Have you considered investing and trading individual stocks? Are you unsure of how to pick stocks? Getting Started in Stock Investing and Trading: Illustrated Edition by Michael C. Thomsett can answer your questions.

There is a lot to learn when planning to purchase and trade individual stocks. This book does a very good job of explaining the basics of stock investing. There are several sections of the book I particularly enjoyed.

First, I really liked the section on fundamental analysis. The author explains the types of financial statements an investor needs to look at in order to choose a profitable stock. A company’s annual report, balance sheet, and income statement are all important documents to read.

The author gives a useful tip to investors who have a brokerage account. That tip is to use the free services that the brokerage firm offers to select stocks. These services summarize and analyze the information contained in the balance sheet and the various other financial documents. This summarization and analysis make it easier to cull through the stocks you are considering since many financial statements are complex.

Another important distinction in the book is that a company’s annual report may contain too much optimistic language. The annual report is often slanted to reflect positively on the company. That is why it is important to always read the other financial statements.

Secondly, I enjoyed the section on dividend investing. Again, the author does a good job of explaining many aspects to dividend investing. One aspect is how to calculate the dividend yield. The author demonstrates how to do this plus explains the benefits of dividends.

Getting Started in Stock Investing and Trading: Illustrated Edition is divided into two parts. The first part covers investing and investing strategies. The second part covers trading. Technical analysis, chart reading, and trading risk are explained in this section.

Overall, the author does a thorough job with his subject. The book gives lots of information with good illustrations. The comic book illustrations are a fun and informative touch to the book.

I would recommend this book to anyone interested in investing in individual stocks. Getting Started in Stock Investing and Trading: Illustrated Edition is a very good book for beginners to read. The book is also a good refresher for those who have been investing. Sometimes, it pays to re-read the basics to improve on your investing success. This book is well worth your time to read.

I borrowed a copy of this book from my local library to do this review.

This book is available at Amazon.com:

Getting Started in Stock Investing and Trading

Kindle Edition:

Getting Started in Stock Investing and Trading (Getting Started In.....)