Rating: 
Summary: Dow's Theory Rightly Attributed to Charles Dow
Review: "indeed, Dow Theory, while credited to Charles Dow, was actually first put together by S.A. Nelson in the book The ABCs of Stock Speculation." This reviewer's comment above is a bit misleading. The Dow Theory, as explicated in chapter's IV thru XX of Nelson's book, are actually abridged editorials written by Charles Dow (that orignally appeared between Dec 14, 1900 and July 31, 1902). Nelson in his book accurately attributes Dow Theory to Charles Dow, who was editor of the Wall St. Journal at the time. Nelson's contribution to Dow Theory was the act of compiling Dow's editorials; William Hamilton (Stock Market Barometer, 1922) and Robert Rhea (The Dow Theory, 1932) were so impressed by Dow's ideas about how markets work that they were keenly interested in documenting his ideas in print, as well as extending those ideas.
Rating:
Summary: Dow's Theory Rightly Attributed to Charles Dow
Review: "indeed, Dow Theory, while credited to Charles Dow, was actually first put together by S.A. Nelson in the book The ABCs of Stock Speculation." This reviewer's comment above is a bit misleading. The Dow Theory, as explicated in chapter's IV thru XX of Nelson's book, are actually abridged editorials written by Charles Dow (that orignally appeared between Dec 14, 1900 and July 31, 1902). Nelson in his book accurately attributes Dow Theory to Charles Dow, who was editor of the Wall St. Journal at the time. Nelson's contribution to Dow Theory was the act of compiling Dow's editorials; William Hamilton (Stock Market Barometer, 1922) and Robert Rhea (The Dow Theory, 1932) were so impressed by Dow's ideas about how markets work that they were keenly interested in documenting his ideas in print, as well as extending those ideas.
Rating: 
Summary: Terrific risk management tool.
Review: Even though I would rate this book as highly recommended to anyone seriously interested in reducing the risks inherent in investing, this book is not a quick easy read. With a financial services background spanning 20+ years, I had to read this book several times to understand and appreciate it's true value. In my opinion, the greatest value of this book is found in the larger picture, beyond the "how to" technical talk or author's writing style. Here, Dorsey teaches why the price change in stocks actually has very little to do with company fundamentals, and expouses a very particular investment philosophy - an investment philosophy predicated upon the belief that the lowest common denominator in price change of all kind (including stock price movement) is Nature's own Law of Supply and Demand. That concept is supported by others, including the Nobel Prize winning "Modern Portfolio Theory", which suggests that only about 20% of the cause of price movement in stocks is a direct result of a company's fundamentals, while as much as 80% can be attributed to investor expectations - or said another way, supply and demand. For example, if we were all totally logical and could separate our emotions from our investment decisions, then fundamental analysis - the determination of price based on future earnings - would work magnificently. And since we would all have the same completely logical expectations, prices would only change when quarterly reports or relevant news was released. Investors would be seeking "overlooked" fundamental data in an effort to find undervalued securities. However, if prices are based on investor expectations, then knowing what a security should sell for (i.e., fundamental analysis) becomes less important than knowing what other investors expect it to sell for. That's not to say that knowing what a security should sell for isn't important - it is. But, as we all know firsthand, human emotions are not easily quantifiable or predictable, and this guarantees an element of unpredictability in security prices. In order to be consistently successful, investors must find a way to effectively identify, measure and manage the intangible or "emotional" (and often times, irrational!) risk component present in all financial markets. So how does this book help investors? The Point and Figure Method of charting stock prices was created by Charles Dow in the late 1800's as a way to accurately identify and measure supply and demand - and therefore risk unrelated to fundamentals - in the financial markets. Although there is little written resource material such as this book on Point & Figure Methodology, there are now several Point & Figure related resource sites available for free in the Internet.
Rating:
Summary: Best bet for technical analysis
Review: Having read several books on technical analysis, I would have to say that this is the only book that provided an objective method for using TA. Bullish percents are a concept that can show sector rotation, and market risks in general. Very interesting and helpful stuff here.
Rating:
Summary: The best fifty dollars I ever spent on an investment book.
