Preferred Stock Investing

40 years ago, when I was 16, I found the cornerstone book on Dow Theory in my local library - Technical Analysis of Stock Trends by John Magee. I was hooked. I manually charted stocks on semi-log paper (purchased from Magee's company). Way before PCs, laughable today. I have read 100s of books on stock investing since then always getting the sense I was missing something. I felt someone was withholding a key piece of information. The insiders revealed ALMOST everything. I made money. I lost money. My entry into preferred stocks came from recommendations from the outstanding income investor, Richard Lehmann, a contributor to Forbes. My timing was somewhat lucky - I did well. As I learned more, Preferreds seemed "simple" to me. You could hit one stand-up double after another and it didn't require a Phd in Math or Economics. I moved some money in my brokerage account once triggering phone calls to me by the broker. I mentioned my "luck" with preferreds. The broker said, "Oh yeah, it's easy to make money in preferreds." I thought but did not say, "Well, you son-of-a-bitch, why didn't you call me and help me with that 20 years ago?" I then asked him if he was my fiduciary and the conversation came to a grinding halt. I had to learn more on Preferreds. Le Du's book filled in the blanks for me and systematized my thinking. It's not a tough subject or tough reading. But Le Du's organized mind "gets it all down on paper." It is in fact a template for making AT LEAST 6 percent at very low risk - and much more if you apply Le Du's teachings. I have read other reviews saying the book is nothing but an advertisement for the website. Guess what, the website is an extremely valuable tool. Getting automated notices of Preferred IPOs - which I have now used several times - is worth the price. Not to mention the very complete search tools. To the best of my knowledge, Le Du's book and website are the only products out there that address this little discussed subject so well. Richard Lehmann loves Preferreds and so you should to. Le Du explains the easy to understand details extremely well.

Excellent!!!! Eye Opening!

Excellent work on the subject

I'm new to preferred shares and this book was what I needed to get a good start on understanding how to invest in them within the US market. Would have been nice to see some comments on how this strategy could be adjusted for the Canadian market where most preferred are fixed resets.

Some statements/references are a bit outdated. After all, it's a bit old and was not updated. But the information is still very useful, especially to a beginner. From what I've read so far, it confirmed my understanding and actually reduced my few concerns. Since I made some money already, the book is already paid for (especially since I could get an old copy for like $7...)Also, I find it pretty easy to read. I was expecting something more college level. Not the case. And I have been able to read about one chapter a day.