Skonieczny Book is Basic Clear Introduction to the Stock Market

There are as many approaches to making money in the stock market as there are fad diets. And like these nutritionally questionable and unnecessarily expensive diets, most advice about the stock market is designed to keep the individual investor beholden to those who would like to make money from supplying a service that is really unneeded.

Mariusz Skonieczny, in his first book, Why Are We So Clueless about the Stock Market? explains clearly and concisely how to invest without getting an ulcer.

–He uses the first 3 chapters, all of 34 pages, to show how to identify a good business.

–My favorite chapters are 4 – 6, which include a wonderfully straightforward technical analysis to decide when such a company can be purchased at a discount. He also succintly outlines how debt affects the math used to calculate return on equity, a percentage used to measure comparative earnings of a company. The plight of investors who lost money to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac was apparently avoidable.

–A few very short chapters dispell the hype about IPO offerings, discuss over emphasis of diversification, and explain basic economic cycles that make headlines like they are something new and unprecedented every time!

This book is a good compliment to Stocks for the Long Run, 4th Edition, providing the here and now perspective that makes sense with the historical facts. (review of this Stocks for the Long Run here)  The book Why Are We So Clueless about the Stock Market?is a bit longer than Skonieczny’s book on understanding financial statements, weighing in at a whopping 149 pages. There is room for it in your lunch bag or purse.  My 16 year old daughter will be reading it soon.