Bull! 144 Stupid Statements from the Market's Fallen Prophets

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Summary: This book is really funny.... no bull!
Review: I stumbled across this book at my friend's house and spent the next hour laughing myself silly. Page after page of predictions gone bad, corruption galore and lots of bad market advice from some very familiar faces from the bubble. If you're watching the Nasdaq climb up and are starting to think about getting back into the market, read Bull! just to remind yourself that those stock market stars are not only fallible, they're sometimes stupid. Graphs and photos make for fast, easy read. Hilarious!

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Summary: Author's Opinion to be Listed in the Next Addition of Bull!!
Review: In a book about poor recommendations, I find it hilarious that the authors give their own market opinion, which has proven to be incorrect.

Page 119, in reference to Abby Joseph Cohen's S&P 500 forecasts:

"Last we heard she was still calling for a twelve-month of 1,150. From 835, that's a pretty heady reacceleration."

Last I heard, the S&P was at 1.110. That's up 36% in 9 months, 3 months left in the twelve-month forecast. Hopefully, no one was listening to the author's opinion in early 2003.

Rating:
Summary: Author's Opinion to be Listed in the Next Addition of Bull!!
Review: In a book about poor recommendations, I find it hilarious that the authors give their own market opinion, which has proven to be incorrect.

Page 119, in reference to Abby Joseph Cohen's S&P 500 forecasts:

"Last we heard she was still calling for a twelve-month of 1,150. From 835, that's a pretty heady reacceleration."

Last I heard, the S&P was at 1.110. That's up 36% in 9 months, 3 months left in the twelve-month forecast. Hopefully, no one was listening to the author's opinion in early 2003.

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Summary: A VALUABLE RECORD OF THE MANIA
Review: The authors have performed a valuable service in providing this record of the mania.

I predict it will occupy the same position in future study of stock market history of this period as has a similar account of the 1920s experience.

(Surprisingly there's already enough new material associated with the 2003 stock market rally for a sequel)

Rating:
Summary: Hilarious and important
Review: This book chronicles the hype, promotion, conflicts of interest and outright lying by the financial media, pundits and corporate leaders. It also shows the serious recriminations for the few analysts and brokers who went against the market madness of the late '90s. On any financial bulletin board today, "strong buys" issued by the large brokerages are normally perceived as a sure sign that they want to dump stock on the naive small investor. I trade the stock market almost daily, and eshew all the major media new sources - the hype, no matter how absurd, never ends. This small book confirms my worst, cynical beliefs. Read it and laugh, read it and weep.

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Summary: From Bill Fleckenstein's July 30th column
Review: To end on a lighter note, folks should sprint and do whatever it takes to get their hands on a new book titled Bull! 144 Stupid Statements From the Market's Fallen Prophets , written by Greg Eckler and L. M. Mac Donald. Greg is a longtime reader of the Rap, but that's not the basis for my enthusiasm. Rather, this is one of those rare finds that's not too long, right on point, hilarious and well-written. It's an easy-to-read history of quotes from many of the mania's pundits, complete with follow-up comments by Eckler and Mac Donald that at times had me laughing so hard I literally cried. I promise you, whatever the effort to obtain this book will be well worth it.