Hey,

I joined this forum earlier today. To be honest I know very little about investing, but I am extremely interested in it. Originally I was interested in Hedge Funds, but after some research I realized it's not the right place to begin. So I think Mutual Funds would be a better place to start.

I was wondering if anyone knows of any useful books for beginners about Mutual Funds? I will be getting "Mutual Funds for Dummies" soon, but perhaps there are other books you could recommend?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.


-EugP-

I don't know of any of hand. But I didn't realize there was a book "Mutual Funds For Dummies". I am going to see if our local library has this one. I am not sure how they all work so this would be a great place for me to start.

I was at Barnes and Noble the other day and saw that they have all sorts of "Dummies", no matter what sort you need!

Sex for Dummies still makes me laugh,

as does, Mental Retardation for Dummies (although I think my Psych prof made that one up)

__________________
Never sign intellectual property agreements...

That would be a great place to start. My rule of thumb is to research extensively *and* talk to people about how they're investing and how it's working out for them. I never *ever* take just one bit of advice (whether it's from a book or a person) and run with it without confirmation from a number of other sources.

True, but in the end you have to make your own choices about what you want to do. You could talk to a dozen people and get a dozen opinions. Getting educated helps you understand the possibilities and also realize there are multiple good answers, but maybe one best answer for you.

Absolutely right. That's where the "extensive research" I mentioned comes in. Other people are sometimes totally excited about some form of investment that tanked for us. Where you might be fine with a certain percentage of risk, it may freak me out or vice versa.

I would always be cautious about the investment books. Make sure you get ideas from multiple sources.

Which funds will be good and which will be bad in the future? Unfortunately, the books will not know the answer.

--Peter Planchet
Peter Planchet

Exactly Peter.

Books are written to be sold. As our magazines, newspapers, newsletters, and subscriptions.

If there was one book that had all the answers, or one investing system that always worked, then everybody would be doing it!

Remember with investments:
For every investor that is "buying", there is an investor who is "selling".
Someone has to be wrong!

Lastly, you don't have to be NASD licensed in order to write a book. So there is literally no one supervising these authors and their recommendations.

In fact, the reason most actual financial advisors like myself that are NASD licensed "don't" write books, is because it is a royal pain in the *** getting it through compliance. I'm writing a book now and parts are already being reviewed by compliance, and I'm expecting significant delays. (Should've just hired a ghostwriter)

i dunno if this would help a lot,
but there s this interesting beginners article bout MF on my site financejargon.com
Mutual Funds - An Introduction and Brief History - Finance Jargon - Finance & Investment Guide
maybe u ll find it handy..