This is the Safari online edition of the printed book.

“Gene Marcial provides iconoclastic insights into the art of successful investing while exploding the mythology of the conventional wisdom. His 7 Commandments of Stock Investing is scintillating reading for both individual and institutional investors who seek an advantage in their moneymaking endeavors.”

--Scott Black, President of Delphi Management Inc. and a member of the Barron’s Roundtable

“It is well understood that trading in the stock market is full of risks. But if you are ready to take the plunge, I guarantee that there will be a time when being familiar with Gene Marcial’s 7 Commandments of Stock Investing will be extremely important. Over the years, I have followed many of the same commandments.”

--Carl Icahn, Chairman, Icahn Associates

“This book begins with one of the wisest investment observations I’ve ever encountered: ‘There are plenty of ways to make money in the stock market, but clinging to mainstream thinking or so-called conventional wisdom is not one of them.’ The author’s discussion on avoiding the diversification trap is alone worth many times the price of this book.”

--Bernie Schaeffer, Chairman, Schaeffer’s Investment Research, Inc., www.SchaeffersResearch.com

“Gene Marcial has been guiding literally millions of investors to better financial performance over his more than 30 years as a leading financial journalist. He consistently has demonstrated a rare instinct for knowing when to follow a trend and when to think like a contrarian. In today’s turbulent times, his new book, 7 Commandments of Stock Investing, is essential reading for all investors and could well add precious percentage points to the performance of any who take his words to heart.”

--Stephen Leeb, President, Leeb Capital Management Inc.

Every week, the investment world turns to Gene Marcial’s BusinessWeek column. Here’s why: Marcial knows how to pick winners. Apple at 15. US Steel at 19. But Marcial’s track record isn’t limited to just one or two picks. In fact, recent analysis reveals that he’s beaten the indexes for a full decade.

You can’t get results like that following the “conventional wisdom”! You need to know what Gene Marcial has learned about stock investing--and this book will tell you. Marcial has distilled 35 years of experience into seven powerful, counterintuitive “commandments”: rules that are simple and practical enough for every investor to profit from.

Marcial reveals why diversification is not an optimal investment strategy…why you need to focus on finding big winners, and how you can…how to profit from panic, and how to lock in your profits when everyone else is “fat and happy.” Along the way, he opens up the secret, mysterious world of corporate and market insiders--showing how to track them down, emulate their approaches, and profit from their lucrative strategies.

• Be prepared to profit from panic
  Plot a clear strategy to seize opportunities during a macro-market panic

• Learn how to “buy the losers”
  Finding tomorrow’s big winners in today’s bargain bin

• Profit from the unknown
  Finding investments that are undervalued because investors don’t understand them

• The “sweet seven”: specific stock picks for the next seven years
  What to buy right now--and hold for the long term

Amazon.com® Reader Reviews (Ranked by Helpfulness)

Average Amazon.com® Rating:  Based on 6 Ratings

Utterly Useless Advice - 2008-12-26
Reviewer Rating:
If this is the first investment book you read, *some* of the rules/advice might actually be new and insightful. That being said, if this is your first investment book, put it down immediately and find something more useful (Lynch? Graham? Buffett's shareholder letters?).

The rules are so simplistic that they're effectively common sense to all but the most basic investor but then the detailed advice seems to assume you've got the time and ability to spend hours digging deeply into multiple stocks and multiple news sources. Nearly every section instructrs you to read countless business publications and industry publications, go to finance websites, use Google and Yahoo. Seriously?! I paid for a guy to tell me to use a search engine?!.

One favorite:

On investing in foreign countries, Mr. Marcial recommends really understanding the economic system and political climate. Shocking suggestion. And also completely impractical. This book has such a simplistic tone (and very little supporting detail) that it is clearly aimed at casual investors with little time to spend analyzing dozens of companies in detail (as Mr. Marcial repeatedly suggests). And yet its basic advice is do a *lot* of detailed research. If that's your thesis, you could've boiled this book down to a single page (which is true of most business books ... sigh ... scattered anecdotes do not constitute real evidence).

We won't even get into detail about Mr. Marcial's anecdote about a savvy investor who made a killing on AIG stock in 2007 after an investigation into accounting problems (for derivative positions, among other things) blew over. Whoops.

Or the fact that he asserts how actively managed funds often outperform index funds that hold huge chunks of the market (on average, after fees, they don't ... it's a fact ... in fact, it's practically a mathematical certainty).

If you really only have time for very brief reads about investing, try "The Little Book That..." series. A) They're shorter B) they do a better job of substantiating their advice C) they're actually coherent.

If you have a little more time, invest in advice from Lynch/Graham/Buffett.

Whatever you do, do not waste *any* time on this book.

If I could give this book negative stars, I would -- it would be more indicative of the return on investment this book actually provides.

7 Commandments of Stocks - 2008-08-04
Reviewer Rating:
The first and most important commandment is to buy
what other investors do not want in the short term.
So, buy low and buy cheap. For instance, Ford Motors
sells for under $5. right now. For consumers who believe
that the company will recover, an investment now could
yield considerable benefits as the hybrid cars roll out
in a few years.

