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F Wall Street: Joe Ponzio's No-Nonsense Approach to Value Investing For the Rest of Us
"Look at market fluctuations as your friend rather than your enemy; profit from folly rather than participate in it."
—Warren Buffett
Investors shouldn't hate the market because of its up and downs. They should capitalize on it—and give a middle finger to those brokers wasting their time (and money) buying and selling, viewing investing as just buying stocks and not taking ownership of a company.
In this book, Joe Ponzio gives an "f-you" to Wall Street and teaches you how to become a sharp value investor who uses economic downturns to your advantage. By buying into companies you believe in—but that may be selling for less than their intrinsic value, like high-end retailers in a weak market and discount retailers in a strong one—you will profit from their long-term performance. It's the perfect guide for anyone fed up with Wall Street's bull.
—Warren Buffett
Investors shouldn't hate the market because of its up and downs. They should capitalize on it—and give a middle finger to those brokers wasting their time (and money) buying and selling, viewing investing as just buying stocks and not taking ownership of a company.
In this book, Joe Ponzio gives an "f-you" to Wall Street and teaches you how to become a sharp value investor who uses economic downturns to your advantage. By buying into companies you believe in—but that may be selling for less than their intrinsic value, like high-end retailers in a weak market and discount retailers in a strong one—you will profit from their long-term performance. It's the perfect guide for anyone fed up with Wall Street's bull.
290 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2009
61 people are currently reading
404 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
April 25, 2025
If you have any intention to invest money in the stock market this book is a must read. It cuts through all of the BS and hype and shows you how to realistically evaluate a company based on the facts.
September 14, 2018
Helped me to finally start understanding how to value a company properly.
March 24, 2019
Excellent starting point for active investors.
July 6, 2019
Great book.
I have read this 3 times now over the years and I always get more out of it each time I read it or use it as a reference.
I have read this 3 times now over the years and I always get more out of it each time I read it or use it as a reference.
August 15, 2020
The first book I read about investing. Good ideas, but not as good when you are exposed to others.
July 9, 2013
This is a great book about value investing. He writes in pain English. If you ever wanted to know more about how people like Warren Buffet and Charlie Munger do it but have been intimidated by some of the books out there; then this one is for you. He shows you how to read the Cash Flow Statement to make sure that there are owner earnings. Then he shows you how to value and evaluate companies and determine their net worth or intrinsic value. I'm in the heart of the book now which is the 2nd section.
I created a spread sheet with information I learned from this book. This is an example from Intel.
INTC Presently Selling at 8.1% Discount
0.9 times the value
Discounted (Intrinsic) Value)
2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
PRESENT VALUE $14,045.48 $14,947.48 $15,688.00 $16,364.45 $16,964.99
ENTER DESIRED RETURN % 9 9 9 9 9
ENTER NUMBER of YEARS 1 2 3 4 5
FUTURE CASH (Amt you want to earn) 15,309.57 17,759.10 20,316.41 23,099.76 26,102.73
FUTURE CASH 15,309.57 17,759.10 20,316.41 23,099.76 26,102.73
Enter Avg. Earnings Growth Rate 41% 16.0% 14.40% 13.70% 13%
Don't touch figures in blue
INTC
Shares Outstanding 4,980
Price per share 23.84
Market Capitalization $118,723
2012 2011 2010 2009 2008
NET INCOME 11,005 12,942 11464 4369 5292
DEPRECIATION 6,357 5,141 4398 4744 4360
AMORTIZATION 1,165 923 240 308 256
NON-CASH ITEMS 819 836 571 1418 3313
AVG CAPITAL EXPENSES (7,518) (7,518) (7,518) (7,518) (7,518)
OWNER EARNINGS 11,828 12,324 9,155 3,321 5,703
AVG OWNER EARNINGS $8,466
MOST RECENT CASH YIELD 10%
5 YR AVG CASH YIELD 7%
11-12 10-11 09-10 08-09
EARNINGS GROWING AT WHAT RATE? (4.02) 34.61 175.67 (41.77)
EARNINGS GROWING AT WHAT AVG. RATE? 41.12
TOTAL ASSETS 83083
NET WORTH ( SHAREHOLDERS EQUITY) 51,194
Intangibles 15563
Total Liabilities 31889
Book Value per Share $7.15
Book value per share ratio Selling for 3 times the amount company can be sold for
I created a spread sheet with information I learned from this book. This is an example from Intel.
