Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

First off I really hate it when people give reviews before they have even tried it. Does anyone else roll up their eyes when someone gave this book 5 stars and havent even finished it yet?! Investing in the financial market isnt reading a Alex Cross novel. A review either pro or con for a book like this should be thoroughly tested before one suggests others to do the same. That being said; Today is the one year anniversary of trying this method. I have been investing for over 8 years and graduated at ASU with a degree in Accounting (Managerial Accounting) to be exact. But never resting on my laurels, I decided to take 2 grand to "experiment" using this method. Im not going to list when and all the companies that I invested in cuz it would frankly just take too much time. This already should tell you that following his chart advice will cause you to get in and out of a particular company a little more frequently then the average person is probably comfortable with. First off I want to say that for a Novice this is a very good FOUNDATION. But I would strongly hesitate before rolling over my entire retirement portfolio into it. This book has PLENTY of positives to it, and for the beginner it gives you some good pointers and will give you at least SOMETHING to build upon and learn from. This alone beats probably 99% of all the other books out there. Most seem to just offer stocks to buy without giving you a true reason why its a good company to buy. This is a guaranteed way to lose. So for that I give this book kudos. But this book is far from perfect. 1) The chart idea is mixed at best. It did save me from losing a lot of cash at certain times. But it also prevented me from making huge gains as well. Plus there were certain time when I ended up buying at almost at the peak and then dumping at its lowest point. This happened on more then one occasion. To be honest with you; I never saw any real indication of a stock moving slowly up or down. Five % swings appeared to be the norm here in either direction. But it did protect me from the huge losses. 2) 15 minutes a week will eventually get you killed. At any given time a company can split or buyback its stock. This will not only mess up the market price of the stock but will effect the BVPS and EPS as well causing your calculations to be WAYYY out of sync with your MOS. 3) No real advice is given on when a company is no longer attractive until its too late. I was surprised nothing was offered about signing up for free alerts or news about companies you are interested in. For example, QCOM was looking great for a while and had great numbers. But 15 minutes a week and looking at charts would not have given you the knowledge of patent infringements, banned in the US, or companies moving away from QCOM. There are plenty more examples then this but this is the one that would have set you back abouit 15% in one day if you werent knowledgeable and up to date on the company. 4) No mention given about looking up or evaluationg quarterly reports with the previous year. All the book mentions regarding this is all companies have a bad time here and there. While this is true it still doesnt stop a stock from dropping dramatically if earnings are suddently expected to sharply drop. In summary, while I admit I bashed it a bit I did make a 18% gain for the year. But this was a very good year and I kept that gain when the charts told me to get out. As of this moment the stock market is having a major correction and this method did prevent me from hanging onto the stock for too long. All and all a very good book and a great way to get your feet wet! On a side note: I emailed Phil a question I had at his website in which he responded back. That showed me that he at least believes in what he is selling and is there for you if you need assistance.