Rating: 
Summary: great stock review
Review: I am a very big fan of the Fool web site, so I had big expectations from this book, but it was a major disapointment.The book is about investing, but it rambols on and on about shakespeare and other works of literature, finding pointless and borring analogies between investing and these books. The actual investing advice is very sparse and ambigous, with no research to proove or disproove its effectiveness. The book is already outdates (since it was written before the stock market crash). As an example, the rule maker portfolio, which is half of this book actualy gave *negative* returns for investors!
Rating:
Summary: Highly amusing and fairly useful
Review: I bought this near the peak of the Internet mania and at first the advice contained within was gold. Later I realized that many stocks did well simply because of dot com mania. Still, the book is a well-written, often quite useful collection of strategies for managing a portfolio. This book is not for the casual trader (it requires management) but it provides good advice to keep in mind. I think if the reader considers that these strategies require fairly regular vigilance, they can be helpful. If you don't have ample time to maintain a portfolio and check your assumptions, this (like any other investing strategy) can be dangerous -- although it's not especially risky I will concede that! Humor-wise, this is 5 stars. I enjoy the attitude of the Gardner brothers -- that all things in life should be enjoyed, even investing, so I still recommend this book as part of a balanced COLLECTION of good investing books. Just don't expect THE investment bible.
Rating:
Summary: Highly amusing and fairly useful
Review: I bought this near the peak of the Internet mania and at first the advice contained within was gold. Later I realized that many stocks did well simply because of dot com mania. Still, the book is a well-written, often quite useful collection of strategies for managing a portfolio. This book is not for the casual trader (it requires management) but it provides good advice to keep in mind. I think if the reader considers that these strategies require fairly regular vigilance, they can be helpful. If you don't have ample time to maintain a portfolio and check your assumptions, this (like any other investing strategy) can be dangerous -- although it's not especially risky I will concede that! Humor-wise, this is 5 stars. I enjoy the attitude of the Gardner brothers -- that all things in life should be enjoyed, even investing, so I still recommend this book as part of a balanced COLLECTION of good investing books. Just don't expect THE investment bible.
Rating: 
Summary: Will Be A Collector's Item Some Day
Review: I recently saw this book on the bargain bin. This book was pure garbage, by two arrogant 20-somethings in clown suits. Basically they are saying valuations don't matter. Since they wrote the book, it has been prooven that their philosophy, approached over the long term, produces some great damaging losses. The book may be useful during the next bubble, which if history serves, will occur well after these clowns pass on to the big three-ring circus in the sky. To the dungeon with these two knaves.
Rating:
Summary: Really bad advice by guys wearing clown hats....
Review: I was checking the ... site to see if this book was still being offered, and shocked when I found it still is. I have been a Gardner fool (note lack of capital) since 1997 and purchased and read this book when it came out as well as their other books before this one. The reason I am reviewing this book now is the brothers G have changed their investing philosophy and techniques making this book a dinosaur. Many of the stocks that made up the Rule Maker Portfolio have been and are being sold off because they no longer fit the new definition of a Rule Maker. While the Rule Breaker Portfolio has not been changed as much, it is still being carried by two stocks that the Gardners have held for a long time (... being one). The rest of the portfolio continues to meet or under perform the Market. The definitions for the Rule Breakers has always been more subjective, good luck if you try to find this type of stock on your own with the help of this book. It is very interesting that this strategy is thinly followed on their discussion boards. Regarding the Rule Makers, this book no longer reflects that failed strategy. Because the Gardner Brothers no longer believe in most of the methods outlined in this book, I don't think they could recommend it. I personally can't recommend it, unless you want to read it as a history book, a reflection on stock picking from the late nineties. As of April 2003 I felt compelled to add to this review; the Gardner Brothers have discontinued their Rule Maker/Rule Breaker online portfolios and for all intents the philosophies that this book presents. I think it is wrong for this book to be in publication and sold by Amazon when it is no longer represents what the authors believe. Please be strongly advised the authors are not practicing what is written in this book and haven't for some time. This is now only a history book, you should not buy it except for that reason.