INTC Presently Selling at 8.1% Discount
0.9 times the value
Discounted (Intrinsic) Value)
2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
PRESENT VALUE $14,045.48 $14,947.48 $15,688.00 $16,364.45 $16,964.99
ENTER DESIRED RETURN % 9 9 9 9 9
ENTER NUMBER of YEARS 1 2 3 4 5
FUTURE CASH (Amt you want to earn) 15,309.57 17,759.10 20,316.41 23,099.76 26,102.73
FUTURE CASH 15,309.57 17,759.10 20,316.41 23,099.76 26,102.73
Enter Avg. Earnings Growth Rate 41% 16.0% 14.40% 13.70% 13%
Don't touch figures in blue
INTC
Shares Outstanding 4,980
Price per share 23.84
Market Capitalization $118,723
2012 2011 2010 2009 2008
NET INCOME 11,005 12,942 11464 4369 5292
DEPRECIATION 6,357 5,141 4398 4744 4360
AMORTIZATION 1,165 923 240 308 256
NON-CASH ITEMS 819 836 571 1418 3313
AVG CAPITAL EXPENSES (7,518) (7,518) (7,518) (7,518) (7,518)
OWNER EARNINGS 11,828 12,324 9,155 3,321 5,703
AVG OWNER EARNINGS $8,466
MOST RECENT CASH YIELD 10%
5 YR AVG CASH YIELD 7%
11-12 10-11 09-10 08-09
EARNINGS GROWING AT WHAT RATE? (4.02) 34.61 175.67 (41.77)
EARNINGS GROWING AT WHAT AVG. RATE? 41.12
TOTAL ASSETS 83083
NET WORTH ( SHAREHOLDERS EQUITY) 51,194
Intangibles 15563
Total Liabilities 31889
Book Value per Share $7.15
Book value per share ratio Selling for 3 times the amount company can be sold for
October 19, 2009
The title of the book is catchy, but it doesn't really fit in with the actual content. Ponzio gives a nice primer on value investing with good advice on how to value a business and not just the price of a stock. He also gives the fundamentals of reading financial statements and calculating entry and exit points for value investing. However, it doesn't really fly in the face of wall street or tell us anything new about value investing. Most books on value just regurgitate the teachings of Buffet and Graham, and this book is no exception.
The author does kind of veer from pure value investing towards the end with advice for trying to squeeze value out of mergers and acquisition spreads and using margin to increase returns. While it is interesting, it seems high risk for the type safe-n-steady investor that the earlier parts of the book are aimed at. The author needs to make up his mind about how he suggests people should invest - wait for a stock to be 45% undervalued or leverage margin to try and grab a quick 2% on an M&A deal that you pray doesn't fall through.
The author does kind of veer from pure value investing towards the end with advice for trying to squeeze value out of mergers and acquisition spreads and using margin to increase returns. While it is interesting, it seems high risk for the type safe-n-steady investor that the earlier parts of the book are aimed at. The author needs to make up his mind about how he suggests people should invest - wait for a stock to be 45% undervalued or leverage margin to try and grab a quick 2% on an M&A deal that you pray doesn't fall through.
June 13, 2015
I have read few books on investments, covering various approaches of value investing and stuff. This one stands out with clear, concise and straight forward approach to investing based on owner earnings. It deserves four stars for its focus on owner earnings and not on PAT or EPS. Then again it's simple language and clarity of thought keeps reader engaged and provides him loads of wisdom. It's surely a basic level kinda book on investing but for even seasoned investor there is lot to learn from it. I wish I had read it earlier and avoided few costly investing mistakes. I would strongly recommend this book to any budding investor for great insights and clarity of thoughts on value investing. Go Grab one for you!
February 9, 2013
Great book for beginning to intermediate investors. Did a good job on how to value a business, how much to buy, when to sell and how to keep track of your portfolio. Book is broken into a few sections. I found little to no value in the first section. The section on understanding financial statements was helpful and the explanations on how to calculate free cash flow and owners earnings were very useful.
November 2, 2015
A very readable investing book for beginner investors. Simple, but still provides very insightful tips and tricks, especially in evaluating securities fundamentally. This book can be the cornerstone for 'newbies' to stock up their knowledge and gain more confidence in starting their first investment. However, it might be too shallow for advance investors.
September 19, 2012
If you have any intention to invest money in the stock market this book is a must read. It cuts through all of the BS and hype and shows you how to realistically evaluate a company based on the facts.
August 14, 2011
One of the best books I have read to explain the idea of 'business owner' mentality instead of 'stock owner' when choosing to buy stocks.
September 1, 2013
I liked this book, I read it twice.
November 20, 2015
A very good book to get you understand on intelligent value investing.
very detail examples, explanations, slightly overwhelming for beginner but valuable informations
very detail examples, explanations, slightly overwhelming for beginner but valuable informations
July 20, 2016
a good book. simple to understand
April 25, 2020
The best introductory book to stock picking.
February 24, 2014
Can't remember need to read this again.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews