The 3rd Alternative

The late Stephen Covey is indeed a master of finding Win-Win situations





If you are able to open your mind to search for something better than what you ever imagine can be done, make sure you spend at least 2 weeks to learn and apply the principles outlines in this book.

For example :
(1) The ACCA formula : Ask, Criteria, Create , Arrive ( 3rd Alternative)
                                     vs Ask, Justify, Haggle, Arrive ( 2 Alternatives )
(2) Me, You, Seek, Synergise


There are many principles worth looking into :

(1) Magic Theater
(2) Talking Stick
(3) Ubuntu : I can't be truly human unless I fully see and value your humanity as well. I can't demonise you , which means to literally see you as an inhuman demon, and still remain human myself.
(4) Ahimsa : do no harm to living creature
(5) HHH vs GGL : hardened human heart vs Genuine gestures of Love
(6) Retributive justice vs Restorative Justice

And many , many more...

(1) Money is only a kind of wealth, a mark of secondary success.
(2) Primary success, arises from our chararcter,  is measured in terms of the contribution we make . Integrity, Honesty, Hard work, Compassion for others. Spiritual wealth=primary wealth.
(3) We are a poor village. We have no answers. We suffer until the rich and educated come to our aid.

Profitability of Technical Analysis

Here is  book which made up Fred Tam's Master Thesis.

In his thesis, Fred tested 13 technical systems to 38 index-linked counters to find out whether the the technical systems were able to return "abnormal returns". In layman's term , can any of the 13 system return better than just simply buying and holding. If so, then it may be worthwhile to apply the trading systems tested to better grow your investing portfolio.

It proves that in the period tested, certain systems do give abnormal returns.

(1) Channel Breakouts gives the best abnormal returns ( 20-20, 20-10, 20-5)
(2) The RSi, Momentum and DMI do not give superior returns.

The results are back tested only , and hence, it is not forward tested.

As usual, past performance cannot guarantee future results and hence all results must be read with this limitation in mind.

My take is .... no matter what system you use, so long as it is consistently profitable over a substantial period of time ( at least 1,000 market days) then the system is robust and good.

 There are many local thesis  and good write-upson technical analysis on the local stock and futures market :

(1) http://psasir.upm.edu.my/291/1/549566_FEP_2004_10.pdf
(2) http://lcchong.files.wordpress.com/2011/06/my-trading-ideas-for-the-forex-and-fkli-spot-market-06072011.pdf
(3) http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1706683
(4) http://umexpert.um.edu.my/papar_cv.php?id=AAAMJCAALAAC1MdAAk

A book a Fortnight.... Da Vinci Code

Looks like I have to change my byline to READ A BOOK A FORTNIGHT...

Well some technical books are difficult to finish and digest in 1 week... It normally takes 2 weeks or more.

Novels are easier...

Maybe I should do a novel, then a technical book in rotation...

Today is a Highly Technical Book by Fred Tam

It is about Fibonacci numbers, the origins and the applications to trading.

Good for good night reading but in trading, there is a risk of overtrying to fit the prices into waves and Fibonacci retracement.

I do not use Fibonacci per se ... but the ratios are there for a guide. Any retracement mot exceeding 80% is valid by my books... be it 50%, 61.8%, or even just 38.2%. No need to lose too much sleepover it.

Some swear by it... as long as you make money consistently from it, well and good. Everybody will make money their own way!

Here is an extract from DESIDERATA  ( Desired Things, 1927 prose poem by American writer Max Ehrmann) http://www.businessballs.com/desideratapoem.htm:

".... Be yourself...

...You are a  child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars.
    You have a right to be here

   And whether or not it is clear to you ,
   No doubt the universe is unfolding as it should .

.... Be cheerful
     STRIVE TO BE HAPPY "

Be happy, ok?

The Warren Buffett Portfolio

" I look for business in which I think I can predict what they are going to look like in ten to fifteen years' time. Take Wrigley's chewing gum. I don't think the Internet is going to change how people chew gum "   - Warren Buffett
 

Oh No ... another Warren Buffett book but not written by him?