Rating: 
Summary: a balanced review (I hope)
Review: If nothing else, the Motley Fools certainly generate opinionated responses. Few books, I think, get as many 1 and 5 star ratings at the same time. I read their first book and liked it, I started this book and so far like it more. In general, they are fundamental investors at heart, and time spent learning their methods serves novice and experienced investors well. But I never take these guys as seriously as many others. Remember, they are selling something as surely as many other self-described stock market gurus. The simple fact is that even by the Motley Fool's own standards - buy and hold for years - the jury is still out on whether they offer a superior method of investing. And we won't know for sure until they've been through at least one - and I personally think more than one - real bear market. The race isn't over until you retire, and an early lead can be quickly lost. The Motley Fool's motto is "educate, amuse, and enrich". Their books and website will definitely educate and amuse, but the only certain enrichment is the cut they get out of the money you pay for their products. Read and enjoy, but read lots of other authors, too. Tim Klepaczyk
Rating:
Summary: Entertaining and Stimulating
Review: It seems as though the success of the Motley Fool is very much a product of the information age and the internet's foray into the stock market. It's index of funds "^MFF" has taken a nosedive over the last year or so, only coming up slightly within the last couple of months. But let us take a look at what can be learned from the printings of the two Fools: David and Tom Gardner. For one some of the advice that they dish out can be a product of the time at which the book was written. A small portion of the book extols buying stocks when they are at their IPOs, a practice that brought investors considerable success before the advent of the dot-com debacle. Today such a practice would come under suspect just because of the lack of information most IPOs are able to offer given their nascent entrance into the business world. To be fair, the Gardners did spend a few sentences to preface their recommendations with the obvious heads up that one must do their due diligence before jumping into a stock head first. The element of humor within the informative book serves to entertain and amuse, satisfying a promise they make from the get go. If you're a fan of Shakespeare or at least can read prose from that day in era (personally I found it difficult) then we may not get some of the quips that were intended for us. Overall it's a good read that echoes the teachings of the Sage of Omaha: buy and hold.
Rating:
Summary: Entertaining and Stimulating
Review: It seems as though the success of the Motley Fool is very much a product of the information age and the internet's foray into the stock market. It's index of funds "^MFF" has taken a nosedive over the last year or so, only coming up slightly within the last couple of months. But let us take a look at what can be learned from the printings of the two Fools: David and Tom Gardner. For one some of the advice that they dish out can be a product of the time at which the book was written. A small portion of the book extols buying stocks when they are at their IPOs, a practice that brought investors considerable success before the advent of the dot-com debacle. Today such a practice would come under suspect just because of the lack of information most IPOs are able to offer given their nascent entrance into the business world. To be fair, the Gardners did spend a few sentences to preface their recommendations with the obvious heads up that one must do their due diligence before jumping into a stock head first. The element of humor within the informative book serves to entertain and amuse, satisfying a promise they make from the get go. If you're a fan of Shakespeare or at least can read prose from that day in era (personally I found it difficult) then we may not get some of the quips that were intended for us. Overall it's a good read that echoes the teachings of the Sage of Omaha: buy and hold.
Rating: 
Summary: A Wonderful Collection of Well-Written, Poor Advice
Review: One thing that the Gardner brothers do especially well is writing for the general public. I read my first Motley Fool book when I was ten and very little of it went over my head. Granted, I was a precocious little bugger, but David and Tom still do an excellent job of taking the abstractions of the investing world and bringing them down to earth. It doesn't take much skill to write an esoteric investment book full of jargon to make it seem intellectual. However, explaining the same issues in laymen's terms takes finesse, and I respect that. Enough about the writing though. What matters most in an investment book is what it has to say, and unfortunately, that is where Rule Breakers, Rule Makers is most lacking. Reading this book in the midst of a recession, I couldn't help but laughing on several occasions because over and over again Rule Breakers, Rule Makers dates itself. Written at the height of the tech bubble, this book is full of overly optimistic advice that borders on lunatic at points. No one can be held accountable for what was said during the tech bubble, surely, because we were all talking crazy. However, the advice that could have been perfectly applicable at the time is far from useful or relevant now. That's not to say that there aren't any nuggets of truth in Rule Breakers, Rule Makers, because there certainly are quite a few. However, much of the advice, particularly that involving Rule Breakers, is quite sketchy. The fact that they give high-risk investment advice in a book geared toward the average investor speaks poorly of it. In summary, Rule Breakers, Rule Makers is a very readable book. It offers some sensible advice to its readers. However, most of its advice was only useful during the tech bubble. These days, this book has the dangerous power to encourage impressionable investors to engage in high-risk trading creating a world of problems for themselves. All in all, this book does have advice to offer, but you have to wade through a great deal of crud to get to it.
Rating:
Summary: A Systematic Approach
Review: Statistically, stock picking is a risky strategy. If you think that you can outperform the average investor's picks, then the Gardners have some excellent advice for you in this book. They present two systems; one for large, established companies and one for small companies with growth potential. Of the two, I like the Rulebreakers (small company strategy) the most - the Rulemakers strategy, with emphasis on S&P 500 market leaders, seems too risky due to its lack of asset class diversification (especially post-2000). Both strategies contain what I consider the rock-bottom minimum of quantitation required of any stock picker, aka fundamental analysis. There are lots of reviews for this book, and most of the negative ones I recall have little basis. However, one reader laments the treatment (or lack of treatment) of VALUE. The Gardner's emphasize growth, which for small stocks especially has been an underperforming asset class on historical average. Growth stocks are a two-edged sword; more downside risk means more upside return for those who pick the right stocks. As an individual investor, I liked this book. However, if you are going to read _one_ book on investing, don't read this one - read John Bogle's "Common Sense on Mutual Funds" ... read this book because it contributes to the many, many sources that form your well-considered investment strategy.
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