Long-term stock investors will find a gold mine of specific ideas on how to pick big winners in this book. It is easy to see why it was voted the best investment book of the year in 1989 by Stock Trader's Almanac. It is clearly written, to the point, very specific in the methods shown and profusely illustrated.

Author Stan Weinstein, former publisher of The Professional Tape Reader, tells us that “over the past 25 years, I've learned what works and what doesn't, and I've refined this knowledge and experience into an approach for consistently staying on the winning side of the market.” He also tells us that he reveals in this book many factors he studies in evaluating and timing the market... but, as he says, only those factors that he rates a “10” in importance for making money while leaving the 1's and 2's alone.

The essence of Weinstein's approach is what he calls “stage analysis”. This assumes an ongoing rotation over time by the market, and by individual stocks, through a cycle composed of four stages: Accumulation / basing, advancing / uptrend, distribution / topping and decline / downtrend. This approach shows the reader how to use stage analysis to decide which stocks are the best buy and sell candidates. Volume, moving average and price analysis are combined to make investment selections.

Weinstein suggests starting with the big picture -- determine the market trend first. If the market is bullish, one should first focus attention on the strongest groups and, in turn, focus on the strongest issues within these groups. Conversely, if the market is bearish, one should find the weakest groups and short the weakest stocks within these groups.

Substantial coverage is devoted to understanding the basics of charting, identifying market tops and bottoms, making trading decisions by looking for breakouts and measuring relative strength. He places heavy emphasis on determining the right time to buy and to sell. Quizzes at the end of each chapter are effective in involving the reader and testing his or her understanding of the material.

I would rate this book as excellent for long-term investors. But, for short-term traders, it offers limited guidance. Most illustrations and methods assume the use of weekly rather than daily charts.

As an intraday futures trader who watches prices tic by tic, I personally would have a great deal of trouble applying these methods because of the great patience they would require. However, as a pure technician, I felt very much in tune with Weinstein's methods, which are entirely technical. He completely eschews use of fundamental analysis, advising readers to follow his motto, "The TapeTells All."

A short section on investing in mutual funds offered what I felt was valuable advice to those interested in coverage of options and futures trading. It suggested that the same techniques, which work so well on weekly charts, will work equally well in trading these highly leveraged, short-term vehicles. I disagree, and I would not suggest that the reader take this suggestion seriously.

(Note: I originally wrote this review in 1992. I feel that this book, though published long ago, is still just as worthwhile and valuable as when originally published. I would rank it high on my list of all-time favorites.)