The Little Book of Investing Like the Pros: Five Steps for Picking Stocks (Little Books. Big Profits)

The Little Book of Investing Like the Pros by Joshua Pearl is quite possibly the most tedious investment book ever written. I had previously thought nothing would ever top the Morningstar Guide called The Five Rules for Successful Stock Investing by Pat Dorsey for sheer tedium. But the Little Book takes the crown. If anything is going to propel you to start looking at Stock Charts, the 50-day Simple Moving Average, and the MACD (pronounced MacDEE), these two books should. Unless, of course, you happen to be an Institutional Investor or Professional Money Manager. Then, the Little Book of Investing Like the Pros would be relevant. But for most so-called "Retail Investors," this book is going to be an extremely tough read. It took me over nine months to read and I had to force myself to finish it.Now, just to be clear, I'm not saying it's a bad book. The investment approach presented by Mr. Pearl is certainly legit. But as mentioned above, it's geared for investment pros, not the small-time investor. And it's not that the subject is beyond the understanding of retail investors. Mr. Pearl does a fine job of explaining things. But I don't think very many, if any, retail investors would have the time, discipline, patience, or desire to follow the extremely time-consuming, complicated, and tedious process. There's a phrase that became popular a few years back called, "getting into the weeds." That's what this book does. If you thought Fundamental Analysis was tedious enough just looking at Financial Statements and Financial Metrics, wait till you read this book.

This book is the most complete step-by-step guide on stock picking I’ve read. This book is not a niche book on valuation or technicals, but an overview of the PROCESS of investing. I didn’t realize how few books there are like this. How do you know when your research is finished? What are the pros doing and researching that I am not? What am I missing? All these questions were answered therein.The authors Pearl & Rosenbaum come from an investment banking background and previously wrote a book called “Investment Banking: Valuation, Leveraged Buyouts, and Mergers and Acquisitions”. Some of the book discusses event driven opportunities that an investment banker would have an intellectual edge investing in (e.g. mergers, spin-offs, LBO’s, bankruptcy turn-arounds, etc).The most helpful part of the book was the Word and Excel templates the authors use to organize their process. I went to their website and downloaded the templates and they greatly help in streamlining your research. Again, this book’s value was not in the nuts and bolts but in providing a framework to put it all together.What I like the most is that the book is not a gimmick. It contains no trading tricks or get rich quick shortcuts. The authors provide the tools and a method for you to begin your research and the rest is up to you.

This is a great book for picking stocks, with very specific instructions. Until the last chapter on portfolios, then they kind of wave their arms and say 'do whatever you want, but these are the things you need to consider.'

My friend recommended this book this for me, and I absolutely loved it. During my quarantine, I set out a goal to better understand stocks and markets when the economy began to struggle, and this is the resource that I have turned to. I cannot wait to apply the methods I learned throughout the course of this book. I have taken taken many finance courses during my time as undergrad, and none can even compare to this great read. This book not only educated me in how to invest, but also gave me the tools to land my first finance job in NYC.

The authors assert (p. 1) that their book is uniquely suited to helping clarify investing in the stock market for the "vast majority of individual investors" who "have no training on how to pick stocks, let alone basic financialliteracy". In fact, the book, while itself competent, demands an enormous amount of time and dedication for these same untrained and financially illiterate investors and therefore is unlikely realistically to meet the needs of its intended audience. It is regrettable that the authors make no attempt to compare "Investing like the Pros" to other works seeking the same objective. Why, for example, would a financial novice not seek instead simply to subscribe to a well known investment letter such as "Value Line"?

They have a simple and straightforward goal in an incredibly confusing and intimidating space. The first book anyone and everyone should read before they enter the investing arena. I heard these two speak at my school last year. I was incredibly impressed my their knowledge and background and although I haven’t finished it yet, it’s living up to my high expectations.Every college student interested in banking should study this religiously. It provides a great foundation for LBO’s and the way in which the big banks work. Debt, Equity, M&A, exc.

What a great read! This book helped to prepare me for my investment banking internship this summer, and I’m recommending it to all of my colleagues. Coming from a liberal arts school, this is a great place to start and is an essential resource for anyone trying to get into the banking industry. The real-life examples that they use from their past experiences make this book come to life, and it allowed me to relate to the material. Clean, organized, and a quick read!

I was recently told that I should look into investing my savings, but I had no idea where to start. Markets and stocks are incredibly complex, and this was the first resource I found that was able to simplify the industry. The organization of the text is great as it allows me to go back to brush-up on topics and terms when I hear about them on the news

The content of the book is extraordinary. Simple and clear. What a friend told me about the book. I decided to buy it. Unfortunately, whoever printed this book did a poor job.

Nothing too special on this book. It's an average investing book.

Un regalo super apprezzato! carino e scritto bene