How to Make Money in Stocks Success Stories: New and Advanced Investors Share Their Winning Secrets Paperback – Illustrated, January 8, 2013

I really enjoyed this book because it shows real life examples of investors and traders who made huge gains following the principles and strategies of William O'Neil's book "How to make money in stocks" and Investor's Business Daily. Somewhat like the "Market Wizards" series from Jack Schwager, author Amy Smith distills the principles from successful Can Slim practitioners. The book also has charts showing exact buy and sell points that the successful traders made and the specific patterns that caused them to buy whether it was a stock breaking out of a cup with handle pattern or on a breakaway gap up after earnings. Also you will see the stock charts where these investors held a stock for long periods of time and where they added to their position and how they sold to finally lock in profits on either climax top out runs or if the stock broke under the 50 day on volume.This is a gem of a book, showing how real everyday people changed their lives through the teachings of William J. O'Neil and Investor's Business Daily. Many held stocks for 25% to 100% returns and more. Many made six figure returns and even became millionaires trading the right stocks in a real bull market.The key to the system is buying the stocks in the companies that are changing the world at the right time out of of the right base in a bull market in an up trend.Most have studied the rules, principles, and concepts in IBD and "How to make money in stocks" this book shows the art of putting it all together for great investment returns out of the mouths of the people who already did.

One of my clients, a very successful investment manager, is a friend of Bill O'Neil and assures me he is the real deal. This book is a delight. It is the clearest exposition I've yet read of O'Neil's CAN SLIM approach to stocks. Now I've read O'Neil's books and two by his disciples, Morales and Karcher. I've used the methods successfully for a number of years in swing trading and longer holdings. While probably not too useful for the day trader, swing traders and investors can all benefit from this method.What sets this book apart is the clarity with which the CAN SLIM method is set forth and a close look at its use by successful, but NON-PROFESSIONAL, traders. Seeing their successes and errors adds depth and helps to understand the benefits and limits of the method. Needless to say, seeing what others like yourself can do is very inspirational.The author works for Investors' Business Daily ("IBD"), a newspaper which is very much a tool for the CAN SLIM approach. I like the paper and this book really shows how to use it to its fullest. The author is also the paper's main person in setting up "Meetup" groups throughout the country. So, it is no surprise that she urges those excited by the approach to hook up with one of these groups. She is very persuasive.This book is not as deep or technical as those by O'Neil or Morales and Karcher. Nevertheless, it is valuable and an excellent buy for anyone interested in buying stocks for maximum profit with relatively low risk.

This is a unique book about William O'Neil's style of active investing in growth stocks, otherwise known as the CAN SLIM method. Author Amy Smith uses a martial arts metaphor to take the reader from beginning concepts (white belt) to advanced material (black belt) and beyond (Grandmaster - O'Neil himself).What makes the book unique among investment books are the numerous anecdotes from investors who utilize O'Neil's methodical investment system. The people included are a special set of investors who have achieved a measure of success, some spectacular, using O'Neil's CAN SLIM method. Some are portfolio managers at his company; many are individual investors who participate in meetup groups organized around the country and world for subscribers to O'Neil's publication Investors Business Daily (IBD). Most have suffered setbacks along their journey to investment success. The description of their mistakes and lessons learned is what I find unique among investment books on my bookshelf.The CAN SLIM method is described in detail, although this book is not the Bible of that method; that would be William O'Neil's original book "How To Make Money in Stocks." This book focuses on the application of the method. It adds a list of sell rules that I find helpful and not so clearly defined in O'Neil's other books. One professional investor who has run a hedge fund for 20 years using the CAN SLIM methodology mentioned to me that knowing when to sell under that system is its most difficult aspect in practice. This book may help in that area.The book is nicely formatted and easy on the eyes to read. Embedded in each chapter are text boxes outlined in red labeled "Key Points" that make it easy to reference the trading rules and guidance presented in the chapter. Each chapter includes numerous annotated stock charts for visual reference to points presented in the narrative.I found the final chapters most enlightening. These include "Black Belt Trading: Investing Like A Pro," Grandmaster: Legendary Investor Bill O'Neil," "The Method of Our Success by W. Scott O'Neil" and five appendices. The final appendix is a daily routine for investors organized by author Amy Smith. It is a good starting point for any investor to craft their own daily routine and not miss any important actions.From one perspective, there is a great deal of promotion for O'Neil's investment information products and workshops. While this appears self-serving, and no doubt is, the fact is that O'Neil's products are genuinely valuable to investors both amateur and professional, and they are reasonably priced in my opinion.It is easy for anyone with experience trading to dismiss a book that spends a good deal of time on the basics of investing as too elementary to be worthwhile. I also note some reviewers correctly note the omissions in published market calls by O'Neil's company on one of the first charts that illustrates the importance of trading with the trend. Regardless, this book contains clear guidance, a useful compilation of tested CAN SLIM trading rules and real-world examples from dozens of trading careers.I expect to use it as a reference book on this investment style because the "Key Points" sections make it almost an encyclopedia on the method. I rate it four stars.