Read any good books lately?

[octavia]

For some odd reason I find myself reading several books at the same time:

The Road Less Traveled by Scott Peck
A book that attempts to explain the connections between the psychological mind and spiritual health and growth.

Where is God when it hurts by Philip Yancey
A book dealing with grief, something on my plate right now.

You don't have to have a title to be a leader ( forgot who it's by, have this one at work)
An easy inspirational read about finding meaning in work and life. ( Very Lil-miss-do-gooder)



I've got a few more on my to do list, but have committed to finish the ones I've started before starting new ones.

[DaveinOlyWA]

well the "Omnivore" was one of the books i mentioned,

"Crash Proof" (YES DANIEL IT is available on Kindle) is just the opposite... this was written by the son of the guy who went to jail for not paying his taxes (cant remember the guys name and loaned the book out)... but his predictions of what would happen is spooky especially considering the book was released early this year, was finalized in late 2007... he predicted to a "t" everything, collapse, the bailout, what to invest in, what to avoid (wish i had read the book last summer!!)

"the World is Flat" (written by that NY Times guy...the famous one, Friedman??) was also good, but read that a few years ago... probably too old for this list but still a great read that tells us why off shoring is not as bad as we think and that things we think that are not off-shoring actually is.

[daniel]

Originally Posted by DaveinOlyWA

... probably too old for this list ...

No book is too old for this list. If you liked it it belongs here. Some of the best books are old. Homer, Cervantes, Shakespeare.

Now, I disagree with you about Friedman, but that's just my opinion. Doesn't mean the book doesn't belong in this thread if you liked it. I just think Friedman is full of you-know-what.

[daniel]

Originally Posted by DaveinOlyWA

... the guy who went to jail for not paying his taxes ...

Lots of folks have gone to jail for refusal to cooperate with taxes. Some have refused on principle, stated their refusal in open court, and accepted their sentence. Others have just tried to evade paying tax by fraud. I respect the former, not the latter. Taxes are the way we pay for the services we demand from government: fire departments, trash collection, building and maintaining streets and highways and bridges, etc.

But they don't put you in prison for refusing to pay your taxes; they only put you in jail for refusing to file a tax return, or for filing a fraudulent return. If you file a truthful return, and then refuse to pay, they'll just attach your wages or confiscate your property or freeze your bank accounts. And add penalties and fees. I've known people who did this.

As for predicting the crisis, plenty of people predicted the crisis. All of us wish we'd listened to them. Marin John has stated that he was telling all his clients to get out of the market last fall. And other brokers and investment advisors were telling people the same thing. Finding advice is easy. Knowing who's advice to take is the hard part. But I'm very skeptical of someone who publishes a book after the fact and then claims it was "finalized" before the fact. I don't buy that.

[DaveinOlyWA]

Friedman is getting a bit out there now. his latest stuff is too red for me.

"Crash proof" is by Peter schiff. at home now so did search and guess what!! they now have version 2 out... bummer. now this guy has some pretty outrageous opinions on what to do with your money. heard him on "Bob Rivers" and he is now saying the dollar is going to tank big time and we are headed to another DEPRESSION. he recommends getting into as much foreign currency as you can.

the other book to read is "Big Coal" (should be subtitled "Little Tobacco"...they bought have the same marketing tactics) by Jeff Goodell.

kinda like "Omnivore" in the sense that some of the statistics in the book are simply outlandish. we have the largest deposit of coal in the world... so we are the "middle east" of coal. the problem is, there is several different types of coal and the "clean" (sic) coal that is easily available is in very short supply and harder to get (too deep). the coal that is easy to get is even too dirty for coal.

[daniel]

Originally Posted by DaveinOlyWA

... he recommends getting into as much foreign currency as you can...

Some foreign investment is good for diversification. "As much as you can" suggests imbalance. You never want to have too big a chunk of your portfolio in any one thing. I have (and would recommend) some mutual funds that invest overseas. That's a better bet than currency, since it's more long-term. Foreign currency is likely to be volatile, and therefore not good for short-term investment.

There are so many crackpots out there that from time to time one of them will get something right just by chance. The likelihood that the same one will get something else right is vanishingly small. But as I said, I think this guy just backdated his "finalization" date. Anybody that can really predict the market will be so rich he won't need to write books for a living!

[DaveinOlyWA]

well he is predicting a full blown depression. i have 25% in foreign currency and its currently doing about the same as my "small cap" fund. this is on my 401K so its managed portfolio. i only pick the type or category of investment and fund managers actually get the specific stocks. the small cap is a mix of 20+ different companies. also have 25% in large cap and 25% in bonds.

bonds were the only thing that did not completely tank last year so the other 3 are still recovering. ( i did not move anything so we all know what that means)

now if it werent for the fact that he nailed every prediction in his book version 1, i would write him off as being crazy because most other investors are saying we still have more pain to endure, but will recover. all i can say is read the book. he presents a very compelling argument

[daniel]

Originally Posted by DaveinOlyWA

... now if it werent for the fact that he nailed every prediction in his book version 1...

Nailed every prediction. Published after the fact. Yep.

[DaveinOlyWA]

several things he predicted happened after the book was published which included the bailouts, government spending, etc. that is why i am interested in what his take is on version 2 of the book. the first version what pretty much written in 2007


**edit**

he also predicted the money used to bail out companies would be wasted and would not reform anyone and they would continue to rob the american public blind...

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/12/bu..._r=1&th&emc=th

[daniel]

Originally Posted by DaveinOlyWA

several things he predicted happened after the book was published which included the bailouts, government spending, etc. that is why i am interested in what his take is on version 2 of the book. the first version what pretty much written in 2007


**edit**

he also predicted the money used to bail out companies would be wasted and would not reform anyone and they would continue to rob the american public blind...

So, he "predicted" that the government would continue to do what it always does, and it would be as ineffective as it always is. Yawn.