A no hype title that hypes a single strategy: another condor book
922754
I've been a long-term trader of options and, by and large, I don't buy books like this to learn anything new but I like to read new books to get a sense of where the general options community is heading and also for possible recommendations to those potential traders to whom I give presentations. Unfortunately this title won't be on the recommended reading.

In the 90's volatility was the new secret to options trading until it was recognised that a lot (but not all) vol strategies were difficult to execute at the retail level. Recently `complex' spreads have been the new `best thing' and that, essentially, is what this book is largely about. There is little despatching of the `myths' apart from trading spreads based on IV and the question of strategies such as the broken wing butterfly. Indeed , the author insinuates that short naked put strategies are not high risk because a stop-loss can be initiated. Try telling that to someone who is long delta and has just faced a gap down on the open.

This short book (despite the published 198 pages the book is far smaller after the ToC, the glossary, the answers to the chapter questions, and the over sized graphs and tables are accounted for) is essentially a promotion for condors. In the early chapters here's a re-hash of  probabilities, then a few pages with a cursory explanation of the Greeks, and then it's on to the criticisms of single leg strategies on a theoretical risk assessed basis before singing the praises of condors. I have no problems with condors: I occasionally use them. Although the throwaway line by proponents to `set them up when you expect a flat market' is the devil in the detail and takes us back to the bad old days of the `sell when IV is high' mantra.

There is an irony in the title for a book about `No Hype' that certain strategies are hyped.

I had another problem with the book. The payoff diagrams use (and acknowledge) the
Optionetics `sideways' format. Again, I have no issues with the concept of that format although it'll confuse new traders not accustomed to it and it suffers from being presented on the printed page, as opposed as being on a colour screen. I wondered: why use that? Then I saw on the cover leaf that the author is also a lecturer at "trading conferences".

In summary: the book has nothing new to offer in the trading experience; it fails to debunk many myths; the book is light-on with depth analysis, especially of the greeks; it hypes condors; and, is not presented in a particularly user friendly style.

My assessment: much better value elsewhere. Especially at the price.
1128939
You may not become as wealthy as Warren Buffett but Mr. Lee does provide a  simple and understandable model for selecting stocks and outpacing the  market averages.  Like Dreman and O'Shaughnessy, the author makes a valid  argument against EMH and about having a strategy and emotional detachment  from the investment process.
The problem I had is that the strategy has  selected very few stocks, often times just one.  While I like a  concentrated portfolio, I don't want my fortunes resting on the fortunes of  one company.  Also, the author contradicts himself when he said that  analyzing the Dow has led to superior results and then later says that  using such a small universe has penalized his results.  Which is it?  I  would have like to seen more information about a broader universe of stocks  so that I could see the results of a diversified portfolio (e.g. 20 stocks)  over the last 25 years.  And the turbocharged results come from LEAPS which  receive only a little bit of attention.  I doubt Mr. Lee puts all of his  clients' money into LEAPS.  So, I would approach with caution.  I think the  strategy makes sense but it could have been written in a much more useful  manner. Thus the three stars. I would borrow it rather than buy it.
1471270
The strategies in the book are attractive. However, there seems to be a constant underlining theme: "All the setups will work". There should be more material on considering the downside risk also. For example, in the strategy  that focuses on stock with price less than 5 dollars, the trade example only focuses on the amount of profit a person can get when the stock increases in price. There is very little discussion how to manage the position when the stock price goes down.
In summary, use more caution when using the strategies in the book.
1873296
Face it, there's very little new under the trading sun, strategy-wise, but presumably there are always new investors making their way through an ever growing sea of media, advice, literature, and historical data in search of a solid system to guide them . Sure, plenty will always be searching for silver-bullet programs to achieve fast profits, but Pham is not speaking directly to such an audience, or I suspect he'd do his best to discourage such quixotic thinking.

I'd regard Pham's approach as a sensible extrapolation and refinement of known quant techniques pertaining to price and volume.  The most important ever-obvious-but-so-hard-to-swallow idea he shares is we should abandon the notion that market behavior can in any sense be predicted.

