Riding the Bear: How to Prosper in the Coming Bear Market

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Summary: IT WORKS!
Review: After finding this book in a second hand book shop, I decided to buy and read it. I noticed it predicted the bear market to come and it was actually written in 1999, two years BEFORE the bear market actually started. It seemed to make such good sense and I decided I would try the seasonal strategy. Like many, I had gained and lost spectacularly over the past seven years. Im a really good stock picker, but I just had no guiding strategy. This book appeared to actually made some sense out of what I could do, with its seasonal strategy approach. The result: In 2002, a year when the average mutual fund lost -23%, I gained +17% on my portfolio. And I sold and BOOKED the 17% profit in May. Then, as Sy advises, I bought back in again, in November. My stocks are up +55% for the last six months----and---I am getting ready to SELL! What a far cry from before! True, I made some great picks this year. But I now have a strategy,learned from this book, that will allow me to KEEP my profits by knowing WHEN TO SELL!!

Sy, your book is a true revelation. You are a born teacher and a real spirit. And you are someone the word TRUST, such a rarity in the financial professions, can be bestowed upon without any reservation. Thanks for your gift and sharing it with us. In deepest appreciation.

And to any skeptics, buy this book. It IS amazing and simple and makes so much sense. IT will change your investment ability forever.

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Summary: stunning insight into seasonal stockmarket action
Review: As a broker i have read many market books - this book has the most stunning insights into seasonal market behavior and risk avoidance i have ever come across. The author does not mention the cost of transactions in following his seasonal timing system - thats my only criticism. Overall its the best $11 I've ever spent. Well done Sy.

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Summary: Best Stock Market Book I Have Ever Read; Dynamic!
Review: Sy Harding's book contains stock market strategies that will prevent you from being a victim (and about 80% of investors do poorly in the market). Many investing books are written by successful and well-known market mavens yet they are often hard to read and their major points murky (Tom Dorsey's 1995 "Point and Figure Charting" is essentially unreadable ...). Not so here. Hardings book is very well-written and complete. It was written in 1999, he warned of a huge bear market coming. Historical perspective is given to show how old man Kennedy and others financially raped the small investor on repeated occasions ... Hardings clearcut explanation of the seasonal effect (buy around Nov 1 and sell around May 1)is noteworthy. Stockcharts dot com provides the Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD) line info for free, that Sy wrote about. Every small investor needs this book. Sy has a site in his own name that is worthy of your viewing. Can't think of a better gift for an investor than this book.

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Summary: Very honest look at the stock market and Wall Street
Review: The title says it all... most books only talk about the mechanics of how to trade and read signals. This one goes into great detail about not only how the stock market works, but how investor greed and fear drive it, and how professionals profit off of it. This book makes informative reading for casual investors (401k folks and the like), as well as professionals.

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Summary: If I could only own one book on investing, this is it
Review: Written for the average investor (those with IRA, 401K, and perhaps some free cash for individual stocks), this is by far the best book I've ever read on investing. It is not only very entertaining, but is full of practical information. This book was published in 1999 and accurately foretold the stock market crash. (Those who followed his advice saved a lot of money).

After reading this book, you'll realize that most of the "experts" that you see on tv or read about in the paper are just shills for Wall Street. Their interest is in getting you to buy and sell stocks so that THEY can make money.

From a practical point, the author argues convincingly against the "buy and hold" approach, demonstrating with simple graphs and language how devastating this can be to your wealth. For example, the Nasdaq was at 5000 in March of 2000. It's now at 1500. While it may recover to 5000 one day, do you want to wait another 10 or 15 years merely to get back to even?

Finally, and most importantly, his research shows the average investor how to triple the returns of the S&P 500 by following the "seasonal" tendency of the stock market to rise strongly in the November to late April period and then to fall in the May through October period. The data is very, very convincing.

In a word, if you want a clear, simple, and straightforward understanding of the stock market and how to use that information to dramatically increase your returns while lowering your risk, this is the book for you. Those who read the book and follow his advice can look forward to a very comfortable retirement. Those who don't, well, good luck to you.