Book Description
Investing is all about common sense. Owning a diversified portfolio of stocks and holding it for the long term is a winner’s game. Trying to beat the stock market is theoretically a zero-sum game (for every winner, there must be a loser), but after the substantial costs of investing are deducted, it becomes a loser’s game. Common sense tells us—and history confirms—that the simplest and most efficient investment strategy is to buy and hold all of the nation’s publicly held businesses at very low cost. The classic index fund that owns this market portfolio is the only investment that guarantees you with your fair share of stock market returns.
To learn how to make index investing work for you, there’s no better mentor than legendary mutual fund industry veteran John C. Bogle. Over the course of his long career, Bogle—founder of the Vanguard Group and creator of the world’s first index mutual fund—has relied primarily on index investing to help Vanguard’s clients build substantial wealth. Now, with The Little Book of Common Sense Investing, he wants to help you do the same.
Filled with in-depth insights and practical advice, The Little Book of Common Sense Investing will show you how to incorporate this proven investment strategy into your portfolio. It will also change the very way you think about investing. Successful investing is not easy. (It requires discipline and patience.) But it is simple. For it’s all about common sense.
With The Little Book of Common Sense Investing as your guide, you’ll discover how to make investing a winner’s game:
- Why business reality—dividend yields and earnings growth—is more important than market expectations
- How to overcome the powerful impact of investment costs, taxes, and inflation
- How the magic of compounding returns is overwhelmed by the tyranny of compounding costs
- What expert investors and brilliant academics—from Warren Buffett and Benjamin Graham to Paul Samuelson and Burton Malkiel—have to say about index investing
- And much more
You’ll also find warnings about investment fads and fashions, including the recent stampede into exchange traded funds and the rise of indexing gimmickry. The real formula for investment success is to own the entire market, while significantly minimizing the costs of financial intermediation. That’s what index investing is all about. And that’s what this book is all about.
JOHN C. BOGLE is founder of the Vanguard Group, Inc., and President of its Bogle Financial Markets Research Center. He created Vanguard in 1974 and served as chairman and chief executive officer until 1996 and senior chairman until 2000. In 1999, Fortune magazine named Mr. Bogle as one of the four "Investment Giants" of the twentieth century; in 2004, Time named him one of the world’s 100 most powerful and influential people, and Institutional Investor presented him with its Lifetime Achievement Award.
Customer Reviews:
Brilliant by a financial guru.......2007-10-16
This is the most important book on retirement. if you don't buy anything else, get this one!
In the Peter Lynch mode of thinking
Beat the pros with common sense!
Outstanding Investment Book.......2007-10-15
This is the best investment book I've ever read. John Bogle's common sense approach to investing is easy to follow and very profitable. I wish I had this knowledge 25 years ago! Highly recommended!
Celebrating the 30th anniversary!.......2007-10-14
John Bogle is an investing guru.
But this entire book is him pitching his prized mutual fund that he created 30 years ago:
The Vanguard Standard and Poor's 500 Index Mutual Fund.
That's it!
So instead of reading the 214 pages, you can just read the following sentence:
"Buy the Vanguard S&P 500 Index Mutual Fund"
I already have, directly through Vanguard, so it was not new information.
Valuable Investment Advice.......2007-10-02
I have been "investing" for years without a sustainable strategy. The information provided in this book is educational, reassuring and eye-opening. Mr. Bogle showed that Investing need not be complicated and provided many examples and facts to support his assertions. If you need good, sound proven financial advice from an industry giant, this is invaluable and a must-read book. I bought 5 copies (one is audio CD) and gave them to my friends and sister.
An aptly titled book.......2007-08-14
As a professional portfolio manager since the 1960's [now retired] I most highly recommend this book. I have purchased copies for my adult children, as well as for some for-profit and non-profit boards on which I serve. I am telling all that this easy, one-day read has the potential to be a financial life-enhancing event, if they agree with the basic premise. And that there is no reason not to agree with the premise. I very much like that Bogle includes supporting data at the end of every section. A true five-star book.
Book Description
The bestselling author of Pioneering Portfolio Management, the definitive template for institutional fund management, returns with a book that shows individual investors how to manage their financial assets.
In Unconventional Success, investment legend David F. Swensen offers incontrovertible evidence that the for-profit mutual-fund industry consistently fails the average investor. From excessive management fees to the frequent "churning" of portfolios, the relentless pursuit of profits by mutual-fund management companies harms individual clients. Perhaps most destructive of all are the hidden schemes that limit investor choice and reduce returns, including "pay-to-play" product-placement fees, stale-price trading scams, soft-dollar kickbacks, and 12b-1 distribution charges.
Even if investors manage to emerge unscathed from an encounter with the profit-seeking mutual-fund industry, individuals face the likelihood of self-inflicted pain. The common practice of selling losers and buying winners (and doing both too often) damages portfolio returns and increases tax liabilities, delivering a one-two punch to investor aspirations.
In short: Nearly insurmountable hurdles confront ordinary investors.
