Academic Investment Book Reviews - The Brainwashing of the American Investor

Steve Selengut's "Brainwashing of the American Investor" is an eye-opening and intelligent book, which offers an analysis of the investment industry and a smart and practical guide to non-professional investors. Selengut is wary of the conventional wisdom of investing professionals, who appear to have abandoned the tried and true principles of investment, in favor of super-hype, organizational conformity, and greed. Selengut's back-to-basics approach builds on his critique of the Wall Street hypsters and their bandwagon mentalities. Instead, he serves up a clear set of economic principles, mixed with sound commonsensical advice.

The book is simply a gem for someone who is not an investment professional. We are reminded that one can make money by buying low and selling higher, but not infinitely higher, since avoiding greed is one of Selengut's most sagacious homilies: "sell too soon". This implies knowledgeable trading, which the book helps one do. The anti-greed model is not against making money; it urges us to do so by taking reasonable profits. The Selengut method requires discipline and patience, since it is not a get-rich quick scheme, but one of gradual building of "working capital"--- attentively riding the inevitable wave-like pattern of rising and falling prices. The author does not link our expectations to these waves. Instead, he describes how to benefit from the ups and downs, which requires having a plan and sticking to it.

The author's basic ideas of quality, diversification and income are clear and persuasive. That alone is worth the price of the book, which you can deduct from your current working capital: a lot more efficient and less pretentious than the new style, economic self-help books that tell you how to get rich quick. Great book.(Back to Basics, February 24, 2008, Professor Philip Wexler, Jerusalem, Israel)

It was a pleasure to read your book. This is a work that deserves a wide audience. The writing style is clear, and plainspoken. The book is refreshing in its astute and acid commentary on Wall Street. Investors would be wise to be aware of the tremendous "brainwashing" to which Wall Street subjects the public.

The book reflects the author's extensive knowledge of solid economics and the investment market. It challenges much of the conventional wisdom on investing. The examples given make complex topics easy to understand. It quickly becomes clear that there are indeed dependable ways to manage one's assets safely and productively. This book shows people the value of disciplined trading and will make it easier for investors to achieve their long-term goals.(Allen I. Kraut, Ph.D., Professor of Management, The Zicklin School of Business, Baruch College, CUNY.)

"The Brainwashing of the American Investor" is direct, hard-hitting and brutally honest--- The title implies a strong message, and the book does not let the reader down. Once Steve Selengut debunks the notion that Wall Street is on your side, he tells you how to take control of your own investments. His strategy is easy to understand and takes the guesswork and emotion out of investing.(Dr. Karen J. Frey, CPA, Chair, Department of Management, Gettysburg College.)

I read your book--- found it original, provocative; you have made a contribution.(Dr. Paul Adams, Professor Emeritus, Ramapo College.)

Please forgive the blatant self-promotion of this book. It's a statement about the no-risk attitude of the publishing industry today. Unknown authors just have to take things into their own hands to get their titles out there for people to notice. Small publishers can't afford to promote new authors on a scale that gets the job done, and some choose not to deal with the full-return guarantee demands of the bookstores. New authors, and non-affiliated non-fiction writers are stuck in the middle with no choice. We have to do it ourselves.

Steve Selengut

http://www.sancoservices.com

http://www.valuestockindex.com

Professional Portfolio Management since 1979

Author of: "The Brainwashing of the American Investor: The Book that Wall Street Does Not Want YOU to Read", and "A Millionaire's Secret Investment Strategy"

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