Plant Communities of Marin County

Book Description

Bike through moonlit dunes, ride the waves with world-class windsurfers, glimpse the tail of a passing whale, golf with pirates, watch a Pilgrim pluck a duck, spend the night in a lighthouse, sample old-fashioned jams and pickles —Fodor's Cape Cod 2005 offers all these experiences and more! Our local writers have traveled throughout the Cape to find the best hotels, restaurants, attractions and activities to prepare you for a journey of stunning variety. Before you leave for your trip be sure to pack your Fodor's guide to ensure you don't miss a thing.

The San Francisco Chronicle sums it up best —"Fodor's guides are saturated with information."

-New compact trim size make these guides even more portable
-Two-color interior design makes it easier to find the information you need
-Fodor's Choice Ratings flag must-see sights and hidden treasures
-Hotel and restaurant reviews cover all budgets
-Plus multi-day itineraries to help you build the right trip for you and/or your family

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With Fodor’s you get much more than a guidebook–we make it easy for you to customize your dream vacation.

Visit www.fodors.com to find up-to-date travel bargains, mini-guides to worldwide destinations, information on local festivals, dazzling drives, maps, vacation planning tips and much more!

And, for more insider secrets, visit “Travel Talk” and “Rants and Raves” online at www.fodors.com/forums to get advice from other travelers like you.

Amazon

"Most books about the stock market tell you how to make money. This one ... will show you how to avoid losing it," begins this smart, blunt, cautionary tale based on Nobel laureate James Tobin's 1969 "q ratio," which posits, among other things, that no matter how bullish a market gets, it's bound to snap back into place at some point--and those who don't brace for the reversal will feel its sting. The authors, one a prominent asset-allocation adviser and the other a former head of macroeconomic forecasting for the Bank of England, warn that it's only a matter of time before the overexuberant market of the early 21st-century topples like its counterparts in 1929 and 1968. Here they set out to show why and how this will happen--as well as to tell stockholders what they should and should not do if they want to emerge intact.

After making a cogent new argument in defense of the still-controversial q ratio, the authors show how it plays into principles of stock-market risk and return, how it has determined the value of Wall Street in the past and will continue to do so, and how to apply it as a practical investing tool. They do a neat job of parsing the good and bad news about stocks as a sound investment for the future, and of what to do and not do with one's money come the inevitable bear market. From there, they get down to the nitty-gritty of valuing the stock market, providing four key tests for any indicator of value and explaining how to fold in such factors as the dividend yield, the price-earnings ratio, the adjusted price-earnings multiple, yield ratios, and yield differences. They wrap up with a look at what they call "the q debate" among both economists and stockbrokers, and finally, they apply the q ratio specifically to the U.S. economy, rebuking Alan Greenspan's Federal Reserve for its role in what they see as the coming U.S. bubble burst.

With its plain English, helpful illustrated charts, vivid examples from history, and even the occasional employment of the likes of Alice in Wonderland to prove its points, Valuing Wall Street should be accessible to those with a working understanding of the market and economic principles. All told, this book is not so much a how-to as it is a theoretical forecast whose tidings investors might want heed as we near what Smithers and Wright warn are rough years ahead. --Timothy Murphy

Book Description

"A splendid book . . . could easily be the best investment they'll [investors] make this year."Barron's

Customer Reviews:

