A Beginner's Guide to the Stock Market: Everything You Need to Start Making Money Today

by Matthew R. Kratter

Learn to make money in the stock market, even if you've never traded before.The stock market is the greatest opportunity machine ever created.Are you ready to get your piece of it?This book will teach you everything that you need to know to start making money in the stock market today.Don't gamble with your hard-earned money.If you are going to make a lot of money, you need to know how the stock market really works.You need to avoid the pitfalls and costly mistakes that beginners make.And you need time-tested trading and investing strategies that actually work.This book gives you everything that you will need.It's a simple road map that anyone can follow.In this book, you will learn:


How to grow your money the smart and easy way
The best place to open up a brokerage account
How to buy your first stock
How to generate passive income in the stock market
How to spot a stock that is about to explode higher
How to trade momentum stocks
Insider tricks used by professional traders
The one thing you should never do when buying value stocks (don't start investing until you read this)
How to pick stocks like Warren Buffett
How to create a secure financial future for you and your family
And much, much more
Even if you know nothing about the stock market, this book will get you started investing and trading the right way.Join the thousands of smart traders and investors who have profited from this ultimate guide to the stock market.Amazon best-selling author and retired hedge fund manager, Matthew Kratter will teach you the secrets that he has used to trade and invest profitably for the last 20 years.Even if you are a complete beginner, this book will have you trading stocks in no time.Are you ready to get started creating real wealth in the stock market?Then scroll up and click BUY NOW to get started today.

Genres: Finance, Nonfiction, Business, Economics, Money, Personal Finance, Self Help

98 pages, Paperback

Published May 21, 2019

Reviews

[Pearl · Rating 2 out of 5]

Overrated as HELL, from primarily beginning investors.

Let me clarify - I am not an experienced investor. In fact, I'm a high school student who read these books out of personal interest, not out of a desire to grow the capital that I don't have. However, I feel that my review adds a unique perspective from a absolute beginner in the world of finance.

After reading a few more books on finance, particularly day trading and swing trading, I have come to realize that my initial five star rating for this glorified pamphlet was only out of a misguided amazement of what I learned, not the ability of the text to communicate important investing concepts. I would recommend works by Pezim far more.

This piece is marred with an unhealthy ratio of inspirational bullshit (certainly not dispelling the all-too-common get rich quick mindset), endless examples of the same situation only with different numbers, and low factual content. While examples are ESSENTIAL for a new investor to understand financial trends in context, there was practically identical examples repeated several times for seemingly no reason. This book would benefit from more physical diagrams.

Perhaps my biggest qualm is that the content of the book is not befitting of the title of "A Beginner's Guide." Once again, as a total beginner who has now created a fundamental layer of knowledge from financial literature, I came back to this book for the second time and read it over in its entirety only to realize that my initial problems weren't just a cause of my inexperience. The author mentions financial terms, most notably IPO (initial public offerings) and indicators like moving averages, without explaining them beforehand.

Finally, he had an apparent lack of warnings for the consequences of hastiness in the stock market that has led so many to ruin. While there is a few cautions about the importance of stop-loss, it's never really explored. Hell, he didn't even talk about risk/reward ratios or how to even determine where a stop-loss is!

I understand that the value of this book comes in its brevity, but it worries me that after I read it I was almost convinced that I could just jump into the stock market and make fat stacks. Only after reading books from authors who weren't trying to use their literature as a launchpad for the rest of their programs did I realize the utter incompetence of this book.

I would recommend a different book for beginners.

[Matt Gaddis · Rating 1 out of 5]

Underwhelming

I don't know who he wrote this book for. If you feel the need to explain in detail what stocks and index funds are then you can't causally talk about 200 day moving averages without actually explaining them. If you're audience doesn't know what an IPO is then you can't causally talk about exponential moving averages with alienating your reader. Also don't call a list of random quotes a chapter.

[D. Thrush · Rating 3 out of 5]

This short book has some good information and tips but leaves a lot out. This is a teaser to get you to buy his courses and other books. However, it has some value. I’ve been trading for a long time and making $, but I wanted to learn how to do stop limits and techniques to prevent me from losing $. Also, tips for how to find stocks about to take off. There’s some of that, but I’d hoped for more explanations about the different types of trades. It jumps from beginner stuff to more advanced things in a random way. I know this “book” is concise, which is one reason why I got it, but there are probably more detailed books for the beginners out there.

