Rate this book

The Motley Fool Million Dollar Portfolio (2008)

by David Gardner(Favorite Author)

3.72 of 5 Votes: 2

ISBN

006156754X (ISBN13: 9780061567544)

languge

English

genre

Nonfiction

publisher

HarperBusiness

review 1: Great book, got me interested in dipping my toes in investment waters. I looked up a bit about the company and apparently they've been around since the mid 90s, and they haven't always been right, but a lot of people respect them. They've really got a great thing going with their CAPS internet community discussion boards and ranking system that they've facilitated which allows people to bounce ideas off one another, and for people like me to follow advice of very successful investors.Besides all that, they are very funny and entertaining to read! :-)
review 2: The book provides a lot of the basics of what you need to know to start investing in stocks (and an appendix with the basics of mutual funds). What it lacks is a good description/definition/useful appen... moredix of the jargon that gets casually thrown around once introduced, so it lacks usefulness for a neophyte in that regard. With that said, it's an easy read, even for those bored by stocks. But I found the interminable self-promotion of the Motley Fool website to be a little frustrating. Part of successfully investing is learning to lessen the impact of fees (the authors state this directly) - subscribing to the services they hawk can be thought of as equivalent to fees, money that could have been better placed in investments. They might argue that the marginal cost of their services will surely benefit savvy investors, but who needs constant updates, when they also advocate that any stock purchase should be for a five year minimum? Further, the advocate employing the vast knowledge at CAPS (the forum/user picks at their website, which I have used for a long time now and enjoy), but they also mention that once everyone knows about a stock (say, for example, Google), it's probably too late to get it because you'll be buying high. They further advice that when everyone is down on a stock is probably when you want to jump on board. But this would be the opposite of following the advice provided by CAPS, and possibly by their newsletters, which are surely widely read by investors.The best advice given was to start investing in stocks, because in the long run there are no better options (duh), but to also keep in mind that the stock market is irrational, and that it's possible to profit off that irrationality. I've learned how from the book... but I won't be sharing that here. ;) less

Download links for: The Motley Fool Million Dollar Portfolio

Advertising