From the Back Cover
We're all human—especially when we're investing. And that goes for the "big guys," too. Dispassionate economic theories say nothing about the emotional decisions we make—or the financial disasters they can cause.
In Investment Blunders of the Rich and Famous ... and What You Can Learn from Them, one of the world's leading experts on investor psychology deconstructs spectacular failures from the world's most prominent investors. They ought to have known better. But they didn't. They let overconfidence, hubris, greed, or shortsightedness get the best of them.
Chances are, you're making some of the same mistakes right now.
- Overconfidence and the Long-Term Capital Management hedge fund
- They were Nobel laureates. They thought they'd found a sure thing. They hadn't.
- The Motley Fool and the Foolish Four
- They were tricked by trends. You can be too.
- Don't throw good money after bad: what Baring's forgot
- It doesn't take long for "double-or-nothing" bets to bankrupt you.
- The prophets: analysts, newsletters, and economists
- Why expert opinion doesn't make you money.
- Avoid the pension blunder that forces you to work longer
- The fate of Enron employees has befallen others and could happen to you.
- Fidelity couldn't time the market—neither can you
- How the world's best stock fund missed the world's best market.
- Know your investments: lessons from the bankruptcy of Orange County, CA
- If you can't understand it, don't invest in it.
"Full of common sense and sophisticated knowledge, John Nofsinger's Investment Blunders provides individual and professional investors with one of the greatest tips of all time: boost your returns by avoiding mistakes. Trying to remove greed, hubris, moodiness, poor information, and peer pressure from the investment process, Investment Blunders reminds us that our best trades are often those that we don't do."
—Peter Marber, Columbia University,
and author of From Third World to World Class: The Future of Emerging Markets in the Global Economy
"Investment Blunders is a cautionary tale that should be read by anyone investing in the stock market. John Nofsinger describes the kinds of blunders that are made, over and over again, not only by individual investors playing the market but by seasoned brokers, fund managers, and traders. A potent cocktail of hubris, greed, and an unshakeable conviction that 'I know best' has led to the downfall of many a financial empire. Read this book, and learn from the mistakes of others before making the same mistakes yourself."
—Morgen Witzel,
editor in chief, Corporate Finance Review
Lessons from the spectacular failures of the world's most prominent investors!
All investors are subject to the foibles of human psychology. Using other people's disasters as juicy examples, Investment Blunders identifies the widespread investment mistakes that are costing you money right now.
John R. Nofsinger shows you how to recognize overconfidence and greed in your decision making, avoid throwing good money after bad, and ensure that you have clear goals matched by a clear strategy. You'll learn why it's critical to avoid temptations like market timing, why diversification is even more important than you realize, and why you can't rely on others to understand your investments for you.
Enron proves yet again that even the "smartest" financial sharpshooters can go disastrously awry. But you don't have to. All you need is a little humility, a little objectivity, and a copy of Investment Blunders.
About the Author
JOHN R. NOFSINGER is a finance professor, Department of Finance, Insurance, and Real Estate at Washington State University and one of the world's leading experts in investor psychology and behavioral finance.
Written with Richard W. Sias, Nofsinger's 1997 paper "Herding and Feedback Trading by Institutional Investors" was awarded "Best of the Best" and "Best Paper in Investments" by the Financial Management Association. He has also done advanced research for the New York Stock Exchange and the Association for Investment Management and Research.
He has been interviewed and quoted in financial media including The Wall Street Journal, Fortune, BusinessWeek, SmartMoney, Bloomberg, and the cable news network CNBC, as well as other media from the Washington Post to Wired.com.
Nofsinger holds a Ph.D. in Finance from Washington State University and taught for five years at Marquette University. His Financial Times Prentice Hall books include Investment Madness: How Psychology Affects Your Investing...and What to Do About It and The Psychology of Investing.
