Book Review: 'You Can Be a Stock Market Genius' by Joel Greenblatt

Review by Steven Rosales of Joel Greenblatt's You Can Be a Stock Market Genius.

This book is about finding worthwhile investments using lesser known techniques. Through examples such as spin-offs and long-term options [LEAPS] the author attempts to show the reader how using alternative techniques can often enhance one's stock market performance. This book was written by Joel Greenblatt, author of "The Little Book That Beats the Market."

What Did I Get Out Of It As A New Investor?
At some point, once a new investor grasps the basics of investing, a need develops to learn more about other ways to participate in the stock market. This book provides a good introduction to those other methods. While it is easy to understanding what a spin-off is (usually a smaller division of a larger company become a separate entity) a new investor may not know when to take action on a spin-off. This book explains how to do so and why spin offs are often good investments. The book also covers how using long term options on undervalued stocks can maximize return and limit risk through the use of leverage.

The Good News
If one already has a good grasp on the basics of sound investing this book allows you to begin learning how to take advantage of profitable investment strategies. The book is written in an easy to understand and entertaining manner.

The Bad News
While this book discusses the concepts presented in an easy to understand manner, one may get the impression that using these strategies is simple. As always, it must be remembered that successful investing requires due diligence notwithstanding the entertaining manner in which the material is presented.

The Bottom Line
For those ready to progress beyond basic investing, this is a good book to learn from.

Related:

• Book Review: 'The Rediscovered Benjamin Graham' - A Valuable Read
• Must-Read Investing Books -- The Seeking Alpha Bookshelf

Comments

[SpecialSituationInvestor]

Best investment book ever for the more sophisticated investor. Hedgies in Greenwich apparently love this book and passed it around. The event driven bible.