Profit First is the missing link in all of the other financial books out there.
587891
Profit First is the missing link in all of the financial books I've been reading. There's some great stuff out there, but only once in a while does the right information come along when I need it. I immediately grasped the importance of what Mike was saying and began the process of putting profit first within minutes. I have work to do, but the systems and accounts are in place and I'm moving forward. I consider this one of the most important books in my business books library.
684231
1-The trendline is broken; 2-The trend stops making higher highs or lower lows; 3-See if prices go above a previous high or below a previous low; 2B rule - a higher high or a lower low is made but fails to carry through.

  In a 280 page book this is the only really valuable thing that caught my attention. These are two very powerful rules which if carefully and meticulously applied, the results in the long term will be very, very profitable. That's it. That's all. All there is to it. At least as far as the trading part is concerned. Sometimes it can be worth buying a book for a single very good idea it presents, and the rest of it may not really matter. These two rules were worth the price of this book, and maybe more. That's why I'm giving it five stars.

  There are some other interesting concepts explained in the book, like the Dow Theory (why it works when it does and why it doesn't work when it doesn't), identifying a change of trends, the true meaning and definition of risk, capital preservation, consistent profitability and the pursuit of superior profits.

  Much of the rest is filler, (at least for me, since I mainly bought this book for the trading part), especially the part where mister Sperandeo attacks the (detrimental?) role of a government in a capitalist country (although he states that capitalism ceased to exist in the US in 1913 with the adoption of the 16th Amendment and the formation of central banking!!!), Marx and Keynes philosophic and economic theories, the moral code of altruism, etc.

Anyway, if you buy this book is because you want to become a better investor or trader, and as such, it deserves 5 stars.
956145
I read this book several years ago, and took away some lasting items of value from it.  The most valuable pieces of the book, surprisingly, are the sections on money management and record keeping.  To this day I follow Dr. Elder's outstanding advice on how to limit risk and how to properly document trades and objectively track success.  It is also worth the admittedly high price of the book to learn Dr. Elder's formula for setting "Safe-Zone" stops.  I'm still not sure how or why this works, but the formula tends to come up with solid places to put in stops.

Unfortunately, I can't give the book higher than three stars because of some flaws.  First, I find the tone of his writing to be somewhat condescending and insulting to both beginners and those who lose money.  Dr. Elder says "successful traders are self-assured but never arrogant."  But he also comes up with condescending quotes like, "Winners make money in different ways, while all losers fall into the same wastebasket of impulsivity."  Wow.

After reading the great trading books like Reminiscences of A Stock Operator, and Stanley Kroll's two books, I also question some of his advice, such as when he says that to step up to being an intermediate trader "you need cut losses faster and grab profits sooner."  The experts are all for cutting losses, but "grab profits sooner?"  What happened to letting profits run?

Finally, I cannot understand why the examples at the end of the book feature countertrend trades that have nothing to do with the methodology presented in the majority of the book.  All they do is confuse you after you've made a great effort to understand the trend-following methods he preaches throughout the book.
4913743
The only book to reading on trading. The first to speak of the trade and the man behind the trade
4015373
I don't know of any other books on this subject. If you want to fund a business on the cheap and have friends or co-workers who are willing to contribute some time and sweat equity this book will tell you how to make it all work.
81781
There is no other book like this. If it's out there, then I couldn't find it. Cause I looked and looked. It pretty much says most things you'll need to know if you're trying to finance your first movie. I highly recommend it.
1896452
I have been reading _Profit First_ for about a week and following its guidelines - setting up accounts and taking out the profit first, taking it slow and making sure I apply this model as I read.  Traditional accounting/small business finance never quite made sense to me, nor felt right, but _Profit First_ does on both counts.  Hats off to Mike Michalowicz!
1438981
I'd give it five stars but 1) It lacks an index. 2) It borders on salve for gilded yuppies much like Chopra's Seven Laws for Spiritual success. Don't feel sorry about making lots of dough, even if it's a immoral occupation - you deserve it was the main message I got. Ok, I know there's more to it than that.
But when the author in Chap 20 says money can buy you everything even love, I was vexed. Or that ethics and morality can be bought and sold like a pair of sneakers.  And that unless we buy them, we cannot understand the things we can't buy! So if you're middle class forget understanding higher concepts, you don't got the bucks to buy enlightenment. Hmmm sounds like Sam Walton meets Eckhart meets The Fellowship of Friends. Everything is reduced to transactionalism. No meanings or values only cost.
Your teacher is the Benjamin Franklin in your wallet.
It's odd that Needleman promotes a idea which would condemed by any authentic spiritual tradition in the world.
Overall Prof. Needleman did a good job, but just barely, his style of writing is as usual, excellent. But content wise it is not up to par with his earlier works on philosophy or religion.
The target audience which again seems to be well off folks with guilt trips, yuppies, dot commies, etc. Ought to love it. But start at chapter 20 cause that's where it gets interesting.
If you work hard at a blue collar job skip it, this book is not meant for you. Only wealthy types with spiritual pretensions need apply, since this book is partly derived from seminars he gives around the country based on similar topics for corporate clients.
He also skipped on the psychopathology of wealth and money obsession. Why are so many of the new wealthy class, anti-charity and greedy to the point of amoral? Witness the fraud on Wall Street, how money corrupted our democracy, Dot com swindles or the S&L scandals. He's seems to ignore the corrosive effect money has on people also or why it's worshipped so much in our society. Money counts not character or essence.
...
4536433
Mind expanding book.

