Rating: 
Summary: If his system is so successful...
Review: ...then why is he telling you about it in this book, and not out there making money in the markets? Questions aside, O'Neil outlines the system he uses to select stocks in a very accessible, easy-to-understand manner. Like any system, it has its strengths and weaknesses and should not be viewed as a guaranteed ticket to instant wealth.If you are new to stock analysis, this book will give you an introduction to what makes stock prices go up (and down). I liked it because it was interesting to see what system he used and what kind of success he had with it. I have no problems recommending this book but it shouldn't be the only book on investing that you read.
Rating: 
Summary: The only investment guide you'll ever need!
Review: Mr. O'Neil has written the DEFINITIVE investment guide. In his newly updated 3rd revise of "How to Make Money in Stocks" he has made a great book on investing even better. His no-nonsense approach to buying (and selling) stocks is refreshing. I've read many books on investing and none has ever given me the tools in such a straight forward manner. The information and investing guidelines contained in this volume MUST make you a better investor. His approach is not for the hot-dog trader who must make 200 trades a day. His is a serious discussion of what makes stocks move up in price, how to locate and find the best stocks, and how to make serious money. However, if you're not willing to follow his guidelines and put in a little work then save your money. As for me this is the only investment guide I need.
Rating:
Summary: Practical, theoretical, and tactical advice
Review: This book is a must-read for investors. I've long been a subscriber to Investor's Business Daily - a publication of William J. O'Neil. This book is perfect if you want to learn not only a great stock trading system, but also want deeper knowledge of the market. The system proposed in my view is the best possible, because it is a highly selective system whereby only the companies with the best fundamentals are considered, and after that very specific technical criteria must be met before purchasing a stock. This system is very time consuming, but you learn a lot in the process. Besides, Inverstor's Business Daily hands you a list of stocks everyday that match the criteria - saving a lot of work.
This is not about getting rich quickly - it's about investing in the most profitable companies on the market, and deciding when to sell and buy. I don't know why more investors are following this method. Even if you don't want to use the CAN/SLIM system you'll still gain a lot of knowledge from reading this book. My suggestion is to subscribe to the paper for a while, and you'll probably get the book for free.
Rating:
Summary: Good intro to stock investing..but
Review: The author has been highly successful in investing. But that does not mean this small book contains the entire wisdom of Mr O'Neil.
One has to know what investment strategy one is comfortable with. The book does not go into details about how you value the true worth (it is a very subjective topic) of a company. The CANSLIM strategy, in my opinion, is just one approach though a good one to consider. Before you adopt this strategy it is very important that you understand how to apply it. Also you must be sure enough to bet your money that you have done enough research to got the true data (sounds funny in this post Enron era) about the company.
Junk information about a comnpany may pass it through the CANSLIM test.
I couldn't care less about the technical analysis covered in this book. It may have looked good in the 'crazy phase' of the last bull market. This book is a must read for people who 'invest' watching CNBC (assuming they still have money left for investing).
Rating: 
Summary: Somewhat idealistic, but lots of good tools
Review: I read this book about 10 years ago and generally gained a greater appreciation for buying healthy stocks. Make no mistake - this is a momentum strategy. But O'Neil has created a very specific formula and process for his style of momentum investing. I also learned a lot about technical analysis and some of the other elements that affect stock movements (sentiment, market psychology, etc.). And O'Neil spends a good deal of time telling you how to sell a stock, whether at a profit or a loss. I think this is perhaps the hardest part of investing, but after reading this book, you should have no excuse for letting a huge gain slip away or digging a huge hole for yourself. Above all, the book provides dozens of examples to support many of the techniques advocated in the book. One gripe I have is that when it comes to finding certain patterns in charts (head and shoulders, cup with handle, etc.), beauty can be in the eye of the investor - I wasn't always comfortable with what qualified as an acceptable pattern, and, of course, these "iffy" charts all demonstrate money-making stocks AFTER the fact. I also believe that there are other investment approaches that can yield good results, especially in a trending market like we have found ourselves in more recently. But on the whole, this book provides a wealth of information in a concise, well-supported manner. It definitely belongs in your investment library. A bonus is that the newspaper O'Neil founded, Investor's Business Daily, can provide an ongoing educational follow up to the book, so the approach you learn in the book will never become outdated. I read it regularly.
