Rick Bloom's Guide to Understanding Investing

If you haven't been running with the bulls for the past decade (I'm not talking Pamplona, where your odds of being trampled are probably greater), then you've missed out on some rather demonstrable gains in the stock market. Rick Bloom, a C.P.A. and longtime Detroit radio host of Money Talks, together with guest C.P.A. Jeff Ellis, walk or, actually, talk viewers through the basics of investing. A pretty smart cookie, Bloom emphasizes that you don't need to be a Warren Buffett to take control of your financial future. Viewers are advised to work out their goals and objectives, decide how much risk they're willing to tolerate, steer clear of front and back-loaded funds (as well as those with excessive 12-b-1 fees) and take advantage of the freebies of low-fee mutual funds (diversification and professional money management). Bloom reiterates over and over the wealth of information available at the public library, and downplays tax worries by exhorting viewers to not "let the tax tail wag the dog." The program concludes with a list of recommended funds with which you can't go wrong (starting with PBHG Growth Fund, which has posted a less than stellar year to date growth; to be fair, PBHG's 5-year-record is fantastic). For the most part, viewers won't go wrong with the info presented here, as long as they follow Bloom's advice to monitor their investments (and--my advice--steer clear of PBHG Growth Fund for the moment). Useful for its straight talk and affordably priced, this is recommended. Aud: P. (R. Pitman)