The Only Three Questions That Still Count: Investing By Knowing What Others Don't [Hardcover]

Kenneth L. Fisher (Author), Jennifer Chou (Author), Lara Hoffmans (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 10, 2012

Ken Fisher explains what the competition doesn't know

From investment expert and long-time Forbes columnist Ken Fisher comes the Second Edition of The Only Three Questions That Count. Most investors know the only way to consistently beat the markets is by knowing things others don't. But how can investors consistently find unique information in an increasingly interconnected world?

In this book, Ken Fisher shows investors how they can find more usable information and improve their investing success rate—by answering just three questions.

Packed with more than 100 visuals and practical advice, The Only Three Questions That Count is an entertaining and educational guide to the markets. But it also provides a useable framework investors can use now and for the rest of their investing careers.

• CNBC's Mad Money host and money manager James J. Cramer says the book "may be the single best thing you could do this year to make yourself a better investor"
• Steve Forbes says, "Investors will find this brilliant book an eye-opening, capital-gains producing experience"

The key to improving investing results is daring to challenge yourself and whatever you believe to be true, and Ken Fisher explains how in his own inimitable style.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

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Q & A with Ken Fisher, author of The Only Three Questions that Still Count

Ken Fisher

The Only Three Questions That Count really resonated with investors when it first published in 2006. What made you decide to update?
As I wrote in my 2011 book, Markets Never Forget, particularly following big bear markets, investors tend think "now" is different somehow. That problems we face are unique and insurmountable somehow. But folks always think that, and they're always wrong--we just forget.

Following the 2008 credit crisis and bear market and the huge 2009-2010 boom off the bottom, I thought I could revisit the questions to show, first, details change, but human behavior doesn't--not fast enough. And second, to show that if you have a good strategy aimed at knowing what others don't, that can work no matter what the market environment, what just happened or how much people think the world has changed. Nothing works 100% of the time, and things that worked once stop working then start working again later. But if you have a good, scientific method aimed at knowing what others don't--that should serve you well, always. And in updating the book, it was amazing how well the questions and all the examples I used held up.

The financial world has changed quite a bit since 2007--new laws and regulations. How do the three questions still matter in the new financial landscape?
I'd argue the financial world is always changing. Sometimes new regulations are big, sometimes small. There are new innovations constantly. The three questions hold up because they aren't static. They don't rely on rules of thumb that maybe worked a long time ago but now are worthless. They are flexible and form a scientific method helping you see the world more clearly, no matter how much regulations change or new innovations are introduced.

Why would someone who bought the original book need this updated edition?
I've updated nearly every chart and table in the book and most all the data. Plus, there's some updated commentary based on the most recent market cycle that obviously wasn't in the first edition. I've edited it to be a tighter read and a better tool, so readers of the first edition might find something more useful or more powerful in this one.

What do you mean when you say that the only way to beat the market is by knowing what others don't know?
I mean exactly what finance theory says is true, and what is taught in every classroom and in every professional internship but most people seem to forget when faced with the real world. The only way to bet and win more often than not is knowing something others don't. If you don't know something others don't and make a market bet, you might be lucky sometimes and right but probably more often unlucky and wrong. That's not a strategy for long-term investing success.

The world is more interconnected now than ever before. How has this changed the way people approach investment decisions?
In my mind, this is part of a long innovation evolution and in many ways is good. It means there's more information moving faster, which can add to transparency.

But for many investors, the non-stop interconnectedness results in nonstop noise--most of it nonsense. But much of the nonsensical noise looks to many like wisdom--it can be hard for folks to weed through the nonsense to find something useful. If you can do that--ignore the noise--there's so much more you can know now that others don't. But ignoring the noise is a hard skill and most don't try developing it.

My sense is if most folks ignored their TVs and computers for a solid year, they'd have much better investing results than they would have otherwise. They'd be less tempted to make investing moves just for the sake of moving, and that alone can improve results.

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From the Inside Flap

In his groundbreaking bestseller, The Only Three Questions That Count, investment expert and longtime Forbes columnist Ken Fisher taught investors to question traditional investing wisdom, interrogate long-held market beliefs and, most importantly, to challenge themselves. And now, in The Only Three Questions That Still Count, he's back demonstrating that the path to better investment results remains knowing what others don't.

Most investors know the only way to consistently achieve investing success is by knowing things that others don't. Yet many investors believe they don't or can't know what others don't—so they continue making market bets based on "conventional wisdom." In the updated edition of The Only Three Questions That Count, Fisher debunks the conventional market myths that many investment decisions are based upon. And he reveals a methodology that allows investors to discover unknown or underappreciated information—information that can form the basis of a market bet.