Swensen's solution? A contrarian investment alternative that promotes well-diversified, equity-oriented, "market-mimicking" portfolios that reward investors who exhibit the courage to stay the course. Swensen suggests implementing his nonconformist proposal with investor-friendly, not-for-profit investment companies such as Vanguard and TIAA-CREF. By avoiding actively managed funds and employing client-oriented mutual-fund managers, investors create the preconditions for investment success.
Bottom line? Unconventional Success provides the guidance and financial know-how for improving the personal investor's financial future.
Customer Reviews:
Investment to avoid-buying this book.......2007-09-02
While I have a lot of respect for Swensen's practical success with the endowment, his book has some great advice and some really poor advice. Swensen is to be commended for steering the investments from the '85 asset allocation to where it is today. It was visionary, courageous, very rewarding.
The author does a great job of advising investors to reduce exposure to US large cap equities, and the rationale behind it. He also makes a logical case for increasing exposure to various international equity and fixed income markets.
Where he goes astray, in my opinion, is by suggesting that investors look to index funds as a panacea for investing. While he and his team at Yale have found exceptional managers who bring value (above index returns, on a net of fee basis), he assumes that individual investors cannot. While few investors have the negotiating skill set he has (due to his Assets Under Management), individual investors who spend a few hours a month can find money managers via mutual funds that consistently outperform their peers and benchmarks.
Let me sum up his book for you: own a LOT more baskets to put your eggs in, than just the standard 5-6 you may have in your 401k, and invest in low cost index funds.
My suggestion: take the first bit of advice, and instead of low-cost index funds, find managers who consistently beat the indexes, and rebalance annually.
Oh, and borrow the book from the library instead of padding his wallet.
Its clear Mr. Swensen has never held the hand of an Individual Investor.......2007-07-21
I loved David Swensen's white paper about institutional portfolio construction; I liked his book on Pioneering Portfolio Management: An Unconventional Approach to Institutional Investment- with this book he stepped outside his area of expertise.
Among the rare few Investing Classics..........2007-04-26
This is a remarkably good book. Almost any investor will benefit from reading this book. Swensen distills a lot of wisdom into this volume touching on all aspects of Portfolio Policy. It would be rare for even very advanced investors to not gain a new insight or two from reading this book.
Having said that, I have a couple of issues with this book.
- Swensen's writing style is very labored. It was hard to read more than a few pages at a time. Not because the material was difficult, but because of his writing style.
- I am frankly puzzled by Swensen's glowing recommendation of Southeastern Asset Management (a Mutual Fund company that owns Longleaf Partners Funds). While Longleaf is a good fund outfit, I don't see how Longleaf is that much different from other, better Value style Mutual Fund companies out there. I don't see how Longleaf is any different from Dodge and Cox or Oakmark. I just don't see Longleaf being that special, so I am puzzled at Swensen's singling them out as exemplary. As I write this, Longleaf has one of the most expensive International Equity funds out there - with an Expense Ratio of 1.61%, compare that with an International Index Fund that you can buy at Vanguard for 25 basis points ! Charging almost 1.5%/year more in expenses will require some exceptional Active Management from Longleaf to generate returns, the odds are against investors in the active fund there.
A Standout Book!.......2007-03-29
This is an indispensable investment book in my opinion. Swensen clearly has an original and unique perspective on investing. There are plenty of books out there in favor of passive management, low costs, and asset-class investing. Here are some of the ideas and concepts he presents in this book that make him stand out from the crowd:
1. He believes treasuries are practically the only bonds worth considering for the individual investor. The chapter in which he discusses it is very interesting, and his arguments are compelling.
2. He is not a devout believer of efficient markets, and acknowledges that superior active performance can be attributed to skill. He explains that there are two games being played: short-term and long-term active management. Unfortunately, since most managers are pressured to have good annual, quarterly, or even monthly returns, they must think short-term, and are unable to invest for the longterm. The longterm game, consisting of far fewer players, is a completely different playing field.
3. He focuses an extraordinary amount of time on the profit-seeking behavior of mutual fund companies, and why they are detrimental to investors. Alignment of interests between shareholders and managers is a major theme in his book.
He suggests investors to construct a portfolio of passive, capitalization-weighted index funds (or ETF's), combined with treasuries and TIPS. Unlike Bogle and other pro-indexing gurus, Swensen seems to focus more on avoiding shareholder-unfriendliness than he is on the other benefits of index funds (style-purity, low costs, etc.). He also ignores Fama-French size and value factor loading, which is fine. There are other great books on portfolio design (William Bernstein is pretty much all you need to read on that subject).
My only complaint about the book is that he seems to enjoy reemphasizing points. Swensen will summarize his thoughts throughout the chapter, and one more time at the end of each chapter, and then a whole final chapter devoted to more summarizing. I think this book could have been 2/3rds the length with essentially the same content. However, that is a minor complaint, compared to the vast amount of knowledge I gained from reading the book. Highly recommended!
