If you want to make money in the stock market, conventional wisdom says to buy/hold/wait and eventually you'll make some money. Some of us don't want to wait that long. James "RevShark" DePorre, who you may know through his work with Jim Cramer's TheStreet.com and RealMoney.com, has a new book out, Invest Like A Shark. In it he makes the case that you can not only beat the markets consistently, but also make money, or at the very least protect your money, even when the market is tanking.

But DePorre says the way to do it is NOT to do what the mutual funds do or what experts tell you to do - sit around waiting for a fundamentally sound stock to go up. Instead, use your advantage as a small investor to get into a stock already on the way up and hop out before it falls-getting in and out like a shark.

DePorre offers his system here, or at least vaguely offers his system, which consists of using charts and some technical analysis to predict when a stock will rise (or to notice when it's rising in a convincing pattern), and doing the same to predict when it will fall (or notice the signs of a fall). When I say he "vaguely" offers his system, I mean there's no step-by-step guide here. What he says is this: you as an individual investor can't possibly have access to all the information that the big boys do, BUT you can watch the charts to see when a stock starts making a significant move up, and you can ride the wave regardless of the WHY behind the stock's movement. Same thing on the downside-you don't have to know why a stock is tanking to know that you should get out. Someone knows, and you don't want to be the ignorant one left holding the bag, like an Enron investor watching his retirement go kablooey.

DePorre isn't particularly interested in a stock's fundamentals or even what a company does; he just looks for the trend. While he offers some thoughts in the book on averaging in or doing limited stock sells along the way to take profits, this is not a book offering overly specific techniques. It's goal is more to help you develop a mindset, to start thinking about how the market provides plenty of opportunities for big gains, and how the market often clearly signals when it's time to run. DePorre is a strong advocate for cashing out when it looks like the tide has turned.

I should mention a bit of DePorre's personal story, as the subtitle of the book is "How a Deaf Guy with No Job and Limited Capital Made A Fortune Investing in the Stock Market". DePorre was an attorney who completely lost his hearing, which cost him his ability to do his work and contributed to his marriage falling apart. Left with little money and unclear career options, he started studying the stock market, and soon started making good money, which then turned into great money, which led to him counseling others and becoming a known name in the investing world. Now he's a rich guy with a home on the beach.

Obviously DePorre's methods are not for everyone, and he goes out of his way to say that you should adopt a trading style that fits your comfort level. But he's adamant that more money can be made by sharking than by waiting. If you've ever heard that you should buy-and-hold because the biggest stock market gains come on a very few days during the year and you don't want to miss them by being out of the market, DePorre offers a compelling comeback- the worst losses come from just a few days per year, and if you'd jumped ship before those bad days, you'd have a lot more money.

Many people would call DePorre's methods lunacy for the average investor, and I might agree, especially if someone decided to use all of their capital to try to be a shark. But if you like to buy individual stocks, I don't think it's crazy to try his strategies for maximizing returns on a smaller chunk of your nest egg. If you can be fairly unemotional, you might do very well. And, if not, don't do it anymore.

After reading the book, I've already started using some of DePorre's methods on a chunk of my portfolio. Results are mixed so far, I'll let you know how it goes. Either way, the book is entertaining and definitely food for thought.

Click here to go to DePorre's Invest Like A Shark book Web site.