And the methodology is as easy as asking three questions. The first helps you see things as they really are. The second question helps you see things other investors often miss. And the third will help you keep your unruly brain in line. Investing is a non-stop query session—this book hands you tools that should serve you the rest of your investing career.

Thoroughly revised and updated, this new edition features new content and updated graphs and data. Packed with images, practical advice and anecdotes that show Fisher's ideas in action, the book helps you question how you think about the market, its component parts and even individual stocks. Taken together, Fisher's three questions can help you make better investment decisions by identifying what you—and you alone—can know and how you can profit from it.

The key to better investment returns is daring to challenge yourself and what you believe to be true, and in The Only Three Questions That Still Count, Ken Fisher explains how, in his own inimitable style—giving you the tools you need to outthink the market.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 348 pages
• Publisher: Wiley; 2 edition (April 10, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1118115082
• ISBN-13: 978-1118115084
• Product Dimensions: 6.1 x 1.2 x 9.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #75,784 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Ken Fisher: CEO of Fisher Investments

Ken Fisher is founder, Chairman and CEO of Fisher Investments, an independent money management firm managing tens of billions of dollars for large pension plans, endowments, and foundations globally, as well as thousands of high net worth individuals.

Ken Fisher: Forbes Columnist

Ken Fisher is best known for his over 28 year tenure as Forbes' Portfolio Strategy columnist--the fourth longest running columnist in Forbes 90+ year history. Third-party research firm, CXO Advisory Group's "Guru Grades" ranks Fisher as one of the most accurate stock market forecasters over recent years.*

Ken Fisher: Bestselling Author

Ken Fisher has written eight books on investing and personal finance, four of which were New York Times bestsellers. Recent books include 2011's Markets Never Forget, 2010's Debunkery, 2009's How to Smell a Rat, 2008's The Ten Roads to Riches, and 2006's The Only Three Questions That Count - all published by John Wiley & Sons. Other books include 1984's Super Stocks, 1987's The Wall Street Waltz, and 1993's 100 Minds That Made the Market. Ken Fisher's books have been translated into 9 languages, reaching over 3/4 of global GDP.**

Fisher Investments Press

Ken Fisher's firm, Fisher Investments, embarked on a publishing imprint with John Wiley & Sons in 2007, focusing on investing-related topics. Titles published under the imprint, Fisher Investments Press, so far include 20/20 Money and Own the World and the Fisher Investments On series, which focuses on the 11 primary investing sectorsThe series includes in depth coverage on nine popular financial sectors, and Emerging Markets.

Other Ken Fisher Contributions

Ken Fisher has been published, interviewed and/or been written about in many major American, British, Canadian, German and Swiss finance or business periodicals. Fisher has been on the Forbes 400 list of richest Americans and the Forbes Global Billionaire lists since 2005. Ken Fisher is also on Investment Advisor magazine's prestigious IA-30 list of the 30 most influential people in and around money management over the last 30 years.***


*http://www.cxoadvisory.com/gurus. As of 9/5/2012. Fisher Investments has no affiliation with CXO Advisory Group. Ken Fisher's market forecasts in Forbes represent his personal forecasts of the overall market and are not an indication of the performance of Fisher Investments. Not all forecasts may be accurate as those in the past. Investing in securities involves the risk of loss. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Investments in foreign securities involves additional risks such as losses related to other currencies and securities markets.

**Based on countries' official languages and GDP reported by the IMF, as of 12/15/2011.

***http://www.advisorone.com/2010/05/01/thirty-for-thirty

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Some tables are unreadable on Kindle August 24, 2012

By rednuht

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

This is a great book on investing and debunking investing myths, and the updated edition does an excellent job at including new data up to late 2011. It is not for the layman, however, there are numerous economy and finance terms one must be familiar with to fully grasp the concepts in this book. It is not an easy read, but it's worth every cent.

One major drawback on the Kindle version is that the tables and figures are in very low resolution and some text in the figures is unreadable even when zoomed in. A Kindle Format 8 (KF8) version would be very welcome for this book.

4.0 out of 5 stars Only 3 Questions....a good perspective September 8, 2012

By Jon Fund

Format:Hardcover

After reading way too many books on stock picking, option trading, and chart reading, it was enlightening and refreshing to read Mr. Fisher's book on looking at investing from a more macro level. The facts speak for themselves with regard to looking at asset allocation first, and it's overwhelming impact on the total performance of your portfolio. I found the book to be very insightful, and potentially a pivot point in how I personally evaluate and plan my total investment strategy. I'd give this book a solid two thumbs up.