Interesting book, but not quite what I expected/wanted.......2007-03-15
Based on the title, the author's background, and the little I'd read about the book, I expected this to be mainly a 'how to' manual - how to best manage one's funds for maximum returns.
While there was some of that in the book, in fact the focus seemed more on castigating much of the financial industry for their misdeeds and greed. If you've read John Bogle's writings, you've seen some of this before, but Unconventional Success is perhaps even a bit more detailed and clear on the misalignment of interests between investors and financial products providers, and how that leads to the investors being taken for a ride in various ways.
So, there's a lot of "don't do this, don't buy that product"-type information in the book. As far as what he DOES recommend, he's relatively brief, and, IMO, doesn't go into enough detail. He advocates splitting your money among 6 major asset classes, and staying with low cost funds, mainly those offered by non-profit companies (Vanguard and TIAA-CREF). But there's not enough support for his statements that asset class X should be 15% of your portfolio and asset class Y should be some other percentage. He briefly discusses historical returns for asset classes and touches on some reasons why returns may differ going forward, but again, there's not much detail there.
Yale's endowment (which Swensen manages, very well) is known for unconventional investments (thus, perhaps, the book's title). But if you want to read about timber or other natural resources, or see much detail on why Yale's endowment is so successful, you won't find it here. Admittedly, many of the options available to Yale are not available to the common investor, or if they are, are so watered down with extra fees as to be unsuitable. Still, I was little disappointed about the lack of reference to his own investment strategies at Yale, which are the reason most of us have heard of him and the reason I bought the book.
One thing that was interesting to me was his analysis of why some indexes aren't well suited for use as a mutual fund benchmark. I have a significant slice of my portfolio in a fund that uses the Russell 2000 value index as a benchmark, and the Russell indexes are called out for criticism in the book. I will keep the criticisms in mind in planning future allocations/re-allocations.
Overall, it was an interesting read - I blew through it in one night. But it was not quite what I expected...
Book Description
Inside the House of Money lifts the veil on the typically opaque world of hedge funds, offering a rare glimpse at how today's highest paid money managers approach their craft. Author Steven Drobny demystifies how these star traders make billions for well-heeled investors, revealing their theories, strategies and approaches to markets. Drobny, cofounder of Drobny Global Advisors, an international macroeconomic research and advisory firm, has tapped into his network and beyond in order assemble this collection of thirteen interviews with the industry's best minds. Along the way, you'll get an inside look at firsthand trading experiences through some of the major world financial crises of the last few decades. Whether Russian bonds, Pakistani stocks, Southeast Asian currencies or stakes in African brewing companies, no market or instrument is out of bounds for these elite global macro hedge fund managers. Highly accessible and filled with in-depth expert opinion, Inside the House of Money is a must-read for financial professionals and anyone else interested in understanding the complexities at stake in world financial markets.
"The ruminations of supposedly hush-hush hedge fund operators are richly illuminating." --New York Times
Customer Reviews:
Insightful visit to the world of the global macro investor........2007-09-28
This fascinating book will take you into the world of current global macro investing. Steven Drobny interviews 13 successful traders, analysts and fund managers who participate in global macro investing in many different ways. Although some of the discussions are technical (but never mathematical), they are readable and easy to understand. Drobny also provides some information on the origins and early years of global macroeconomic investing, from John Keynes to George Soros. He talks to his interviewees about their backgrounds and asks their investment advice. His question-and-answer approach keeps things moving. We enjoyed Drobny's descriptions of the people he interviewed, though the interview-style format leads to somewhat choppy data. This book is surprisingly fun for what could have become a very dense, technical tome in less skilled hands.
Find out what the experts think about investing in the global marketplace .......2007-09-17
This is a terrific book about how 13 investors use global macroeconomics in their work. The shorthand term is global macro. Since the field is pretty much undefined and can include investments of any time anywhere in the world, it is hard to define what exactly it is. In fact, the book isn't about Steven Drobny telling you about what he thinks it is. Instead, the chapters are question and answers with each of these practitioners of this technique.
The first few chapters offer some context and history of global macro investing. The earliest people doing it were probably John Maynard Keynes and Alfred Winlow Jones. Drobny takes us through the key macroeconomic crises of the past several decades and offers a few thoughts about the future.
The people he interviews are Jim Leitner of Falcon Management, Siva-Jothy of SemperMacro, the author's partner, but no relation - Andres Droby, Dr. John Proter of Barclays Capital, Dr. Sushil Wadhwani of Wadhwani Asset Management, Peter Thiel of Clarium Capital, Yra Harris of Praxis Trading, Jim Rogers, Dwight Anderson of Ospraie Management, Scott Bessent Capital, Mark Dimitrijevic of Everest Capital, Rob Standing of London Diversified Fund Management, and an anonymous currency specialist.
All of these folks look for people who are motivated, and have a passion and talent for math, economics, history, and have a demonstrated aptitude for training. You will notice that many have doctorates, but not all. Some learned the trade by trading, all were captivated by the process soon after they first came in contact with it.
