Nine of Today's Greatest Financial Innovators Discuss the Foundations and Strategies of Intelligent Investing
A sampling of the minds and methods in Investment Titans:
"You shouldn't spend much time on your investments. That will tempt you to pull up the plants and see how the roots are doing, and that's very bad for the roots."
Paul Samuelson, Nobel Laureate
"You choose your point on the efficient frontier according to your willingness to bear risk. It's no free lunch."
Harry Markowitz, Nobel Laureate
"If you are looking way into the future, a declining market helps, maybe what we have to do is realize that what we perceive to be pain is actually opportunity."
Jeremy Siegel
"The most common mistake investors make is not thinking about everybody else. Look at the Internet Stocks. Everybody thought they alone discovered the Internet."
Richard Thaler
"Individuals ought to concentrate on using the market more than beating it. Focus on questions of asset allocation, diversification, and changes through time."
William Sharpe, Nobel Laureate
"The stock market doesn't know you're there, and it's not going to be considerate. It owes you nothing."
Peter Bernstein
"There's a time when investors should exit the market. The problem is that we never know when it is."
John C. Bogle
"This book offers a concrete and helpful understanding of investment strategies, as seen through the eyes of some of the most profoundly unique thinkers in the investment business."
From the Preface
Whether scholars, money managers, or those who straddle both worlds, these individuals didn't follow the status quo. They dared to ask questions that, when answered, would lay the foundation for modern Wall Street. Investment products and models they either created or influenced, from asset allocation to Portfolio Theory, index mutual funds, and more, came to define the way investors view and approach the financial markets.
But how do these trailblazers see the markets of today and tomorrow? As would be expected, the opinions and attitudes of these veterans aren¿t swayed much by talk of bulls and bears. Investment Titans provides wisdom based on experience and facts, not trends and earnings reports. For example:
- Paul Samuelson on: The true essence of long-term risk in the stock market
- Harry Markowitz on: Diversification techniques and strategies to lower risk and increase long-term returns
- Josef Lakonishok on: Proven profit opportunities presented by the trading activities of company insiders
In addition, these masters of investing prove they aren't living in the past. Investment Titans details how to detect undervalued stocks that are poised for a recovery; how adding risk to a portfolio can actually reduce its volatility; websites where you can find the latest investment analysis, along with other valuable information; and more.
Market veterans will tell you: while the playersand even some of the rulesin investing change from time to time, the fundamentals remain the same. And when you need to hear the fundamentals, who better to listen to than the experts who understand them best? From Harry Markowitz to John Bogle, the nuggets of advice contained in Investment Titans are certain to provide profitable insights to use in your own investingand the peace of mind that comes from knowing your advisors are, truly, among today's most brilliant financial minds.
Jonathan Burton is a prolific and respected financial journalist. Investment Titans grew from his Leaders in Finance series, written for Asset Management. A coauthor of the bestselling Electronic Day Traders' Secrets and a frequent contributor to The New York Times, Bloomberg Personal Finance, Mutual Funds, Individual Investor, Online Investor, and Asset Management, Burton has also written for top publications including The Economist, The Christian Science Monitor, and The Far Eastern Economic Review.