Well , I got this hard covered book at a discount sale so, I bought it cheap.

Did I get value? Well, here is the gist...

(1) Warren Buffett likes his companies old.

(2) All his companies has earnings growth in the region of 10%.

(3) He treats his companies like "equity bond". Since the companies are old , established names and has a "durable competitive edge" ( ie likely to stay in business for anther 10 years at least and beyond), the company behaves like a bond ( in that it has "predictable earnings" in the past , present and likely in the foreseeable future). And because of the earnings growth, the earnings will be translated into value in future.

(4) He likes to buy his companies at a discount. If the earnings are stable and growing, it is safe that the company's earnigss is likely to stay stable and growing in the future. But the price of the company stocks fluctuate, and hence the PE ( price earnings ) will fluctuate with the current economic situation. If the earnings are seen to be stable, an fall in price will enhance the yields.  Say, if a company earns USD5 per year and grows at 10%, it is likely that the company will earn USD5.50 next year. Say this year, the price of the stock is USD75, then the pE is 15x. If the price of the stock is USD50 next year, then the PE has fallen to 10x. If the range of the PE is between 10x to 20X, then PE 10x is at the lower range and therefore a bargain. Assuming all the company fundamentals remain the same, buying at USD50 for an expected earnings of USd5.50 in the coming year is a bargain . In year 2 , the earnings is expected to be 10% more than USD5.50  at USd6.05. At the cost of USD50, the the return in the first year is 6.05/50=12% return in the 1st year!

Sounds good?

The trick is to find companies that grow 10%, and to buy and hold the comp[any forever.
And ... can the company you identify keep the durable competitive advantage forever?

A few calculators recommended ( found in pg34-36):

(1) To calculate the Internal Rate of Return ie how much the company has grown over an x amount of years :
http://www.moneychimp.com/calculator/discount_rate_calculator.htm

(2) To calculate future value of dividends after an x amount of years, growing at y rate of growth.
http://www.investopedia.com/calculator/fvcal.aspx

(3) After finding out the internal rate of return, and the future value of current dividend in 10 years, we can plug the lowest PE ratios for the company for the last 10 years ( to be conservative).

(4) Then we work backwards again to get the IRR from now to 10 years time.. Finally, we can find out if our investment at current price can meet the 10% return so sought after by Buffett.

SunZi Art of War in Business

If you want a fast overview of Sunzi's Art of War, read it comics-style!

Read about :

1. Initial Assessment
2. Waging War
3. Attack by Stratagem
4. Disposition of Military Forces
5. Use of Military Momentum
6. Strengths and Weaknesses
7. Maneovering
8. The Nine Variations
9. Mobilisation
10. The Terrain'
11. Nine Types of Strategic Ground
12. Attack with Fire
13. Use of Spies

My most memorable strategy?

Attack by Stratagem
1. Best Method : to foil the enemy with Strategies
2. Good Method : to defeat the enemy by adopting better diplomatic policy
3. Bad Method : to defeat the enemy by fighting
4. The Worst Method : to attack the enemy castle ( by seige and hold)

In the world of trading and investing, a parallel can be drawn

4. Worst Method : buy and hold stocks that do not pay dividend and prices keep  going down ( like a siege of a castle : one digs in but the ration and morale drains out. Castle still in enemy hands )
3. Bad method : buy and hold stock that do not move or pay dividend ( you employ money to fight an immovable price )
2. Good method : buy and hold stocks that gives dividend and rises slowly ( do thorough analysis, buy discount to fair value, receives dividend at above inflation rate, while price rises slowly )
1. Best method : buy and sell stock without having to hold, and get both dividend and capital gains ( insider info , buy and hold without having to pay any holding costs )

Dare to Dream

If you dare to dream, one day your dream will come true!

It took Datuk Danny Ooi 22 years to achieve his dream.... how long will your dream take?

Nakedeyeview

This is the Tim Ferris of Malaysia..