Rather Pham believes markets can best be viewed as interconnected streams of probabilities rather than a treasure map of hidden absolute predictors.

For example, Pham regards the chart pattern matching of technical analysis as a distraction that can fool us into believing we see and know more than we do - an interesting idea he calls `multistability' that explains our response to optical illusions. It's no surprise the resulting false confidence can frequently cost us money.  While fundamental analysis may reveal what fueled past growth honest practitioners will concede it's in no way a firm predictor of future growth.

Pham's approach can be summed up as stripping out as much data noise as possible and focusing on a small set of probabilities and trade setups. Trends and ranges involve interpretation and, like all interpretation, they include the potential for error and multiple viewpoints. Prices and volume are facts and, in the end, the only certainty we have as traders to base our actions upon.

He regards the four known price points (high, low, open, close) as what really matter, particularly opening range that he describes as `a slice of price, not a slice of time' and a source of `high probability trending moves'. He focuses on building a set of small quantitative tools (formula) he believes are more useful than the multicolored dashboards of charts, screens, monitors, and calculators many firms use to appeal to potential clients.

The writing style is refreshing clear-headed and dialed-down emotionally - as Pham believes our trading actions should be. There's none of the faux street guy toughness and macho posing I've read in other trading books - an attitude that often masks unimaginative takes on well-worn trading strategies that can have you looking like a genius, 'part of the time under certain market conditions'.  Nor is Pham trying to sell you on subscribing to his website or newsletter.

I appreciated the author's candor when he says the book isn't just for those who want to trade themselves, but should serve as a guide to communicate with the person actively managing your money.

Remove emotion, unfounded perceptions, and interpretive ambiguity from your trading actions. Simple, but far from simplistic, and requiring a discipline of mind and emotion.

`The Big Trade' will appeal to people with some investing experience who are serious about committing time and resources to tailoring a trading system that works for them - and are put off by so much of the high-energy advice/entertainment industry that's grown up around the markets.
1291500
I continue to be amazed by the popularity of this book. I read it a couple of years ago and it has enough material for a very nice HBR article. The book is written by two professors, but don't let that fool you. It is not based on academic research. The core model "value curve" is similar to perception curves used by marketing research for several decades. There is nothing wrong with borrowing ideas as long as their origin is acknowledged. I think the authors have taken most of ideas from marketing and then pass them on as novel ideas in strategic management. The book really reads like its been written by management consultants.

The authors are certainly skilled in repackaging old material using fancy terminology. The idea of creating new markets is naturally important (but hardly novel). Only suckers will consider "blue ocean" different to "new market" or "new product category". If you like books with lots of frameworks with very catchy descriptions, you will probably like this book. I think the business school should at least force the authors to be a bit more honest were the ideas are coming from. But, hey, money talks and this is a money spinner

The authors' idea is called value innovation. We might just as well call it business model innovation or strategic innovation. A book that covers similar themes but with much more rigour is Markides's&nbsp;<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/All-the-Right-Moves-A-Guide-to-Crafting-Breakthrough-Strategy-1999-publication/dp/0875848338/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">All the Right Moves ,A Guide to Crafting Breakthrough Strategy 1999 publication</a>. That book is written without any buzzword in a pretty straightforward way, but behind the surface is actually quite a lot of structured thinking. I can recommend that book for anyone who is interested in finding/creating new markets.

My advice is to read their HBR article. Most of their ideas you'll find condensed in ten pages. I give the book two stars, because it has been a big success. You should be aware of the ideas.
3172072
This book is divided into three parts. The first one addresses the reality that conventional risk management has failed. The second describes the Ten Risk Intelligence Skills*. The third describes the characteristics of the Risk Intelligent Enterprise** and the responsibilities of directors, officers and employees, and coined the term "Risk IQ".

