Inspired by the global financial meltdown, Adam Khoo and his co authors have come up with another best seller book called “Profit From The Panic”. Their primary objective of writing this book was with the hope that it would assist more ordinary people to be more investment savvy. We cannot deny the fact that the global financial meltdown had affected every economy in the world. From Wall Street to Main Street, everyone was affected. However, it is without a doubt that main street, the ordinary people, are most affected by this economic downturn. Many have not only lost their retirement nest but also their homes and jobs. Thus, this trio has come together in order to produce this insightful book about the global financial meltdown that is specifically geared towards bringing awareness to the general masses. In addition, they have also pledged to donate the royalties from this book to charity in order to assist the down trodden. 

For the majority of the public not schooled in financial wizardry, the reasons for the global financial meltdown are baffling. This is where one of the authors, Ryan Huang did an excellent job in explaining and outlining the reasons for the global financial meltdown. The trio of authors who came up with this book comprises of Adam Khoo, Conrad Alvin Lim and Ryan Huang. Adam Khoo is one of Singapore top best selling author with seven bestsellers to his credit. An extremely successful entrepreneur and a peak performance trainer, he had touched the lives of over 355 thousands people positively over the duration of 15 years as a trainer.  

Conrad Lim, on the other hand, is one of the very few successful online traders based in Singapore. His intimate grasp of technical analysis and online trading strategies has made him one of the most sought after online trading master. He was also the co-author together with Adam Khoo for the number one bestseller in Singapore for 2007, “Secrets of Millionaire Investors”. A journalist by profession, Ryan Huang works with Channel NewsAsia. His coverage of international news allowed him to be very well informed about the circumstances surrounding the global financial meltdown.  

“Profit From The Panic” is not merely a book that seek to enlighten us about the global financial meltdown. In fact, the book goes deeper than that. It also explain how instead of just licking one’s wound as a result of the biggest financial catastrophe since the Great Depression of the late 1920s, one can actually turn the whole scenario around. Each chapter of the book lay down the ground work towards a deeper understanding of how the current downturn in the economy is actually a blessing in disguise for even the novice investor.  

Flowing from explaining the reasons for the global financial meltdown in chapter one, chapter two of “Profit from the Panic” explain in a simple but clear manner how the financial market works. With case studies based on historical data, the book explains the intricacies of the financial market in such a manner that even a lay person will have no difficulties grasping the concepts and principles behind the inner workings of the financial market. For example, with the use of the S & P 500 index, the authors managed to illustrate the point that regardless of the short term fluctuations in the financial market, in the long run, the financial market will always be on the uptrend. This illustration also permitted the authors to introduce the concept of long term investment strategies into the picture.  

In chapter three and four, the authors introduce the concept of “Crisis Sectors” which tie in seamlessly with the notion of long term investment. A point of interest which the authors highlighted was that 80% of investors actually lose money due to the fact that their investment strategies were based on the short term. As they pointed out in chapter two of their book, the financial market is prone to unpredictable short term fluctuations and it is only in the long term that the market will continue to rise. As such, they keep stressing the importance of investing with a long term objective. The case for long term investment strategy is even made stronger with their example of comparing a person’s lifetime earning with a stock portfolio running across the same duration. Here in these two chapters, they also introduced the use of Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) to buy into the market. For many of us, ETF is a relatively new concept in financial investments. Nevertheless, the authors were able to convince me about the benefits of ETF over unit trusts.  

The preceding chapter five and chapter six discuss about how one can learn to pick winning stocks amidst the chaos of the financial market. Here in this section of the book, the authors teach readers how to buy stocks base on its “Intrinsic Value”. They also illustrated with examples of how to arrive at the intrinsic value of a stock. Coupling this concept with a long term investment strategy, their analysis shows that investors will always be on the winning side. In retrospect, all the steps are clearly defined by the authors. Any novice investor will have no difficulty at all in trying to follow what the authors are trying to share with their readers.  

In the ending chapter of the book, the authors provided a summary of what was covered inside the book. In addition, they also leave a few cautionary advices for readers to follow to avoid the mistakes that most investors made. Financial risk management is also covered within this chapter. Readers are well advised to pay heed to what these successful and professionals have to say regarding the risk management especially in a highly volatile market like the financial market.  

In conclusion, the book provides value for its readers and is an excellent read. The tone is light and even on occasion humorous. It is not overbearing as with most books on financial investing. For those thinking of taking control of their financial destiny by investing in the financial market, then this book is a must read. The insights offered by the authors will save readers a lot of grief later on than when one decided to invest blindly.