If you what to know more about oil palm plantation, water woes in Malaysia, con-women in the highways, adventures and traveling, the author has something for you in all its glorious details!

Great reading for knowledge! And great pictures too!

Food, Food Glorious Food! Foodie's Guide to Ipoh's Eateries!

Finally, someone compiled a book on the glorious food in Ipoh and gives you the GPS coordinates and maps to go with it.

Many times whenever I am in Ipoh, I really have to  rely on my nose ( literally) and gut feeling when I pop into an eatery. And since we are tourists, the local hawkers know we will be "ready to be slaughtered". With this guide , at least we know what prices to expect... surely , the hawkers cannot charge premium pricing when they are listed as "hawker fare" , right? And if your budget is not in the "premium" category, save all parties the embarrassment shock and  when the food bill finally comes!

101% recommended for FOODIES!

 

This is where Rich Dad, Poor Dad was born

Excerpts from Richdad.com...
( http://www.richdad.com/Resources/Rich-Dad-Financial-Education-Blog/july-2013/taking-the-fear-out-of-investing.aspx)

"
...I started with real estate. That made the most sense to me. I bought my first rental property in 1989. It was a small, cute, two-bedroom, one-bath rental house in Portland, Oregon. It was only two blocks away from where we lived. I have to tell you, it was the most frightening thing I had ever faced. I was scared to death. I was worried. I was afraid of making mistakes that would cost us money. I really didn’t know what to expect.
I was ecstatic when after my first month of ownership I received a whopping $25 in cash flow from that property. I was hooked at that moment. Today, I control many millions of dollars worth o f real estate, as well as other investments. And it’s through my investments – which throw off ample amounts of cash flow every month – that I am completely financially free and independent today.
Buying and holding
When many women hear the word “investing,” they think of mutual funds, or stocks and bonds, not real estate. The buying and selling of houses seems daunting, but investing in real estate doesn’t necessarily entail multiple transactions. It’s about buying and holding, not buying and selling.
What retiring is and isn’t
When Robert and I retired, we didn’t just retire to the poolside with margaritas in hand. That year we bought an 85-acre ranch in a small town called Bisbee. Bisbee is an artsy community up in the mountains of Southern Arizona. There was a broken down shack on the property that was actually an old stagecoach depot in the days of the Wild West. We rebuilt it into a wonderful one-bedroom house with a separate artist’s studio on the stream. There was no TV, no radio…only peace and quiet.
Rich Dad Poor Dad
It was in the quiet of Bisbee that Robert wrote Rich Dad Poor Dad. In April of 1997, we self-published Rich Dad Poor Dad, printing 1,000 copies of the book. To be honest, we thought we’d have Christmas presents to last us the next ten years. No bookstore wanted the book. No distributor would touch it. No wholesaler would even return our calls. So we began marketing it ourselves. The first place we had the book for sale was in our friend’s car wash. We put it wherever we could. The book slowly started to sell. Word of mouth spread, and within two years Rich Dad Poor Dad was on The Wall Street Journal’s bestseller list. We were high as kites!..."

So , where will from Bisbee be? In your study room,  1 hour every night?

And how they went to hell and return back to heaven... from 1985 to 1994.... nine years of solid work, tears, sweat, blood....


(  http://www.richdad.com/Resources/Rich-Dad-Financial-Education-Blog/july-2013/1985-the-year-from-hell.aspx )

" ...
In December 1984, Robert and I sold all we had and left Honolulu to begin building our business in Southern California. It didn’t take long—two months to be exact—before we had gone through the money we had. We were broke and without jobs or work. We had a long way to go before we were ready to launch our business. At times we were even homeless, sleeping in a beat-up Toyota Celica. I can honestly say 1985 was the worst year of our lives.
Rock bottom
When Robert and I had nothing, we argued with each other and blamed one another. Resentment built up. We were definitely not at our best. We were stressed beyond belief.
The worst part of it all for me was that my self-esteem hit rock bottom. Before 1985, I was always a very optimistic, happy, decisive, and confident woman. But when we went through this taxing period, I began to question and doubt everything I knew and believed in, including my ability to accomplish anything. I’d ask myself, “Do I know anything at all?” What started as a few self-doubts quickly spiraled into what at the time seemed like a huge, dark hole that was impossible to climb out of...."
 