I found the range of investments and their thoughts about the global economy fascinating. This is a very interesting book, especially so if you are interested in markets and trading. Their generally gloomy view of the future of the American economy is quite disturbing, though.
Reviewed by Craig Matteson, Ann Arbor, MI.
A Rare Opportunity that Leaves One Wanting More.......2007-08-21
I love to have extended conversations with experts. I feed off their enthusiasm and expertise. These conversations are even more exciting to me, when the person with whom I am speaking is an expert in a field I love.
With only one lowly exception, Steven Drobny has written a winner for me. By interviewing as assembling the edited transcripts of his conversations in his book, Inside the House of Money, Drobny opened a gateway into the thinking and experiences of 13 successful Global Macro investors.
Although many have the reputations as being secretive and reluctant to discuss their market approaches, the author gives the reader a glimpse of the thinking that goes into placing a multi-million trade on currencies, economies and securities.
Drobny is uniquely qualified to do these interviews. As a partner in an international macroeconomic research and advisory firm, he brings a seasoned professional's insight to the interviews. Key historical events that shaped the experiences of these traders are explored. Nuances of the current crowded markets are discussed intelligently. As a result, the reader gains precious insights into the subtleties of running a Global Macro Hedge Fund.
There is only one problem with the book. I found myself wanting more from the interviewees. Drobny gave me access to people with whom I would never have the opportunity to speak. What I read was great, but I wanted more. But then again, I trade like that.
Excellent book.......2007-08-20
I found very interesting and rich of insights.
It's very useful in understanding hedge fund manager's approach to the markets.
Decent overview of global macro traders.......2007-08-15
The book kept my interest and was very informative. Some of the interviews were excellent. I say some, because those that trade closer to my style are obviously more interesting for me. but theres plenty here for everyone.
I liked the interviews of so many different styles because it just proves my personal theory that anyone can make money. Every trader in the book trades differently and they still all make money.
I also like the comments from many of these traders that said that we were heading for a sub-prime meltdown and that the banks would be having problems. This was written more than a year ago, and thats exactly whats happening today. Dow is now down 8.6% off the high it made last month. The volatility is crazy. And these guys predicted it long ago. Lots of good insight from their interviews.
Book Description
Develop a Winning Investment Strategy -- with Expert Advice from "The Nation's #1 Money Manager"
Peter Lynch's "invest in what you know" strategy has made him a household name with investors both big and small.
An important key to investing, Lynch says, is to remember that stocks are not lottery tickets. There's a company behind every stock and a reason companies -- and their stocks -- perform the way they do. In this book, newly revised and updated for the paperback edition, Peter Lynch shows you how you can become an expert in a company and how you can build a profitable investment portfolio, based on your own experience and insights and on straightforward do-it-yourself research. There's no reason the individual investor can't match wits with the experts, and this book will show you how.
In Beating the Street, Lynch for the first time:
* Explains how to devise a mutual fund strategy
* Shows how he goes about picking stocks, step-by-step
* Describes how the individual investor can improve his or her investment performance to rival that of the experts of the investment clubs.
Customer Reviews:
A study in excellence.......2007-02-15
What a great book of explanation. He gives many of his normal habits to us that are away from all the other advise of investors and financial advisors. His whys may sound old fashioned but look at his record and you will be old fashioned also if you could obtain what he did. I will read any and all of his other books now. I only see one listed at this point but will hope to find him writing more. I have been in the Magellian fund since 1986 and his success has proven itself to me personally.
Entertaining and useful.......2007-02-10
This book is a must-read for anyone interested investing. Peter Lynch ran one of the most successful mutual funds in history, the Fidelity Megellan Fund, which averaged an annual return of 29% during his 13 year tenure. He is also ranked by Wall Street as one of the most successful stock pickers on the planet. In Beating the Streets, Lynch outlines his common-sense approach to stock picking. The approach, labeled as "buy what you know" by Lynch, or investing in your "circle of competence" as referred to by Warren Buffet, is a simple strategy the yields results proven by many successful investors. In his book, Lynch goes through his entire process of stock picking from how he discovers a lead through what numbers he looks at to how he investigates the company behind the stock. I found the book to be an extremely accessible, comprehensive, and practical guide that is written in an entertaining and light-hearted manner. I highly recommend this book to anyone that wasn't born with a fortune in their bank account.
The Lynch Classic--Unbeatable, except perhaps Warren Buffett's Annual Reports.......2007-02-04
Lynch makes lots of good points. One of them is as a small investor you can buy into thinly traded stocks on the way up, such as APCC in the early days.
Big funds simply can't get enough stock to make it "worthwhile," an interesting point, usually overlooked by the pros in their writing.
if you want to know how to invest you don't need this book!.......2007-01-29
if you want to know how to invest you don't need this book!
90% of this book is Peter Lynch story
not as good as I expected.......2007-01-22
A lot of repeating in this book. Lack of good ideas.
