1. 

   Anonymous
   July 31st, 2010 - 09:06

   This book is a cross between a textbook for would- be security analysts, a how-to book for corporate execs and investors and an expose of the Wall Street security analysis profession. It’s a great insider look at the secutiry analysis business and he tells many of the seamy hidden sides of the Wall Street business of valuing stocks. At the same time, Hooke provides a very practical outline of how the pros come up with prices for stocks.. He tackles many different kinds of securities, from hi tech stocks to the distressed variety.

   The book does a good job of explaining things to the individual investor. It’s a little complicated in the middle of the book, but I think most readers and investors can profit by his methodical approach.

   A 1990′s version of Warren Buffet would like the book because it adheres to a modern value approach. Too many of the books I read on stock selection are so basic that they don’t help much. This ones is a good guide, and it also can assist execdutives that need to value their company stocks.
   Rating: 5 / 5
2. 

   Anonymous
   July 31st, 2010 - 09:31

   The book is a terrific summary of how to value a stock. It gives a step by step outline of the process for a variety of stock categories. For example,you can value a manufacturing company with one technique, while savings and loans stocks and hi tech stocks , for example, require other methods. The book explains how all these different industries are handled.

   The first five chapters really gave me the insiders view of how Wall Street operates, and how it prices IPO’s, for example. The author, Jeffrey Hooke, worked on Wall Street a lot, and he doesn’t pull any punches. Many things that go on are only semi-honest and he isn’t afraid to reveal the dark underbelly of the securities business. I really liked the way he showed how many firms exaggerate their sales and earnings per share. You nevre see this sort of thing in other books.

   Just by following his advice on pricing stocks on a relative value basis saved me about $3,000 on a recent trade. I recommend this book.
   Rating: 5 / 5
3. 

   Dmitry Mikhaylov
   July 31st, 2010 - 12:00

   I just wanted to add several comments. Overall I am very familiar with the first edition of this book, because I had to use it as a major source of guidelines at my previous job. The book was a great source! I had some background in structured finance and investments analytics, but I had zero experience in equity valuation before. In some 40-60 hours I was able to learn a lot about firm valuation (especially useful material – dividend discount model, market comparables, and free cash flow models) so that I could start preparing my first equity valuation reports. The second edition is an extended version, which still has all the advantages of the first edition: straightforward approach to valuation, a lot of examples, as little cumbersome math as possible. It is definitely a must read for any private investor and novice financial analyst. By the way, some sections of this book (industry analysis) are still included in the CFA curriculum (level 2, Equity valuation).
   Rating: 5 / 5
4. 

   Anonymous
   July 31st, 2010 - 12:15

   I would recommend this book to someone who wants a broad exposure of “Security Analysis on Wall Street.” Mr. Hooke gives a great overview of the many facets of securities analysis. The drawback of this book is that it lacks specifics. For example, I was interested in getting a deeper analysis of valuation methodologies, however, what I found was a general overview of this section–the author then jumped right on to the next section. This example relates to all of the topic areas. Going deeper into topic areas so that more educated and experienced readers could get insight was not available for the most part. Nevertheless, I rate this book 4 stars because it does a great job of giving a strong overview of security analysis. I would recommend this book, especially for beginners and intermediate students and practitioners.
   Rating: 4 / 5
5. 

   Anonymous
   July 31st, 2010 - 12:33

   This book is the best I’ve ever read on stock valuation. It has helped me understand the fundamentals behind valuation. It is an easy read for those who have some background in finance but not impossible for the layman to understand.
   Rating: 5 / 5

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