"...We finally came to the point where we simply had had enough of this chaos that we created. Robert came to the conclusion that no one was going to make his life better except him and that it was time for bold measures. I decided to stop feeling sorry for myself. I stopped blaming everyone else for my circumstances. And the two of us simply made the decision to take control of our future and to get to work. So we did.
Through it all, we built an education company focused on entrepreneurship. While Robert built several businesses in Honolulu before our move to California, he was studying for years how people learn, and new and innovative methods for teaching. Our business grew to eleven offices in seven countries throughout the world. We were constantly on the road, mostly overseas.
In 1994, after nine years of running the company, we sold it and retired. I was 37 years old. Robert was 47. The best part about it was that we were free—financially free. We no longer had to work for money. It was a great feeling.  ...."


And what Robert has to say for people who leaves money into mutual funds and hope for the best...

 ( http://www.richdad.com/Resources/Rich-Dad-Financial-Education-Blog/july-2013/why-you-must-be-a-c-student.aspx )

"..If this is true, it might be stated another way: Those who choose not to become financially educated or play an active role in their investments and, instead, turn their money over to professional money managers, are abdicating responsibility for their financial future—and, if Buffett is on target, getting little value for it. How great is the risk of turning your money over to a “professional” who brings little value to the undertaking of making your money work for you? .."

And a very good article on Fed at 100 years old...

( http://www.richdad.com/Resources/Rich-Dad-Financial-Education-Blog/july-2013/the-fed-at-100-omnipotent-or-senile.aspx )

Laws of Success

This is the book that took 25 years to research and write, and when it was finally published , it was well received so much so until now, it is still in print!  Many of the Laws ( 15 of them) have been diced, mixed and re-packaged in modern motivation courses. Eg Have a plan ( DEFINITE AIM) , action ( CONCENTRATE) , inspiration.... blah...blah...

Napolean himself acknowledges that the laws contained are NOT NEW TRUTHS.... but he had the privilege to interview the captains of the industry that time ( Ford, Edison, Carnegie) and managed to organise a few "core" values that are common amongst the leaders.

Something like the " 7 habits of highly successful people" where the author also acknowledges that the 7 habits that he wrote are nothing new, just that he has them "organised" into easy-to-understand, relevant and effective rules.

So , how many of this 15 rules are important to you to ensure your success?

If you include his Introduction on "Mastermind", then there will be 16 Laws :

Introduction : Master Mind
(1) A Definite Chief Aim ( all the captains put 100% into this )
(2) Self -Confidence
(3) The Habit of Saving
(4) Initiative and Leadership
(5) Imagination
(6) Enthusiasm
(7) Self-Control
(8) The habit of Doing more Than Being Paid (100%- Rich Dad agreed on this too)
(9) A pleasing Personity
(10) Accurate Thought
(11) Concentration  ( 100%)
(12) Co-operation
(13) Failure
(14) Tolerance
(15) The Golden Rule

If you prefer to read on online version , here is one link...
http://napoleon-hill-laws-of-success.com/

Thinking, Fast and Slow

There exists 2 systems in our mind :

System 1 : fast, lightning reaction; reflex system;

 System 2 : slower, more effort, logical

Read all about it ... ( will take some time to cover everything!)...







Salient points :

(1) System 1 is automatic. We cannot stop System 1 from observing things, but System 2 has Executive Control.  But System 2 requires effort, and that takes resources. So, human by nature wants to take short-cuts, as it is the most efficient way of doing things, so it relies on System 1 ( which will work most of the time, until disaster happens...like autopilot until the plane encounters a storm). To overcome laziness, takes effort. That is why effort must be paid ( read : need effort to go to work, hence need to be sufficiently paid to go to work . Laziness does not require effort. So no need to be paid to be lazy!)

