Bulls, Bears and Brains: Investing with the Best and Brightest of the Financial Internet

Rating:
Summary: The Real Bulls and Bears
Review: An edgy book with fascinating interviews that shows there's more than one way to make money by investing. More than anything, the advice in this book really got me thinking critically about the dumbed-down analysis that most investment advisors and "pundits" spew each day on television and in the press. An example quote from Chapter 6 about Don Luskin: "Think of the market as a big information processing mechanism; figure out how it works and relieve yourself of all this claptrap of having to really understand companies and invest in what you know--as though there's something noble about marrying a company for life." This book is completely unlike any other I've ever read, and I wholeheartedly recommend it. Another unusual aspect of the book is that I can follow the up-to-date advice of these investors every day on the Internet. I've even had a chance to chat online with a number of them since reading the book.

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Summary: Very unique investment book
Review: I admittedly know very little about investing and had no idea where to start until I read Bulls, Bears, and Brains. This book pointed me in the right direction to get information about different investment styles and to educate myself in order to develop goals and strategies that I am comfortable with. I now visit many of the highlighted web sites regularly and often go back to re-read different chapters. I believe this book would be as helpful for a seasoned investor as it was for me as a novice. I especially appreciated the entertaining, conversational format.

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Summary: Breath of fresh air!
Review: I noticed that someone mentioned Shortboy.com in a previous review. I must say that Bill Ginsberg (aka Shortboy) was one of my favorite investors from Bulls, Bears, and Brains. Although it isn't mentioned in the book, Ginsberg finished 2001 with a return of 30.8%. The S&P 500 was down 13% in 2001! In fact, almost all of the investors in this book seem to have finished out 2001 in positive territory. In my opinion, this book was a much needed breath of fresh air about the stock market and investing. I can actually make use of the information in this book. I was impressed by Bill Ginsberg's interview, so I've been following all of his recent picks and musings. I intend to re-read a number of chapters in this book and continue to cherry-pick my favorite investors. Check this one out. It's a fun and useful read.

Rating:
Summary: Not Bad but not very filling
Review: The best thing I can say about this book is every subject comes by his or her investment ideas honestly, and shares them openly. Most give them away, and the ones who charge formed their ideas for themselves, and only later decided to sell them. I think half of their strategies are foolish, and I think most other readers will agree with that, but we probably wouldn't pick the same half. That's okay, because between the biographies, track records and interviews in this book; plus what you can find by going to these Internet sites, you can make up your own mind. It seems like every other investment book either wants to sell you a predigested strategy, or tells you there's nothing better than putting all your money in a low-cost index fund. Bulls, Bears and Brains is the only intelligent alternative I know of.

Rating:
Summary: Unoriginal
Review: This book marks the top of the equity and trading bubble. It is in a line of a series of books trying to live off the success of originals such as Market Wizards. Instead of this book just read the original - Market Wizards.

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Summary: I like this one
Review: This book may represent the first time I actually ENJOYED reading an investing text. Most books contain hundreds of pages of one author's opinion about one way to invest. These tactics inevitably fail to pan out because the strategies are too inflexible and are based on yesterday's markets. Bulls, Bears, and Brains covers dozens of investing styles so I walk away not only entertained but with a valuable and diverse set of methods to approach the market. This book also doesn't rely on the past... I can put the book down and go follow the latest strategies of the investors covered in the book. I'm keeping this book right next to my computer for the time being... depending on the type of stock I'm researching I can browse a different chapter to remind me of the important points to consider. What can I say? I like this book.

Rating:
Summary: Unoriginal
Review: This book presents short interviews with 21 professionals in the investment field, who share their investment philosophies. It is worthwhile to understand how these professionals make their living, as some of their ideas may give you insight for you own trading strategies. But, even if you do not come away with information pertinent to your own trading style, there is value in reading about the methods of others. The authors do a good job and the book is worth reading.