Bulls, Bears & a Croupier: The insider's guide to profiting from the Australian stockmarket

Book description

An experienced Australian fund manager explains how the share market can be a fun and simple place to operate if you take the right approach.

The share market is awash with new opportunities to profit everyday as millions of shares in thousands of companies change hands. Even if half of your decisions go wrong you still have a genuine chance of generating a profit like the pros – it really is the easiest game on earth! Despite all of this the share market has lost its appeal for many people since the onset of the GFC.

In Bulls, Bears and a Croupier Matthew Kidman explains why a new bull market, with the potential to increase stock prices tenfold, is just around the corner and readers need to prise open their wallets.

With more than a decade of experience as a professional fund manager, Kidman deconstructs the share market, explodes the myths and turns traditional thinking on its head to show new and experienced investors alike that the share market can be a lot of fun and you can make a lot of money. You just have to know how!

Table of contents

  1. Cover
  2. Table of Contents
  3. Title Page
  4. About the author
  5. Part I: The wonderful sharemarket
    1. Chapter 1: The pitch
      1. The easiest game on earth
      2. Don't leave your common sense at home
      3. As easy as kissing
      4. Everyone gets it wrong
      5. It is so much better than horse racing
      6. The market can take you around the world
      7. The sharemarket is clean
      8. Liquidity
      9. Compounding returns
      10. Shares are not the be all and end all
    2. Chapter 2: The gun investor
      1. Confidence
      2. Judgement
      3. Competitiveness
      4. Curiosity
      5. Independent thinking
      6. Modesty
      7. Patience
      8. Numeracy
      9. Greed
      10. Conclusion
    3. Chapter 3: No training and no idea
      1. Don't be fooled, you can do it
      2. The market does not discriminate
  6. Part II: Building the foundations
    1. Chapter 4: Who are you? The road to discovery
      1. A game of roulette
      2. Genetic make-up
      3. What type of investor are you?
      4. People start with the wrong question
      5. The punter
      6. The trader
      7. The helicopter pilot
      8. The stock picker
      9. The visionary
      10. The believer
      11. Conclusion
    2. Chapter 5: Creating your own Wall Street
      1. Professionals need shoulders to lean on
      2. What is the name of your street?
      3. Going for broke
      4. Big or small?
      5. Talk to your next door neighbour
      6. Judgement
      7. All in the conversation
      8. Conclusion
    3. Chapter 6: The nine rules of success
      1. Don't fall in love with yourself
      2. Learn to deal with your mistakes
      3. Say sorry
      4. Work hard on selling
      5. Don't concentrate too hard
      6. Don't let the bank make decisions for you
      7. Watch out for double dipping
      8. Follow the rules of life
      9. Read until you drop
      10. Conclusion
  7. Part III: Ready, set, go!
    1. Chapter 7: Finding stocks that go up
      1. Too stupid to fail
      2. Fifty stocks that are safer than houses
      3. Turn up the risk dial
      4. The role of the broker
      5. Behind the broker
      6. Old news
      7. Higher and higher
      8. Down but not out
      9. Charting a course
      10. Announcements
      11. Curiosity makes you rich
      12. Conclusion
    2. Chapter 8: Primary school numbers
      1. Maths is not a prerequisite
      2. The key financials
      3. The three key pages
      4. Cash flow is the truth
      5. Ion Limited
      6. It's as easy as ABC
      7. So what looks good?
      8. Strange name, great returns
      9. Keep it simple
    3. Chapter 9: Margins, ratios and all that jazz
      1. PEs - the bee's knees
      2. EBIT, EBITDA, yah, yah, yah
      3. Cash into the future
      4. Returns that matter
      5. See what your equity is earning you
      6. Profit forecasts - it's like forecasting the weather
      7. Putting it into action
      8. Our approach
      9. Two-minute free cash flow
      10. Working out working capital