If you manage money for a living you probably already know that academic finance is plagued with shortcomings.

The most skilled money managers in the world earn hundreds of millions dollars a year. If anybody could learn to manage money going to school we wouldn't observe those compensation levels.

Mandelbrot points out correctly that the standard mathematical tools are insufficient to manage financial risks.

Consistently outperforming money managers know this and either design patches or use proprietary tools.

Mandelbrot proposes his own mathematical framework as an alternative to mainstream finance. I won't tell how good it is. It is responsability of the reader to check if these tools work. There are supposedly successful hedge funds using this math (e.g. Olsen) but the smart reader will not believe anything until he verifies it through his own research.

While I recommend this book to anyone managing money, I don't believe Mandelbrot's ideas will be widely accepted in academia. In any case being a finance researcher has a curse. In the markets, if someone outperforms the indices someone else has to underperform. Not everybody can outperform. Therefore if your ideas are accepted and everybody uses your stuff then obviously it won't generate outsized returns and you won't be in the billionaire money manager club. Your only hope to see a million dollars in your lifetime will be the Nobel Prize. If you choose instead to make money with your stuff and keep it to yourself, you will be anonymous and lonely but stinking rich.

Therefore the only drawback I see is that Mandelbrot does not ask himself what would happen with his model if everybody adopts it. Can it change the way prices move? Financial advances change the markets and due to the curse I mentioned, they tend to nullify themselves: remember portfolio insurance, convertible pricing models etc. etc.

Mainstream finance (indexing in particular) "works" because it basically says "it's OK to be average, just mimic the indices". So its wide acceptance does not nullify itself.

I reach the conclusion that only a select few can take advantage of Mandelbrot's thinking. One thing is for sure: if anybody finds a way to make money with Mandelbrot's stuff he won't tell anyone about it.
1923046
Here's the thing. You may learn something from this book if you have never spent much time learning about personal finance and investments. There's no problem with that but the reality is, is that this book and all the follow-on books are on some levels are just generic advice. So far as anyone can tell, he made his money from these books and the subsequent Cashflow Technologies Scam Company. I actually just returned from a meeting with a nice couple who were trying to "bring me into this circle" and as soon as they mentioned Robert Kiyosaki I knew exactly which scam this was. It was only because of this meeting I felt so inspired to come here and write this review after reading the book a few years ago. I felt it to be my responsibility to help lower the review on this book so maybe less people would fall into this trap in the future. If you really want to learn there is a great myriad of resources online that are both more accurate, more definite, and better qualified to give financial advice than this book.
4014740
When I buy the book, I actually don't expect the usefulness of the book and worksheet.

I believe this book should be rate at 4.5 star rather than 3 and I see numerous book which got 4 or 5 star are just sub-par quality.
Since I am a great admirer of Warren buffet, I have read nearly all books related to Warren. Bascially, the idea is simple but not easy.
I am sure I can't come close to what Warren did, while it is good to understand the basic of some financial ideas and one of that is Free Cash Flow.

