Full of Bull: Do What Wall Street Does, Not What It Says, to Make Money in the Market

Stephen McClellan's keynote speech and book are both informative, easy to understand, and entertaining. Finally, somebody is addressing the needs of the small investor. In the book he explains how Wall Street really works. Definitely worth reading. Author of Knockout Presentations

I heard about 'Full of Bull' while listening to Money Talk with Bob Brinker. I trust Brinker, so when he recommended the book and did an interview with the author, it got my attention. I never really understood how detrimental how some of Wall Street's actions can be to my personal investing. This book describes these practices and has helped me learn how to avoid taking what brokerage firms say literally. I never knew why Wall Street analysts are such bad stock pickers, or that emphasis lists are useless, or that stock price targets are just a guess. These guys are just trying to keep the big institutional investors happy. The stories the author tells are very candid and amusing. What I really liked was that after identifing all the land mines, the author gives some really solid, conservative investment advice. Own only a few stocks, don't diversify, no turnarounds or IPOs, and always look for dividends. The most important advice pertains to protection of capital. No one else really talks about this in detail. I wish the book was longer, had a few charts and tables, and that I had discovered it sooner. This is one of the most intriguing, informative books on the stock market.

I have never read a stock market investment advice book like this one! Other books I've read talk about how to invest, strategies, techniques, and guidelines, but Full of Bull discloses the Wall Street actions that are so damaging to individual investing. I always thought I could take my broker's advice and act on it. Now, after reading Full of Bull, I understand the Wall Street biases and untrustworthy recommendations. Full of Bull helped me understand these Wall Street ways so I will no longer be so naively trusting of the advice I get from Wall Street. This book also showed me some excellent investment strategies that are different from what I have heard before--such as only own a few stocks, and hold stocks that pay dividends. There is an incredible amount of good advice in this short AND easy to read book. I highly recommend it!

Full of Bull is a bold, forthright and insightful tool for the average investor. I was particularly impressed by the author's commonsense approach to investing: preserve your capital above all else, and learn how to be a long-term "investor", rather than a "trader" (looking for a quick windfall that is usually highly risky). The book's wisdom lies, I think, in its emphasis on careful, thoughtful study and analysis of one's investments, with an eye on steady growth over the long-term.

This is one of the most unusual stock market books I have ever seen. I find I have highlighted things on almost every other page. It's amazing to learn all the Wall Street activities and recommendations that are averse to real investing. This is the first time I have come across such direct, clear, and revealing information about security analysts and research. It will change the way I deal with research reports, analyst opinions, company comments, and even what I read in magazines and newspapers. The author, after clarifying the "insider" practices that are surprisingly negative for investors, then lays out his own recommended investment strategies that are long term and conservative. Things like only own a small number of stocks and focus on dividend paying stocks. These alone are worth the price of the book. The book is packed with excellent guidance and not cluttered up with tables and charts. So it's a handy reference. The writing style is clipped and often sounds like a casual conversation. Sometimes I want to hear more about a topic but he quickly moves on to the next thing. I would love to have him give us more of a tell-all but maybe that would stray off the main topic. My friends who are investing in the stock market, like me, I know will want to read this.