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By the way, Max Gunther's book casn be easily obtainable at the big local bookshops...
I will provide links only to those books/publications that are not too easily obtained (eg. frequently sold out, unique supplier) at the shops. eg . that Singaporegal's favourite, "Long Term Secrets"... 
Books can be as good as live seminars as long as one digests and internalises the contents in the books.
Singaporegal... DaJieJie... :)
I wouldn't say that's a "cheem" book...
I'd say Max Gunther's book, "The Zurich Axioms" is must reading serious speculators such as serious stock market traders, especially the concept of "meaningful stakes" expounded...
But in the end, one must be mature and really understand the true nature of risk before dashing in... 
Huh? What are the Zurich Axioms? Sounds really chim
Singaporegal... :)
The links are too good for other members to miss... I bought the products myself too and find them superb, thus I recommend them.
Do take a look at the other links to widen your own perspective of the market, otherwise, you may end up many years later as only a "break-even" trader at best.
By the way, I also recommend you read Max Gunther's "The Zurich Axioms"...
Hi Mani,
Thanks for recommending my guru's book.
BTW, I always see you putting in that link. Is that some kind of referral program?
Previously I had recommended Larry Williams' book "Long-Term Secrets" which is followed successfully by Singaporegal in her trading... :)
For those who want to get more "kick" out of their trading, I also recommend this e-book (click to read the details) :- "Way To Trade Ebook"
I personally believe staunchly that trading skills come with acquiring knowledge through the years.
When it comes to stock market trading, it's no use to simply "gasak".
There is no substitute for proper education in matters of speculation...
tanglinboy, as long as it make sense and you enjoy the read. :) thanks
Good post KilRoy!
in our local context , which are the 9 ... ?
So in short, pick the leader (best company, best earnings) in the cyclical stocks
and
you will have 9 winning stocks in your folio.
One of the ways INVESTORS classify stocks is by type of business. The idea is to put companies in similar industries together for comparison purposes. Most analysts and financial media call these groupings ?sectors? and you will often read or hear about how certain sector stocks are doing.
One of the most common classification breaks the market into 11 different sectors. Investors consider two of there sectors ?defensive? and the remaining nine ?cyclical.? Let?s look at these two categories and see what they mean for the individual investor.
Defensive
Defensive stocks include utilities and consumer staples. These companies usually don?t suffer as much in a market downturn because people don?t stop using energy or eating. They provide a balance to portfolios and offer protection in a falling market.
However, for all their safety, defensive stocks usually fail to climb with a rising market for the opposite reasons they provide protection in a falling market: people don?t use significantly more energy or eat more food.
Defensive stocks do exactly what their name implies, assuming they are well run companies. They give you a cushion for a soft landing in a falling market.
Cyclical stocks
Cyclical stocks, on the other hand, cover everything else and tend to react to a variety of market conditions that can send them up or down, however when one sector is going up another may be going down.
Here is a list of the nine sectors considered cyclical:
- Basic Materials
- Capital Goods
- Communications
- Consumer Cyclical
- Energy
- Financial
- Health Care
- Technology
- Transportation
Most of these sectors are self-explanatory. They all involve businesses you can readily identify. Investors call them cyclical because they tend to move up and down in relation to businesses cycles or other influences.
Basic materials, for example, include those items used in making other goods ? lumber, for instance. When the housing market is active, the stock of lumber companies will tend to rise. However, high interest rates might put a damper on home building and reduce the demand for lumber.
How to Use
Stocks sectors are helpful sorting and comparison tools. Don?t get hung up on using just one organization?s set of sectors, though. One of the ways to use sector information is to compare how your stock or a stock you may want to buy, is doing relative to other companies in the same sector.
If all the other stocks are up 11% and your stock is down 8%, you need to find out why. Likewise, if the numbers are reversed, you need to know why your stock is doing so much better than others in the same sector ? maybe its business model has changed and it shouldn?t be in that sector any longer.
Conclusion
You never want to be making investment decisions in a vacuum. Using sector information, you can see how a stock is doing relative to its peers and that will help you understand whether you have a potential winner or loser.
