One Up On Wall Street: How To Use What You Already Know To Make Money In

by Peter Lynch

This book is divided into three sections. The first, Preparing to Invest (Chapters 1 through 5), deals with how to assess yourself as a stockpicker, how to size up the competition (portfolio managers, institutional investors, and other Wall Street experts), how to evaluate whether stocks are riskier than bonds, how to examine your financial needs, and how to develop a successful stockpicking routine. The second, Picking Winners (Chapters 6 through 15), deals with how to find the most promising opportunities, what to look for in a company and what to avoid, how to use brokers, annual reports, and other resources to best advantage, and what to make of the various numbers (p/e ratio, book value, cash flow) that are often mentioned in technical evaluations of stocks. The third, The Long-term View (Chapters 16 through 20), deals with how to design a portfolio, how to keep tabs on companies in which you’ve taken an interest, when to buy and when to sell, the follies of options and futures, and some general observations about the health of Wall Street, American enterprise, and the stock market—things I’ve noticed in twenty-odd years of investing.