Jim Cramer's real money : sane investing in an insane world, by Jim Cramer
Check out synopsis and reviews on The Simple Dollar website. Even if you're not a huge money person (I mostly definitely am NOT), consider checking the book out anyways. I'm hoping the discussion between money-savvy people at the next book club meeting will be educational, even if I can't grasp most of the book. Also, we're curious to see if Brian thinks the book is as annoying as the T.V show, and whether Mary Kay really *is* nerdy enough to read this on the flight home from her honeymoon : >
Place: Chateau Dev'reaux
Time: 7:30-9:30 (discussion starts no earlier than 8 : )
btw, the upcoming book list is still flexible, so feel free to contact me with your ideas for books. We've already made a couple of adjustments. Check out the list on Google docs.
2 comments:
Well, Mary Kay was not nerdy enough to read the book on the plane back from Hawaii... But I was nerdy enough to read some of it on the bus to and from work most days for the last couple of weeks...
There were 6 folks and a bottle of chardonnay at the discussion last Thursday. I got a little less than 3/4 through the book but found the information useful, but a little disappointing. Useful, in the fact that I started to understand a little about the market in general and how folks might go about looking for stocks to invest in. Disappointing when I came to realize that I don't have the time, inclination, or capital available to invest in the market they way he suggests. Ah well. He did include a chapter on mutual funds that at least assured me that I was doing something right (even if I was being a wussy about investing!)
Cramer's main take home points fell like this:
* You have retirement investing and get rich/make money investing. Don't start the latter until you have the former in good shape.
* With your discretionary capitol, buy and do homework. Read everything about the companies you have and their competitors. Listen to shareholder telephone confernces. Trade when your research tells you it's profitable. Do not buy and just sit on your stocks. Do not 'buy and hold' with your non-retirement pot of gold
* Invest in a minimum of 5 different stocks, one being speculative (and potentially more fun) the other four more traditional. Plan to spend at least an hour a week per stock on research. Do not own more than 25 stocks (you can't do the necessary research).
* Diversify your stocks. Buying Dell, IBM, National Instruments, and TI does *not* make you diversified.
* If you don't have the time to really invest, buy mutual funds based on the success record of the manager. Occasionally check up on these funds to make sure the manager you like hasn't left.
Discussion highlights:
* Everyone got something out of the book. No one panned it.
* We debated the ethical nature of day traders and people who 'time the market'. We absolved the market-timing-relative of one group member of any 'evilness'.
* After watching clips of his tv show, it was decided that the book was much less annoying.
* There was inconclusive discussion on whether financial advisers were worth the money.
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