Amazon.com
This handy fact-filled book initiates you into the mysteries of the financial pages -- buying stocks, bonds, mutual funds, futures and options, spotting trends and evaluating companies. For those who are curious but intimidated by everyday financial jargon, this guide offers a literate, forthright and lively alternative. Recommended.
Book Description
The Wall Street Journal Guide to Understanding Money & Investing initiates you into the mysteries of the financial pages -- buying stocks, bonds, mutual funds, futures and options, spotting trends and evaluating companies. For those who are curious but intimidated by everyday financial jargon, this guide offers a literate, forthright and lively alternative.
Customer Reviews:
Great!.......2007-03-27
Just finished reading it. Wow, what a mind trip. Fast shipment too!
Investing for Dummies.......2005-05-03
I cant believe that I went through college without taking business or econ classes (except for political economy). This is a way for me to catch up.
I like this book because it is easy to read and understand. So easy even an elementary school kid could understand....ok maybe junior high.
Eventually I would hope to read the Intelligent Investor.
Excellent basics.......2004-12-08
This book is excellent for learning the basic concepts in investing and finance. If you would like to iniciate in this area, i recommend this book as an entry door with the basics.
The Best.......2004-05-25
As many have said in their reviews, this is a great starting point for those new to investing and financial markets. In fact, it's the best I've ever found and I've looked a lot. The simple, plain English explanations are what makes this book stand out. For the nuances and more detailed information regarding the topics in the book, look to a textbook from a college finance class. But for the person who knows very little, start with this.
Good for beginner investors.......2004-05-23
If you are new to investing and need a simple primer, read this book. It's well organized and written. Those that have invested for a while will find this book simplistic. Nevertheless, I think every beginning investor should get a copy and read it.
Product Description
Want to know how to trade the hottest new investment vehicle? This book reveals the secrets of profiting from a new and growing investment vehicle the Exchange-Traded Fund. Pulling from experts in the field like Linda Bradford Raschke and Steve Palmquist, this book has all the information you need to begin trading ETFs for profit: Learn the basics of ETFs; how they work, why they re growing in popularity, and how you can get your share of the profits. Discover the way to apply classic techniques to leverage your ETF investments for both the short-term and long-term. Study simple but highly effective mechanical ETF rotation techniques (style, sector, and international) that are now available to the individual investor. ETF Trading Strategies Revealed doesn t end there. Learn from long-time trader and founder of AIQ Systems, Dr. J.D. Smith, what it takes to mentally be the best. When you have the emotional discipline to follow his techniques, you ll find increased profits aren t far behind.
Customer Reviews:
Strategy can be improved.......2007-10-18
Without a doubt, this is a solid, easy to follow investment model that will blow the socks off of many investing/trading strategies. One gripe I have about this book, however, is the fact that Vomund doesn't add market timing. I have conducted many backtests using my own timing model with a 2ETF portfolio with much better results with no timing. 2002 is a good example of how timing would of kept you out of the market until late 2002, when the market started to base. Additionally, portfolio size is critical. I've found a 1ETF portfolio (yes, higher risk) performs exceptional better than a 2 ETF portfolio. I'm sure Vomund incorporates these two areas in his on investing. I just wish he would of addressed them in the book.
Great strategy for your long term money.......2007-09-05
This book is FANTASTIC! If you are looking for a way to do better than the market in a relaxed and simple way, this is it. This is not a trading strategy, its an investment strategy which has given me all of the answers I've needed for investing our nest egg. It is perfect for 401Ks, education accounts, and retirement accounts. Thanks to David Vomund for sharing this with us!!!
Yawn .......2007-08-13
You can get more information from the select sector spyders website, you can even get up to date analysis. The book is a joke, why do people insist on writing such garbage!. Don't waste your time here.
Very useful yet simple to use methods for ETF investing.......2007-07-28
David Vomund has written this book with simplicity and clarity.His approach is very methodical and practical.Novice as well seasoned investors can adopt his method without spending too much time.It is a small book but thoroughly focussed on its principal objective.
David's methodology is very mechanical and its strength lies in its ease of use.
I recommend this book to anyone who is thinking of ETF investing
Rashmi Shah
sleep at night strategy.......2007-05-11
I have followed these traders, espicially D Vomond! He offers very good investment advice, and you do not have to trade every day, hanging on the markets every little or big movement!
Just check things once every week or two and upgrade if needed! takes maybe 10- 15 minutes a week!
I also subscribe to his newsletter service! check my e-mail on the weekend, enter the trade on trade trggers, and off to my life for the rest of the week!
you allways know what ETF's have the most momentum international, sector, or index small, mid, or large cap, groth or value!
Customer Reviews:
There is an alternative........2007-08-20
WSJ Guide to Money is out of print. That is why the cost has gone through the roof. Standard and Poor's Guide to Money and Investing (Standard & Poor) The Standard and Poors Guide to Money is by the same authors and is even a year more current. Take a look at the cover you can even see that it is the same book and that all that was done is WSJ in the title is changed to "Standard and Poors Guide to Money and Investing". Same book by the same author. The only difference is that is is in print so the price is reasonable.
