Because the impact stockbrokers and big business have on the marketis so immediate and direct, they move in and out of the market very slowly in order to not draw attention to themselves. Meanwhile, small investors move under the radar and can make money doing so.

Town teaches students to focus and invest in great companies that they can understand. The students then monitor the company or the stock they own very closely.

In chapter one, Town has a section called “The Mutual FundScam,” in which he explains how only 4 percent of the fund managers since 1985 have beat the market. He demystifies diversification and explains that this practice is for people who have 30 years to invest and who are happy with an 8–percent return.

Town also predicts that mutual funds will soon face 20 years of flat returns, which means that 401ks will not get much bigger. He recommends that people consider what he has to say in Rule #1: to build for a better retirement.

This book is a fantastic tool for beginning investors to understandand master the market. There is a learning curve, but unlike 20 or 30 years ago, the Internet has simplified the training and the time needed to invest. It no longer takes hours of research in a public library.

First identify a “wonderful” business (this is Town’s favorite word for describing these businesses) by using the Four Ms (Meaning, Moat, Management and Margin) of Safety that Town outlines in his book. He also recommends three of his favorite Internet tools that can help the investor “grab that stick from Mr. Market” with confidence and beat the market.

Hearing Town speak, going to his web site at www.philtown.typepad.com, reading his blogs and his book leave the reader with asense that it can be done, and the sooner they get started, the better.