What Are You Reading?

[Slingin Sammy 33]

I just read, "The Great Depression Ahead" by Harry Dent, Jr. Very dry stuff, but great info. It goes into great detail about forecasting economic trends in the U.S. and globally. If you aren't into financials, trends, stats, etc. (Schneed will love this if he hasn't already read it) there are summaries at the end of each chapter. I would suggest reading all of Chapters 8 & 9 though.

I definitely recommend for young folks just getting into the workforce and young families thinking about homebuying or relocating.

[GMScud]

Originally Posted by Slingin Sammy 33

I just read, "The Great Depression Ahead" by Harry Dent, Jr. Very dry stuff, but great info. It goes into great detail about forecasting economic trends in the U.S. and globally. If you aren't into financials, trends, stats, etc. (Schneed will love this if he hasn't already read it) there are summaries at the end of each chapter. I would suggest reading all of Chapters 8 & 9 though.

I definitely recommend for young folks just getting into the workforce and young families thinking about homebuying or relocating.

Nice. I'm definitely gonna check it out. My closest friend is a CFP, and he recommended it as well.

[GMScud]

Originally Posted by Mechanix544

Currently reading "Nathan Bedford Forrest - A Biography." Great book about a troubled overachieving warrior. He rose from Private to 4 star general, the highest ascention in all of American History. And was a tactical cavalry genius.

Very interesting read for you history (civil war and military) buffs.

Great military career, but wasn't he the founder of the KKK, or some kind of higher up? And if I'm not mistaken, I think he also got in trouble for mass execution during the Civil War?

Either way, he was definitely troubled, but I'm not sure I'd call his net "accomplishments" overachieving.

[mlmpetert]

Im a firm believer that any good book will be made into a movie but.....

I "read" (book on tape) The Big Short. Ive only read 3 or so books in my life, but this was the best yet (overtakes Where the Red Fern Grows). Its about the financial break down but chronicles the 3 or 4 people/groups that made money off of it.

Basically there are a bunch of people who said they called the real estate blow up and ensuing financial collapse. Then there are the people who actually did. Then there are just a few people who actually put their money where their mouth is. This is their story.

Its not a how to make money book at all, its a wow how did these people do it, and how where people and agency so blind/stupid/ignorant that this was this ever allowed to happen type book. Its absolutely fascinating and is written so well and that you dont have to be interested in finance or anything to enjoy it. Ive heard great things about Michael Lewis, but this guy is a absolutely fantastic writer. Highly recommended.


Amazon.com: The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday...
I got the Acent of Money on tape and will "read" that next. I watch the documentry a while back, but ive heard so many good things about the book and how the documentry doesnt do it justic that i was presuaded into "reading" it.

[saden1]

Originally Posted by Slingin Sammy 33

I just read, "The Great Depression Ahead" by Harry Dent, Jr. Very dry stuff, but great info. It goes into great detail about forecasting economic trends in the U.S. and globally. If you aren't into financials, trends, stats, etc. (Schneed will love this if he hasn't already read it) there are summaries at the end of each chapter. I would suggest reading all of Chapters 8 & 9 though.

I definitely recommend for young folks just getting into the workforce and young families thinking about homebuying or relocating.

I would not recommend this book or any book by Mr. Dent. People aught to know that this is the same guy that predicted the DOW would hit 40,000 by the end of 2008 in his "The Roaring 2000" book and the NASDAQ to hit 20,000 by the end of 2009 as recent as 2006.

No one can predict the market or booms and busts...you can't do it, don't ****ing try. Then again if your goal is to sell book, go for it.

[saden1]

I got the new Kindle for my birthday. It's really a nice device....It does one thing and it does it really well. Two thumbs up...and if you decide to get one be sure to spend the extra $ for the free 3G one.

[mredskins]

I have been reading the The Hunger Game trilogy, easy read (intend for teens-preteens) but really good story line. Pick it up if you like Sci Fi / Harry Potter type stuff.

[12thMan]

Originally Posted by saden1

I would not recommend this book or any book by Mr. Dent. People aught to know that this is the same guy that predicted the DOW would hit 40,000 by the end of 2008 in his "The Roaring 2000" book and the NASDAQ to hit 20,000 by the end of 2009 as recent as 2006.