      11. You may be different
    4. Chapter 10: All companies are different
      1. Growth is the drug
      2. Turnarounds
      3. Rich in assets
      4. Cyclicals
      5. The PE game
      6. Conclusion
    5. Chapter 11: The perfect company
      1. 10 points of perfection
      2. Never forget the price
    6. Chapter 12: Trophy cabinet to rubbish bin
      1. Darwin alive and well
      2. Endless inefficiency
      3. There are snakes and ladders everywhere
      4. Even the biggest can do nothing
      5. Small diamonds can turn into big rocks
      6. Fundamentals are everything
      7. Some ladders seem to go into space
    7. Chapter 13: Don't fight momentum
      1. Golden opportunity
      2. Stepping aside
    8. Chapter 14: Traps
      1. Floats
      2. The value trap
      3. Buying the world
      4. Don't chase downgrades
    9. Chapter 15: The mystery of management
      1. How do you crack the nut?
      2. Read what the company is saying
      3. Keep the story straight
      4. Make sure there is no revolving door
      5. Watch out for firms that put you at risk
      6. Watch out for promises, promises, promises
      7. Decide if you have a friend in bad times
      8. Beware of hubris
      9. Conclusion
  8. Part IV: Exploding the myths
    1. Chapter 16: Skin in the game
      1. We like managers who buy shares
      2. Primary concern
      3. Macquarie money
      4. No hard and fast rules
      5. The sell smell
    2. Chapter 17: Look for the catalyst not the company
      1. You are in the market, not running a business
      2. Caught in a debt trap
      3. How do you make your money?
      4. Even the big boys don't know what they are driving
      5. The Holy Grail
      6. If no Holy Grail, then what? A story, of course
      7. Looking for a catalyst
      8. Conclusion
    3. Chapter 18: Old and past it
      1. Zombies
      2. Where credit is due
    4. Chapter 19: Smart money - bad results
      1. Taking a punt
      2. A king's ransom
      3. At the ‘hart' of the matter
      4. Forget being smart, just keep your eyes open
    5. Chapter 20: Other myths
      1. Timing
      2. Headlines are always wrong
      3. Market wisdom
      4. Judgement is not a myth
  9. Part V: Are professionals better?
    1. Chapter 21: Professional versus punter
      1. Professionals in straightjackets
      2. Cashless
      3. Index handbrake
      4. Bigger is worse
      5. Professionals go boom when the market goes bust
      6. What you miss out on
      7. Speaking to the people that matter
      8. Management is a mystery to everyone
      9. The company visit
      10. Unforgettable visits
      11. Don't forget to dress up
      12. And the winner is …
    2. Chapter 22: Money managers, money makers
      1. Did we mention perfect?
      2. So who do you pick?
      3. In the bowels of the market
      4. Be bold and knock on the door
      5. Do-it-yourself handyman
      6. Looking for a planner
  10. Part VI: When does a bull become a bear?
    1. Chapter 23: Is this a bull or a bear?
      1. Is there a bear in there?
      2. Standard or secular
      3. Bulls are harder to find than bears
      4. Secular bulls are the key
    2. Chapter 24: History has the answers
      1. I see red, I see red, I see red
      2. The emperor had no clothes
      3. Enter the historians
      4. The crash and the growling bear
      5. After the crash
      6. Those awful '70s
      7. Great in name only
      8. The message
    3. Chapter 25: Where are we in 2011?
      1. The United States - a long way down the track
      2. Down under - for some time to come
      3. Perfect timing
      4. Fundamentally Australian
      5. Just another economy
    4. Chapter 26: Get ready to touch the sky
      1. The end of the Great Depression
      2. Bill Gates and IBM
      3. The Australian economic revolution
      4. The new bull is just around the corner
      5. Australia and a recession
      6. Mums and dads saving for the future
      7. Future winners

Product information

  • Title: Bulls, Bears & a Croupier: The insider's guide to profiting from the Australian stockmarket
  • Author(s):
  • Release date: December 2011
  • Publisher(s): Wrightbooks
  • ISBN: 9780730377559