Synopsis
Tells how to avoid common investment mistakes, introduces basic principles of investing, and discusses various types of investments
Reviews
He read the Wall Street Journal on his grandmother's lap--and he got fired as a stock analyst for accurately predicting that Donald Trump's casinos couldn't succeed. Now president of his own Philadelphia money management firm, Roffman distills 35 years of experience into this reasoned approach to financial planning for individuals. Although he recommends personal savings ("rainy days will come--not . . . might ") and favors stocks for long term investment, Roffman meticulously explains other investment vehicles. With a chapter discussing the many ways stockbrokers can exploit customers, the book is not a guide to universal wealth and happiness but an order of battle for us-against-them--credit-card sharps, bankers, mutual fund managers, realtors and the uncooperative gyrations of interest rates and market values. Written with business journalist Schwager, this is an often humorous, always clear-headed memoir and one of the most valuable money books in memory.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.
A balanced, if redundant, account of the life and times of rock promoter Bill Graham, by English-born investigative journalist Glatt. Born in 1933 in Germany, Graham escaped the Holocaust, coming at age ten to the US, where he was adopted by a Jewish-German family but suffered psychological problems adjusting to American life. Progressing from running crap games at a Catskills hotel, he settled in San Francisco, where he managed a trucking company while yearning for a life in the arts. Taking a big pay cut, Graham became the manager of the San Francisco Mime Troupe; soon after, he began promoting rock concerts, using an old theater in a bad part of town as his venue. Graham built his empire on the Fillmore, eventually opening an N.Y.C. branch while moving into band- management, record production, and the lucrative business of rock souvenirs. He eventually closed both theaters but remained a force in the rock world, organizing charity events like Live Aid and the first Amnesty International tour. Although Graham was professionally successful, his personal life was often a shambles: He treated women poorly and was often strung out on cocaine, Ecstasy, and sleeping pills. Glatt relies mostly on others' written accounts and magazine interviews in compiling this bio (he even uses Graham's own Bill Graham Presents, 1992, which covers much of the same ground), but he did talk to a few Graham associates, particularly one of the promoter's ex-girlfriends, Regina Cartwright, who sheds some new light on Graham's fiery temperament. Glatt's British roots lead him to odd mistakes (he describes Kesey's Magic Bus as ``a brightly painted van''), and he's weak when discussing 60's social trends. In any case, Graham's life was so downbeat (he died in 1991 in a helicopter crash following a decade of new personal declines) that one wonders why we need another bio to supplement his own: for rock completists only. (Sixteen pages of b&w photographs--not seen.) -- Copyright ©1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
Roffman earned notoriety by confronting Donald Trump with an analytical opinion that Trump's Taj Mahal casino would be a financial failure. As a result, Roffman lost his job with a well-known brokerage firm and thus became qualified to write a book about security analysis in brokerage houses. Instead, he wrote this book about personal financial management, advising individuals to make their own financial decisions and avoid paying full-service commissions to brokers. Writing in the first person, Roffman is liberal with examples from his own experience. Some typical suggestions are to live within one's means, clip discount coupons, and don't gamble to earn money to pay debts. This book of trite advice is not recommended.
- Joseph Barth, U.S. Military Acad. Lib., West Point, N.Y.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Because little information is available with which one can reliably evaluate investment brokers, books warning of the risks and pitfalls of entrusting one's money to others are frequent and popular. Roffman, a 35-year financial analyst and adviser, stakes his own reputation on the fact that he was fired! In 1990 he panned Donald Trump's yet-to-be-built Taj Mahal Hotel and casino, predicting a financial disaster. Trump threatened to sue Roffman's Philadelphia brokerage house, and Roffman, who had been with the firm for 16 years, was let go. Subsequently, he himself successfully sued his former employer and also won an undisclosed settlement from Trump. Here he offers tips on becoming an informed investor and provides fascinating accounts from his career to illustrate his points. He lays out his own investment principles, identifies common mistakes investors make, and lists danger signals that should cause one to consider "firing" one's broker. Recommended for investment collections. David Rouse
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