All About Market Timing, Second Edition (All About Series)

All about comes highly recommended from Paul Merriman. In summary, Les shows how a timing strategy will outperform buy and hold multiple times over. Additionally, several basic strategies are covered. I would have like to have seen more strategies using multiple indicators but a good starter.

This is an excellent, up to date compendium of various market indicators. As Leslie states, the "buy and hold" philosophy was vitiated with the '08 crash. The market is difficult to time, but investors are well advised to put the probabilities in their favor. At the very least, effective market timing can help investors to avoid significant declines of 30%, 40%, or more in their portfolios.Leslie's book sets out excellent explanations of the various market indicators and he discusses his favorites and which ones investors can use to formulate their own system. My personal favorites are the MACD, stochastics, and various moving averages.Readers should also check out Leslie's other book, "Buy--Don't Hold", which discusses his comprehensive system for trading ETFs.

Les Masonson has written THE book of self-directed investing that I've long been searching for. If one has an IRA, 401k, or similar vehicle, and is willing to spend a modest amount of time managing it, the rewards can far outpace those of the dangerous buy-and-hold investment method.One of the things the author stresses is reducing risk by being out of stocks or stock funds during historical periods of market downturns. History does in fact repeat itself consistently in the markets and there are optimal times to be in equities, or out of them and safely in cash. To make that nest egg grow, it is every bit as important to know when to sit on the sidelines. The author convincingly backs up this position with plenty of facts to erase any doubts. For instance, the BSM Calendar Investing Strategy consistently beats buy-and-hold, yet is only invested in equities during the six consecutive optimal months of the year, the other six months are in cash like a MM fund. Result? A superior return with 50% less risk.Mr. Masonson outlines a variety of timing strategies, of which one or more should be found suitable to the individual investor's temperament, risk tolerance, and amount of time one wants to use in managing their portfolio. The strategies have all been tested and the results are in the book.The chapter on determining the markets' trend has indicators that are easy to use and should be evaluated before making investment decisions.There is a chapter discussing the various types of no-load mutual funds that the author recommends. Or, you may prefer to go with the more recent ETFs, for which the author has dedicated another chapter with the most timely information about them.There is valuable info about exiting your position early if the market turns against you by reading Daily Moving Average signals. Cutting your losses early by having a predetermined percentage drop stop-loss is also covered and can save you many $$$.The chapter of different market timing resources - newsletters, websites, advisors, etc. - has been updated and is very helpful.To sum up, Mr. Masonson has written an easy-to-use, plain-language investment guide for everyday folks that can help them to more quickly grow their savings through proven strategies with reduced risk. Truly a win-win place to be.

I would enjoy having my money back

I really liked the way this book was written as well as the excellent content. The market timing explanations and data to back up the authors claims were shown in an easy to understand format, it made sense, and was easy to verify that it was factual.The book is a real eye opener about when and how to invest and have a much higher probability of being profitable over the long term. Of all of the books and techniques (snake oil) that I've read, this makes the most sense to me that investing doesn't have to be rocket science just exploiting repeatable, historical patterns that repeat time and time again.Highly recommended.

Very little original thought went into this book. The strategies listed are technical in nature. The whole book could have been covered in one short report.

Starts out well, then there is a bunch of filler with synopses of academic papers and articles that contain lots of minutiae of little practical use,

Lots of good information