Review: I am sure I am in the same catagory as many investors who buy various types of investment books. I am looking for an edge; that extra knowledge or idea I can use to make more and keep more of my stock market profits. I found it in this book by Tom Dorsey. I learned when to be offensive and when to be defensive in the stock market, stock market sectors and the individual stocks I own. Do your self a big favor. The next time you save $50 on discounted Internet commissions use the money to buy this book.
Rating: 
Summary: Too Hard to Read, Concepts Available Elsewhere
Review: I found the investment strategy proposed in this book made a lot of sense. However, I doubt Tom's strategy would be very useful for short term traders. This is because you may have to wait months before making a decision to buy or sell. I was also really disappointed that his investment strategy requires you to chart every single stock on the New York stock exchange on a daily basis. Individual investors don't have the time to do this if they have a daytime job. Thus, the book is really a subtle promotion for his company which is an investment advisory firm using his strategy or for a company called Chartcraft which provides this kind of charting for a monthly fee. Finally, the book is dated. It is 5 years old and downplays the importance of NASDAQ stocks.
Rating:
Summary: Not a do it yourself strategy
Review: I found the investment strategy proposed in this book made a lot of sense. However, I doubt Tom's strategy would be very useful for short term traders. This is because you may have to wait months before making a decision to buy or sell. I was also really disappointed that his investment strategy requires you to chart every single stock on the New York stock exchange on a daily basis. Individual investors don't have the time to do this if they have a daytime job. Thus, the book is really a subtle promotion for his company which is an investment advisory firm using his strategy or for a company called Chartcraft which provides this kind of charting for a monthly fee. Finally, the book is dated. It is 5 years old and downplays the importance of NASDAQ stocks.
Rating:
Summary: Essential for those who are investing in the stock market.
Review: I have read and re-read this book several times. I now use this analysis in my day to day portfolio management as a PaineWebber stockbroker. I would highly recommend this book to every investment professional as well as anyone who would like to know what really causes price movements in stocks. In some cases what you don't know WILL hurt you, and not knowing Point & Figure charting will negatively effect your portfolio returns.
Rating:
Summary: Terrible explanations
Review: If you do not already know Point and Figure (P&F) charting, you cannot learn it from this book. The author's explanations of how to do it often use terms that he has not yet explained, and key concepts are often forgotten until later applications in which they are mentioned parenthetically. For example, when a stock is moving down, P&F charting requires you to track the daily low. Dorsey does not mention this detail for pages, rather he simply keeps stating you should see whether "the stock moved lower." Only much later does he mention that "moving lower" means the low for the day, rather than the close, moved lower--meaning that until that point all his examples make no sense and the charts cannot be correlated to the text. Another example: his initial explanation contains a flowchart. This flowchart is confused. For example, one box, which is not a decision box, has a single exit arrow marked "yes." Leaving you to wonder, is the "yes" spurious, or does the box contain an incorrect explanation? And on it goes. Consistent with the above, the author explains easy points in elaborate detail, while brushing over difficult topics. Avoid this book.
Rating:
Summary: Get the edge now. These techniques are now my bread & butter
Review: If you don't understand technical analysis you will find these concepts very different from anything you've seen but after you grasp the basics you will then only begin to understand what a wonderful tool that point and figure charting is. Dorsey explains all the concepts in a very clear and concise manner. It is very easy to understand but don't let that mislead you into thinking that if it's so easy why isn't everyone doing it. That's the beauty of it. Not too many people know about this. It is uncanny how profitable your investing can become once you employ this methodology. I have been using the methods described in this book and I have been very successful. LAST YEAR (1999) I HAD A RETURN OF 61% WHILE ONLY BEING 70% INVESTED! Talk about low risk and HIGH RETURN! Of course you need to employ some fundamental analysis in conjuction with this technical analysis but I know I couldn't have had such a great year without P & F (point and figure). NO, it wasn't luck. I was invested in as many as 30 stocks and I had exposure in 15 different sectors while having no more than 2 or 3 high flying stocks at one time. Speaking of high flying stocks (like QCOM of which I didn't even have any positions in!), point and figure charting will give you the ability to invest in these wild ones while stomaching the volatility. All in all this book and more importantly this knowledge is the HOLY GRAIL for me!
| 