And i found that this book is one of the few book specifically on FCF. And the author make detail explanation of each item. What is valuable is his experience in the industry provide useful insight on how to look at company earning. What is more is the worksheet example of Mcdonald. It is very practical as i found most of the book on market is too theoretical and you basically got a vague idea that you can't practice in real world.

In short, if i can only single out one reason to buy this book, it is that it provide a clear mechanism and concept for you to develop a basic detail valuation model. Surely, if you understand every single item, you are free to construct your own version of worksheet. That is what you pay the price and get something valuable.

I suggest all potential buyer have a glance of the chapter of Mcdonlad case compare with other 5 restaurant and see how earning can be so misleading. That is crucial if you want to be a intelligent investor rather than just looking at PE or earning.

Cliff Kwok
Hong Kong
3323376
Had I only had this book at the beginning of my Sales career, life would have been much easier. The book is unique in many ways. First, it's the only book I know of which covers such a wide range of products. Second, product examples are often supported by money-flow-diagramms (e.g. Investor, Issuer, Swap Desk). Never seen that before. Third, termsheet-like examples are given to most of the products for better understanding. In this way, it's a book for investors/sales alike. It's simple and clear with no math at all. Level: Beginners - Advanced. The pro will miss more and up-to-date products, but how can a book provide that?
Topics coverred like: Interest rate / Currency / Commodity / Equity / Credit / Inflation / Insurance linked Notes. Taxation and Market for Structured Products.
566482
The title for my review essentially sums it up, so I will use this space to instead talk about what I see as a fault in this book, and that is the perceived emphasis that you cannot be a successful trader.

While it is difficult if not impossible for large institutional investment firms to do better than the market on a consistent basis, swing trading has proven to be very for successful for some. While daytrading, as far as I am concerned, remains an unrewarding activity for the time and effort you put in, swing trading is relatively simple assuming you have a fair grasp of the market and you follow news.

Using the recent (and current) media and investor blitz of Google as an example, anyone who could see the forest instead of the trees would have noticed how outlets who generally do not focus on the market did. All the network news shows talked about it, and it's generally pretty rare for them to talk about any IPOs.

From the perspective of day traders, and even people on Wall Street, this did not signify anything special. For people who watch for these kind of things, it was surprising to see an IPO get such publicity.

The swing traders, unlike those on Wall Street and day traders who cannot see the forest through the trees, probably made a ton of money off of Google, as well as on other 'trends.'

Ugg boots is a fine example. Had you invested in Deckers, the company that markets the product, when you saw it becoming a 'trend' and something all the celebrities had to have, you probably would have made a pretty penny.

Now while this investment strategy isn't for everyone, and i'm not saying all your money should go to a style like this at all, it is proof that you can make quite a bit off the market in the short-term.

That said, the implication that large short term gains cannot be made is my ONLY criticism of this book. And in reality, this book is for long term investing, so I should not expect Mr. Bernstein to delve further into the issue.

If your kids are interested in investing, give this to them. The chart for "Young Yvonne"'s investment path should be photocopied and pasted on the wall of every dorm in every college in North America.

There is simply no more complete book in existence explaining safe, long term investment strategy, and explaining the basics of the stock market.

I wish I read this book when I was 15. Don't make your kids wish they had as well.
1525217
I've read so many self-help books lately that all seem to follow the same formula. Insert a weaseley  looking guru on the cover of your book with his arms crossed, perfectly coifed hair, and a freakishly large smile that screams slick salesman and then fill the book with a bunch of generic, probably made up stories, and advice that doesn't come close to fulfilling the outlandish claims on the cover. I honestly was about to give up on this whole genre of books when a few websites I frequented recommended this book and stated that MJ was the anti-guru who laid out a no b.s. strategy / philosophy to wealth. I'm happy to say those reviews were spot on.

This book doesn't mess around and MJ quickly punctures holes through the old belief of finding a good job, saving 10% of your income, being frugal to the point of insanity, and maybe, just maybe you'll have a fortune (albeit small) when you retire at the ripe old age of 65 with hope that you won't be wearing diapers when this all goes down. His opinion is that this is a slow strategy and will only work if everything goes according to plan which over the span of fifty years (which is usually how long this slow lane strategy to wealth takes) is damn near impossible. We've been sold a philosophy that is woefully inefficient at best and MJ's opinion is that instead of focusing on this slow lane strategy we should be putting our thoughts and effort into ways that can make large increases in our income.

