Investing Basics - Nobody Knows Anything

TITLE: Nobody Knows Anything
AUTHOR NAME: Bob Moriarty
AUTHOR CREDENTIALS: Veteran, pilot, consultant and author
GENRE: Personal Investment Strategies
NUMBER OF PAGES: 134
PUBLICATION DATE: May 2016

SYNOPSIS/SUMMARY: From Amazon

"Has following “the crowd” with your investing lost you serious money? Learn the strategies best suited to get you more reliable results. Are you confused by the flood of contradictory advice from so-called experts? Have your past financial advisors cost you years’ worth of savings? Want to make sure your hard-earned dollars are put to the best use? 

Over 50,000 readers a day trust long-time investor Robert Moriarty to show them which tactics work… and which ones don’t. Now he’s here to show you how to avoid failure and find the pathway to profitable growth. 

Nobody Knows Anything: Investing Basics - Learn to Ignore the Experts, the Gurus and Other Fools is a straight-to-the-point handbook for any investor willing to question mass-market hype to find what actually works. 

Cutting to the chase, Moriarty’s contrarian insights explain how you can use your own knowledge and skills, however limited, to buck the trends and defy the popular professionals. Inside, you’ll learn why the crowds are almost always wrong, and how you can go against popular opinion to make a positive return. In Nobody Knows Anything, you’ll discover:- The biases and agendas that distort most investment decisions and how to dodge them- 

What contrarian investing really means and how to do it with precision- 

Ways to see past the buzzwords and guru messages to get the honest truth- 

Whether market manipulation is really an issue and what to do about it- Investing tools, techniques, anecdotes, and much, much more! 

Nobody Knows Anything is the book you need to expose expert advice and find long-term success in the financial market. If you like easy-to-follow steps, down-to-earth strategies, and going against the grain, then you’ll love Robert Moriarty’s powerful resource. Buy Nobody Knows Anything to find out how to make your money work harder today!"

This is an extremely short read which you can devour in just a couple of hours. Bob spends the first 20 pages of the book talking about his other favourite investing book called "Extreme Popular Delusions and The Madness of Crowds".

Basically reminding us that we are herd animals and tend to go where the herd goes. We've done it before and we continue to do just that when it comes to investing. This can end up costing a lot of money and not allow us to take profits when we are given them. NO! the herd keeps holding which usually results in a loss.

EPD covers manias of the past like Tulipmania, The South Sea Bubble and others that have caused human beings to go insane to make money and follow fraudsters like Bernie Madoff.

I had no idea a genius like Sir Isaac Newton lost his life savings on a misadventure like the South Sea Bubble. EPD is a great book to educate yourself on the history of these manias and how they are still happening.

Being a Contrarian

Pretty much this is the whole essence of the book. If you want to make money flipping stocks, be a contrarian. Bob gives a history lesson on some recent investing manias that a lot of us have lived through.

Remember this - The Herd is Always Wrong

Not sure if that's right?

Who fell for Y2K?

We all did. Good example? The world was going to grind to a halt and stop working. People were stalking up on canned food, gold, cash and water. The whole Doomsday Prepper movement was started on this nonsense. Millions were made and fleeced from the herd and businesses that needed their computers upgraded. It was all bullshit.

How about other recent manias investors are caught up in?

Dot Com stocks, Pot stocks, Bitcoin, Lithium, Rare Earth Elements, Uranium, Gold and Silver and on and on. You name it and the herd stampeded in. Some made money and some were late to the party as always happens. 

Why is that?

Because the dumb money buys at the top of the mania and the smart money accumulates at the bottom.

The exact opposite of what the herd does. This is the essence of Bob's book. You must think and act differently from the herd.

You must take profits. IF NOT, the alternative is to take a loss!

To do this - BE A TRADER when it comes to investing in these stocks.

BUY on low volume and SELL on high volume!

The Next Big Thing

Great chapter for traders about looking for opportunities.

These are created by newsletter gurus. Guys like Jim Dines and Doug Casey. Investors like Eric Sprott. They create manias. How? Massive subscriber lists, slick and glitzy marketing. People want in and nothing can stop them.

Once they get in guys like Sprott, Dines and Casey are taking profits. Usually because they own enormous stakes in the companies or commodities they are pushing and heavily promoting.

Gurus take to the TV and make recommendations to the herd to keep them satisfied. How can everyone be right recommending six stocks a day week after week? They aren't. Gurus know when to take a profit. You need to do that too!

Just go to any discussion board on any pot stock on Yahoo. People are bat shit crazy about these stocks. They natter on about the long term prospects even when they are down over a 100% on their money. You are labelled a troll for even questioning their thought process.

The pot mania is OVER! You are a loser if you didn't take your profits early. News Flash - NONE of these companies are making money. The granddaddy of them all has lost over $50B in market cap and has not even made a dollar. WEED. TO. Those who took profits months ago were the smart money. Of course they claim to be long term investors because they have no choice but to hold and try to scratch back their money.

Bitcoin peaked at $20K but still there were buyers until they got drowned in the shallow water by sellers. It's now just over $10K a piece. Are you buying? Do you believe lightning strikes in the same place twice, three times? You decide but just ignore the fools on these boards.

Manipulation

One of those words you only hear the whiners use when they're not making money on a badly timed investment. It's a whole industry itself. You never hear claims of manipulation on the way up. NO, they just tell you that it's now a free market and this is how it is supposed to work. On the sell off they all scream manipulation. Again, ignore these fools and take your profits early.

Silver went from $4-$50 and gold peaked at over $1900 and now sits just above $1500. Manipulation? fuggetaboutit! please. Bob loves to talk about manipulation.

When to Sell and Why

First of all, ignore all the mainstream daily business news. There is no correlation between what you hear from TV gurus and your investments. Do they tell you what to buy that's down and being sold off?

NO! but that's where to look for opportunity.

Bob recommends selling a position and taking profits after a double. SELL 33% of your position each time your stock doubles if that happens. Investors get greedy and hang on too long. If it gets to a top sell part of your holdings and take some profits.

Protect your capital. He provides some great individual examples of gold stocks that rose dramatically and then in a few short years gave it all back.

Lots of great tidbits of investing advice here.

My Final Take

Bob also provides a great list of resources he uses to make decisions. Chart services and newsletter writers.

Bob also runs 321gold.com and 321enery.com

he is a trader and if you are too then this is a good primer to keep you motivated.

Be a contrarian and look in the bargain bin for stocks and don't buy what's high and expensive.

Ignore gurus and news.

Everyone else is biased and has an agenda. Beware of who you listen to and what and why you are buying a stock.

I loved this book and I think everyone should have it on their shelf.