[Bobodyowens · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good book for beginners with high school level math. (There aren't any formulae, just terms like moving averages)
Uses close to real world examples.
The book is written with US markets in perspective, but applies to almost all countries.
Not all concepts/ideas are covered, but the ones that are covered, explained intuitively.
Has little shades of a self-help book... And the author also tries to hook you on to his other books (though not that extensive)

[Suphatra · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very basic but still has some good content to learn. Don't agree with the advice to buy at all-time high positions in anticipation of additional rallies. Otherwise, good overview. Recommend buying as an eBook than one with binding.

[Ayesha Tahir · Rating 3 out of 5]

The stock market, even after three years of business school, is REALLY not for me

[Jan Wilkes · Rating 5 out of 5]

I got this book from the library to see if I liked it. It’s only 88 pages long and $2.99 on Amazon. I’m going to buy it. The websites he talks about are worth the price of the book to me. I wouldn’t exactly call this a beginner’s book. I was looking more for terms brokers use and what they mean. There is some of that but for a beginner book, I expected more basic material. This does get over your head if you’re unfamiliar with trading. Some things are explained but I think you need a little bit more than he offers here. As I said, well, Rome wasn’t built in a day and I’ll need a lot more reading before I “know it all”, haha. it’s definitely worth $2.99 to me, though.

[Mohamed Hema · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is kinda interesting intro for basics but without explanation so it can't be a guide but a good intro, and you need after reading it to search and learn more about everything mentioned in it. Overall this books is simple and interesting.

[Jay · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very easy read and a decent start for anyone just getting in to stocks, but the book was WAY too short. The amount of information per chapter was minuscule. I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone unless they are complete beginners that want to start at the very bottom and want an easy read.

[Bruce Smith · Rating 2 out of 5]

Good book for beginners, but consider it an infomercial for his products. I don't agree with his support for Robin Hood.

[Toe · Rating 2 out of 5]

Objective Summary
At 85 pages, at least in the Kindle ebook, this document is more pamphlet than book. Kratter gives a basic introduction to stock market investing for people with little or no experience doing so. Kratter advises investors consider exchange-traded funds, dividend-paying stocks like the dividend aristocrats, growth stocks, initial public offerings, and covered-call options. As with all investments, additional research needs to be done before adopting any of the strategies he briefly summarizes.


Subjective Thoughts
I’m ambivalent about Kratter’s offering here. On the upside, it is informative and short. Kratter’s reference to the ProShares S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats ETF (NOBL) was a helpful tidbit for any investors guarding an existing nest egg and interested in dividends. Similarly, his advice to consider stocks hitting new 52-week highs and avoid those hitting 52-week lows is worth considering, especially since it runs counter to the value investing approach taught at my business school as I matriculated there. Taking all of one hour to read, the time required to complete this book is very reasonable.

On the downside, it’s not clear how much actionable information was actually contained in these few pages. Literally 2 minutes of research showed me that Vanguard’s Dividend Appreciation Index Fund (VIG) has outperformed NOBL. Kratter’s discussions of covered calls, IPOs, and day trading strategies seemed weirdly out of place and frankly inappropriate for an introductory book. These discussions were designed more to upsell the reader on his other books and courses rather than to inform. Some basic facts about the number of day-traders who lose money and the number of actively managed funds and brokers who fail to outperform the index funds would have been much more honest and helpful here. Ultimately, a simple piece of advice to invest everything in an S&P 500 index fund (VOO, for example) is all beginning investors really need to be told. That would take only one page rather than 80, and Kratter didn’t do that here. Because he didn’t, I’m left thinking this was a great infomercial but only an ok book.


Revealing Quotes
The stock market is the greatest opportunity machine ever created.

There's an easy way to own a piece of every Dividend Aristocrat: just buy some shares of NOBL. It is the ProShares S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats ETF.

Until you become an advanced investor, don't ever buy a stock with a P/E of 10 or less. It's just a bad hole to fish in. It is full of companies with giant debt loads, falling revenues, or outdated products like faxes and typewriters. And probably a few frauds as well. So stay away.