No one can predict the market or booms and busts...you can't do it, don't ****ing try. Then again if your goal is to sell book, go for it.

Yep, Dent made a pretty penny off "The Roaring 2000s". Everyone in the industry was swearing by it at the time, advising clients, changing investment schemes, etc. Turned out to be just another book by another talking head.

[MTK]

I'm reading Sean Payton's book 'Home Team', good read! Some fun stories and good behind the scenes insight.

[saden1]

Originally Posted by 12thMan

Yep, Dent made a pretty penny off "The Roaring 2000s". Everyone in the industry was swearing by it at the time, advising clients, changing investment schemes, etc. Turned out to be just another book by another talking head.

He's worse than a talking head, he's a shyster in the same mold as televangelists healers.

[mredskins]

Anybody with something new to read? I am kind of in a reading funk, I need some motivation.

[Lotus]

I'm reading Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramahamsa Yogananda, an important 20th century Hindu master. It's a classic. Great read if you are into this sort of thing.

[GMScud]

Unbroken, by Laura Hillenbrand. Just started it, but it's supposed to be fantastic. I love books about WWII.

[mredskins]

Originally Posted by GMScud

Unbroken, by Laura Hillenbrand. Just started it, but it's supposed to be fantastic. I love books about WWII.

I think Peter King recommended that one as well.

[mooby]

Just finished reading Lions of Kandahar, it's a book written by Major Rusty Bradley, who was a Commander of US Special Forces in Kandahar during Operation Medusa. Absolutely thrilling tale of how about 30 Special Forces soldiers and 50 Afghan Army soldiers stopped almost 1000 Taliban fighters to secure a major hill (Sperwan Ghar) in southern Afghanistan. I'll let the Amazon overview put it in better detail:

Originally Posted by Amazon.com

One of the most critical battles of the Afghan War is now revealed as never before. Lions of Kandahar is an inside account from the unique perspective of an active-duty U.S. Army Special Forces commander, an unparalled warrior with multiple deployments to the theater who has only recently returned from combat there.

Southern Afghanistan was slipping away. That was clear to then-Captain Rusty Bradley as he began his third tour of duty there in 2006. The Taliban and their allies were infiltrating everywhere, poised to reclaim Kandahar Province, their strategically vital onetime capital. To stop them, the NATO coalition launched Operation Medusa, the largest offensive in its history. The battlefield was the Panjwayi Valley, a densely packed warren of walled compounds that doubled neatly as enemy bunkers, lush orchards, and towering marijuana stands, all laced with treacherous irrigation ditches. A mass exodus of civilians heralded the carnage to come.

Dispatched as a diversionary force in support of the main coalition attack, Bradley’s Special Forces A-team and two others, along with their longtime Afghan Army allies, watched from across the valley as the NATO force was quickly engulfed in a vicious counterattack. Key to relieving it and calling in effective air strikes was possession of a modest patch of high ground called Sperwan Ghar. Bradley’s small detachment assaulted the hill and, in the midst of a savage and unforgettable firefight, soon learned they were facing nearly a thousand seasoned fighters—from whom they seized an impossible victory.

Now Bradley recounts the whole remarkable story as it actually happened. The blistering trek across Afghanistan’s infamous Red Desert. The eerie traces of the elusive Taliban. The close relations with the Afghan people and army, a primary mission focus. Sperwan Ghar itself: unremitting waves of fire from machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades; a targeted truck turned into an inferno; the death trap of a cut-off compound. Most important: the men, Americans and Afghans alike—the “shaky” medic with nerves of steel and a surgeon’s hands in battle; the tireless sergeant who seems to be everywhere at once; the soft-spoken intelligence officer with laser-sharp insight; the diminutive Afghan commander with a Goliath-sized heart; the cool maverick who risks all to rescue a grievously wounded comrade—each unique, all indelible in their everyday exercise of extraordinary heroism.

I think this book has been adequately covered by the press since it came out, but I definitely recommend it anyways.