IMHO, the authors' effort to put much knowledge into their work is much appreciated. The ideas are alright. The organisation and writing is not. It would be much better if the high dosage and diversity of the so called voice of experience can be reduced. Also, although I understood that the target audience are those mega conglomerates which can afford ultra high execution cost of the authors' prescription, it would still be better for the authors to apply the "foot in the door technique" to make the cost of change more affordable. That may indirectly benefit those big to mid sized corporations that lack the resources (but not the will) to apply risk management as well. In short, readable, but of low practical value.

Remarks:-

*The Ten Essential Risk Intelligence Skills:-
Check your assumptions at the door.
Maintain constant vigilance.
Factor in velocity and momentum.
Manage the key connections.
Anticipate causes of failure.
Verify sources and corroborate information.
Maintain a margin of safety.
Set your enterprise time horizons.
Take enough of the right risks.
Sustain operational discipline.

**The characteristics of the Risk Intelligence Enterprise:-
Understands that discussions of value and risk are inseparable from enterprise management.
Understands that risk management must be built into the core ways of protecting existing assets and of creating future value.
Assumes that turbulence (and thus the extreme) is inevitable and therefore emphasizes prevention and preparedness.
Is vigilant for abroad range of opportunities and risks across the enterprise, including industry, strategic, compliance, competitive, financial, security, reporting, operational, environmental, country and polticial.
Acknowledges the need for specialization by business function, as well as the need to harmonize, synchronize, and rationalize risk management and controls.
Considers interactions among multiple risks rather than focusing on a single risk or event, and considers the impacts that could result from multiple threats.
Creates a common language and set of metrics for value and risk, and a culture in which people account for value and risk in every key decision and activity.
Encourages risk taking for reward and value creation, rather than pure risk avoidance, by driving out fear of failure.
3372560
This book is aimed at seasoned technical traders who are already comfortable with historical Fibonacci patterns and would benefit from even more advanced ideas as inspiration. Like any book on the subject, this isn't a how-to introduction and is best served as a field reference guide.

Carney showcases charts such as the BAT Butterfly, Crab, and Gatley with large clear graphs and a short blurb which tends to be informative and not too dry. The book layout is a bit inefficient, to the extent that there are often huge white spaces; I like the 1 chart per page idea, but it might have been better to make the book more of a square shape. The graphs are clear, but there can occasionally be small errors.

It is unlikely that this book will change the investment fortunes of anyone because successful PnL is multifaceted. But supply and demand and ultimately support and resistant levels can play a part and if visualizing helps - it can be a useful tool.

To casual readers, infrequent traders and long investors I think this book would be of little value.
284594
Rethink by Ric Merrifield is subtitled "a business manifesto for cutting costs and boosting innovation." This might make you think that the book is all about how to tweak and tune your current options to make them run more efficiently. Quite the opposite. Ric wants you to reevaluate your entire organization and come up with ways to do things DIFFERENTLY - which will save you money and help your final product reach its aims more effectively.

This mantra is repeatedly constantly in the book. Yes, start by looking at HOW you do things. You send FAXes. You answer phone calls with orders. Then step back and think about WHAT you are accomplishing. You are distributing status updates. You are bringing in orders. You could do those things far more efficiently if you just focused on those "whats" and thought up different ways of how they could be done.

The techniques he uses to help you out of your current box are similar to many other self-help books. You build a grid with four parts - high value / low performance, high value / high performance, low value / low performance and low value / high performance. The HV/LP are the ones you must actively fix. The HV/HP you can luckily just monitor. The LV/LP should be outsourced or eliminated. You're not doing them well anyway, and you don't really need to waste the time. The LV/HP is a waste of resources - people are doing really well things that don't need to be done. Sic those people on something more valuable.

There are good real-life examples in the worlds of Amazon, jet planes, online banking and other areas. You hear about specific issues they faced and how they were overcome. Cranium, the fun board game, went through numerous rethinking rounds before it reached success.

In many of the examples you hear a common theme - that company management was resistant to an idea which later proved to be quite successful. In Cranium, they thought nobody would want to play with clay. In Amazon, people resisted the idea of showing used books right alongside the new ones. The company plowed ahead with the risky idea and found success.

