Rating: 
Summary: A Bit Deceptive
Review: This book is more academic than practical, which is not a bad thing. I enjoyed reading it and found it to be well researched and very educational. Just remember, however, that any systematic strategy that makes money in the stock market will become ineffective as soon as it becomes well known (anyone remember "Beating the Dow" or its offspring, "The Foolish Four?"). So read this book if the topic interests you, but don't expect to cash in by exploting these anomalies.Also, A Random Walk addresses some of these anomalies and explains why, given transaction costs among other things, one cannot profit from them.
Rating:
Summary: A Bit Deceptive
Review: This book is more academic than practical, which is not a bad thing. I enjoyed reading it and found it to be well researched and very educational. Just remember, however, that any systematic strategy that makes money in the stock market will become ineffective as soon as it becomes well known (anyone remember "Beating the Dow" or its offspring, "The Foolish Four?"). So read this book if the topic interests you, but don't expect to cash in by exploting these anomalies. Also, A Random Walk addresses some of these anomalies and explains why, given transaction costs among other things, one cannot profit from them.
Rating: 
Summary: Beyond the random walk, the path is rocky.
Review: This is a very interesting and clearly written book. From an academic standpoint, it effectively digs some dent in the Efficient Market Hypothesis. The author addresses ten classic situations, some of them well known, when markets are not efficient. However, the author does not make a convincing case that retail investors can exploit these inefficiencies efficiently. In other words, the anomalies the author depicts amount to separate trading strategies which should potentially help you achieve the "buy low - sell high" optimum. However, these trading strategies are associated with much higher transaction costs and taxes than a buy-and-hold strategy of an index fund. Additionally, some of these strategies are very labor intensive and information intensive. These are added costs. Finally, these strategies will cause you to cash out of the market frequently. The holding of cash balances will further reduce your return compared to investors who remain fully invested. When all is said and done, will you come out ahead exploiting these market anomalies after you factor all added costs? The author stated that he "generally" does come out ahead of the market. However, he does not support this vague statement with any documentation. Also, he adds that going forward his strategies may be less effective because of ever changing market conditions. Thus, once a market anomaly is exploited by a few investors, the market's ever evolving efficiency erases this anomaly. Although the book is very interesting, it is no substitute to sound investment strategies based on the Efficient Market Hypothesis. It is a far safer and easier to profit from the market's overall efficiency than to attempt to profit from its few and fleeting marginal inefficiencies. If you are interested in this subject, I strongly recommend the classics by Burton Malkiel: "A Random Walk Down Wall Street" and "The Random Guide to Investing." I also strongly recommend John Paulos excellent "A Mathematician Plays the Stock Market." These books all suggest that you are better off focusing your energy on proper asset class diversification that reflects your risk tolerance. And, in turn invest for the long term through index funds of these respective asset classes.
Rating:
Summary: Beyond the random walk, the path is rocky.
Review: This is a very interesting and clearly written book. From an academic standpoint, it effectively digs some dent in the Efficient Market Hypothesis. The author addresses ten classic situations, some of them well known, when markets are not efficient. However, the author does not make a convincing case that retail investors can exploit these inefficiencies efficiently. In other words, the anomalies the author depicts amount to separate trading strategies which should potentially help you achieve the "buy low - sell high" optimum. However, these trading strategies are associated with much higher transaction costs and taxes than a buy-and-hold strategy of an index fund. Additionally, some of these strategies are very labor intensive and information intensive. These are added costs. Finally, these strategies will cause you to cash out of the market frequently. The holding of cash balances will further reduce your return compared to investors who remain fully invested. When all is said and done, will you come out ahead exploiting these market anomalies after you factor all added costs? The author stated that he "generally" does come out ahead of the market. However, he does not support this vague statement with any documentation. Also, he adds that going forward his strategies may be less effective because of ever changing market conditions. Thus, once a market anomaly is exploited by a few investors, the market's ever evolving efficiency erases this anomaly. Although the book is very interesting, it is no substitute to sound investment strategies based on the Efficient Market Hypothesis. It is a far safer and easier to profit from the market's overall efficiency than to attempt to profit from its few and fleeting marginal inefficiencies. If you are interested in this subject, I strongly recommend the classics by Burton Malkiel: "A Random Walk Down Wall Street" and "The Random Guide to Investing." I also strongly recommend John Paulos excellent "A Mathematician Plays the Stock Market." These books all suggest that you are better off focusing your energy on proper asset class diversification that reflects your risk tolerance. And, in turn invest for the long term through index funds of these respective asset classes.
Rating: 
Summary: Well-written, convincing....if you are a trader...
Review: This is definetly one of the better written books on the subject. Singal presents several "market anomalies" and discusses strategies as to how to benefit from them. However, most of them have holding periods of a couple of days to a few weeks at the most. A long-term investor may not find the strategies mentioned here very useful. Of particular appeal to mid-to-long term investors may be the discussion on SP500 additions and deletions, and mutual fund pricing. It may offer some tips on when to committ additional funds to mutual funds. However, the increased pressure on market timers and related activities, increasing redemption fees, trading costs, tax implications and the sheer amount of time required to monitor the strategies, the techniques of the author provide for good academic discussion and not as much as practical "tips". Nevertheless, the market situations, suggested techniques, evidence and possible explanations, citations are well presented and logically organized. A must-read for traders and investors alike, though for different reasons.
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