Handy Little Book.......2007-05-03
Although this isn't the largest book in the world, I really enjoyed reading it. I thought that I was pretty savvy as far as the way things worked, but this book definitely enlightened me. I also appreciated the pictures that made things clearer.
A little bit tough to read, but worth it........2007-04-28
If you're a beginner, interested in investing, this is a very decent primer to start with. Buy it with Eric Tyson's Investing for Dummies, and you'll be fully set!
Not impressed.......2007-02-12
A nice introduction to wall street if you were raised on Mars. For people who want to do investing for a living this is a waste of time
To get the whole picture.......2006-12-22
I think this book did a great job in helping me understand the universe of money and investing beyong the scope of stock. I have been trading for 1 year and wanted to buy a small book that gave me a general education on the subject. Although much more can be written on each topic covered it is good for beginning to understand the whole picture.
Book Description
Investment professional Larry E. Swedroe describes the crucial difference between "active" and "passive" mutual funds, and tells you how you can win the investment game through long-term investments in such indexes as the Samp;P 500 instead of through the active buying and selling of stocks. A revised and updated edition of an investment classic, The Only Guide to a Winning Investment Strategy You'll Ever Need remains clear, understandable, and effective. This edition contains a new chapter comparing index funds, ETFs, and passive asset class funds, an expanded section on portfolio care and maintenance, the addition of Swedroe's 15 Rules of Prudent Investing, and much more.In clear language, Swedroe shows how the newer index mutual funds out-earn, out-perform, and out-compound the older funds, and how to select a balance "passive" portfolio for the long hail that will repay you many times over. This indispensable book also provides you with valuable information about: The efficiency of markets today The five factors that determine expected returns of a balanced equity and fixed income portfolio Important facts about volatility, return, and risk Six steps to building a diversified portfolio using Modern Portfolio Theory Implementing the winning strategy and more.
Customer Reviews:
The best financial advice you will ever receive.......2007-08-23
I read this book 8 months ago. It was such an eye-opener that I went on to read ten other investment books over the ensuing 6 months. Although several other books cover much of the same material, Swedroe's book is the one that I have read and re-read several times. It really can stand alone as your "only guide to investing". Two of my relatives have read it now, as well. I now manage all of my investments myself, with confidence. Short term market drops don't worry me at all. I truly believe that anyone who reads this book and later reads Swedroe's bond book(by about the same title) will be well-armed to manage their investments without the expense of a broker or advisor.
Great Investment Book!.......2007-05-22
I've just finished reading your book and wanted to thank you so much for sharing this straight forward method of investing with all of us!! I've been investing for many years. I've tried timing the market, newsletter services, timing services; just about ever known method to not make money. After reading your book, it really seemed to 'click' for me.
I've been suggesting this book to many of my friends. They seem to want exactly what your strategy provides, reasonable returns with reduced risk. I wish I had found this book many years ago.
A tool box that does the job..............2007-05-09
This was an excellent book that covered all the necessary fundamentals without going into the excessive esoterica of the field that I, as a simple investor, did not need.
It also provided useful formulas and guidance for fixed security investments based on the different scenarios that different investors might have.
The book has definite views on total bond market funds as well as mortgage backed securities that you are not likely to find elsewhere and that every investor must necessarily know before investing.
The title really says it all.
Excellent book.......2007-05-09
One of 4 o5 of the best investment books I've read. Every investor should read this book.
Winning strategy? Yes!.......2007-05-08
Late summer of 2005 I decided to turn our investments over to a financial advisor. My wife questioned whether it made sense to give such a huge cut (2% of market value each year) to a brokerage firm. That weekend we went to Barnes and Noble and I bought this book. The rest is history. I am in index funds and short term bonds. I am 60/40 domestic/foreign. My return has been great but the most important thing is that I sleep well at night. I rebalance when the numbers get out of whack not because of some hunch or fear. I sold everything that I owned to get into this strategy and paid a large amount of tax but it has all been worthwhile. This strategy forces you to take profits when stocks rise and buy stocks when prices go down. It makes sense and it works.
Amazon.com
In 24 Essential Lessons for Investment Success, the founder of Investor's Business Daily and author of How to Make Money in Stocks, William O'Neil, distills his 40 years of experience, study, and analysis of the market into a series of lessons about how to buy and sell stocks. O'Neil is neither a pure fundamentalist nor a technician--instead, he advocates blending both approaches, applying fundamental analysis to identifying the best companies and technical analysis to understanding the price actions of those stocks. The lessons cover everything from protecting your investment account (always cut your losses at 8 percent of the purchase price) and basic chart reading (identifying market tops and bottoms) to understanding relative price strength and tips on building a concentrated portfolio. While not absolutely necessary, it helps to have a copy of Investor's Business Daily handy: these lessons were drawn from a series that O'Neil wrote, which frequently mention features unique to that newspaper. 24 Essential Lessons for Investment Success is a easy-to-read, commonsense guide to stock picking that both novices and seasoned investors should find extremely useful. --Harry C. Edwards
Book Description
The Wall Street Journal, New York Times, BusinessWeek, and USA Today Business Bestseller!