Paying a cheap price for a stock that is going to zero is never a good deal. We call these situations "value traps." They look like good values, but they turn out to be traps.

Here's the first rule for trading growth stocks: Ignore the high P/E. Great companies that are rapidly growing will always trade at high P/E's.

I like to buy growth stocks that are hitting new 52-week highs, or even all-time new highs.

I also like to look for growth stocks, where the float is less than 20% of the total number of shares outstanding. The “float” is simply the number of shares of a stock that are actually available for trading. To calculate the float, you just take the total number of shares outstanding and subtract all closely-held shares (those held by founders, employees, and original investors that are locked up and thus unable to be traded).

I also like to look for growth stocks with a high short interest.

if a growth stock is hitting new 52-week or all-time highs and it also has a “Short % of Float” that is greater than 10%, I get very interested. As the shorts get squeezed, a stock like this can sometimes move up 30% or more in a very short period of time.

I usually like to risk no more than 1% of my trading account on each stock trade.

Don’t buy stocks that are hitting 52-week lows. Don’t trade penny stocks. Don’t short stocks. Don’t trade on margin. Don’t trade other people’s ideas.

Focus on a few stocks, and get to know how they trade. Don’t spread yourself too thin by trying to follow too many stocks.

This has led to the famous expression "Sell in May and go away." Stock market returns from November through April have historically been much higher than stock market returns from May through October.

If you are looking for a good long-term investment, buy a company that has the highest sales in its industry.

[Adam · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm in my mid-30's now, which means it's time to do what I should have started doing 10+ years ago: thinking about how I'm going to feed myself when I'm old.

I picked this one up based on recommendations I ran by online, and while I did learn some valuable vocabulary, I would have a hard time recommending it to anyone else. It's short and mostly feels like an advertisement for his other books and his YouTube channel. But it's readable enough, and at least mildly helpful, although I do hesitate to take some of his advice too seriously.

Also read William J. Bernstein's "If You Can: How Millennials Can Get Rich Slowly," an ultra-short pamphlet that I found online for free. It focused more specifically on index funds, but I generally found it to be a better primer than this book was.

Time to jump back into the pile of investing books, I guess!

[Nicholas Stahl · Rating 4 out of 5]

I literally read this because of GameStop.

[YI · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very insightful book, but leaves a lot of information out. This book isn't enriched with information like the intelligent investor by Benjamin Graham. However, there's some valuable information in this book that I consider fruitful. Great starter book for people trying to learn the basic fundamentals of the stock investing.

[Delaney Diamond · Rating 5 out of 5]

I like how the author breaks down the terminology and goes through the basics. I think this is a great beginner's guide for newbies.

[Karolyne · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good introduction to the basic terminology and some "dos & don'ts". In order to efficiently navigate the stock market, more information and learning is required.

[Shabib Siddiqui · Rating 1 out of 5]

More like a long essay. Okayish. Can totally skip it.

[Abida Massi · Rating 2 out of 5]

My two cents on this one: I think it’s mistitled; it is not really for beginners. At first, it shows us how to register with a broker so we can start buying stocks in the market. However, for the most part, it doesn’t explain the fundamental things beginners NEED to know about investing in stocks, such as the intrinsic value of a stock and how to calculate it; how to analyze macroeconomic factors or a company’s future prospects; or even, the most important part: the psychological aspect.

Instead, this book tells us—beginners who understand nothing about stocks—to buy the “growth stocks”, with the worst part being that is, it suggests us buying them at their 52-week high or a new all-time high (ATH) price! I think it’s extremely NUTS to teach beginners to make such arbitrary decision-making which full of speculations as the writer did. Yes, practically, he is a professional-trend-trader. And, of course, we are not.

My point is, I think this book is not supposed to be for beginners. Instead, it is more suitable for those who have at least a fundamental knowledge of stock or its market. However, the simple technical analysis and the “following the trends and the giant mutual funds” method—what we usually call as “Bandarmology” in Indonesia—from this book are easy to understand for beginners.

[S · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wish I’d read a book like this when I was 18 (12 years ago 😅)

This book was so informative yet extremely simple and easy to understand as a beginner. I would start here if you’re interested in getting into trading!

Thank you so much for writing this Matthew, and I look forward to reading many others from you that I’ve already now purchased!

