It's Your Money: The E*trade Step-By-Step Guide to Online Investing

I can't believe how people criticize Chritos Cotsakos. Sayingthat this book was just for publicity is ridiculous. I was surprisedwhile reading this great book how he did mention other competitors ofhis. This is a quote from his book, "At this point you probablythink I'm going to tell you to go directly to [Etrade] and sign up foran account with Etrade. Even though I am very, very proud of what wehave accomplished, I'm not going to do that. The whole point of thisbook is to empower you. The worst thing you can do when managing ourown money is to blindly follow someone else's advice-no matter whoseit is. If I thought that was a good idea, I wouldn't have bothered towrite this book. Managing your own money online is a way of takingcontrol of your actions, your research, your information, yourdecisions, and your own account. It's not a form of gambling. Makingfinancial decisions without knowing what you're doing is a form ofgambling. Instead of telling you what to do, I'm going to give yousome guidelines to help you select the best possible financial serviceprovider, and then set you loose on the Internet to make the rightdecision-for yourself. So, how do you evaluate and choose a goodfinancial service provider? Start with what I call 'the six Ss':security, speed, simplicity, service, sharing, and scalability. Thebest financial service providers do all of these very well." Nowof course he does mention how great Etrade is but if it was my book, Iwould to. Anyways, the book is great for almost anyone. The book ispretty simple in the beginning, but it helps later on in the book. Thechapters are as follow:Welcome to the RevolutionStep I: GetReady Chapter 1: Your Financial Future Is OnlineStep II: Get Set,Get Online Chapter 2: Turn On, Tune In Chapter 3: Get Your ModemRunning Chapter 4: Make It a Good One Chapter 5: Open Your AccountToday Chapter 6: Know Where You're GoingStep III: Meet the StreetChapter 7: Start with Stocks Chapter 8: Bonds. TreasuryBonds. Corporate Bonds. Municipal Bonds. Chapter 9: Funds, Funds,Funds Chapter 10: Where to Stash Some Cash Chapter 11: KnowThyselfStop! (the stop just tells you to go back and make sure youunderstand everything said) Go! (just says go ahead and read)StepIV: You've Got the Power Chapter 12: Online Stock Investing Chapter13: Online Bond Investing Chapter 14: Online Mutual FundInvestingChapter 15: Keeping TrackStep V: High Gear Chapter 16:Your Options Chapter 17: Stock Investing 2.0 Chapter 18: Let's TalkTrends Chapter 19: IPO's and More Advanced StuffTalking the Talk (auseful glossary of terms) Bibliography & e-contact sites Stay inTouch (contact information) Acknowledgements About the Author IndexThis book is great for most people and he just explains how to readstock information and what everything means. It's not an equation ofhow to find the next Wal-Mart or Cisco. I don't know how people saythat this book won't help you at all.

Okay, Christos says in his book that Cheri Oteri says he may NOT use that word again ...but I am going to go ahead and say it anyway. His book is BODACIOUS. I ordered one for my sister who just switched jobs and has to roll over some money and doesn't know what to do. I ordered one for one of my fresh-out-of-college clients who is eager to jump into the fray but is dizzied by all the financial brouhaha. In this chaotic market, with the NASDAQ wildly rollercoasting, Christos' perspective is even more valuable. I also loved the part on Options. He makes a murky,misunderstood subject very clear. Lots of personality comes through but it still feels like education rather than spin. Bravo!

As online investing is brand new to me, I found this book easy to follow and extremely interesting. The book guided me through the online process in a way that was easy for me to understand as well as increase my knowledge surronding online investing. The glossary of terms is a great reference to help one learn the variety of terminology. The book was filled with tons of useful information and I would highly recomend anyone who is investing online to read it!

This may be the first, and is certainly one of the first books to spell out the process of online investing, and as such it is a valuable resource for the "layman" investor. As a reader with minimal knowledge of the stock market and online transactions, I was particularly impressed on three counts. First, Cotsakos has written the entire volume in an flowing, easily understood style, sort of as though he were just talking you through the process. This is helpful for those of us who don't really understand much of the typical jargon, and it also makes it easier to remain interested in what could be a very dry subject. Second, he goes back to the very basics of computer usage (purchasing the right machine with the right capabilities, etc.), which still could be quite mysterious for some people. By doing this he has anticipated and already answered some of our potential questions. And third, the book really progresses in a step-by-step fashion, with refreshers at the end of chapters, and many helpful side-notes. I think the final thing to recommend this book is that although it is, of course, written from the standpoint of E*Trade (an online trading provider), Cotsakos has avoided making it one big commercial for his company. This book is a "must read" for anyone who wants to start trading online, and also for those who already trade in this way and want to hone their skills, regardless of the service provider they choose.

This is the first personal finance book I've read that talks about investing in plain, easy-to-understand language. It's great for the beginner and useful for folks like me who've been investing on their own for awhile but who want to expand their knowledge or want clarification on how the markets work. I recommend it highly!