How to Make Money Selling Stocks Short

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Summary: For $13 you will not learn how to make money
Review: After reading this book I understood that this guy wants your subscription to Investor Business Daily.
If you are serious about trading dig out Toby Crabel or Linda Rascke . They are real money managers, not paper salesmen.

Rating:
Summary: A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words!
Review: Having had the rare opportunity to actually manage money for Bill O'Neil, I must say this book is extremely well done. The fantastic examples in this book are not only very well selected, but provide one with historical precedent that can be used as an invaluable tool for every bear cycle to come. These examples I might add, can not and will not be found anywhere else. On the surface, a "highly educated CFA" may complain that this book is nothing but a short check list with too many chart examples. I on the other hand, have found quite the contrary. A short check list and a plethora of successful models showing what has worked in the past, over and over again, is exactly what you want to study. In fact, I have had the complete and distinct honor of building one of the many model books that Bill has used to create this unbelievably successful system during his forty plus years of experience. Keep in mind, these model books are nothing but pages and pages of examples just like these. With that said, I can assure you, it is the understanding of these very charts and why they work, that will enable you to make consistent money in the stock market. Buying and selling stocks based on intricate valuation measures as used by so many "CFA's" really does not work. As a matter of fact, PE, which is one of the most commonly used valuation measures has absolutely zero correlation with a stock's price performance. To be sure of this, when you are done reading and more importantly studying all of the great examples in this book, I highly recommend any other book you can get you hands on with the name William O'Neil on the cover.

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Summary: Short this book (it shorts you)!
Review: I am a big fan of O'Neil, subscribing to Investors Business Daily as well as the DailyCharts website. I had hoped to get some valuable insights into short selling but I did not. This book did not cost much, but it was not worth the time or the money.

O'Neil credits his co-author "Gil Morales... undertook the tremendous task of rewriting... this work... originally published... in pamphlet form...". This book is still a pamphlet, with about 150 pages of charts out of the 192 pages. The meat of the subject boils down to the "short selling checklist", which doesn't even fill 2 pages. In essence, short only in a confirmed bear market, shorting former leaders months after they peak.

Your time and money would be much better spent buying a good book on technical analysis (John Murphy's books are required reading and he educates you on many indicators to look for when shorting stocks). At least you'd learn that what this book calls "overhead supply" is called resistance (and you'd learn not only to sell resistance but you'd also learn to buy support... but only in a confirmed bull market, and only months after the stock bottoms).

Miles Hoffman, CFA
Atlanta


Rating:
Summary: Disgraceful
Review: I bought this on the strength of his name. I expect many will be very disappointed.
It is little more than a bunch of charts of all the fallen stocks of 2000 with markers of how you would have shorted them all near their highs.
This is 'curve-fitting' technical strategies with no substnace. Example:
On page 49 the chart of Cisco uses the head and shoulders pattern to predict the sell point, but....as the market does not continue to go down, they put a note on the chart "Only 2 1/2 months from peak - Too early too short". This is typical of brazen and irresponsible use of hindsight, with no reasoning or rules to back up, and far too many contradictions.
I will not waste my time going through the rest of the book, which is all charts, but I stongly suspect there is not one example of a losing trade.
Please pass on this one - it really isn't worth the cover price.

Rating:
Summary: O'NEIL DOES IT AGAIN!
Review: I must say I am never disappointed in William O'Neil. Most of the books on short selling are too complicated and high level. I thought his visual approach was brillant. The market is in need of more books with visual presentations, instead of just a straightforward narrative approach.

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Summary: Nothing new, plenty of charts
Review: I used to be a big IBD fan in the nineties. But during the bear market I grew up and learned the lessons the hard way as the writer is too bullish too often. I was disappointed that the writer is just trying to profit from a bunch of charts and the usual IBD after-the-fact claim to being right. During the bear market I was still reading IBD and I never once read anywhere where he suggested, recommended or alluded to any of the short trades he mentions in the book.

Rating:
Summary: Great information on short selling!
Review: I usually like to buy stocks but sometimes there just aren't good opportunities; and there is just not a lot of solid information on short selling. This little book at a great price gives you everything you need. This is a solid buy in my view.

Rating:
Summary: Disappointed
Review: TA is only as useful as the person who interpretate in real time.
However, this book is mostly of hindsights. It is still ok for
$13, though.