(2) Read about the Muller-Lyer Illusion ( visual illusion ) and the Invisible Bear

 System 1 will tell you that (a) is longer line, but in reality (a) and (b) are the same in length.

(3) Read about Cognitive Illusion

(4) Read about the Dilated Pupils when humans are hard at work.

And many , many more insights as I read on. I told you... this book is heavy stuff....will require more than 1 week to really grasp everything....

Outwitting The Devil

The other book by Napolean Hill that was not published until recently :

Salient points :

(1) Putting skeleton, flesh and soul into own's works

  Skeleton : fact, figures, theory
  Flesh : experience
  Soul : emotion

(2) There comes from every experience of temporary defeat, and every failure and every form of adversity , the seed of an equivalent benefit ( not the flower, not the fruit)

(3) ( Emerson ) ... every suffering is rewarded ,
                              every sacrifice is made up,
                              every debt is paid.

Have you met the devil in you yet?

The Great Sage Confucius

" When I am walking with two others, there's always one who can teach me something - his strength, I can emulate; his weakness, I can use for self-correction"

Learn from people's mistakes too... not only their successes...


" I've tried going without food for a day and without sleep for a night , thinking ; but that wasn't as beneficial as learning ."

Take action in learning... apply what you have read... learn from applying the theory in real life.

There is so many insights... and so many beautiful cartoon in the book...

" We are not birds and bees. Since I'm a man, who else should I live with but other men. If this world had peace, I would not be trying to change it ."













In Spring and Autumn period, the six essential skills to have was :

(1) li  : rituals
(2) yue : music
(3) she : archery
(4) yu : driving ( a war chariot )
(5) shu : reading and writing
(6) shu : arithmetic

Confucius placed emphasis on li, the rituals of Zhou . He taught that one should not speak or act unless it accords with li, and when a man reaches such a state, the whole world should regard him as a benevolent man.

" The Book of Change is extensive and profound. One cannot understand it without a certain amount of experiences in life. If Heaven can grant me more years, such that I can read it again when I am in my fifties, I am certain I shall not make any mistakes or cause negligence for the rest of my life."

Is experience important? Some things are best learned with experience... to give flesh to the skeletons of theory..

Lao Tze vs Confucius :

Confucius : Please tell me about benevolence.
Lao Tze : Benevolence signifies a degenerate heart. If Man's heart is pure, what need is there for benevolence?
Does the whiteness of the crane come from constant washing?
Does the blackness of the crow come from constant dyeing?
When the streams are dry, the fishes are land-trapped; they have to keep one another wet with their saliva. Benevolence is like this.

Read more in his 4 books and 5 Classics :


Confucius 4, 5 ,6

(1) 4 books : The Analects ( Lun Yu )
                      Mencius ( Meng Zi )
                     The Great LEarning ( Da Xue)
                      The Doctrine of the Mean ( Zhong Yong )

(2) 5 Classics : Book of Songs ( Shi Jing )
                         Book of History ( Shang Shu )
                         Book of Rites ( Li Ji)
                         Book of Change ( Zhou Yi ... Or Yi Jing... I-Ching )
                         Spring and Autumn Annals ( Chun Qiu )
(3) 6 skills :  Li ( rituals )
                      Yue ( music )
                       She ( archery )
                       Yu ( driving a chariot )
                        Shu ( reading and writing )
                        Shu ( arithmetic )

And his Golden Rule ...

 "Do not do to others what you do not want done to yourself "


His teaching Style : " teaching according to ability "

He taught 4 subjects : 1. Wen ( culture)
                                    2. Xing ( conduct )
                                    3. Zhong ( loyalty )
                                    4. Xin ( trustworthiness )


Practicing an elicitation method of teaching , he said :

" I never enlighten anyone who is never driven to frustration by the urge to seek knowledge. Nor do I illuminate anyone who is never driven to frenzy by the urge to seek knowledge. When I have pointed out one corner of a square to him, and he cannot make the connection with the other three, i will not teach him again."

