Three hours and thirteen minutes. That's the runtime. At 2.0x speed, I was done in about ninety minutes. And honestly? I want those ninety minutes back.
I picked this up while waiting for Jenny at her dentist appointment - figured a short listen on stock trading basics might have one or two frameworks worth passing along to a founder I'm advising. The description promises "secrets to making MILLIONS" and "the easiest way to retire a millionaire." My parents worked 14-hour days pressing other people's shirts in Koreatown. They would've loved to know the secret was apparently just... listening to a three-hour audiobook by two guys named Brett Saunders and Victor Adams.
The "Complete Guide" That Completes Nothing
Here's what kills me. The title says "The Complete Guide to Trading and Investing in the Stock Market Including Day, Options and Forex Trading." That's four distinct disciplines crammed into three hours. For context, a serious introduction to options trading alone could fill 15 hours. What you actually get is a surface skim of everything - P/E ratios explained like you're twelve, a brief mention of stop-loss orders presented as some "must-know tactic to prevent huge losses," and forex trading covered so thinly you'd learn more from a single Investopedia article.
The "magic ratio to understand the true value of a stock" is just... the P/E ratio. That's it. That's the magic. This is what my parents did instinctively - my mom could look at a competitor's pricing and foot traffic and know their margins within 5%. Now it has a TED talk. Except this isn't even TED talk quality. It's more like a community college orientation pamphlet read aloud.
Michael Reaves Reads Words That Exist
The narrator - Michael Reaves - delivers the material in a flat, instructional tone that matches the content's energy perfectly, which is not a compliment. There's no enthusiasm, no vocal variation when moving between topics. When the text shifts from explaining index funds to discussing day trading strategies, you wouldn't know it from the delivery. It's the audio equivalent of beige wallpaper. Not offensive. Not memorable. Just... there.
Interesting sidebar: the research suggests the narrator Michael Reaves might be confused with the Emmy-winning TV writer of the same name (Star Trek: TNG, The Twilight Zone). I can assure you, whoever narrated this audiobook did not bring Twilight Zone energy to the recording booth.
The Problem Isn't What It Says - It's What It Doesn't
Look, the fundamentals mentioned aren't wrong. Dollar-cost averaging is real. Diversification matters. Stop-losses can save you. But there's zero depth on any of it. No case studies. No specific examples of trades gone right or wrong. No discussion of tax implications. No mention of how 2020-2024 market volatility has changed the game for retail traders. No acknowledgment that "making money every day" through day trading has a failure rate north of 90% for individual traders.
I've seen this fail at three different companies - founders who read one book on finance and suddenly think they understand capital markets. This audiobook is exactly the kind of thing that creates that false confidence. It tells you what to do without telling you what happens when it doesn't work. And in my experience advising startups on their financial strategies, the "what happens when it doesn't work" part is the only part that actually matters.
The description literally says "no matter if you have little money or if you have never invested before... you will learn exactly how to make millions." That's not education. That's a late-night infomercial script. The same hollow promise of easy transformation shows up in No Excuses! — another audiobook that packages surface-level motivation as life-changing wisdom while quietly glossing over the actual hard work.
Who This Is Actually For (And Who Should Run)
If you have genuinely never heard the words "stock market" before and need someone to explain what a stock is for 90 seconds before moving on, fine. But you'd get the same education from three YouTube videos, and those are free. If you have any existing knowledge - even the most basic understanding of how investing works - skip this entirely. My 2.0x speed couldn't save this one.
For actual beginner investing education in audio format, go find something with real depth. Something that respects you enough to tell you the hard truths about risk, not just the fantasy about millions.
The Invoice
Bottom line: This is a pamphlet cosplaying as a comprehensive guide. Three hours trying to cover day trading, options, forex, AND long-term investing is like trying to get an MBA in a weekend seminar at an airport Marriott. The information that IS here isn't wrong - it's just so shallow it's practically useless. Jenny would say I'm being harsh. Jenny is right. But she'd also tell you to keep your money.
