Rating: 
Summary: One of the worst books ever written on investing
Review: 1) The first quote on the back cover is from Mary Buffett. Mary's claim to fame is that she divorced Warren's son and then got into the investment book business. If you can't do that 'math' or you buy into the '*****' reviews for this book I've got a bridge I'd like to sell you. 2) Throw out the chapter on 'Warren on Arbitrage'. I've worked in equity arb. Most of this chapter is either outright false or highly misleading. 3) Entire sections of this book read as if they were excerpted from Hagstrom's or John Train's books. 4) The only reason I didn't give this book zero stars was it had some nice quips about value investing in general.
Rating:
Summary: One of the worst books ever written on investing
Review: 1) The first quote on the back cover is from Mary Buffett. Mary's claim to fame is that she divorced Warren's son and then got into the investment book business. If you can't do that 'math' or you buy into the '*****' reviews for this book I've got a bridge I'd like to sell you. 2) Throw out the chapter on 'Warren on Arbitrage'. I've worked in equity arb. Most of this chapter is either outright false or highly misleading. 3) Entire sections of this book read as if they were excerpted from Hagstrom's or John Train's books. 4) The only reason I didn't give this book zero stars was it had some nice quips about value investing in general.
Rating:
Summary: Propagating misconceptions about Buffett
Review: First of all, the author does describe early Buffett activities as some sort of shady active trading/arbitrage, i.e. anything but value investing. That is a plus, and Timothy Vick should be credited for honestly admitting that. Reading from page 13, Buffett's estimated net worth in 1969, the year he shut down his speculative Buffett partership, was $20 to $25 million. You can disregard everything else in this book, because once you have made $20 million through active trading/arbitrage, does it really matter what you do for the rest of your life?If Buffett made his fortune and got his start in investing through active trading, what's the point of extolling buying and holding and value investing?
Let me rephrase the question, can a buy-and-hold value investor make $20 million in 12 years starting with 50K ? Of course not. If you want to get rich, AVOID value investing. So, once you are as rich as Buffett was in 1969, you can certainly afford to condemn active traders and speculators because A) you don't have to ever work and can live off dividends or interest on Treasuries B) you can settle for 10% or so percent annualized return on your value stocks. Second, the author lists Buffett's core holdings (AXP, G, KO, WPO, MTB, etc) and claims they have had a fabulous return over the years, and these "value investments" are the reason Berkshire book value was going up 25% or so annually. False and wrong. If you do the math, market price of most of these stocks went up from 5% to 10% annually (one or two exceptions at 18%). So much for fabulous stock picking! So why did Berkshire book value go up so fast? The answer is, probably because Buffett is a great manager and did a good job running his core insurance businesses and managing the cash flow of the companies he acquired and controlled. You have to understand the difference between buying and holding stocks you have no control over (value investing), and successfully running a business you own, taking over and controlling other companies, and awarding yourself compensation exceeding the gains of other shareholders (what Buffett has done throughout most of his career, but not lately). Is running a large insurance company equivalent to value investing? Probably not. There is a big difference between holding a piece of paper and running/cotrolling a business.
Rating: 
Summary: Provides the "How To" of Buffet style value investing
Review: The author lays out a clear methodology and reasoning for value investing, as done by Warren Buffet -- modified from the old style Benjamin Graham, who was Warren's mentor. The book is easy and enjoyable to read. I underlined this book considerably. Although I doubt this book contains all the wisdom of the Sage of Omaha, it is reasonably complete. For that I recommend that you buy and read this book on value investing. The methodology of Buffet-style value investing is easy to do, but the odds are against our patience in waiting for the right buy price. The itch for action to trade is often overwhelming. I guess that is why Warren Buffet has proved that, for him, it is indeed an inefficient market. Some must lose so that he can win. :) John Dunbar
Sugar Land, TX
Rating: 
Summary: A tribute to real investing
Review: The book was well presented and provided a lot of insight into true value investing. It's a service to Buffett's approach and has so much common sense to it you'll become a lot more discriminating in selecting other investment books, avoiding the junk alot more easily knowing what's important to stay focused on. I do recommend however that the second print edition be sought as various typos and mathematical misprints occurred in the first edition, albeit not enough to warrant missing the book. I own the first print, and will buy the second print simply for an authoritative reference of sorts. This is easily one of the keepers for an investment junkie.
Rating:
Summary: About time!!!
Review: This book is superb reading. If your new to investing in the stock market I would recommend this to be the first book to read. Timothy Vick breaks down every possible thing you would need to know to get started in an easy and understandable way.
Rating:
Summary: Starts Slow Finishes Strong
Review: This is an excellent mid-level (complexity) book. It starts out with basic information that you could get in any Buffett book but finishes with some solid tips and advice. Mr. Vick rephrases some common quotes that I have heard in a way that allowed me to better understand it. He also has a bunch of links to good websites in the back. Definitely worth the time to read.
Rating:
Summary: Not the Buffet way...
Review: This is book says it about Buffet's way of picking stocks, but it is not. I'm sure Buffet would scream if he ever read this book. It not only isn't Buffet's strategy, it is bad advise too. Don't buy this book. If you've read it, disregard everything you learned before you lose money. Read Buffet or Graham and get it straight from the horse's mouth, and learn the intelligent way to pick stocks. This book stinks!
Rating:
Summary: Not the Buffet way...
Review: This is book says it about Buffet's way of picking stocks, but it is not. I'm sure Buffet would scream if he ever read this book. It not only isn't Buffet's strategy, it is bad advise too. Don't buy this book. If you've read it, disregard everything you learned before you lose money. Read Buffet or Graham and get it straight from the horse's mouth, and learn the intelligent way to pick stocks. This book stinks!
Rating:
Summary: Highly Recommended!
Review: Timothy Vick is a fairly well known advocate for value investing, but in his latest book, he rolls out the mother-of-all value investors as a champion. In using Warren Buffett as the basis for his easily digestible lessons on value investing - the simple strategy of investing in companies that are currently undervalued by the market - Vick proves that the concept of an engaging investment book is not an oxymoron. By holding up the Buffett example, Vick illustrates the greatest axiom of value investing: Over time, the price of any asset will find its intrinsic value. Buffett clung to this mantra throughout the '90s, missing out on some of the biggest market returns in history. We [...] strongly recommend this book for its clear explanation of how Buffett analyzed the New Economy market and how you can mimic him going forward. Because in the end, he was right and they were wrong.
| 
