The Perfect Stock: How a 7000% move was set-up, started and finished in an astonishing 52 weeks

By Brad Koteshwar

Book Overview

This book perfectly illustrates why most people lose in the stock market, even when tremendous opportunities are presented to them. A spectacular move of over 7000% in 52 weeks was offered to the public and still the vast majority of the public either lost money or did not make any significant gains on the stock. Only a handful of the insiders made money on the move. Written as a fiction surrounding such a stock, the book offers simple lessons to the lay person about how to improve one's odds for success in the stock market, and it does so with an entertaining and enlightening storyline. The story offers an insight into the rewarding way Wall Street works for the insiders and how it shows a different face to the outsiders.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1418486884
• ISBN13: 9781418486884
• Release Date: September 2004
• Publisher: Authorhouse
• Length: 204 Pages
• Weight: 0.58 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 5.0" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

An Insider's Insights Within a Business Narrative

In recent years, there have been several books published which focus on what is generally referred to as "the business narrative." They include Annette Simmons' The Story Factor and three written by Stephen Denning: The Springboard, Squirrel, Inc., and The Leader's Guide to Storytelling. I mention this because Koteshwar uses narrative to examine a number of real-world situations with devices normally employed by fiction writers. In this volume, we have no mice searching for relocated cheese or squirrels quarreling over strategy and positioning. Rather, Koteshwar shares with his reader various lessons which can be learned from successful and (especially) from unsuccessful investments in the stock market. Others are better qualified than I to comment on Koteshwar's expertise. I shall limit my attention to what I found of greatest value. First, Koteshwar makes a convincing case for having patience, either when trading stocks or when tracking those another has purchased for you. Also, he leaves little doubt that trading requires far more attention (e.g. research) than many investors are willing and/or able to commit. For that reason, the selection of a broker seems at least as important as the selection of a given stock in which to invest. However, Kateshwar helps investors such as I to understand the rules of what really is an immensely complicated "game." Scores are kept. There are winners and losers. Timing and luck are often key factors. That said, it is highly desirable to understand the "rules" of stock trading, either when selecting investments or collaborating which an intermediary. Also, Kateshwar disabused me of my tendency to think of "Wall Street" as a location where financial "wizards" resemble medieval alchemists who convert "base metals into gold." Finally, Kateshwar helped me to understand that there is no "perfect" stock. However, if selected with meticulous care, there is for almost any investor a stock (or stocks) most appropriate to that investor's specific circumstances, resources, timetable, and ultimate objective(s). Invoking athletic metaphors, I presume to suggest that some investors are sprinters, others are milers, and still others are marathoners. The shorter the course, the greater the rewards...and yes, the risks. To me, the compelling value of Kateshwar's book is derived from his behind-the-scenes insights into the investment process. His business narrative is by no means riveting but consistently informative. No mean feat.

In Search of the Perfect Stock and Pitfalls Along the Way

Amid the sounds of the surf California sun-tanned young men and women dream of the perfect wave as they surf in the Pacific Ocean. There is something closely akin to this in financial markets. It is the quest for the perfect stock. Investors envision that ideal experience, and with one distinct difference between the financial dream and the quest for the perfect wave. Investing in the perfect stock under the right circumstances can bring with it all those trappings of wealth, those champagne wishes and caviar dreams that Robin Leach spoke about in his hit television series of a few years ago, "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous." Veteran financial analyst Brad Koteshwar in "The Perfect Stock" writes about the search for that dream among investors, the modern day equivalent of gold prospectors deluging California in the nineteenth century. The book is based on how a 7000% move was set up, started and finished in an astounding 52 weeks, and what it took to bring about such a fantastic result. Koteshwar's book would be worth reading for just a few of the homilies he passes along after a long background experience, but there is much more. He examines the entire psychology behind the stock market and how shrewd analysts from the biggest companies, using superb marketing technology and incorporating investment ploys they hope those from outside their small orbit will never learn, benefit from this intelligently applied teamwork while the vast body of investors swept up in a continuing frenzy meet with economic failure. The word Koteshwar stresses throughout and the one used by seasoned market professionals willing to share their knowledge with others is "patience." In the personal examples the author uses of individuals swept away in their pursuit of the perfect stock, Taser in this instance, the fictional one that the author tracks in his analysis of broad market impulses, this is the word that is either unspoken or, in the rare instances that it is, is considered anathema. It is understandable why these excited investors, swept along by an emotional tide, do not want to hear the word patience. As Koteshwar points out, those marketing the stocks are aware of human nature and play their hand consistently in that direction. The whole psychology behind American progress and innovation was predicated on taking a chance. Rather than waiting patiently, working diligently to achieve quick and comprehensive results, many believe that a jackpot stock market payoff lies just around the corner as long as an investor acts quickly. Knowing human psychology, marketing is shrewdly crafted to convince investors that opportunities are limited and that only the swiftest participants win the race. It is therefore imperative to jump aboard at the earliest point. Rather than encourage investors to study the book value of a company listed on the stock exchange to determine if there is commensurate real value behind the current price of the company under

Entertaining Fictional Introduction to Stock Trading

The Perfect Stock is a fine complement for any of the good introductory books about becoming a stock investor, such as How to Buy Stocks and Common Sense about Mutual Funds. Mr. Koteshwar has built an entertaining story around the rise and fall of Taser's stock through early 2004. In the story, his protagonist is a freelance stock analyst who is hired to check our Taser just before the stock tops out. In real life, Mr. Koteshwar's investment newsletter called the top to the day so we can assume that some aspects of the book are semi-autobiographical. Through the course of the novel, you will learn how a bubble is built and burst on a given small stock. He provides perspectives on the founders, the investment bankers, the pool players who run the stock, hedge funds who play the run, and the little guys and gals who get taken to the cleaners. From this perspective, you will learn many important lessons about how speculators profit from momentum (stocks that are rising rapidly on increasing volume) plays and what to watch out for. I especially liked the way that the book described the trading strategies and profits of those who played Taser from different perspectives. Although this is not an investment guide per se, unless you ignore the lessons in the book you cannot help but become better informed about how to evaluate a momentum play . . . and to protect you from making major mistakes. The methods involved are ones that I have known many successful investors to use . . . and the failed efforts are ones that I have heard many stock brokers describe as the failings of some of their clients. Where are the clients' yachts?

A very good book

I am trading since 1979 and have read many books since I began trading. This is a great book. It is very simple and gives the gist of successful trading. I do not agree with the anonymous trader from Hawaii. All I need is just basic price and volume action to see the primary trend. The fundamentals are a lagging indicator and usually come up after the primary trend has already begun. In fact, many stocks top out at the peak of their fundamental strengths. Moreover, most of the true lessons are hidden and may escape the so-called technical trader because the book is written as a novel. Being immersed in the story, it is easy to miss the lessons.

Simple, entertaining and educational

I really enjoyed the book. It is written in simple language for anyone to understand. Some of the lessons are obvious but many others are hidden. I have been involved with the market for over 25 years and I found the book enlightening. It was fun to read without the usual jargon that comes with books on investing.