There are also examples of tiny changes making a big difference. For example, in one of Cranium's board games they had used a traditional hourglass as a timer. Players would nag each other during their turn, tapping the hourglass and taunting them about time running out. They made a tiny change to the game - changing the hourglass into a musical timer. Suddenly players were now encouraging each other, encouraging them to finish in time.

I've seen that some other reviewers found the writing style to be "dry". Maybe it's because I've read numerous business books at this point, but this book is NOT dry :) I can recommend several books for people to read that are highly respected and VERY dry. Yes, the tone isn't cutesy and light with examples involving puppies and kittens, but I did find the information useful.

If I had a complaint, it's that the examples all skew towards rather large businesses. Most businesses out there are small businesses, and those small business owners definitely need this assistance. However, it's hard for a small florist or a website owner to relate to a lot of these examples. I think if even a few of the examples could have been brought down to a smaller size, it would have been extremely helpful.
3723711
For you long time gamers, you may recall a little game called "Spaceward Ho".  It is amazing that after years of improvements in processing power, AI coding, video and audio improvements, this game is no more than a glorified, and far more expensive version of the old classic (which was a fine game for its time).  My advice, for those without the time to read all this, find a copy of Spaceward Ho and play that instead.
I was very much looking forward to a new space based strategy game.  The genre has been lacking for some time, especially with the intense focus on pure RTS types of games.  Sword, from the box and some of the articles I read, seemed to be that game.  My mistake.
The manual is poorly written.  I grant that it gives you information on each icon in the game, but as for getting things done, how to accomplish things and the relative benefits of one action or item over another, it is woefully lacking.
The combat interface is terrible, to say the least.  Controlling your own ships and seeing what is going on is difficult at best.  Your POV is limited to the picture from a single ship (yours or the enemy's) if your ship is in the wrong place to see what is going on (it mistakenly or randomly wandered off), oh well, guess you'll just have to hope.  The orders you have are very limited, and often are not followed by the ships you give them to.  The so-called 3-D combat is really nothing more than a 3-D picture on which you fight in a single plane, i.e., 2-D without the clarity of what the heck is happening.
Industry and planetary economy?  A few sliders and pie charts.  How much do you want to spend on ship building vs. terraforming vs. industry vs. income/research?  That's it.
Research?  I like the way the research tree is developed, one of the few benefits to the game.  However, there is no real information on what the research buys you (yes, weapons have little bar charts showing how great they are, but the bars don't relate to anything concrete, more damage, but how much more, etc.).  Ok, I get green lasers instead of red, but how much better are they?  How strong are those extra strong hulls, how much faster will I make things with that industry improvement?  With no knowledge of the relative value of one improvement over another, it is difficult to direct research intelligently.
Ship design.  Looks pretty, but here the problems with research, industry, and combat come to roost.  You can't refit ships, so rebuilding your entire fleet may be needed whenever you make a major breakthrough (or is it?  how much better was that again?).  Building a sizeable fleet takes some time, and having it obsoleted every so often is a tooth grinding feeling.
How about diplomacy?  The options here are pitiful.  War, nothing (peace), non-aggression, and allied.  Little insight as to why one race will ally or non-agression with you when another won't and the classic problem of no apparent (maybe yes, maybe no) repercussions from a race breaking treaties with you (or you with them) are rife.  You can give some funds to allies only, but do nothing otherwise to influence those who aren't your allies, by direct choice at least.
Not worth the trouble, and I'd like the money and 30 or more hours I spent on the game back please.
4206950
The title of this book is almost immediately contradicted by its thesis: there will always be competitive advantage but that advantage will be transient rather than sustainable. Rita McGrath focuses on what she characterizes as "the new strategic logic -- where to compete, how to compete, and how to win...when competitive advantages are temporary." She identifies and examines a number of lessons that can be learned "from companies that have learned to ride the wave from one transient advantage to another." Although she resists the temptation to cite the Maginot Line as a case in point, it is analogous to many (if not most) companies whose leaders assume that (a) competitive advantage can be sustainable and (b) stability rather than change (or innovation) will ensure success.

