25 Stupid Mistakes You Don't Want to Make in the Stock Market

25 Stupid Mistakes You Don't Want to Make in the Stock Market is a decent book to pick up if you want to avoid what the title implies. However, I feel if I only read the chapter titles from the table of contents, it would have been sufficient enough. While reading the information contained in each chapter, I can't help but sense the same principles already outlined in William J. O'Neil's How to Make Money in Stock which was written many years earlier. In fact, at the beginning of some chapters, there is a quote from him. At times, in 25 Stupid Mistakes You Don't Want to Make in the Stock Make, there are conflicting advices. One example is that the author advises you not to buy low-priced stocks because they are cheap (Chapter 17), but somewhere else later, OTC BB stocks can be great bargains. Another example is that when the going gets great, get off the ride and take the profit, but somewhere else, the author says that do not sell too soon; watch for the warning signs first. That's weird...I am like, now what? Nevertheless, 25 Stupid Mistakes You Don't Want to Make in the Stock Market is more of an Investing 101 guide as David Rye will explain the ins and outs of the market which is nice in itself. Yet when he attempts to explain the fundamentals of technical analysis in Chapter 13, he disappoints me due to lack of details. So, I will have to seek out a book that is purely about technical analysis. One chapter in 25 Stupid Mistakes You Don't Want to Make in the Stock Market, David Rye writes about investing in foreign markets; remember that the book feels more like Investing 101, I think the chapter is too heavy for beginning investors until they become more seasoned enough to handle the venture into uncharted territory. Probably the worst aspect of the book which factors in my decision for giving it four stars is the listing of the websites, and they are mostly defunct, out of date, useless, and/or plain confusing due to lack of directions. Remember that the book was written in 2002, and a lot has changed since then. Very rarely, David Rye would admit his mistakes, and when he does so, it is actually encouraging for me as he lessens the feel of superiority. If he did that more often, the book would have been a winner. All in all, I would recommend you to borrow the book 25 Stupid Mistakes You Don't Want to Make in the Stock Market just for the sake of a learning experience, but there are probably better books out there like How to Make Money in Stock or Guide to Understanding Money and Investing from The Wall Street Journal.

Thanks Dave Rye for writing a book about the stock market that the average person can understand. After reading your book, I now not only know how to avoid making stupid mistakes when investing in stocks, but how to take advantage of the market and make MONEY.