Synopsis
To the amateur investor, buying and selling shares can be a baffling, terrifying, and sometimes, expensive game. It can also be exciting, fun, and very profitable. All you need is some practical guidance, a sensible strategy, and a little confidence. In First Steps in Shares, Peter Temple gives you the practical tools to start investing successfully. Starting with an explanation of how share markets work, and some simple ways of analysing company accounts and share price movements, the book also goes on to cover the mechanics of share dealing. He looks at whether share investing is right for you and at the best methods of combining different shares so that you only run the risks you want to. Peter explains how to decide whether a share price is cheap or not, and how to assess the relative merits of different shares. He also investigates other forms of investing such as bonds, options, tracker funds, and investment trusts, as well as how to invest online. Peter worked as a city analyst for 18 years, and has been a financial journalist for thirteen. He has also been an active, and successful private trader for the past 15 years. He shares his own dealing experiences with readers, including both successes and failures, and the lessons to be learnt from them. By cutting through all the jargon used by the professionals, he explains simply how investment choices and market influences fit together, enabling you to invest with confidence and make your money work for you. First Steps in Shares Take your first steps with confidence.
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Review
The stock markets have been no place for the faint-hearted in the past year or so. You could run for the cover and safety of your deposit account--or you could invest in First Steps in Shares. This common-sense guide for survival and prosperity in the markets, another in an excellent series of Financial Times publications, gets things straight from the start. Stock investing is "a game", and to play the game well you need to know the rules. First Steps leads you methodically through the basics--from the history of the markets; separating hype from fact; devising a mechanism for analysing share performance; and understanding company reports. It explains the mechanics of dealing in the markets, and leads you through building a balanced portfolio embracing all levels of risk. That might mean property, bonds, gilts and, yes, that deposit account, as a counterweight to your riskier share dealings. The book encourages you to build "loss-stop" mechanisms into your strategy, ensuring your life-savings don't go west in one reckless punt. And, most important of all, it makes all this arcane stuff about financial ratios, fundamental analysis and the rest, interesting. Because you won't pick up this book again and again if it starts to blind you with numbers. It's authoritative and--if making money fascinates you--fun. The fast-growing sector of online investors will enjoy a couple of excellent chapters on using your PC as part of your investment strategy--both by using personal finance and spreadsheet packages, and by saving money by dealing online. And the sometimes complex data is summarised in idiot-proof, bulleted sections at the end of each chapter. Never have reminders such as "markets can be volatile, and investors are notoriously prone to bouts of fear and greed" been more useful than today, as we sit among the rubble of the dot.com boom. The answer? Do your homework, buy wisely, then "cultivate patience, strong nerves and the ability to think and act differently from the crowd". Successful investing is a long-term game, and First Steps in Shares should be sitting, well thumbed, next to your PC and copy of the FT for years to come. --John Rennie
Review
"The best introduction to stock markets in print....a well laid-out, well thought-out primer. Anyone who feels they need to lay down some foundation knowledge will find it extremely useful". Shares magazine
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