She makes several other important points when asserting that "a new level of analysis that reflects the connection between market segment, offer, and geographic location at a granular level is needed. I call this an [begin italics] arena [end italics]. Arenas are characterized by particular connections between customers and solutions, not be the conventional description of offerings that are near substitutes for one another." Moreover, companies that compete in several different markets, especially if those markets are both domestic and international, will almost certainly not take the same approach in all or even most of them.

I agree with McGrath: "The imagery of arena-based strategy is more of an orchestration than of plotting a compelling victory, and implementation on the ground by those actually confronting conditions within a specific arena becomes increasingly important." It is imperative that front liners be involved when decisions are made about "where to compete, how to compete, and how to win"; then, they should have authority as well as responsibility during competition in he given arena.

These are among the dozens of passages that caught my eye, also listed to indicate the scope of McGrath's coverage.

o The New Logic of Strategy (Pages 7-18)
o The New Strategy Playbook (18-24)
o Escaping the [Long-Term] Competitive Advantage Trap (30-32)
o Sources of Stability (34-41)
o Five Sources of Agility (41-49)
o Early Warnings of Decline: What Do You Look For? (54-57)
o Different Strategies for Disengagement (59-74)
o Freeing the Hostages: How Accenture Did It (86-87)
o Parsimony, Parsimony, Parsimony (92-93)
o What Innovation Proficiency Looks Like (103-111)
o How Do You Build Innovation Proficiency if You Don't Have It? (115-124)
o You Can't Manage a Secret: Seek Disconfirmation Rather Than Confirmation (144-147)
o A Different Mind-Set (158-159)
o Competitive Advantage: Power to the People (162-165)
o Living in the Transient-Advantage Economy (184)

Although the aforementioned lessons to be learned are based on McGrath's research and her close association with global giants (e.g. ccenture, Alcoa, Brambles, CHEP, CSEP, General Electric, HDFC, IBM, Nokia, Novartis, and Sargentia), the same lessons are directly relevant to almost any other companies (whatever their size and nature may be) whose leaders must also understand how "to ride the wave from one transient advantage to another."

In my opinion, this is Rita McGrath's most important book thus far because its potential impact and value are greater than any of hers that preceded it to publication. "Like it or not, the transient advantage economy is here with us now and shows no sign of retreat. My hope is that in reading this book and learning about the extraordinary people and organizations who have figured out how to thrive in this new landscape, you will be inspired." I share that hope, presuming to add that I also agree with Thomas Edison: "Vision without execution is hallucination."
2453106
A decent introduction to hold-em, but you can find a better written, and more current, book easily.  This book was written in 1976 and updated in 1997, although this reprint is from October 2004.

Although a lot of the hand ranking and strategy is probably still applicable, the outdated nature of the book shows through at several points.  The author freqently refers to the "new" system of two blinds, and in the "Note to 1997 Edition" says that this is usual at "bigger games."  All hold-em games in casinos, at least in any casino I've been in, use the two-blind ("big" and "little") system, and the typical reader will only encounter those games in 2006.  Sklansky also admonishes the reader not to play "no limit" games at several points in the book - well, in 2006 "no limit" is the most common game in casinos, and you'll be pressed to find a "limit" game in hold-em.  Last two times I was in a poker room, there were no "limit" games even listed for hold-em.  If you want limits, play Omaha.

This is a significant limitation to the book, because as I understand it, no-limit makes a significant difference in how you play.  The book also does not address the differences in strategy between tournaments and cash games.

Finally, the author's use of the badly outdated terms "fourth street" and "fifth street" is just annoying - except for one twit on TV (either WSOP or WPT, I forget which) who has an idiotic affectation for referring to the turn as "fourth street", NO ONE uses these terms any more - it's "the turn" and "the river."  It doesn't affect the instruction, but it really grates on the nerves almost immediately, and probably confuses the rank beginner who turns on the TV and hears different terminology used.  It would have taken no time at all to change this before the 2004 reprint, if not earlier.