Rating:
Summary: Same OLD,Same OLD
Review: The book is a good beginners book to the market. O'Neil has some strong ideas, but they are very general when it comes to explanation. The technical side of his analysis is using simple chart formations, like Cups, and base building, which do not go into enough detail, or explanation to get a strong understanding. Of course I believe that this book leads to many other books, and in that respect it is a gem. It list solid books, that have taught me a ton about the market in general. I think the one thing that O'Neil should have mentioned is that this is his investment technique, and that everyone should find what they are really comfortable with. You cannot use someone elses and be successfull, because you have to truly understand yourself, before playing the market. But all in all, read this book, think about his ideas, and learn something, it will definantly payoff in the longrun.
Rating:
Summary: This book is a must own, but...
Review: The great George Bernard Shaw once wrote: "He who can, does. He who can't, teaches!". Now Mr O'Neil can. If you're not sure about that just check out his track record. And he surely teaches. So kudos to him for his achievements and his teachings! I love this book, it's really a serious work, but I'm not going to write about the pros, since with so many reviews written, there's almost nothing left unsaid about it's value. I'll only write about some points that bother me a bit. Frankly I have some problems with the fundamentals, with the long run perspective, and much more with Mr O'Neil's very long run. Affirming "holding a fund less than 10 years is a bad idea" - I find it somewhat questionable. Sticking to nothing else but fundamentals - how up to date is this? Everybody would like to spot the next Intel or Microsoft and Mr O'Neil shows us what is the best way to do it and his theories make sense, although I would have prefered to see how he managed to spot, a few decades ago, some of today's big caps in their childhood phase practically. Choosing a leader in it's business, checking it's last three-four quarters profit margins, sales, cash flows, net profit, that also makes sense. Normally these figures are reported on a one-year period. But one year or even one quarter assessments can foster excessively short-term behaviour and this because most moves designed to build up a business for the future, whether it's brand building, a major strategic acquisition or an important investment in a fast growing business branch will depress the current year's profits and cash flow. Of course, in the long run, the peaks and troughs of the stock market are smoothed out. But, as Keynes said, "In the long run we're all dead!" Stocks trading has gone through big changes the last five years with the internet explosion (the big institutional traders and investors are not so pleased about that, are they?). Trading stocks today is much more different than it was during the past decade and nowadays even Jean and John have a direct access to any market to trade securities if they wanted to. Besides, I think that the "place your stop-loss order at 8% below your buying price" rule should be revised nowadays, since the stock market's volatility has increased enormously in the last years, at least as far as Nasdaq securities are concerned. I remember buying once "Research in motion" stocks at 61, and two days later it fell down to 53, and two or three weeks later I sold part of them at 94 and the other part at 121 (I'm far from being a market guru and I haven't made so far hundreds of thousands of dollars in stocks; I had a lot of luck, I admit. It happened right before march-april 2000, the beginning of the Nasdaq meltdown). Afterwards I shorted the stock at 124. A month later Rimm was trading at the low sixties. Oh yes, wait, this is my favourite topic. Mr O'Neil severely reprimands the short selling towards the end of his book. What's wrong with short selling? Why teaching the others profiting from bull markets only? Why not profit from, especially from, bear markets? Because of the long run perspective, sure. But even big caps with solid figures sell off when the main index falls sharply. After all every stock is like a ship into the sea, and she'll hardly behave independently from the ebbs and flows of business activity. I don't know when short selling became legal, but in my opinion, it's one of the best things about trading.
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Summary: Lost money following the patterns
Review: This book covers the fundamental analysis, but I found that the stock patterns(cup, cup with handles, double bottoms) described in this book is very difficult to understand. The times I tried to invest money when the stock broke out of base, I lost money. I don't know if Mr. O'Neal is just lucky. Don't trust the patterns described in this book.
Rating:
Summary: Great Book!
Review: You must buy this book if you are going to invest in stocks. I wished I would have read this book 3 years ago. I can't believe Mr. Oneil is sharing his recipe with the world. It's very simple to understand. I read the book in 2 weeks. Don't let this opportunity pass you up. You will be kicking yourself in the --- if you don't read this book.
Rating:
Summary: An Okay Book
Review: This book does have some good advices, but it does seem lacking in some areas. I've followed the CANSLIM principle, and I watched all the cup and handles, double bottoms, flat bases, and other chart patterns for a few years now. But I found that this is momentum buying at best. IBD claims that they're not momentum buying, but they focus so much on market direction, it seems like it. No matter how many times I bought near the pivot point when the cup formed a 1-7 week handle on low volume, I was making as much money as my friend (sometimes less) who does not follow any of this book's principles. In fact, even if he just buys cheap stocks with bad fundamentals, he still made as much money as I did. Maybe he just has very good luck, or this book's advices does not work very well. But this is not a bad book nor a very good book. This books does give you good advices like cutting your losses short, when to sense a market top, or a when a new bull might start. But don't think you'll double or triple your money in a year or so unless you're lucky.
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