Customer Reviews

Lasting Wealth Is A Matter Of Timing

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

An insightful refute to the "buy and hold" theory, which contends that risk of loss diminishes with time. Mr. Sosnowy effectively presents the alternate view that longer holding periods also increase the probability of owning equities during a major stock market crash or series of crashes. During a crash stocks go down a lot faster than they went up. Many years worth of gains may disappear in a fews of days.

I recommend this book very highly. Mr. Sosnowy provides a convincing case that this time is not different, and that stocks have probably not reached a "permanently high plateau."

He suggests that investors use dynamic asset allocation/market timing to capture 80% of market gains and avoid 80% of market losses. He provides convincing evidence that this stragegy will provide investors with superior overall returns than buy and hold. Especially as 60-70% of investment returns are the result of overall stock market performance.

Sosnowy makes the case that many of the legendary great investors, such as, Warren Buffet, Peter Lynch, and John Cabot were also "closet market timers."

In summary you will have more money in the end if you can avoid bear markets. To succeed in the investment game, its just as important to preserve capital as to increase it. As Charlie Munger once said, " you have to spend as much time trying not to be stupid as you spend trying to be smart." You may miss the opportunity to buy at the very bottom, but you will also miss the financial pain of watching your stocks go down significantly in value.

"There is no investment for all times, however, there is a time for all investments." Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe

Promised so much, delivered a flyer for the use of professional fund managers and the use of his proprietry indicators. If only he had divulged a little more about the indicators he uses and a little less of the obvious - such as the idea that if you can make sure you are not in the stockmarket during the worst performing periods you should do better than if you have a buy and hold strategy.

As a sole-proprietary trader, I found this too basic. He should retitle the book to "why you need to market-time (but not how to market-time)"

Geeze, what a disappointment! But, the good thing to come out of this was reading my own thoughts that I had come up from years of experience. He did a good job of summarizing my own unsubstantive knowledge. Maybe, I will find substance in the area of finance called "market timing" (not to be confused with asset allocation or technical analysis as it so often is) in some other book... Why did he get 2 stars? He is graded on a curve. I have read worse. If you are desperate for this book as I was, promise yourself to return it, if you don't like it.

This is not a cookbook of recipes for the "do it yourself" investor, but a great book full of insight into the age-old argument between the "buy-and-hold" academic crowd and the "risk-management" oriented real-world crowd. Mr. Sosnowy gave investors fair warning ahead of time about the market debacle in 2000. I believe that his philosophy can help many other investors achieve "Lasting Wealth" in the years to come. I recommend this book highly!

Promised so much, delivered a flyer for the use of professional fund managers and the use of his proprietry indicators. If only he had divulged a little more about the indicators he uses and a little less of the obvious - such as the idea that if you can make sure you are not in the stockmarket during the worst performing periods you should do better than if you have a buy and hold strategy.

If you are a know-it-all, do-it-yourself investor, don't bother. But if you are genuinely interested in accumulating a financial nest egg (wealth) and retaining it (lasting wealth), then this is the book for you. It could save you from irreparable financial damage. As a young adult, I found Chapter 9--'Investing for the 21st Century' particularly beneficial. It is never too early to start setting goals and establishing plans to secure your financial future.

If you are a know-it-all, do-it-yourself investor, don't bother. But if you are genuinely interested in accumulating a financial nest egg (wealth) and retaining it (lasting wealth), then this is the book for you. It could save you from irreparable financial damage. As a young adult, I found Chapter 9--'Investing for the 21st Century' particularly beneficial. It is never too early to start setting goals and establishing plans to secure your financial future.

This book basically says to hire a professional to handle your accounts. The use to the average investor looking for information on the "hows and how nots" of getting into and out of investments is minimal. I came away frustrated with this book.