summary: Great book for the new investor
Review: You can read all of the other "How to Invest" books on the market, but if you're new to the investment world, they might confuse you. The Motley Fool, though, will give you a great start in a fun, less serious tone...and one that can make investing a profitable and enjoyable hobby. This book is actually the second book in their series, but the "Investment Guide" is definitely worth a read if you have the basics of personal finance mastered and want to dive straight into the stock market.
Rating:
Summary: Entertaining approach to investing.
Review: After reading several "Investment guides" I was beginning to think that you either have to be exceptionally boring, or overly technical to write anything about investing. I was glad to find The Motley Fool Investment Guide. It is fresh and interesting, even humorous at times. It is not the most "in depth" book on investing, but it isn't a "dummies" book either. The Gardner Boys are clever and their writing is lively. Sarcasm abounds toward the wall street establishment. I enjoyed the book and have put several of the ideas into practice. It's an easy read.
Rating:
Summary: Great Intro to Investment
Review: I have been investing for some time and I found this book to be an eye-opener on quite a few issues. First and foremost, I had no idea what great losers most mutual funds on the market are. (Tom and Dave let us in on the dirtly little secret that fully 80% of all mutual fund managers fail to even match the Market, much less beat it, over any appreciable period of time) Secondly, above average market returns _are_ achievable by those who are willing to take a few hours a year to do a little of their own research. For so long, I believed the propaganda perpetrated by the Wisemen on Wall Street that 10% a year is a perfectly acceptable return on my investments. How refreshing to see back-tested proof that a 15%+ long-term gain is the absolute minimum that anyone should ever expect if they are willing to put in a little time. This book is funny, easy to read, and an absolute revelation even for those who have investment experience. I highly recommend it.
Rating:
Summary: SEPARATE THE WHEAT FROM THE CHAFF FOR BETTER RESULTS
Review: THE MOTLEY FOOL INVESTMENT GUIDE is a rare creature: A book full of valuable wisdom and ridiculous conjecture at the very same time. Pay attention to the former and you will be better off, and you face major risks with the latter. As long as the book focuses on long-term research and trends, it is on solid ground. But the authors are quick to move into conjecture, based on no proof. That is where you are in danger with this book. The section on short-selling is particularly naive. It makes it sound like you can always cover a short with only a 20 percent loss. Not! The small cap investing advice is good up to a point. The authors totally ignore research that shows vastly better returns from small-cap growth stock investing at times when small-cap growth stocks are cheapest relative to the p/e ratios of the large cap stocks. On the dividend-based Dow investing, the authors miss the most important point. Each of the techniques for buying "the dogs of the Dow" has quickly become obsolete in the past. Back testing provides great historical returns, and lousy future returns in this area. On the most important point, how to use on-line investing to be more successful, the book is almost totally silent. This book gives the impression to me of being written by inexperienced people who do not have the background to understand what they are thinking about. Through the index fund discussion, though, this is an outstanding and accurate book. It just dives off the deep end without enough swimming lessons in the other areas. In an overpriced market like the current one, following the Motley Fool theories could make a fool out of you. If you want to try this Motley Fool approach, my advice would be to limit yourself to 10% of your stock investing. With experience, the Motley Fool approach will undoubtedly improve. Remember that fewer than 1 in 10 new techniques for investing work well thruogh an entire market cycle, which is another reason why mutual fund managers have problems.
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