The plan he lays out is hard to discredit and unlike the Tim Ferriss' and Robert Kiyosaki's he doesn't ever state that exploding your income will be easy. On the contrary he states that for a relatively short period of time (years instead of decades) you're going to have to get damn near medieval on your business to get it where it needs to be to where it either generates passive income or at the very least you sell it liquidation style.

This book is really much more than I'm letting on though. There are very entertaining and personal stories that MJ talks about in this book that are pure gold and I absolutely love how a lot of what he says is very unconventional, politically incorrect, and at the very same time makes you think long and hard about the choices you've made previously and how those choices will change your future as well. To make a long story short, buy this book if you're tired of all the empty promises of four-hour work weeks, and the tales of Rich Dads, And Poor Dads. This book will not sell you sugar coated crap. It will tell you exactly what is required to build wealth and from there it is up to you to make this plan a reality. I look forward MJ's future books if he ever decides to write another one.
1525865
It's true what the other reviewer said and I am also disappointed. After I read the first book this one have nothing more to offer as always the same story. Plan your trade, trade your plan. When you would trade on the level the book is edited you will lose all your money. Anyway,for an intermediate trader there is no value. For a beginner I would recommend the books from tony turner ( daytrading-short term trading ). You get two books and still save a lot of money. By the way, it's already suspicious  when the author himself is the first one who write a comment about his book and praise it with 5 stars as best ever...isn't it ?
1269394
The first time I read this book, I was flummoxed! It just went over my head. Upon second reading, I was able to absorb some of the concepts the author was trying to put across. On 3rd reading, I am able to appreciate and understand it better. The fault was really on my side. Im completely clueless when it comes to finances. In truth, it is a very well-written book; simple in approach, written mostly in layman language, with sound and practical advices on how to save, choose an investment, such as Invest early and regularly, Build a nest egg, Never risk more than you can afford to lose, If its not time to buy its time to sell, and more.  What I particularly love about this book is the true-to-life stories of successful women at the start of every chapter, giving the reader the idea that it can be done, it has been done. I cant say that Im now ready to enter the world of investing or of even starting a business, but I must admit this book is a wake-up call.
2732158
Before picking up this book, try books by Peter Lynch, and theMotley Fool. .... Read "The Millionaire Next Door". Then check this book out, and see just how helpful it is.
Here's what I liked about these books:
 1. Make money work for you. Good idea. Cut up the credit cards and put the money somewhere useful.
 2. Your education may not be tied to your wealth. We have seen examples of this through history, and of course we have also seen contrasting examples.
 3. Learn money. Everyone can use a CPA or financial planner sometime in their life, but dealing with your personal finances is crucial.
The trouble is, the more I went and learned about money, the more I realized Kiyosaki's advice was not useful and potentially dangerous.
Here's what I didn't like:
1. Real Estate. This is pretty scary stuff, and to become wealthy you don't need to own any of it. Top that off with reccomendations of books by Robert Allen, someone who has caused more damage to people's financial futures (not to mention his own) than you or I could ever do, and I can't say that any of his real estate advice was particularly helpful, in ANY of the books.
 2. Incorporating. There is infinitely more to know about corporations than can be contained in a single book, and he makes it seem so easy, not to mention helpful and necessary in any given financial situation. Not true.
And last but not least, ANY OF HIS INVESTING ADVICE. Making this book the worst of the bunch. Let me give you an example. Two of the riskiest and least-succesful investments you can make in the stock markets are:
1. Penny-stocks, particularly on Canadian exchanges, where it is estimated that 1-in-10 investors stand a chance at making money.
 2. Volatile IPOs, regardless of what you've heard on CNBC or read in Newsweek or seen on FOX's "The Street".
Surprisingly, Kiyosaki reccomends investing in Canadian penny-stock IPOs. I know he's protected under the First Amendment, but that kind of writing is just plain dangerous.
Frankly, I don't know what to make of Kiyosaki's series of books. He is vague, and fills the book with politician-like rhetoric. ....
Proceed with caution, and know that there is a lot better advice you can get for free or an equal price.