WTF

Now , this a book on real estate using the Malaysian scenario...

This is also a "draw on equity" type of investing... and is assuming that the real estate will remain bouyant throughout the investment holding period.

Just be mindful that when the property slump comes, the techniques suggested may not work as well.

Meanwhile, keep dancing if the music is still playing....

Miillionaire by Thirty

Now, this is the type of books that Robert Kiyosaki would term as " How-To books". In it , you will have all the tax forms ( for the US citizens) and the tax rates illustarted  for active, portfolio and active income.

 Striking features of this book :

(1) The LSRR ( Laser ) formula
      Liquidity, Safety , Rate of Return

(2) Extracting Equity from your house to Increase Asset base

     Here is how it works. Assuming you have $100,000 in cash. Your asset is S100,000, you net worth is $100,000. Now by buying a house with 100% financing, you now have an asset base of $200,000 ( $100,000 cash plus $100,000 house) but your net worth remains the same, $100,000 ( because Asset, $200,000 minus Liabililties of $100,000 mortgage) . The reward is when your Assets grow by 10% ( say $100,000 put into paper investments and made 10%, and your house appreciates by 10%). Here, you borrow fom the bank to increase your asset base. However, note that mortgage interest is the cost of borrowing. If your house is not appreciating at a rate higher than your mortgage rate, then you will be in trouble. Generally, tenants will help reduce the borrowing cost. Do a thorough study between borrowing costs, and rates of returns ( appreciation, tenants rent) before attempting this type of financing.

(3) Be a banker. Borrow at a cheaper rate, grow at a higher rate. Say, mortgage at 6%, house appreciation at 10%. But will real estate ALWAYS grow at 10%? And which paper assets will give you 10% perpetually?

This is all good under a rising market and assumptions of borrowing at 6% and investing at 8%.

What if it was a slumping market? Your asset base will shrink double the rate as your asset base is now bigger!

And what if your rate of return is less than the bank mortgage?

Well , like all businesses, leverage is a double edged sword. Know your risks and rewards before engaging in real estate.

If you know your figures well, this is the Rich Dad' sway to Financial freedom the real estate way... with all the nitty gritty explained.

Alamac of World History

This is like reading high school  history all over again... but without the pressure of remembering the dates... and with lots of colours and pictures.

Well, if this was the text used for history , maybe I might be the next Indiana Jones!

The Art of Happiness

Never thought I would pick up a religious book at a book fair...let alone read it!
Well, it was cheap enough ( only RM8 at the Big, Bad Wolf sale)..so i guess the organisers of the book fair have achieved their mission is getting people to buy books they normally would not buy if only the price was cheap enough...

This book , though written by a religious figure, is more spiritual than religious.

Dalai Lama can connect with people because he uses people-centric approach.

He believes that we are all human beings, and that we are all entitled to being happy. How much more human can that that be?

Among the striking points :

(1) The antidote for bad attitudes are good attitudes : eg patience as antitode for anger, tolerance for hatred, honesty for low self esteem.

(2) A calm mind means peaceful mind, therefore it is easier to find joy and happiness.

(3) Many problems face by humans can be solved . If the solution can be found, there is no need to worry. Even if no solution can be found, there still is no need to worry about it.

Some of the concepts may be difficult to accept for mere mortals like me. Like how he visualises other people's suffering and chooses to bear them. Something like Christ bearing the sins of the people on earth. Very high level.

Most of the concepts , however, are applicable as the values are quite universal. Patience to counteract anger.... even from a Western perspective, taking some time off and some deep breathing when faced with anger is a proven way to diffuse immediate anger. Patience, eh?

Now , I know why Richard Gere finds Tibetan Buddhism so appealing.... He is after all , AGentleman...looking to get away from the attachments of His Pretty Woman!

The Hour Between Dog and Wolf

Traders must buy this book.

Written by a trader for a trader.