In short, a useful book, but you can do better for the money.
4072190
Weiss produces a book that is too dangerous to fall into the hands of beginners, but is of considerable interest to advanced/experienced players.  The danger for beginners is twofold.  First, the suggestions of openeing lead methods flies in the face of conventional wisdom.  Second, the plays suggested require a skill level unattainable without many years of strong competition.

The lead convention introduced in this book is radical -- "parity leads" are the authors solution to providing immediate information regarding the length of the suit led, to the detriment of attitude implications.  The normal lead from K832 is the deuce, showing three or four cards in the suit, with an implication that the suit is worth leading, hence possessing an honor (AKQ or J).  Against a suit contract, many would lead the three, beginning a count showing sequence of cards -- those who do so are playing either "third and fifth" or "low from odd, third best from even."  The latter methods share the benefit of guaranteeing an odd number of cards when partner can see that the lead is the lowest card in the leader's possession.

Weiss takes that tendency to the extreme, by leading the 8 in the example suit, a method not previously encountered by this reviewer.  The benefit is clear:  In most cases the length in the suit led is known, far more often than in the other practices.  However, it may not be clear that the lead is not from the top of a doubleton, say 82, rather than from a suit headed by an honor, and that failure may overwhelm whatever benefit the length ("parity") information may impart.

The lead also violently opposes the concept of "attitude" leads, espoused by yet another school of thought on the subject.

And so the reading of this book by the inexperienced would be terribly confusing.

All that having been said, and warnings issued, the hands generally make use of the "partity" information imparted, and so are an excellent presentation of the benefits of the methods.

The plays suggested by the author are pretty uniformly intelligent, drawing appropriate inferences from the bidding and play, and often difficult, drawing on sublte inferences or providing information to an intelligent partner.

For experts only.
4670761
Note: This review is of a book published earlier this year. It is a sequel to one published in 2003.

What we have here is a series of brief discussions "the most influential management books you'll never have time to read," a total of 130, one per author or co-authors. They were selected by persons not identified and the book was published by (appropriately) Basic Books. No doubt those who examine the list will disagree with the selections (I do and more about that later) because any such list is bound to generate controversy. Some readers will question the selection of an author's work (e.g. preferring Jim Collins' Good to Great to Built to Last written with Jerry Porras) and other readers will object to an author's inclusion (e.g. Gerry McGovern, R. Meredith Belbin) and/or exclusion (e.g. Adrian Slywotsky). That said, the 130 really would provide an excellent "basic library" of resources that include non-business books such as Sun Tzu's The Art of War and Niccol Machiavelli's The Prince that have indeed had significant impact on thinking about leadership and management.

The two-page format is eminently sensible:

WHY READ IT? A capsule introduction describing the book's key contribution to management
GETTING STARTED: An introduction to the main themes that each author sets out to address
CONTRIBUTION: A detailed summary of the book's most important points
CONTEXT: An overview of both the immediate reaction to the book and its long-term significance
FOR MORE INFORMATION: Essential bibliographic information on the given title

Granted, it is impossible to do full justice to any of the 130. What surprised me is how much useful material the anonymous co-authors of the digests manage to provide. Although the format is standardized, the approach to essential points varies to accommodate the unique significance of the given work. Here are two brief excerpts:

On the contribution of Igor Ansoff's Corporate Strategy (1965): "The book presented several new theoretical concepts, such as partial ignorance, business strategy, capability and competence profiles, and synergy. One particular concept, the product-mission matrix, became very popular because it was simple and - for the first time - codified the differences between strategic expansion and diversification."

On the contribution of Clayton M. Christensen's The Innovator's Dilemma (2003): "The author cites five reasons successful companies fail to capitalize on disruptive technologies:

o Customers control the pattern of resource allocation.
o Small markets do not solve the growth needs of large companies.
o It can be difficult to identify successful applications in advance.
o Larger organizations rely on their core competencies and values.
o Technology supply may not equal demand."