From the publisher of Investor's Business Daily and best-selling author of How to Make Money in Stocks, comes the National Bestseller, 24 Essential Lessons for Investment Success, two dozen of the most important lessons for investors. In this one accessible guide, William J. O'Neil puts his popular and easy-to-follow techniques for building a profitable portfolio firmaly in the hands of investorsand the goal of long-term financial security easily within their reach.
24 Essential Lessons for Investment Success is based upon the closely followed "26 Weeks to Investment Success" editorials that appear in Investor's Business Daily. Edited and updated, O'Neil's timeless advice encapsulates such investing nuggets as buy high and sell higher to making a million in mutual funds. Concentrate your investments in a few areas, know them well, and watch them carefully.
Don't just rely upon PE ratios and other common technical tools. Learn to use Relative Price Strength to help you choose stocks. O'Neil's cautionary yet pro-active advice has helped to make Investor's Business Daily one of America's fastest growing and most respected newspapers. Now investor's can benefit from his timeless words of wisdom, collected in one easy-to-use resource.
Customer Reviews:
Excellent Lessons.......2007-05-14
The author of this book increased his account 20 fold in 26 months and then bought a seat on the New York stock exchange. He studied the top performing stocks from 1953 to present to create his CAN-SLIM method, which has been proven in many independant studies to be one of the best. After his individual success as an investor he founded O' Neal & Co. and uses his companies stock data base to advise top investing firms. This is a credible author who all traders should listen to.
Here are some of the top lessons in this book:
#3 Follow a system rather than emotions.(This takes experience and time)
#6 Relative price strength: A key technical tool (Buy stocks in up-trends close to 52 week highs, these are the stocks with buyers)
#18 Don't try to be a Jack of all trades (Focus on one investment vehicle, be an expert)
#20 Sell Rules (Reset stops on stocks showing a profit so you do not give back all of your profit on a down trend)
Buy this book for 20 more essential lessons. This book will help beginners tremendously and also can be very beneficial for experienced traders and investors to revisit to keep on the right track.
This is a great little book that belongs in every investors/traders library.
Easy Money in 2000.......2007-03-26
Anyone who had read Investors Business Daily will not gain too much from this book since it's mainly a novice walkthru of the daily publication. O'Neil's major concepts are higher highs in enormous volume, double bottom, flat base, and cup with a handle. Even looking at some charts he has in the book in hindsight appear misleading. I think IBD is an excellent resource, but here are my criticisms of this book. It was written during the tech boom. Anyone could have plopped money down and doubled it in a month. Too many times O'Neil brags about making 200% on a stock. He tells how one should never be afraid to jump into a stock with a PE over 100. In 2000 they were prominent, today, extreme rarity. Gee I wonder why. A cup and handle to you may be different to me and besides, by time you really realize it's a cup and handle or double bottom, you're already late to the party. Though I'm not too crazy about his steps for buying a stock, he does a thorough job explaining how he goes about establishing a position. Take this book for what its worth, there's plenty to learn but most of it was only applicable in the late 90's.
Great Advertisement - poor book.......2007-03-22
This book covers a lot of the fundamental basics that other books contain, but the recurring theme throughout is, "If you really want to learn how the market works you should subscribe to my newsletter".
I don't know if the Investor's Business Daily is any good, but certainly the credibility of the author is damaged in my eyes... IBD should have paid me to read this extended advertisement, rather than the other way around.
Great Book For Beginners - In Simple Terms.......2007-02-16
This book is good for beginners that don't know how to invest. They put things in simple terms vs the How To Make Money In Stocks book (although they both have the same information pretty much). I seem to be getting more from this + their website (www.investors.com) than any other resources. William J O'Neil is a GREAT writer and I hope that he keeps updating his books, because I would sure buy them. His books and his website are my BIBLE to invest, although I haven't invested yet as I am still studying charts for further evaluation to make sure that I buy the right stock or stocks that I want to buy.
Good advice, stop trying to sell stuff!.......2006-08-12
The book wasn't the easiest to read, but it gave good ideas for investors to keep in mind when selecting stocks and great tips for when to buy and sell. However the book was overwhelmed with constant advertising for Investors Business Daily. A good third of the book talked about the features of Investors Business Daily and how they could be used with the book. There was a some great info in this book, but the constant references to the magazine were annoying.
Book Description
It seems like every week Wall Street comes up with some new, exotic investment idea that puts your money at risk. Thankfully, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) are less volatile than individual stocks, cheaper than most mutual funds, and subject to minimal taxation. But how do you use this wonderful product to diversify your investments in today’s fast-growing and ever-changing market?
