Penny Stock Winners: True Stories of Successful Investors

First let me say that although at least two chapters in this book are repeated verbatim in Max Bowser's other book, "Making Dollars with Pennies" (chapters I identified are "Wannabe Ostracized? Buy Minipriced Stocks" and "Why does Merrill Lynch hate $2 Stocks?"), this is definitely not the same book in a different cover and you are really missing out on a true gem if you don't get this one.In contrast to "Making Dollars with Pennies", which was more of a "how to" type of work, this book mainly consists of profiles of successful investors, which are for the most part excerpted from past editions of the Bowser Report (therefore, if you've been subscribing to the Bowser report for a while you've read practically everything in this book - still, it's refreshing to read it all bound up as a book). About two thirds of the profiles are of past or current subscribers who are following Bowser's "game plan" and doing well (although the figures are presented in a fuzzy manner). The remainder are various participants in the small cap stock market. Strangely, the one interview with a bona fide celebrity, Lou Dobbs of CNN, fell flat with me; he seemed out of his element.The subscriber/"Winners" represent a broad cross section of Middle America, with all of the everyday problems of regular people (divorce, illness, unemployment or a general lack of money to invest). A significant portion of those profiled have a military background, and they are not necessarily of the World War II generation where military service was well nigh universal in men. Bowser himself retired from the military before starting his "Bowser Report" in the 1970s and one suspects that perhaps his subscriber base grew through word-of-mouth among military people. If there is anything in particular that sets the winners apart, it's that they all appear to be self-starters who are willing to stick to their guns with investment ideas and let the chips fall where they may. They also appear to show significant emotional maturity towards their investments. Although they often invest in companies profiled in Bowser's Report, they tend to view the investments as "their" picks, whether the stocks ultimately end up winning or losing. They don't run to Bowser and whine.Although I don't know specifically how many people subscribe to the Bowser Report, Bowser's market strength is alluded to in the book more than once, particularly in the days following when Bowser issues a buy recommendation on his "Company of the Month". As Bobby Cohen, a market maker, reports on page 176:"Max, on the Monday after you pick a Company of the Month - there is a huge number of buy orders. A market maker doesn't have to be a rocket scientist to know there's something happening with the stock."Because the interviews in this book span the 1990s, one can see in retrospect how much the internet has changed the investing landscape, such as when Lenny, interviewed sometime around 1996, remarks [p. 75]:"Do you realize ho