I started discussing this e-book late autumn with my friend Stephen Eckett. So it has been a long time a coming but, I reckon, it is worth the wait. The 49 Golden Rules for Making Money from Shares was published as an e-book today. It can be bought for £10.25 on Amazon but we have 500 free copies (now only 460 left) to give away on a first come first served basis.
Most investment books seem to be large enough to keep the front door open and while some contain gems it is hard to find them amid the verbiage. The aim here is to produce a shorter guide which simply cuts to the chase. I hope that it will provide food for thought for everyone from beginner to expert but whoever you are it should be quick and easy to read and digest.
I do not claim to get every investment call right. Over the years I have got it right far more than I have got it wrong but I freely admit to some bad decisions. I hope that as I approach 25 years writing about shares I have learned from my mistakes.
Part of that learning process comes from listening to folks who really know what they are doing and learning from them. As such I should thank for their assistance, at one point or another over almost 25 years, in helping me distil my ideas or in providing some ideas themselves either wittingly or unwittingly ( by talking to an attentive me), men such as Nigel Wray, Mark Slater, Jim Mellon, Malcolm Burne and the great Clive Wolman.
With every rule I aim to be short, sharp and to the point. This is a book you can read all in one go or just a few rules at a time. I offer up as an example Rule 21:
Do not buy shares on the basis of long term forecasts in a rapidly changing industry
The shares trade on a PE of 240 but do not worry, says the company, on the basis of broker forecasts we trade on a 2019 PE of 4 so we are cheap? Hmmmm. How is it that the company is able to predict such explosive growth? Simple it has a new technology which will change the way the world operates. That may indeed be the case but in any industry where technology is rapidly evolving what is new and market leading today or next year could well be superseded by an even newer and more exciting development in the future.
This applies most often when it comes to looking at technology stocks. One simply cannot extrapolate sales growth patterns from a small base going out many years when an industry is by its nature dynamic.
Of course those 2019 forecasts might be right but frankly forecasting out six years is not forecasting but guessing even on the basis of what is already known, let alone what is not known (the potential launch of an even better new product). Buying shares on the basis of long term forecasts in a rapidly changing sector is not investment but pure speculation and it usually ends in tears.
Ends.
There are 48 other golden rules where that came from. I hope that folks enjoy this book and find it useful.
You can buy the book for £10.25 on Amazon HERE
But we have 500 copies (actually now only 460) to give away on a first come first served basis thanks to a kind sponsor. You can bag your free copy while stocks last HERE
Best wishes
Tom Winnifrith