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Summary: Blatantly Self-serving
Review: I bought this book alongside The 4 Pillars of Investing by William Bernstein. These two books were polar-opposites in their ideology of investing. Bernstein examined the contrary views typified in O'Neil's book and gave concrete evidence as to why the ideas are nonsense. O'Neil writes like an Amway speil and it is unembarrassed about the self-serving, "buy my product" attitude.
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Summary: How to make money in stocks describes itself
Review: "They" say that if someone knows a system for making money on the stock market, they would never reveal it to anyone. This book genuinely will tell you exactly how anyone can make money buying and selling stocks.If you are looking for a practical and step by step guide to timing the stock market for profit, then this book is for you.
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Summary: How To Make Money In Stocks
Review: Anyone wanting to learn ALL about investing the RIGHT way NEEDS this book. If an ole country chicken farm boy can turn a 1000.00 30 times over in less than 21 months, anyone can do it. This is the ONLY book you need.
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Summary: Now an acknowledged classic
Review: O'Neil's book is now an established classic, influencing millions of readers and other investment writers. I live in the UK and I know that Bernice Cohen and Jim Slater were deeply influenced by O'Neil's philosohpy. Both are very accomplished investors themselves. William O'Neil doesn't tell you anything new about growth investing. He tells them in a way that makes sense. Accelerating EPS, something new, leadership, market direction, institutional support...these are well-known growth investment criteria. So people who are slagging off O'Neil here don't really know much about investing. And yes, you have to spend a lot of time/money on charts, on price mevements, and on researching companies. I spend a fortune on Company REFS every year. Why not? Has someone told you that getting rich was easy? If you are not ready to give investing a great deal of your time, money and passion, you can forget about it. I have followed his methods and yes, I have made good money from them. That too living here in the UK, where you cannot get all the information we need on O'Neil's criteria (and no, I haven't subscribed to IBD, there is no use of IBD for UK markets). So you have to be imaginative. I don't have access to IBD's proprietary relative strength measure, so I use Company REFS's measure instead, and analyse charts of a stock (against FTSE-100 and sector index) very closely using ShareScope. UK companies don't have quarterly reports, so I use half-yearly reports instead. I don't have access to IBD's SMR rating (sales + margin + relative strength). So I take a very close look at each of these measures on Company REFS and ADVFN. If you are driven enough, you can find a solution to every problem. My only complaint is that O'Neil doesn't empasise the importance of cash flow and balance sheet enough. He does mention the requirements of 1) low debt and 2) cash flow per share higher than EPS, but only fleetingly. But that's really nitpicking. Everybody has (at least should have, anyway) their own investment strategy. So you need to decide which bit you want to stress on. Great book A must read for every investor.
Rating: 
Summary: plenty of insight
Review: The book provides a lot of information and useful tips from the author' vast experience. It was definitely worth reading and I wish I had read this book before I started investing on my own so that to avoid all those mistakes listed in the book. The investment method seems very convincing. Even though some statements in this book seem questionable (such as an advice to avoid bonds), it makes the book even more interesting. I gave it four stars because sometimes the book becomes an advertisement for 'Investor Business Daily' newspaper and web site and this spoils a little for me the impression from this book.
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Summary: Good way to sell newspapers, but...
Review: There is some good advice in this book. I think CANSLIM is a good place to start your investing technique. I just think the heavy emphasis on technical analysis will drive the reader insane while trying effectively practice it. Many, many stocks don't adhere to Mr. O'Neil's finely tuned rules.
In the interest of full disclosure, I have purchased a lot of stocks that have gone up in price. They have then collapsed. I don't mean collapses that form over the course of a few weeks, I mean when stocks break down 25-35% in two to three days and many of these are while they are in the coveted IBD 100 list. The sell rules that Mr. O'Neil insists you follow never had time to adequately materialize.
The cup with handle breakout doesn't work very often. I really haven't gotten it to work at all. However, buying the bounce, as I call it, when a stock bounces off a key support line (50 day moving average) has been somewhat beneficial towards my efforts. I turn around and buy an attempted breakout and it reverses from a high of 45 to 32 in just over 48 hours.
Good luck.
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Summary: Buy Right & Sit Tight!
Review: YES VIRGINIA, CANSLIM DOES WORK! Q:Is it easy to master?
A: No, at least not for me. If it was easy, everybody would do it. Q:Can I do it in five minutes a day or less?
A:NO! I usually spend 30 to 60 minutes a day during the week and 2 to 3 hours on the weekend studying the market. Q:Is it a "get rich quick scheme"?
A:NO! Definitely not. Q:Is it momentum investing?
A: NO! NO! NO! CANSLIM focuses on companies with outstanding earnings growth. Therefore, it's a growth strategy not a momentum strategy. Q:Can I learn how to consistently make money in the stock market by practicing the lessons learned in this book?
A:YES!!!!! After reading the second edition of this book half a dozen times, I finally felt confident enough to start managing my own money (approx. $20K)in late 1998. I made a lot of mistakes over the next eighteen monthes, however, I still managed to grow my portfolio to a high of $94K by early March 2000. I went to a cash position ($85K) on April 1, 2000 when I noticed that my stocks, as well as the market averages, were making a double top. This book is a must read for anyone who is thinking about managing their own hard earned money in the stock market. O'Neil doesn't just rely on fundametal analysis or technical analysis alone. His CANSLIM system uses fundamental analysis to determine possible buy candidates. He then uses technical analysis to time his entry into a trade and his exit out of a trade. As he states in his book, the objective in investing isn't to be right all the time. The objective is to make big money when you are right and cut your losses quickly when you might be wrong. My winning percentage during the eighteen month period referenced above was a paltry 25%!!! The reason I was able to make money is because I learned to follow CANSLIM Rule #!: Cut all losses at 8%. If you are willing to put in the time it takes to learn the CANSLIM system, you won't regret buying this book.
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Summary: All you need
Review: The equityanalyst review is typical of his crowd of looking down on technical analysis. What separates O'neill is that he uses BOTH technical and fundamental analysis. A stock could have great fundamentals on the surface, but if its price is going down, why on earth would you buy it? Historically the direction of a stock could be a precursor to negative future fundamentals. BUY this book. The proof is in the pudding. I made 20% in 2002 when the market was down 20-25% using the principles in the book.
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Summary: See my previous posts for alternative viewpoint
Review: By clicking on my name, you can read my previous posts on this book. I hope that my opinions are helpful. For a lighthearted discussion of the fallacies of technical analysis and momentum trading, please refer to 'The Money Game' by Adam Smith (1967). The seminal mass-market book on the topic is 'A Random Walk Down Wall Street'(1973), by Burt Malkiel. Before making any serious investment, please consult with a professional -- preferably a CFA charterholder with several years of experience.
Rating:
Summary: You can't lose if you read this book
Review: Bill O'Neil lays out a very objective, acurate and evidence-based method to choosing stocks. He explains 7 key aspects of a stock that you should check off before you should think about buying. He then explains how paramount it is to know the market direction because 3 out of 4 stocks will follow that trend. I'm also baffled with the reviews about people losing money with this book. It's clear they didn't read it to begin with as he explains in clear, everyday english when to cut your losses. He reminds us of the most common mistakes investors make as well. I started picking stocks back in November and 3/4 of them have double digit % gains while the market has tanked. Here's to you Bill O'Neil!
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