Rating: 
Summary: Don't waste your time or money
Review: I bought this book based on the title, description of it's content, and a few abriged excerpts. And after reading half of it, I realized that I was learning nothing, and was wasting time that I could use reading something useful about investing. This book is not about investing, nor trading. And it's definitely not about the practical speculation of financial markets. It seems much more like a Wall Street Journal, Barron's, or CNBC feature that got out of hand, or a graduate students thesis paper.
Take your trading and investment lessons from those who make a lot of money from professional trading and investing, not from professional writers who make a living writing.
Rating: 
Summary: A wonderful fun book
Review: Speculation is how we live our lives: we make educated guesses under uncertainty everyday; we have no other choice because this is the way that our reality is structured. The authors take this simple but profound observation and tie it to the market and the scientific method of testing a proposition to see if it can be falsified and then draw some tentative conclusions about the data and the market. This is not so much a how to do market analysis book, but more a how to think about market analysis.
The writing is stellar and fun. The writers are obviously well informed and very honest and smart. This is a very enjoyable book that I would highly recommend to anyone interested in trading, in market analysis, or in just a very good read.
Rating:
Summary: Experienced perspective - enjoyable & valuable.
Review: I'm a young trader at a regional brokerage firm and eager to expand my knowledge and move forward, so I always keep an eye out for good books. In my opinion the best choices are books by experienced market participants that I can learn from.I recently bought 'Practical Speculation' and also 'Fooled by Randomness' by Nassim Taleb. Both are by well known fund managers. But whereas the Taleb book had no practical money making suggestions, or even any information about the author's trading style or track record, 'Practical Speculation' is
full of distilled wisdom and useful information. I wish all the trading books I bought were half as valuable as 'Practical Speculation'. I just ordered 'Education of a Speculator' also and can't wait to read it.
Rating:
Summary: Disappointing, Self Serving Book
Review: "What a waste of my time". That was the thought that crossed my mind as I labored to finish the book. The -only- reason I bought this book is because it was recommended by Gary B. Smith, a technical trading columnist at TheStreet.com/Realmoney.com for whom I have great respect. But after reading it, I felt that I was none the wiser. The book makes some good points. The chapter on Abel Abelson, the famous permabear in Barron's, is a good read and a good example of someone failing to see the trend (permabulls aren't any better, mind you, but there is no example of that in this book). And the authors' emphasis on backtesting (instead of relying on a hunch) is commendable -- up to a point. But the authors spend way too much time defending their own record. And backtesting has its own limits. IMHO, the market is all about emotion; backtesting will not always capture this. They authors are also dismissive of technical trading, fundamental analysis, and P/E ratios! Gimme a break, Vic. Are you saying nothing works except ValueLine?! I *know* they do because I have increased my capital nine fold in four years using these very tools. I was hoping that this book will help me become a better trader and a better investor, but I am none the wiser for reading it.
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