Having read most of the 130, reviewed a majority, and interviewed the authors of several, I disagree with only a few of the selections and would have replaced them with others I consider more worthy such as Eric Drexler's Engines of Creation: The Coming Era of Nanotechnology (1987), Patrick Lencioni's The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership Fable (2002), Guy Kawasaki's Reality Check: The Irreverent Guide to Outsmarting, Outmanaging, and Outmarketing Your Competition (2008), Thomas S. Kuhn's The Structure of Scientific Revolutions (1996), and the U.S. Army's Official Army Leadership Manual: Leadership the Army Way (available to the general public in Be*Know*Do, an adaptation of the manual published in 2004).
3327671
Alike most readers who have reviewed the book on these pages, I approached "Optimizing Corporate Portfolio Management" with much gusto. Despite the catchy title, I soon discovered that the stake did not match the sizzle.

What is undobtedly the most valuable contribution of the book is its practical approach to managing corporations as portfolios. The book contains a number of proven examples that a pactitioner is sure to find useful. This is also what the author promises to do: to write a book from the point of view of a practitioner for the purposes of enlightening a fellow practitioner. So much so good.

From the perspective of an (customer) portfolio management expert (i.e. advanced level practitioner), I found the book quite "light" on all of the key words in the title: corporate portfolio management, aligning investment proposals, and organizational strategy. In more practical terms, the book does not manage to answer the question stated on the cover: how to align investment proposals with organizational strategy?

All in all, I find the book an OK source if you are an absolute beginner and need to get a first glimpse of the subject matter. For anyone with more ambitious aims, the book may not live up to its promise.
3239003
In a sense, if you already know about straddles and strangles, one could be forgiven to think that the book doesn't offer anything new.  If all you are looking for a "new" trading strategy, this book will disappoint. However, this short, easy-to-read book should be mostly viewed as understanding the dynamics of earnings announcements - right from what is included in earnings report and which numbers matter (and why) to post earnings drifts and specific strategies trade around such events.

A recent article in a leading financial weekly cited a research firm that over 75% of the straddles/strangles lost money in the ongoing earnings season (Jan-Feb 2011) - mostly attributed to the collapse of the implied volatility (the authors do explain this phenomenon very well). As such there is obviously no guaranteed results - but this book provides almost everything a trader would want to develop a comprehensive checklist in entering into trades around earnings  (in fact, this strategy is not limited to earnings seasons - pharma/biotech companies facing FDA action dates are also viable candidates for this strategy).  The authors cite one of my favorite books in option trading -&nbsp;<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/The-Volatility-Edge-in-Options-Trading-New-Technical-Strategies-for-Investing-in-Unstable-Markets/dp/0132354691/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">The Volatility Edge in Options Trading: New Technical Strategies for Investing in Unstable Markets</a>&nbsp;whose discussion on volatility collapse is a must-read for any trader. In fact, this book joins another favorite of mine -&nbsp;<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Trading-Options-at-Expiration-Strategies-and-Models-for-Winning-the-Endgame/dp/0135058724/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Trading Options at Expiration: Strategies and Models for Winning the Endgame</a>&nbsp;in devising and refining my strategies.

The book is written in a very down-to-earth manner with not much technical vocabulary assumed. For a more serious reader, the authors provide citations of some of the foundational academic research in this space. Overall, a very crisp, well-organized book.  I just wish they had hypothesized on specific strategies and performed some back-testing to give the reader a better understanding of the odds. 4.5*
4100472
I recently read two books written by Phillip Slater. This one and A New Strategy for Continuous Improvement.  In both, Slater's primary focus is on what to do and how to do it. He thinks sequentially and, in this volume, suggests seven actions for materials resource planning (MRO) and indirect inventory reduction. There are no head-snapping revelations, nor does Slater claim to offer.

The format of this book allows the reader to record in designated areas within the narrative her or his responses when completing a series of exercises. For example, on page 29, Slater asks his reader to identify how the five myths of inventory reduction may be impacting her or his organization's inventory reduction efforts. That is an excellent issue to address and is relevant to the given context, so it will generate more useful information than will the request on page 49 when Slater asks his reader to list "issues" (any kind?) concerning her or his company, a location/division, and the date(s) to which the issues refer.  The precision and clarity of exercise design vary throughout the narrative.

