business and investing

This is the first book I ever read on investing. My cousin, Paul, who was a broker at Merrill Lynch, recommended it to me. I followed Paul into the financial services industry, toiling 12 long years peddling stocks, bonds, mutual funds and insurance products. During my tenure as a Wall Street professional (I use that term very loosely), I must have read 200 different books on investing. Oddly enough, I have discarded many of those poorly written investor guides and still refer back to this classic book penned by Peter Lynch, mutual fund demigod, investment guru, stock-picking legend!

At the heart of Lynch's case is that each individual has enough inherent knowledge and experience to be a successful investor. He uses numerous analogies to show investors:

1. The power of common knowledge (take advantage of what you already know) 2. You don't need to be a Wall Street analyst to uncover great investment opportunities 3. You are not disadvantaged vs. large, institutional investors You don't have to accurately predict the stock market to make money in stocks 4. To keep an open mind to new ideas

From my years on Wall Street, I found many of his theories and ideas to be completely accurate. Many other books I have read focus on the inherent evils of the possessed financial consultant community. Yes, the industry has its problems. However, $8 stock trades are not the only ingredients in profitable investing. In fact, I don't recall him emphasizing the need for discount trades, a fact over-emphasized in almost every other book I have read (remember, I am no longer in the industry...I don't need to strike a case for broker commissions). Instead, he shows you what information to focus on and how to apply it.

Do yourself a favor: Buy this book. Read it twice. It is not outdated...it is timeless. Yea, I know, you already know it all. My advice is to lose the ego and take a refresher course on common sense investing. When you finish, put it on your bookshelf. Do not give it to your kids or neighbors; buy them their own copies. This is a great book!

I borrowed my copy of "One Up On Wall Street" from a friend who is a longtime professional equities investor. He received this gift as recommended reading from a veteran investment analyst he knows. While Peter Lynch has written an easily comprehendible advice book on common stock investing - very much written in layman's terms and without emphasis on industry jargon - the principles he puts forth are fundamental and worth reviewing by anyone, amateur or pro.

Within the 300 pages of this book, Lynch outlines a useful rubric against which all stock selections might be measured. His stocks fall into six categories: Slow Growers, Stalwarts, Cyclicals, Fast Growers, Turnarounds and Asset Plays. Screening, buying and selling advice are outlined for each of these six flavors, although nothing revolutionary (eg., Sell a slow grower when the dividend is unattractive.) He delivers a wealth of the basic analytical tools (well, more like rules of thumb) for stock research, explaining price earnings ratios, the import of tax loss carry-forwards, goodwill accounting, inventories, and other basics of P&L statements and Balance Sheets. It's a pocket guide financial course for those who may have slept through Accounting 101.

Lynch urges stock pickers to do their homework, and suggests the regimen of a "Two Minute" drill, whereby an investor can recite a brief monologue of reasons for selecting a security: Reasons for selection, what the company needs to do to succeed, and pitfalls that stand in the way. Obviously, this is not a book for the technicians or chartists. Nor even speculators, as Lynch reminds the reader that his "ten-baggers" or "forty-baggers" all come as a result of having held at least three to four years.

Quite a bit of the book carries a populist bent. There is plenty of advice to pay more heed to what's happening in the local shopping mall than to investment brokers ("oxymorons"), and to avoid stocks with exotic names or that may have been whispered to be hot. Of course, we've all been aware of this, and we're all wealthy and drinking daiquiris on the beach now, right?

In sum, it is worth the investment of the few hours it takes to swallow this information. At worst, it is an entertaining look at some high-fliers the former Magellan manager scored with, but at the very least it serves as reminder that basics need to be followed, and nothing works as well as solid research, good discipline and old fashioned hard work.

I first read this book as an "assignment" when I started working as a financial analyst in 2000. The book is well written, and offers a lot of insights and tips that are applicable to analyzing companies and stocks. Most of the stuff here are very applicable to my work, and even offers examples that can be emulated by any investor/analyst. To date, I still practice most of the philosophies and tips suggested here when it comes to analyzing companies. Amazingly, the book is not written in financial jargon but rather in a simple way that even novices would easily understand. i rate this book a "buy!"