Review - Laughing At Wall Street by Chris Camillo (ARC)

Laughing at Wall Street: How I Beat the Pros at Investing (by Reading Tabloids, Shopping at the Mall, and Connecting on Facebook) and How You Can Too by Chris Camillo

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Blurb from Goodreads

$20,000 to $2 million in only three years— the greatest stock-picker you never heard of tells you how you can do it too

Chris Camillo is not a stockbroker, financial analyst, or hedge fund manager. He is an ordinary person with a knack for identifying trends and discovering great investments hidden in everyday life. In early 2007, he invested $20,000 in the stock market, and in three years it grew to just over $2 million.

With Laughing at Wall Street, you’ll see:
•How Facebook friends helped a young parent invest in the wildly successful children’s show, Chuggington—and saw her stock values climb 50%
•How an everyday trip to 7-Eleven alerted a teenager to short Snapple stock—and tripled his money in seven days
•How $1000 invested consecutively in Uggs, True Religion jeans, and Crocs over five years grew to $750,000
•How Michelle Obama caused J. Crew’s stock to soar 186%, and Wall Street only caught up four months later!

Engaging, narratively-driven, and without complicated financial analysis, Camillo’s stock picking methodology proves that you do not need large sums of money or fancy market data to become a successful investor.

My Review

If I had to use one word to describe this book it would be interesting which really suprised me. I don't normally read books like this and was hesitant to agree when the author approached me with an ARC. However I am glad I did.

The story isn't just numbers and figures or mind numbing droll like that, Chris has taken a subject that us non investors can find hard to grasp and dull and explained it in simple terms and made even enjoyable to read. Chris tells us how it all started for him during his childhood and how he made his own ways of being successful at a really (I think) risky business.

He does go over some numbers and figures and when it came to the percentages I was wavering with losing interest as I have never been big on that side of maths however I stuck with it and it was interesting to see how this whole thing works. I now know about financial boards and where I would go if I wished to purse more information on investing.

Some of his tips and "events" that have helped him are really general and basic things anyone can do but until it is pointed out you wouldn't even think about it. I liked how through out the book he put his own personal stories in so it wasn't just a how to book but you actually felt like it was someone you knew talking you through how to do this stuff. He also uses everyday things like magazines etc to explain about trends or something that would give you the edge with items in our everyday life.

I found it really interesting, even the few bits that were above me and I am not comfortable workig with but have a better understanding of it and the whole investment process. I think it is a great book if investing is your thing as it will open you up to avenues you may have over looked. And for your average non invester person like me it is a great and easy way to learn about this kind of stuff. For me it's a 3/5 for this one.

Thank you so much to the author for giving me an ARC to review and introducing me to the whole investing scene and his work.

As always all opinions are my own, I was not paid or influenced to write my views. The book is available on Amazon.co.uk for £15.29 or Amazon.com for $15.50 If you purchase a copy today you can help support an amazing cause. Please check out the link to read more http://www.laughingatwallstreet.com/pres...

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