[Kristaps Vedrickis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quick read. Nothing extraordinary, but nevertheless it has some good pieces of information to consume.

[Claudia Rodriguez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good, for those who want to be more professional investors, not casual.

[Jesse · Rating 4 out of 5]

Informative for us beginners

The book is a free quick read. Pick it up and enjoy a couple great insights. It has helped me.

[Adil Aliyev · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book to learn basics of stock trading, and to understand essential ideas of indexes, ETFs, etc.

[Allie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book! It’s short but it’s very much to the point without too many intricate explanations. Just the key points along with a few examples and advice. Very much appreciated that the language was not over saturated with jargon that could be hard to follow. A great and inspiring read!

[J · Rating 3 out of 5]

snooze fest

[CZ (Moonrise) [HAF] · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good book

[Shane Kaler · Rating 1 out of 5]

Kratter is a clever trader on the stock exchange, and a massive scam artist. This book was gifted to me because I am in the process of beginning my own practice as a registered representative, and someone I know with no background in finances thought they would take a stab at day trading and found this book highly rated on Amazon. I was asked to take a peek, and see why it failed them: Kratter advertises this as a “get rich quick” handbook, while the book itself is his personal scheme. It promises tips, burying a jargon-heavy disclaimer that any worthwhile investment must be completed by hiring a licensed representative who answers to a federally supervised firm. What he doesn’t mask are the liner notes at the end that he cannot be held accountable for the great financial losses incurred by following his advice. In each chapter he plugs a wide range of his own products, from other BS books to online “courses” that operate as an automated subscription service. Often times, these other wares are pandered like a teenaged bully: “oh, I’m actually not going to finish explaining this topic here, it’s payoff is more for the likes of the elite like Bezos; anyway, if you know someone who is not small fish or by the grace of god you somehow comprehend my mansplaining, you can find it at webdomain.com where the pros go - consider that tip a gift.” Less painfully obvious, but no less devious, are the YouTube channels and other recommendations which are owned and operated by, you guessed it, Kratter. Here you’ll find lazy pages where he pretends to be an unrelated yet legitimized company touting the aforementioned products as the holy bibles on stock market success, or others where it’s blatantly his handiwork but has sold his soul to clickbait advertisers with malware infested pop-ups. I guarantee this guy forces his kids to play sports in which they have no interest.

[Scot · Rating 3 out of 5]

My Dad sent this book after we had a conversation in which I finally seemed to grasp an iota of how the stock market works and showed an interest. That was very sweet of him. I read it and feel like I grasp things just a little bit more, which I think was the point!

I would describe this book as an inverse bell curve because I was learning and engaged for the first third in which the author was supportive and explanatory without jargon and taught me a few things in a way that could build up my confidence and then in the middle third it collapsed in an outpouring of economic mumbo-jumbo about making money with growth stocks and on IPOs and Day Trading in which I am quite sure I needed to have had an MBA to understands. And then in the last third he got into aphorisms and simple do's and don'ts that were no longer technical and honestly probably really good advice and so salvaged the curve.

All in all, I think Kratter is probably giving solid advice and it is probably less technical than most and may have increased my knowledge at the very least in a way that the next conversation I have with my Dad will be a bit more coherent.

I would also guess that Trader University would be a good place to take a deeper dive if this is a pool you want to swim in. I am not so sure if I do, but who knows?!?

[Kirankumar Ittagoni · Rating 4 out of 5]

Decent beginner level book

Few personal take-aways:
- beginners are better off investing in index fund or etf ( especially during bear market), dividend aristocrats (companies which have been paying dividends for 25 years) for long term
- one of the important decision in evaluating a business is pricing power, when company has power to increase price without being afraid of undercut by competitors
- value investing should be left to advanced investor, low PE doesn’t necessarily mean under-valued stock
- rather focus on growth and momentum stocks for short/medium term during uptrend market, esp stocks having 50-day moving average above 200-day moving average and better if it is at 52-week high, but be sure to have stoploss set
- always have a exit strategy, do not choke the winners too soon and get rid of losers

[Sydney Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Since I am a beginner to the stock market, this book easily broke down strategies and tactics that I could understand. If anyone is new to investing this is a great book to understand lingo and the basics of how to invest your money.