James Tobin's "q" for quagmire.......2004-02-10

Written in 1999 to warn investors to get out of the stock market totally because prices were way too high compared to the underlying securities' net worth, Andrew Smithers and Stephen Wright were proven correct during the next three years as prices spiraled downward. The authors' measuring stick was "q," the Nobel prize-winning economist James Tobin's 1969 invention to value stocks. It is the simple formula of stock price divided by corporate net worth (replacement cost). Essentially, it works over time like an oscillator. They take considerable amount of space to prove it is a more reliable indicator of stock market value than dividends or P/E. And it foretold harrowing events when it was computed and published in early 2000 with NASDAQ at 5000. Now the bigger question: So, what use is it going forward from today?
Their method of argument is to chart 100 years of historical stock prices against historical q, then create "normal," "overvalued," and "undervalued" zones with which you should make investment decisions. A reversion to the mean (in this case downward) is what drives their prediction for an extended period of stock market "under performance" during the foreseeable future. Stocks were and still are overvalued, they say, and therefore should be avoided until values return to more "normal" levels.
By the end of 1999, there were no shortages of bears calling for a crash of monstrous proportions based on any number of indicators, P/E and dividend yield included. As it turned out, all were correct. But as with all "fundamental" analysis, timing was lacking. Some bears had prowled the investment landscape for most of the decade and had come up empty until the turning of the millennium. Smithers and Wright, however, hit the market's nail on the head.
Early on in their presentation, they admit that q is not very important most of the time because most of the time markets are not obviously overvalued or undervalued. And the authors do get sidetracked on whether you should pick stocks individually or go with index funds (they give 3 reasons why individual stock picking doesn't work). They do come through loud and clear that stocks are for buying AND selling, and although stocks are good for the long term, when they get too expensive, they should be avoided like the plague.
The worth of the work is the powerful argument, intelligently presented and documented, as to why stock prices were sure to fall at the time the work was published. And fall they did. For awhile, anyway.
Now, the question for you is not whether or not their data and logic make sense; it's whether you want to base your investment decisions on whether other people think it makes sense. And whether we like it or not, since there is no universal arbiter of stock market value except other people's money, investing comes down to Keynes' beauty contest (General Theory pages 154 - 156). If you want to be on the winning side, you don't vote for who you think is the prettiest; you vote for who you think others will consider the prettiest. Translated here, it means you should value stocks the way stocks have been valued over the past century by previous investors. The idea of q is based on what other people throughout history eventually decided were the limits of value. And yes, q says the market is still dangerously overvalued. But during the interlude of the past 14 months and 3000 Dow points (40% gain) prove, a lot of money has been left laying on the table by simply abandoning the investment environment completely until stocks once again become "cheap." Another Keynesism: "The market can stay irrational (overvalued/undervalued) longer than you can stay solvent."

The Latest Value of Q Now Available.......2004-01-18

The latest computed value of Q can always be found at http://www.smithers.co.uk/keydata.shtml . For example I visited that web page on 1-18-2004 and found: "As of 20th June, when the S&P 500 was at 995.73, the market was selling at 1.46 times its long-term average, according to q, and thus needs to fall by 31% to reach fair value." It is strongly advised that investors check this web page at least once a month for possible updates. A word to the wise is sufficient! (Also if you purchase the book, do not forget to look at the Virtual Appendix at http://www.valuingwallstreet.com/VApp.pdf )

Good but hard to read.......2003-12-07

It's hard to rate a book of this type. Some will look at with a jaundiced eye and give it a low rating, some will think carries great worth backed up with lots of research and give it a high rating.
I can sum up the gist of the book with one sentence. The stock market is often way overvalued and buying during those times will give poor return even if stocks are held for long periods. This information is valuable, but unfortunately, most of the type of people that get killed when the market corrects will not be the ones that read a book like this.
As for me, I'm not even an investor, just a student looking to gain knowledge about markets in general. I found a lot of this book to be hard to read and filled with too many statistics and mathematical formulas. It could have been written in a more basic conversational tone and still have all the charts and math in an appendix.
I can assure the reader that no stock broker is going to being singing the praises of this work, it simply states something they won't want to hear. There are times, and we may still be in such a time, that the stock market is simply overbought and money would be better off sitting on the side lines waiting for prices to be more realistic. I happen to agree with the basics they present here, they made a logical argument, and certainly the last bubble that burst proved that they weren't blowing smoke. As to the future, only time will tell, but with P/E ratios being so high, if I had to decide, I'd go with their analysis.

Buy and hold or buy and sell?.......2003-02-23

Although there's plenty of evidence one cannot time the market short term--just look at managed portfolios compared to major stock indexes--that does not mean it's not possible over much longer cycles. The usual metric, P/E ratio, for measuring these cycles is occasionally wrong, like once or twice a century, e.g. if earnings are unusually small, as in the Depression. Better to use something similar to price-to-book value, "q". Averaging over all companies, and looking back over the last hundred years of market data, q tells you when stocks are overpriced more reliably than P/E. If you buy stocks at below average q and sell them when q is above average, you'll outperform a buy and hold strategy.

Of course, people already ignoring P/E are unlikely to be swayed by a refinement. That's why the second aspect of this book is important. It's one of few books that tells you *not* to own stocks now. It presents historical data--someone unfortunate enough to have entered the market just before the 1929 crash would have had to wait 25 years to catch up with an all bond portfolio--to show how bad an investment stocks can be.

Holding bonds until P/E returns to single digits, where it was at the start of the bull market in 1982, will never appeal to some people, but that's this book's advice in a nutshell.

Lack of Practical Application.......2002-05-27

The book painstakingly sets out the case for the q ratio, which appears to have merits as a method of valuing markets. There is no doubt that the markets remain overvalued, and are due for further correction, however the q ratio, along with other blunt tools, do not offer effective market timing abilities. The authors try to make a case for market timing, using a long term time horison however if the time horison is shortened the supposed "buy" and "sell" signals would not be decipherable as with Charting there would be confusing signals. The book therefore lacks practical application as a trading tool, however does offer an alternative for market valuation. By the way the problem of bear market risk can be overcome by adopting a buy-and-hold strategy, which is rebalanced annually using a value-averaging technique (see Edleson - Value Averaging).

