I actually got almost everything I wanted out of this book, but there were several things I hated about it and that is why I gave it two stars, here are my reasons why...........



1. The book doesn't go into much depth about the interrelated markets, like they might mention that options are available in not just stocks, but bonds, securitized debt, etc.....but the book didn't talk about where to look to find this information, or where to look for more in depth information. The book was meant to be broad, but this was just a bit too broad.



2. References, references, references.......Case in point, there are none, zero, zilch, nodda, didn't reference one single thing in the entire book.



3. The author is such a dry boring writer. He explains something then moves on, doesn't put any personality into anything he writes.



4. The author states things like what he says is fact and doesn't go to any degree to prove it, simple references again would help. I often see authors who have an agenda do this very thing, give details about things with zero support. I don't believe the author did this here, but really how am I(a newbie) to know?



5. And this book really isn't meant for someone that knows nothing about the financial world. There were several times where I had to sit back and say to myself, "Really? That's all the depth you thought was needed? Why didn't you explain in simpler terms or start from a better beginning?" The beginning chapter of this book was hysterically short for an intro book, and should have been way better for the shortness that it is.



6. There was no ending chapter to sum everything up. The author just ends abruptly. The end of the Derivatives chapter comes like all other chapters, then that's the end of the book, and nothing else.



But other than that I am somewhat satisfied. I learned a lot of things I did not know, and I imagine that because of the lack of reference material that this is common knowledge and not to be argued with by the experts. That would be the only reason not to have references, because you are stating the obvious and nothing controversial. I was happy to learn that you can create a bond for almost anything, and there are even bonds that last until you die which I would love to have. Cool stuff like that is what kept me interested long enough to finish the book. I don't know if other books that cover the broad range read like this, but so far this would be the best broad range book I have read as it is the first I have read.