Fire Your Stock Analyst: Analyzing Stocks on Your Own

by Harry Domash and Richard K Weerts

Book Overview

The #1 Guide to Do-It-Yourself Stock Analysis Now Fully Updated with Powerful New Shortcuts "" " Harry s book is among my most recommended readings because it provides a step-by-step process that... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0130353329
• ISBN13: 9780130353320
• Release Date: January 2002
• Publisher: FT Press
• Length: 375 Pages
• Weight: 1.90 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.4" x 6.3" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

Solid guide to fundamental analysis

This book will help you to evaluate and decode the stock information available on free financial websites likeYahoo! Finance and MSN Money. This is a thick book, very detailed and in-depth, with tons of useful information to help you can find the stocks that will generate solid returns. For example, Domash explains the difference between Return on Equity (ROE), Return on Assets (ROA), and Return on Capital (ROC). The author is obviously a very experienced stock analyst with a wealth of practical techniques for readers to use. The main weakness is that Domash never really gives the reader a practical strategy for choosing stocks. He does give a generic "value" and "growth" approach, but never says which approach he uses or why. Also, there are many different kinds of value and growth investing; the strategies he lays out are so generic that they are of quite limited usefulness. Hardly anyone uses a "pure" value or growth approach. Overall, this is one of the best books available on fundamental analysis, along with Pat Dorsey's FIVE RULES FOR SUCCESSFUL STOCK INVESTING.

A Trip To McDonalds

If your last name is Livermore, loeb, or O'Neil don't bother buying the book, you're already a genius and you know it all. I've spent the last 31 years trading and I'm not too proud to say that I don't know it all. In my case the buying and selling was always the easy part. Finding good candidates for buying and selling was always much more difficult. In more cases than I'd like to think about, the fundamentals would look great and yet 24 hours later I'm being stopped out and could not understand why. After reading "Fire Your Stock Analyst" I understand why. If I had picked up on a few red flags that are discussed in the book, I would have never purchased the stocks in the first place. That alone is worth the price of the book to me. For those who are still hesitant about purchasing, it's a trip to McDonalds. Two Big Macs, two Happy Meals and a good case of indigestion. Buy the book and put a few more dollars in your pocket instead. Isn't that what this all about?

R.E.Sears, Orinda, CA

Here is a book that will appeal to any and all investors, professional or novice. Harry Domash has provided us with investment tool that is easy to read and in a concise and well orgainized manner. The chapters on Screening and Analysis are worth the price of the book. I will use it over and over as a very excellent reference book. I have already found several of the websites rcommended to be most helpful in providing the information I needed to make changes in my portfolio.

Strategies to identify the best stocks for your portfolio

I found "Fire Your Stock Analyst!" to be a great new book for the individual investor. The book describes in detail a practical step-by-step approach for finding, researching and evaluating growth and value stocks. The author guides the reader through the analysis process, clearly defining terms and offering sage advice based on his own experience and that of well-known insiders on Wall Street. The reader is made privy to an abundance of useful information with regard to listening in on conference calls, interpreting earnings reports, and reading financial statements. Equally important, are the discussions on how to detect scams and frauds, how to spot red flags, and how to know when it's time to sell. The Websites used to implement the analysis described in the book are readily available to anyone connected to the Internet, and are referenced throughout the book, making it easy to follow. I found this to be a very useful book for anyone willing to put in the time to learn how to do his or her own stock analysis!

So good I paid retail at the bookstore...

Let me be honest about my biases. I strongly prefer technical analysis when it comes to analysing stocks. Price is determined by PERCEPTIONS about fundamentals. By studying price and volume, the chartist can understand what the general market sentiment is regarding these fundamentals, and figure out, with a reasonable degree of confidence, which stocks to buy, and which to sell. With enough capital, skill, and the discipline to cut inevitable losses, you can make money.Despite the benefits of technical analysis, I can see the value (no pun intended) in understanding the fundamentals on their own. Fundamentals complement the technicals, and any rational investor will compare market action with fundamental data to come to a profitable conclusion. My problem: I've tried to read various books on fundamental analysis, but most put me to sleep.This book is different. It is packed with solid, step-by-step directions on how to perform your own fundamental analysis. Tips include screening for candidates, determining a stock's current valuation, setting a target price, and how to determine if the company is a potential Enron or Kmart. This is far from an exhaustive list of what you will learn. Best of all, these techniques have been taken from money managers with a track record of beating the S & P, from Richard Dreihaus to the infamous short seller Jim Chanos.Domash provides a highly readable, useful, and important book for the intelligent stock investor. Whether you are an investor or a trader, you will understand how those who move the markets tend to think. Read it if you want to make money.