Generally, buy at the bottom while others panic.
You'll have the whole upward part of the curve to make profit.

As a rule, choose standout companies that buck the trend
in downward markets. These stocks are out of phase with
the current market. The investments go up while the rest
of the market is tanking. Examples are Petsmart,
Crowdgather, Carmax and many stocks in the commodity areas.

Some investors like to set a target for a stock and sell
when the target profit has been reached. This is a good
short term strategy. Some stocks continue to go up so that
a short term strategy can fail to exploit long term trends.

Insiders buy to make money so watch what top managers buy.
A review of SEC filings could produce some top performers
over the long term. The book gives a number of stocks
for investors to consider over the long term. i.e.
o Apple Computer
o Boeing
o CVS
o Genentech
o Petrobas

A significant market downturn can provide a much bigger
upside or buying opportunity. Another good strategy is to
buy stocks that consistently pay dividends. Take these
dividends and reinvest to grow the portfolio by multiples
over the long term.

This book would be a good acquisition for new or intermediate
level investors.

Timeless 7 commandments! - 2008-06-10
Reviewer Rating:
Gene has distilled his more than 3 decades of experience in the stock market into this wonderful book "7 commandments of stock investing". The advice he offers is practical and when put to use can get great returns for even an average investor. I have been following Gene Marcial's picks on Inside WallStreet column in Businessweek for almost 2 years now and his picks have consistently beaten the S&P500 and DJIA. Whether you are a novice to the stock market or a seasoned pro, the book has absolutely invaluable advice. Read this book and you won't be disappointed.

Seven commandments that can make or save investors a ton of money - 2009-08-14
Reviewer Rating:
The author has been beating the market indexes for a full decade and he shows readers his secret in this book. Most money managers fail to beat the averages, and that's why many financial experts recommend that investors abandon picking individual stocks and just buy index funds instead. But they fail to recognize that one of the reasons why these managers fail to outperform the averages is diversification. You cannot beat the market if you diversify too much. The second commandment states: "Concentrate. Diversity Not" because diversification guarantees mediocre returns.

My other favorite commandment is Number 6: Don't Fear the Unknown. The stock market does not handle uncertainty well. Those who can distinguish between uncertainty and risk can be handsomely rewarded by returns.

After reading this book, investors can think for themselves when confronted with new advice from the experts on TV. I can see why this author has been successful beating the market.

- Mariusz Skonieczny, author of Why Are We So Clueless about the Stock Market? Learn how to invest your money, how to pick stocks, and how to make money in the stock market

Beware all ye who enter here! - 2009-01-13
Reviewer Rating:
Jane Bryant Quinn aptly referred to a certain kind of financial journalism as soft core pornography (Columbia Journalism Review March/April 1998). In my view, when an investment journalist writes stories and books that defy all the serious research and offer advice that might be good for professional investors but dangerous to the general investor, I think it falls into the pornography category or worse.

Mario Gabelli might well be a millionaire from investing. Maybe these rules have worked for him. Certainly, some small percentage of professional investors beat the market more often that not. But most do not beat the market consistently. While Gabelli points out the truism that market returns equal average returns from the market, that doesn't mean you can do better by stock picking. Most mutual funds do NOT offer returns better than the market return year in and year out.

His seven rules, if you care to risk your hard earned, taxed, and saved money, are:

1) Buy when others are panicking. I instinctively agree with his view of contrarian investing.
2) Concentrate your investments in a few well-chosen great companies rather than diversifying to the entire market. My question is, how do you know that you have chosen well until after the returns are in?
3) Buy the Losers. This is the oddest piece of advice. When he really means is watch for good companies that the market has underpriced for whatever reason and ride the correction back up. Obviously there are losers you should never buy because their stock value is headed to zero.
4) Forget Timing. This is about not using the technical charting methods of investing. I agree.
5) Follow the Insider. Now, this is not about insider trading by watching the public reports that insiders must issue about their purchases and sales of company stock. Obviously, by the time you hear about it the market has already adjusted to include that information in its price, but it does provide you with information on whether you want to stay with, invest in, or get out of a company because the insiders are buying, selling, or standing pat. I think insider behavior is a useful piece of the puzzle, but don't make it dispositive.
6) Don't Fear the Unknown. Here he urges you to invest in good overseas companies. OK, I guess.
7) Always Invest for the Long Term. I agree. He also then provides a list of seven companies you should think about long term. Do you really believe in these? Apple, Boeing, CVS pharmacies, Genentech, JP Morgan Chase, Petr-óleo Brasileiro S.A., and Pfizer.

I also object to his using Warren Buffett as a model for other investors. Buffett does not really invest as you and I do. He buys control of companies he and his team then manage. He also holds nearly all of his investments forever unless he decides to get out of them altogether.

Anyway, you can decide for yourself if this appeals to you. Personally, I think if you are a regular person with everyday responsibilities, investing as recommended in "A Random Walk Down Wall Street" will be much better for you in the long run.

Reviewed by Craig Matteson, Ann Arbor, MI

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