Rating: 
Summary: Excellent, I am now an investor
Review: Thanks to the author. I read so many books on investment and it made me confused always. After reading this book, I started to invest. I use Dogs of the Dow theory. Thanks to the author. I don't have to be rocket scientist to invest anymore. Everyone, who is new in the investment should read this book.
Rating: 
Summary: His research is good-his mutual funds are not
Review: The book made a lot of sense in terms of sticking to a plan and not letting greed and emotions get in the way of a good idea. The problem is that since he has put his theory into practice, he has failed miserably! The S&P 500 has trounced all of his poorly-performing mutual funds. I know it's only been a couple of years, but if he can't succeed in an up-market, I'm skeptical. Now, though, might be the time for small caps to come out of their shell, and his losses would then turnaround.
Rating: 
Summary: Not upto the expectation
Review: The first two method Runway and Luster was not easy to understand. The author did not show any easy way to find those companies name. Dog Theory is kind of easy. I was disappointed and thought the book is for the ad of "What works on Wall Street."
Rating:
Summary: Interesting, powerful, clear message
Review: The message was clear and easy to read. Discipline, consistency, and TIME for the magic of compounding to work. One error I found was in the description of 401(k) accounts. There are a variety of rules imposed by the IRS on employers and employees. The 15% rule that was used in the book is NOT an IRS rule. Companies can impose a rule on employees similar to this 15% rule in order to avoid having to constantly calculate the employees exposure to the 415 rule which limits the maximum contributions to the 401(k) based on deferred compensation as a percentage of total income. While 15% is fairly common, it is not universal, other numbers are used, and some companies do not have a limit other than the dollar limit of $10,000 for 1998 and the IRS limits on deferred compensation
Rating: 
Summary: The unwritten chapter
Review: The one thing that Mr. O'Shaughnessy omits is that he comes from a very wealthy family and received a large trust fund at age 25. That is the best way to retire rich!
Rating:
Summary: Reasonably easy stategies to follow
Review: The theories behind the strategies are explained, they make sense, and they are easy to follow. Some might say that the info need not be in a book--that it is better suited to a newsletter. But investment newsletters tend to be dry and difficult to follow. The "folksy bookstyle" makes the startegies readable and therefore more likely to be followed up on by a person such as myself who will read a bunch of newsletters and be unable to pick one over another. One important part of one of the strategies is unclear. (Hopefully the author or publisher will clarify . . . ): Chapter 3, (The Strategies), gives rough overviews of the various strategies. Chaper 8, (Where to Find the Information You Need), gives more detailed information on how to find the stocks or funds to buy in order to implement the strategies. On page 62 of Chapter 3, describing the strategy called "Leaders With Luster", one of the broad criteria of the strategy calls for stocks of companies which have annual sales of at least 50% more than the average company. Page 158 of Chapter 8, describing in more detail how to implement the strategy, restates the criteria outlined on page 62, but only states that the various criteria should be more than the average. It does not state that the annual sales of the companies to be picked should be 50% MORE than the average with regard to the annual sales criterion. Running the datatbase query with the annual sales being more than average, as on page 162, and running it with sales more than 150% of average gives very diffeent companies. Any comment from the publisher?
Rating:
Summary: This is nothing but a prospectus for O'Shaughnessy's funds
Review: This book does nothing but tell you the formulas O'Shaugnessy uses to run his funds. The book did not teach me how to retire rich, merely some investment techniques. If you want to know how to retire rich, you are better off reading "The millionare next door".
Rating:
Summary: A good magazine article that was expanded into a book...
Review: This book is a good read if it's your first on the topic...but the meat of the message is found in a single chapter, with the rest as window dressing to dramatize his message of choosing an investing strategy and then sticking with it through thick and thin. He hammers home his theme with countless examples and 70 pages of tables in the appendix to illustrate the performance of his preferred strategies. Inspiring for the novice, and good if it drives the reader to invest consistently and according to a plan, BUT somewhat of an overload if you already agree with his points.
Rating:
Summary: Will motivate you to take investing more seriously
Review: This book is now part of a series I will use to educate my children about the values of time and discipline for investment strategies. My plan is to get their attention and then lead them to long-term growth strategies. On the other hand, the strategies in this book are a bit difficult to follow unless you use the mutual fund approach. And, like some others, I also am very concerned about the 1.5% expense fees (or more) that the O'Shaughnessy funds charge. That just seems excessive especially in light of the narrowing spread vs. the S&P index over the last few years for each strategy as indicated in his data. Taking 1.5% or more off the top can change things a great deal. It seems to be a common fault with all such books to ignore trading costs or expenses in determining their returns. Try meshing these strategies with those of John Merrill in Beyond Stocks. Combining asset allocation and aggressive investing seems to be the way to go. Once again, I would love to hear from the author about those fees in his funds.
Rating:
Summary: Simple Strategies Supported with an Historical Perspective.
Review: This book provides very useful retirement information, with 4 test family examples, which illustrate James's strategies. Each strategy is tested with the benefit of a huge amount of statistical information. The time to compile this analysis must have been immense. Ultimately the method is simple and the philosophy even easier - Take action immediately and stick with your plan for the long haul.
| 