Valuing Wall Street - Protecting Wealth In Turbulent Markets

Average customer rating:

Valuing Wall Street - Protecting Wealth In Turbulent Markets
Stephen, Wright
Manufacturer: McGraw-Hill Companies
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OFYLEC

Average customer rating:

Valuing Wall Street : Protecting Wealth in Turbulent Markets
Stephen Wright Andrew Smithers
Manufacturer: McGraw-Hill
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OFQDDO

Average customer rating:

understanding and training your cat or kitten

A book with good advice and some intriguing anecdotes.

Understanding And Training Your Cat Or Kitten
H. Ellen Whitley
Manufacturer: Three Rivers Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Cats | Animal Care & Pets | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books
Reference | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0517881829
Release Date: 1994-03-15

Book Description

A practical guide for every cat owner and lover, covering the physical and emotional needs of their pets, and written by a veterinarian with more than 20 years of experience. In 14 information-packed chapters, Dr. H. Ellen Whiteley reveals everything there is to know about raising happy and healthy cats in your home. 14 color photographs.

Customer Reviews:

understanding and training your cat or kitten.......2000-03-03

I have had several cats and kittens over my 50+ years and this was very helpful, with reasons why cats do the sometimes dreadful things they do, and ways to stop some of the behaviors.

A book with good advice and some intriguing anecdotes........1999-09-11

Despite the rather unwieldy title, this is a good book for the novice cat owner or even the experienced owner who wants to learn more. It seems oddly organized and structured at times, however. Sometimes it's a practical training handbook, at others a feline medical guide. It even ventures into autobiographical territory when it presents anecdotes of the author's veterinary experiences. Overall it's pretty informative, relaying neat facts about cat neurology, behavior, and growth and development. I recommend it.

Book Description

Thanks to the extraordinary photographs and gardening wisdom in this classic book, the elegant intimacy of the English cottage garden is a practical possibility for amateur gardeners in diverse regions of the United States. The author has analyzed the aesthetic and horticultural elements in ten representative cottage gardens--eight in England and two in the United States. Her spectacular photographs render the look and atmosphere of these gardens, while her text focuses on easily grown, readily available plants that are adaptable to a wide variety of climatic and soil conditions. In the back of the book--completely updated for this new edition--may be found specific horticultural information on a wide variety of cottage garden plants commonly available in the United States, glossaries of Latin and common names, and a list of sources for old rose varieties. The gardens in this beautiful book are not those of the great estates of England, manicured by staffs of professional gardeners. They are, instead, labors of love on the part of individual homeowners, many of whom started with bleak, rubble-strewn lots and went on to create the enchanted settings pictured here.

Customer Reviews:

Great for the pictures.......2007-08-15

But of little use if you're a novice looking for more of a "how-to" guide with practical advice on what flowers, etc. to plant and when. It got to the point I hardly read the text by the end.

Will not teach you how to create a cottage garden.......2007-01-29

Beautiful pictures, impenetrably dense text. I got this because of all the great reviews, but I have to disagree with them. I was expecting "how to create a cottage garden," but this is more like "two dozen cottage gardens and the two million plants that are in them." It was information overload, and yet not very informative. I was very disappointed. I returned this and got _Cottage Garden_ by Elisabeth Arter, which was much cheaper and much more what I was looking for.

Huge disappointment.......2006-12-21

This book is full of lovely photographs of English cottage gardens but I found it to be of no use to me as a gardener in the United States. The so-called layout plans are just rough sketches with no labeling of plants. The growing guidelines and plant lists are standard--nothing new there. I enjoyed looking at photos of Tasha Tudor's gardens but I think this book is a waste of money.

USEFUL RESOURCE.......2006-11-10

A great guide on creating a cottage garden for those new to gardening.

Useful, although I do not live in North America!.......2006-11-10

I just love english gardens. That is why i bought this book, thinking that I would just have a great time looking at the photos, but I must say, it has been a great tool when working on my "english garden to be". As I don't live North America, I turn aroung the seasons and I'm ok!

Average customer rating:
500 Plants of South Florida
Julia Frances Morton
Manufacturer: E a Seemann
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Gardening & Horticulture | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0912458348

Average customer rating:

Wonderful Book

She's the boss, applesauce!!!

She's the boss, [applesauce!!!]

