Roland LaChance’s How Anyone Can Make Money From the Stock Markets is a spiritually based financial guide that outlines how individuals can profit through trading stocks. In seven chapters, the author divulges how he chooses what stocks to buy and sell, his criteria for good dividends, and how to amass a winning financial portfolio.
“Brother Roland,” as he refers to himself, is successful in explaining his strategies for using the stock market to make money. For example, in his chapter on dividends he writes, “I only buy three stocks if it [sic] is priced under $50 dollars [sic] and one if the stock is more than $50 dollars [sic]…no more than 10% of your whole portfolio should go into this.”
Yet much of the book’s content is clichéd (i.e. “buy low, sell high”) or explains at length a concept that can be quickly learned in one paragraph elsewhere. Also, Brother Roland¹s writing style is often convoluted and dotted with errors. At one point, he asks readers to review a “graft” (graph) on the following page; at another, he writes: “Some of the books I read told me that those who had money, it [sic] was like pulling teeth to get any of it.”
The text contains religious rhetoric that secular readers might find off-putting. (“God woke me up in the middle of the night so you can get this message hot off the press.”) But perhaps the most perplexing issue is Brother Roland himself. He never claims to be a financial professional but also doesn’t reveal his profession. Furthermore, in the “About the Author” section, he describes getting a new job as the catalyst for him to retire at 55, not the principles explored here, leaving readers wondering exactly how effective the strategies might be.
Bottom line: While this volume delivers basically sound financial advice, the author seems to lack the credentials and gravitas necessary to truly motivate people to risk their own money.
Also available in hardcover and ebook.