Although this is a book that an individual can read and benefit from, its greatest value will be derived (in my opinion) only if several members of a team read it, complete the exercises, and then share their responses. The ultimate objective should be a single document that can then serve as a game plan when the team proceeds to implementation ("taking action"), which Slater discusses in the final chapter. The material is sound and carefully organized. The exercises will permit readers to interact with the material in an orderly way. To accommodate inevitable revisions, I suggest that the exercises be completed with a #2 pencil, one with a sturdy eraser.

I have rated this book higher than his other book, A New Strategy for Continuous Improvement, because it has more substance but again wish he had developed his core concepts in much greater depth (the narrative is only 151 pages in length, with wide spacing between paragraphs, followed by four appendices) and had he included several real-world (as opposed to hypothetical) examples to illustrate some of his key points. As is, this is a hybrid volume (part "manual" as he frequently refers to it, part workbook) that provides a basic introduction to an important business subject. If and when revised for a second edition, this document could and should offer more substance (i.e. value), given its cost of purchase.

Those in need of broader and deeper coverage of inventory management are urged to check out David J. Piasecki's Inventory Accuracy: People, Processes, & Technology, Best Practice in Inventory Management (Second Edition), Inventory Management and Production Planning and Scheduling (3rd Edition) co-authored by Edward A. Silver, David F. Pyke, and Rein Peterson, and Paul Bernard's Integrated Inventory Management.
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Reward Systems by Steve Kerr is a very short book - and it is also a high level book. I have several books on practical reward systems, but that is not what this book provides. Instead, it is more meant for a CEO to think about overall company-wide systems that will help create a productive environment. In that sense I think the title is not quite helpful. Most people who are getting a book on reward systems want to actually create reward systems and get help with them. This book is more about how to decide who gets what raises, and how to get management to implement that well.

To begin with, the book talks about a scientist working with rats. He literally yells at the rats for "not doing what he wanted." Finally he realized his EXPERIMENT was flawed - that he was not rewarding the rats well, so they naturally were not doing the desired behavior. Once he gave them good rewards, they went for them. So for example imagine a maze with pieces of chalk at the end (assuming rats hate chalk ;) ). The rats would not make any attempt to go for it. If instead you had a really lovely cheese at the end, the rat would now try to get it. The book is saying that humans are the same way. If you have "rewards" that nobody wants, you cannot be surprised when the employees do not even try to get them. You need rewards they really do want in order to movtivate them.

The book launches into a long discussion about mission statements and then metrics of how to measure which employees should get a reward. It points out that measurements should be about improving performance. It talks about rating vs ranking - i.e. giving each employee an independent quality level, or putting them all into a long line from top to bottom. Steve points out that ranking systems only really works if every single job has the same skill set and warns that ranking discourages teamwork. He says it is much better to have standards that everyone meets or doesn't meet, vs trying to compare humans with each other to rank them.

As an example, the book cites how people sometimes talk about porpoises being wonderfully helpful and pushing sailors to safety. However, studies show that porpoises like to push all objects in all directions. The sailors that are pushed to land are able to tell their story - but the sailors pushed out to sea drown and don't tell their stories. Therefore we only hear half of the story.

All people in a system need to get treated equally. In many systems the high performers get rewards but no feedback - while the low performers get no rewards and lots of feedback. All people should get feedback so they can get better. Rewards should be quickly, so that it reinforces the behavior, rather than months or years later. You want to change rewards frequently so that they stay "special" and not "expected". Also, you should only rarely punish. People respond far better striving towards a reward than fearing a damaging activity.

The book does reasonably well as a high-end overview of what a reward system should aim for - but it is definitely NOT an actual, practical "how to think up rewards your employees will like" type of book. If you don't have a mission statement or a pay raise system in place yet - or if you are dissatisfied with either - this is a book to take a look at. If you want actual reward system designs and ideas, you will need to look elsewhere.