You Can Be a Stock Market Genius: Uncover the Secret Hiding Places of Stock Market Profits

Okay, so the title of the book leaves something to be desired, but that is the ONLY part of this book that falls short. Joel Greenblatt has written an excellent book on profiting from special situations. That's fortunate for the rest of us, since so far as I can tell, this is the ONLY book that provides an overview of event-driven investing. Note that I said "overview"--it's by no means definitive, nor does it claim to be. Certainly more rigorous treatments of risk arbitrage exist. However, this is the only book I'm aware of that is dedicated to explaining merger securities, spinoffs, recapitalizations, bankruptcy and yes, risk arbitrage. The book's format is well thought out: each chapter explains the how and why of investing in one particular corporate event, and then utilizes case studies to ram the point home. The case studies are interesting, reading at times like a novel. The tone is lighthearted and endearing throughout, and the frequent jokes, although usually kitschy, hit the mark nonetheless. (One gem: "There are three types of people in the world--those who can count, and those who can't.") This book is not for everyone, however. Beginners should first read Peter Lynch, Ben Graham, and Phillip Fisher before tackling this one. Greenblatt assumes a reasonable degree of comfort with financial statements and value investing strategies on the part of the reader. The use of LEAPS and options in special situations is covered, but should be avoided by all save for the most advanced investors (as per the author's advice). Also, professionals working in the field of event-driven investments would probably find little they did not already know. That being said, the book reads quickly, so a pro would be little disadvantaged for reading it. Finally, it's nice to know that the author can walk the walk as well as talk the talk. Greenblatt publishes his firm's audited returns over a ten-year period at the end of the book, and they are out of this world. We're talking an average annual return of 50% for ten years. This book is not a case of "Those who can, do; those who can't, teach." Greenblatt can, and he does. Highly recommended.

Ignore the ridiculous title, this is a fantastic book. It's no Stocks 101 either. It assumes you already know a few things, so if you don't, read the newest Intelligent Investor with Zweig commentary or Greenwald's Value Investing. The author specializes in event-driven investing and goes over how you can use it in your personal investing too, as well as how to look at the relevant SEC filings when these events (spinoffs, spinouts, insider selling) and what to look for in them. It's essentially an extension of Securities Analysis. It also discusses LEAPS and Merger Securities if you're interested in that. I don't deal with them personally. In the same section there is a very cogent overview of options. It also discusses how to examine bankruptcies and bankruptcy filings with an eye towards investment. I photocopied and thumbtacked to my wall pages 219-220, which details all the important event-driven SEC filings, in and of itself essentially worth whatever the book costs. The book is loaded with Case Studies taken from the real world. This book wasn't written by some stuffy academic, this guy walks the walk, check his fund results. He can also write quite well and his interpretation of case studies is often sprinkled with humor. Not that it matters all that much in a finance book, since I don't read this sort of books for pleasure, but it certainly makes the often dense topics a lot easier to read. Also, as an aside, it made me buckets of money by giving me knowledge necessary to understand and profit from the News Corp. spinout which I otherwise wouldn't have. One of the best financial books I've ever read. Highest possible recommendation

Very Entertaining Book. Good stories to support trading ideas. Joel is a higher concepts person with regard to his ideas. This is not a technical trading book but a good book for the person who does not trade short term. His ideas require some homework but can provide some nice trades for the person willing to do the work. I was able to locate spinoffs stocks on the internet to create a quick list of spinoff parent and children stocks that I now follow based on his ideas. I would read this over and over to glean all of his ideas from the book. I have read his books in the past and will buy them again when available. This book discusses ideas that I have never seen in other books that I have read. I have read over 200 books on the subject of trading. This book is definitely a must have book for your library.

Best book to find a opportunity in stock market. His idea is logically profound and verified through real world experience.

This book is without a doubt the best investing book I have read. The book provides very real insights into how to profit off of unique corporate situations, such as spin-offs, mergers, bankruptcies, etc. My personal interest is investing in spin-offs and this book arms you with knowledge that you can apply to your own investment research. A recent example for me was that I was able to make a massive profit off of GE's spin-off of GE Health Care, because of the information I learned from reading this book. One thing that I will add is that this is a more advanced investing book. The book assumes that the reader already has a background in investing and has some experience. I would not recommend this book to people who are at the beginning of their investment journey.

great book

Joel’s style is easy going and not super-technical, and rhis book is relatively short. There are good ideas, especially around spinoffs, but some of this may be out of date and the advantages eroded by modern information being available to everyone rapidly OR some things, like restructuring no longer being done by companies. It is still worth the time to read for investors.

I was first introduced to Mr. Greenblatt's work when I read his second and third books. If your personal library consisted of only one book, "You Can Be A Stock Market Genius" would put you on the right track for superior future profits. He shows you where to start your research and then how to follow up. (A Word Of Caution: Although some of the information is dated, a little creative thinking and the Internet will point you in the right direction). This book's strategies aren't for everyone. But if you're willing to put in the effort and are a contrarian by nature, you will have some fertile ground to exploit. Here's the thing... The strategies explained in this book if used correctly could make up your whole portfolio. (Some of the strategies would be too risky by themselves; SpinOffs, however don't share that level of risk.) Mr. Greenblatt even suggests an option of using your favorite strategy as a core position and supplement it with the special situations addressed in this book. However you decide to go about it, read then re-read this book. The writing style is very entertaining and the information is straight forward. All in all, a great guide and reference book. This is my Very Favorite Book on investing. I'll bet it will be yours as well, if you give it a read. And if you do? Remember, don't judge a book by its cover... or it's title.