The Focus Investor [Paperback]

Richard M. Rockwood (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 14, 2004 | ISBN-10: 1413472257 | ISBN-13: 978-1413472257

The Focus Investor fills a niche in the investing world by presenting the teachings of Benjamin Graham, Warren Buffett, Charlie Munger, and Philip Fisher through a system that captures the strengths of each. I call

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

A native of Rumford, Maine, Rich has a BS in Finance from the Indiana University Kelley's School of Business. Rich has over 5 years of experience in the financial and investment industry. Rich is currently employed as a research analyst at Aldebaran Capit

Product Details

• Paperback: 230 pages
• Publisher: Xlibris (December 14, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1413472257
• ISBN-13: 978-1413472257
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.4 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,032,304 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An amalgamation of investment information, June 21, 2005

By 

T-bone (Alabama) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Focus Investor (Hardcover)

This book is an essential for any value investors bookshelf.

I have spent eight years reading investment books, periodicals, speeches, etc... and this book has taken the key concepts from almost all these sources and more and lays them out in a simplisitic format.

The Focus Investor lays out how to achieve "Worldly Wisdom" by using Charlie Munger (Warren Buffett's sidekicks) "mental models." As well it dips into investor psychology/behavioral finance.

Then it takes you through how to analyze companies, forensic accounting, how to read proxies and annual reports and puts it all together into how to value companies using different value investing approaches.

What The Focus Investor does is get you started or helps you along your journey for precision in a world mixed with both art and facts: Business Valuation. All the while it provides references to further your interest in a particular area.

The book is quotes Benjamin Graham, Warren Buffet, Charlie Munger and other esteemed value investors. It definitely deserves a place on any value investor's bookshelf.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Hidden Gem, May 10, 2007

By 

J. Benvent (New Jersey) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Focus Investor (Hardcover)

I am an active investor and I have read many of the classic books on investing by investors -- including the books by and about Ben Graham, Seth Klarman, Robert Hagstrom, Marty Whitman, Joel Greenberg, Bruce Greenblatt, John Neff, Ralph Wanger, John Train, Charles Brandes, Jim Rogers, Phil Fisher and so on. This slim volume by Richard M. Rockwood deserves a place among those classics. In fact, when a fellow investor -- or a new investor -- comes to me asking to recommend a book about investing, The Focus Investor is usually at the very top of my list.

Rockwood does a terrific job in distilling the key aspects of the many disparate skills needed to become a successful investor -- everything from understanding the psychology needed to succeed to the nuts and bolts of reading a proxy statement. The appendices give a few hands on examples of how an investor like Rockwood goes about evaluating a company.

highly recommended. a great gift for the investor who thinks he has every book written about investing -- or for the person just starting out.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A concise book for the average investor, July 24, 2011

By 

BlackJack - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Focus Investor (Paperback)

I am going to make an outlandish but justified claim.

Richard Rockwood's "The Focus Investor" is THE best investment book any new or average investor.

There, I said it. Rockwood covers value investing, growth investing, technical analysis, forecasting, history, accounting, arbitrage, mental models, and finally, an amalgam of several of the topics, presented as "focus investing." All in 230 pages. You might argue that 230 pages isn't enough to do justice to a single one of these topics, and you're right. But that's not Rockwood's goal!

The book covers all the big ideas in investing and explains why a "focus" approach to investing promises the greatest returns in the long run. Rockwood recommends that you read Graham and Fisher and Buffett's essays and all the other good stuff, but his book ties them all together. Think about the average investor in America today. Will he sit down and read "The Intelligent Investor"? Will he then go on to read "Common Stocks and Uncommon Profits" and from there read "Poor Charlie's Almanack"? Of course not. He's probably going to quit halfway through the Intelligent Investor because most people don't have the patience to read investment classics. And I read all these books before I even turned 18, so I think I have a little idea of what the task entails.

But the average person's resistance to reading thousands of pages is exactly what makes "The Focus Investor" shine. In a little over 200 pages, you get so many of the big ideas from those books. You've got a plan now. You've got inspiration. You've got the general overview and now you can go ahead and fill in and add parts to it and make your framework sturdy. For the thousands of people who want to learn a little about investing or want a starting place to become an investor or just want a nice book, Rockwood is for you.

"The Focus Investor" is not the end of an accomplished investor's journey. But I can't think of a better beginning.