You're Smarter Than You Look: Uncomplicating Relationships in Complicated Times

Manufacturer: Harper Paperbacks
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Interpersonal Relations | Relationships | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books
Conflict Management | Relationships | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books
General | Family Relationships | Parenting & Families | Subjects | Books
General | Parenting | Parenting & Families | Subjects | Books
General | Parenting & Families | Subjects | Books
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Don't Pee on My Leg and Tell Me It's Raining: America's Toughest Family Court Judge Speaks Out

Judge Judy: Justice Served

Keep It Simple, Stupid: You're Smarter Than You Look

Judge Judy Sheindlin's Win or Lose by How You Choose!

Judge Judy Sheindlin's You Can't Judge a Book by Its Cover: Cool Rules for School

ASIN: 0060953764

Book Description

Bestselling author and star of the #1 syndicated TV show, Judy Sheindlin has ruled on hundreds of cases involving relationship disputes over the years. Now she shares her solutions to problems that plague many relationships today.

Very different from what it was even twenty years ago, the traditional nuclear family now includes exes, ex-in-laws, merged families, stepchildren, friends from previous marriages and relationships, and even pets. This can create a complex web of relationships, easily becoming a knot in today's world. Judge Judy unravels these knots for everyone in a tangle.

From the decision to marry to writing a will, Judge Judy tackles all the relationship issues that drive people crazy...and sometimes to court.

Customer Reviews:

Wonderful Book.......2007-01-09

My daddy, Johnnie Barker, just loves Judge Judy. I ordered this book for him. Not a huge reader, he read this from cover to cover!

She's the boss, applesauce!!!.......2003-07-02

In her characteristic sarcastic wit and dry humor style, Judge Judy addresses some serious topics with this entertaining book. Bringing her perspective from many years of adjudicating Family Court issues, Ms. Sheindlin could qualify as a psychiatrist as much as she is a judge. Written in a "Dear Abby" format, Judy answers many letters apparently written to her regarding family disputes over the years; an interesting twist, though, is that you get to read both of the disputing parties view on the issues, with Judy then rendering her opinion and legal advice.
There is, however, a slight undertone of "male bashing" throughout which, although perhaps occassionally justified, gets a bit annoying, and leads me to believe that the intended audience for this book is largely female. But anyone concerned about the social ills afflicting family life in the US will benefit from Judge Judy's unique viewpoints and her genuine attempt to improve the current status quo. Judge Judy, you go girl!!!

She's the boss, [applesauce!!!].......2003-07-02

Youandapos;re Smarter Than You Look : Uncomplicating Relationships in Complicated Times

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Youandapos;re Smarter Than You Look : Uncomplicating Relationships in Complicated Times
Sheindlin Judy Judy Sheindlin
Manufacturer: Harper Paperbacks
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OF1ALO

Book Description

A visionary painter best known for his murals, Diego Rivera explored Paris, Spain, San Francisco, New York, Moscow and his native Mexico, and counted Picasso, Cocteau, Trotsky and Rockefeller among his coterie of friends and enemies.

Customer Reviews:

Art and History.......2002-12-07

I would recommend this book to anyone interested in Diego Rivera's life, Mexican history, American history, etc. It is a very well-written book by an eye-witness author. One of the best books I have ever read.

Diego Rivera's Tall Tales.......2000-01-26

Originally published in 1963, Bertram Wolf's bio of the Mexican artist remains an important and entertaining part of the Rivera literature to this day. A major problem, however: the present edition is a second printing of the 1990 paperback edition, and the quality of the photographic reproductions in the book is no better than a poorly printed newspaper. The illustrations in the 1963 hardcover biography were not great, but at least they were clear and legible. The beautiful typeface has been preserved as have the illustrations (by Rivera) that accompany each chapter heading and, most importantly, Wolf's rich narrative of the life and stories of Diego Rivera.

Average customer rating:

Fabulous Life of Diego Rivera
Bertram D Wolfe
Manufacturer: STEIN & DAY PUBLISHERS
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000UKONEE

Average customer rating:

The Fabulous Life of Diego Rivera
Bertram D. Wolfe
Manufacturer: Stein and Day
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000MXWV8Y

Average customer rating:

Fabulous Life of Diego Rivera
Bertram D. Wolfe
Manufacturer: STEIN AND DAY
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000OK81L6

Average customer rating:

The Fabulous Life of Diego Rivera
Bertram Wolfe
Manufacturer: NY
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000N7I7PA

Average customer rating:

The Fabulous Life of Diego Rivera
Bertram D Wolfe
Manufacturer: Stein and Day c1963
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000OO6O0M

Book Description

The legation of Guala Bicchieri of Vercelli, the third papal legate specifically appointed to England during the reign of King John, coincided with a turbulent period in England's history. Guala played a leading role in events, presiding over the resettlement of the English church after 1217, and is a figure of great importance in English political history. This volume assembles a comprehensive collection of his charters and letters.Dr NICHOLAS VINCENTteaches at Christ Church, Canterbury.

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