Exchange-Traded Funds For Dummies shows you in plain English how to weigh your options and pick the exchange-traded fund that’s right for you. It tells you everything you need to know about building a lean, mean portfolio and optimizing your profits. This hands-on guide will give you the power to use ETFs to:
- Create the stock (equity) side of your portfolio
- Handle risk control, diversification, and modern portfolio theory
- Manage small, large, sector, and international investments
- Add bonds, REITs, and other ETFs
- Invest smartly in precious metals
- Work non-ETFs into your investment mix
- Revamp your portfolio to fit life changes
- Fund your retirement years
In addition, this book covers commonly asked questions about ETFs and mistakes that many investors, even the experienced ones, make. It provides forecasts of the future for ETFs and personal spending and also provides a complete list of ETFs and Web resources to assist your investment. With Exchange-Traded Funds For Dummies, you’ll soon discover what makes ETFs the hottest investment on the market!
Customer Reviews:
Really excellent.......2007-07-10
I started knowing nothing, and finished being very sure of how to select - and why to purchase specific ETFs. I've not found a better introductory book on the subject (and I hope Vanguard are paying the author a good sum for plenty of free advertising!)
Excellent intermediate level read.......2007-04-06
Mr. Wild is an entertaining writer, who breaks down what is appropriate for small, medium and wealth investors. My only wish is his chapter on sample portfolios were more detailed. I would have liked to see sample portfolios optimized for cost, risk tolerance, equity only and for those nearing and in retirement. Vanguard should consider giving away this book out to anyone opening an account with them, given how much he repeatedly triumphs Vanguard's nearly universal low fees!
Highly Recommended Introductory Guide to ETFs.......2007-03-18
Reading this 338-page book will make you a very intelligent ETF investor. Whether or not you will be successful depends on you. Russell Wild, the author, provides a solid, entertaining, and comprehensive analysis of ETFs - the latest Wall Street craze. ETFs have grown to over $400 billion in assets with over 438 ETFs in existence.
Wild begins with the history of ETFs. Then he compares ETFs to stocks and mutual funds including the tax implications of selling ETFs, and the differences in annual expense ratios. A comparison to closed-end funds would have also been helpful, since many investors are not familiar with that useful investment category.
One chapter introduces the need to open a brokerage account to buy and sell ETFs, and then focuses on the major firms offering them. Next, the author delves into the riskiness of ETFs, how risk is measured, and discusses beta and correlation. Many investors will learn a great deal about risk in this chapter, which they often neglect in making investment decisions.
The author has multiple chapters on the basic ETFs, including large and small caps focusing separately on value and growth, and then reviews sector ETFs, REIT ETFs, and commodity ETFs.
In one of the closing chapters, Wild provides sample ETFs portfolios for different risk levels, suggest that buy-and-hold is the way to go, and then provides a few exceptions to that approach. He also includes a chapter on using ETFs in retirement plans, as well as has chapters on the 10 most common questions about ETFs, and the 10 biggest mistakes investors make.
Wild includes a 12-page appendix from www.etfguide.com that contains a listing of 300 ETFs by broad categories, their name, ticker symbol, expense ratio and exchange. Since there are now 438 ETFs, this appendix is out-of-date and useless, wasting twelve pages. The reader can go directly to the website to get the latest listings.
Another appendix contains a cross section of ETF and other useful websites. Another excellent website to add to his list is www.etfscreen.com, which provides current short-term performance data after each day's market close on all the ETFs. The 6-page glossary of terms and the 14-page index all provide helpful information
In conclusion, this is simply the best introductory book on ETFs. The author provides many useful tables, charts and diagrams to bring home his key points. For those investors looking to actively trade or invest in ETFs, or are searching for profitable back-tested strategies the next book they should buy after this one is Marvin Appel's Investing With Exchange-Traded Funds Made Easy (see my review of this book on AMAZON). If investors/traders want to use a simple relative strength approach, then they should consider David Vomund's ETF Trading Strategies Revealed paperback recently released.
Best book on the subject on the market for individual investors.......2007-03-12
I am an investment advisor preparing to teach an adult education class on Index Investing. This book is by far the most current, concise and informative text available today. It is not only complete but easy to read. Mr. Wild's sense of humor makes every chapter a delight to read. Mr. Wild knows his subject. Read the book and you will too.
More than just ETFs.......2007-01-14
Even though this book is focused on ETFs, it is far more than just that. It actually covers investment strategy in an easy-to-understand manner. It compares ETFs to other investment vehicles, and demonstrates how to balance a portfolio to meet specific investment goals. What I found particularly valuable was Chapter 16 - Sample EFT Portfolio Menus. It is broken down by investment goals (i.e. - "Racing toward riches: a portfolio that may require a crash helmet.") and has specific ETFs and the proportions to meet the stated goal.
This is the best book I have ever seen for intermediate level investors. It informs without lecturing and provides specific, actionable recommendations.
Books:
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Books Index
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General
| Popular Economics
| Business & Investing
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A Random Walk Down Wall Street: The Time-Tested Strategy for Successful Investing, Ninth Edition
The Little Book of Value Investing
The Bogleheads' Guide to Investing
The Little Book That Makes You Rich: A Proven Market-Beating Formula for Growth Investing (Little Book Big Profits)
The Little Book That Beats the Market