Learn about testosterones, adrenaline, cortisol, dopamine when engaging in a trade.

Traders will not regret reading this book.

You are What you Eat

This is an excellent book for monitoring what you eat...

Remember GIGO? Garbage In Garbage Out... if you take nutrient empty foods, then your body cannot produce a good physique. Feed in nutrients dense foods, and you will glow like a million dollars.

Note that GRAS ( generally regarded as safe) preservatives, additives, colours and flovours only enhance the shelf life and looks of foods ( not to mention the pockets of manufacturers!). Gop natural , and consume as much unprocessed food as you can.

In generally, go easy on the SSSO ( sauce, salt, sugar, oil) .... and add on the GO-TCC ( garlic, onions, tomato, chillies, cucumber)...

Traders, Guns, Money

If you liked Liar's Poker, you will definitely like this!

Now I know why the CAPM model is so popular among professors in university; they know that students do not memorise the formula , and they like to set it as an exam question to torture the students!

Truthfully, Eugene Fama's random walk theory never appeal to me because i think there is structured chaos in the market ( you guessed it right...  i have a bias towards technical analysis based trades!) and I love George Soros's "indeterminacy" when faced with imperfect information.

Get behind the scenes with this book as have a good laugh!

I love the part on " looking after relatives" the best...( pg 137)...

..."Son, you can't make money when you lose money. What kind of an idiot are you?"...

The asset consultant was trying to justify that he was up 3%... because the benchmark was down 48%, and he was only down 43%...

Hmmm... sounds familiar ? ( to those who have bought units trusts before? he..he... index down 20%, the fund is only down 10%... overperform by 10%!....shssssh....)

George Soros New Paradigm

... does perfect competition, perfect info, rational decision making exists?

If not , then there must be an imbalance somewhere can be exploited for a profit.

And George Soros does it well. The GBP imbalance in 1992, the Thai baht imbalance in 1997, ...

Read on the theory of reflexivity... and the cognitive ( understanding) and manipulative ( changing) functions of the mind, and how indeterminacy in social sciences sets it apart from natural sciences and therefore , new paradigm is needed to explain the phenomenon in the financial world ( a social sciences area).

The more you read, the more confused you may become as George attacks the current thinking regime of the world.

I have always held that whoever that is correct in the end will end up with a better scorecard ( ie more zeroes in the bank balance) , and i am sure George Soros has a bigger bank balance than Alan Grenspan, Ben Bernanke or all those perfect competition professors....

Read on and be bewildered!

FREE

Now, if you want to understand why the "bits" in the digital world is free, and why the "atoms" in the physical world has a cost, then this book is definitely for you.

Enter the realm of "abundance" and come back with an idea of FREE-MIUM... and be aware that the under-30's are brought up under the Google  world where everything digital is expeted to be free. The above-30's were under the spell of "scarcity" and manyy are still in their own world.

Wake up.., the New york Times has gone digital. Very soon all thebooks will go digital... and bookstores will be a PREMIUM place to read. The rest will read electronically.

The author writes at www.wired.com

10 Essentials of Forex Trading

This is the book of FXChief...

The Topics Covered include :

(1) Self Empowerment Through Trading Software
(2) Trading Japanese Candlesticks
(3) The Financial Game of Support and Resistance
(4) Trend and Trendlines
(5) Buy and Sell Zone
(6) The Fibonacci Secret
(7) Fundamental Analysis
( 8) Consolidating, Bracketing, Accumulation, Sideways
(9) Rules of Equity Management
(10) The Final Analysis

He is a very experienced trader and teacher ...judging from the examples and real life stories.

Highly recommended for serious forex traders.

How many books do you read a month?

"... Poor people read one book every 5 to 10 years.
     Average income earners read one book every 3 to 5 years.
     Rich people read at least one book per month".

Do you agree with the above statement?

Well, I got that quote from a forex trader and teacher called FXChief ( Jared Martinez) and he has read over 500 books on his area of expertise.

So, if I read 1 book per week, then I should be super rich then? ...;)