NOTE: THIS EDITION OF THE BOOK IS ONLY AVAILABLE FOR PURCHASE TO PEOPLE LIVING OUTSIDE THE UK AND BRITISH COMMONWEALTH COUNTRIES If you want to get rich, no matter how inexperienced you are in investment, this book can help you. Its message is that you must learn neither to avoid risk nor to court it foolhardily, but to manage it - and enjoy it too. The 12 Major and 16 minor Zurich Axioms contained in this book are a set of principles providing a practical philosophy for the realistic management of risk, which can be followed successfully by anyone, not merely the 'experts'. Several of the Axioms fly right in the face of the traditional wisdom of the investment advice business - yet the enterprising Swiss speculators who devised them became rich, while many investors who follow the conventional path do not. Max Gunther, whose father was one of the original speculators who devised the Axioms, made his first capital gain on the stock market at the age of 13 and has never looked back. Now the rest of us can follow in his footsteps. Startlingly straightforward, the Axioms are explained in a book that is not only extremely entertaining but will prove invaluable to any investor, whether in stocks, commodities, art, antiques or real estate, who is willing to take risk on its own terms and chance a little to gain a lot. contents Introduction: What the Axioms Are and How They Came to Be The First Major Axiom: On Risk The Second Major Axiom: On Greed The Third Major Axiom: On Hope The Fourth Major Axiom: On Forecasts The Fifth Major Axiom: On Patterns The Sixth Major Axiom: On Mobility The Seventh Major Axiom: On Intuition The Eighth Major Axiom: On Religion and the Occult The Ninth Major Axiom: On Optimism and Pessimism The Tenth Major Axiom: On Consensus The Eleventh Major Axiom: On Stubbornness The Twelfth Major Axiom: On Planning [The 16 Minor Axioms appear within each of the chapters on the Major Axioms]
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"If you have got the price of this book, stake it." -- Investors Chronicle "Investors Chronicle"
About the Author
Max Gunther was born in England and emigrated to the US when he was 11. He attended schools in New Jersey and received his B.A. from Princeton University in 1949. He served in the U.S. Army in 1950-51 and was a staff member of Business Week from 1951 to 1955. He then served as a contributing editor of Time for two years. His articles were published in several magazines and he wrote several books, including The Luck Factor, How to Get Lucky, The Very, Very Rich and How They Got That Way, Instant Millionaires and Wall Street and Witchcraft.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
37 of 38 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
I love books on risk management, especially when they differ from mainstream opinion of what is correct. And they are even better when they make total sense like this book does.
Max Gunther writes about the 12 major and 16 minor axioms handed down to him by his father, a swiss banker/speculator. I believe if you follow these axioms you can be very successful, or at least not lose everything you have worked hard to gain.
The first axiom is on risk. Max tells some good stories about people that risked, alongside those that played it safe. You can probably guess who did well in the long run. The minor axioms for risk talk about always play for meaningful stakes and resisting the allure of diversification. Meaningful stakes is a problem for many traders/investors. They take trades that are low risk and low reward, when there are plenty of slightly higher risk and much higher reward trades available on a daily basis. And lets not even get into the subject of diversification, that kills many accounts. Most truly successful people take the opposite aproach to diversification, they put all their eggs in one basket, and then keep a very close eye on that basket.
The second axiom is greed, one of my personal favorites. Max talks about always taking your profit too early! I really like his take on profits. I have had way too many times where I was making great money on trades and then sat on my hands waiting for it to go higher. Thats usually when the bottom falls out and you end up with less than half the profit you would have had if you got out "too soon". The minor axiom for greed is to know what your target profit level is in advance, then to get out once that number is hit. Great advice.
The other axioms are on;
-Hope - When the ship starts to sink, don't pray, jump.
-Forecasts - Human behavior cannot be predicted, distrust anyone who claims to know the future.
-Patterns - Chaos is not dangerous until it begins to look orderly.
-Mobility - Avoid putting down roots, they impede motion.
-Intuition - A hunch can be trusted if it can be explained.
-Religon and the occult - It is unlikely that Gods plan for the universe includes making you rich. (plus God must really love poor people, afterall he made so many of them)
-Optimism and pessimism - Optimism means expecting the best, but confidence means knowing how to handle the worst.
-Consensus - Disregard the majority opinion, it is probably wrong.
-Stubbornness - If it doesn't pay off the first time, forget about it.
-Planning - Long-range plans engender the dangerous belief that the future is under control. It is important never to take your long-range plans, or others plans seriously.
This book is packed with value. It will not lead you to investments or speculations, but it does lay down some of the all-important groundwork so you can go into money making opportunities with the correct mental outlook. This book has earned a place on my very short list of important books.
Max Gunther writes about the 12 major and 16 minor axioms handed down to him by his father, a swiss banker/speculator. I believe if you follow these axioms you can be very successful, or at least not lose everything you have worked hard to gain.
The first axiom is on risk. Max tells some good stories about people that risked, alongside those that played it safe. You can probably guess who did well in the long run. The minor axioms for risk talk about always play for meaningful stakes and resisting the allure of diversification. Meaningful stakes is a problem for many traders/investors. They take trades that are low risk and low reward, when there are plenty of slightly higher risk and much higher reward trades available on a daily basis. And lets not even get into the subject of diversification, that kills many accounts. Most truly successful people take the opposite aproach to diversification, they put all their eggs in one basket, and then keep a very close eye on that basket.
The second axiom is greed, one of my personal favorites. Max talks about always taking your profit too early! I really like his take on profits. I have had way too many times where I was making great money on trades and then sat on my hands waiting for it to go higher. Thats usually when the bottom falls out and you end up with less than half the profit you would have had if you got out "too soon". The minor axiom for greed is to know what your target profit level is in advance, then to get out once that number is hit. Great advice.
The other axioms are on;
-Hope - When the ship starts to sink, don't pray, jump.
-Forecasts - Human behavior cannot be predicted, distrust anyone who claims to know the future.
-Patterns - Chaos is not dangerous until it begins to look orderly.
-Mobility - Avoid putting down roots, they impede motion.
-Intuition - A hunch can be trusted if it can be explained.
-Religon and the occult - It is unlikely that Gods plan for the universe includes making you rich. (plus God must really love poor people, afterall he made so many of them)
-Optimism and pessimism - Optimism means expecting the best, but confidence means knowing how to handle the worst.
-Consensus - Disregard the majority opinion, it is probably wrong.
-Stubbornness - If it doesn't pay off the first time, forget about it.
-Planning - Long-range plans engender the dangerous belief that the future is under control. It is important never to take your long-range plans, or others plans seriously.
This book is packed with value. It will not lead you to investments or speculations, but it does lay down some of the all-important groundwork so you can go into money making opportunities with the correct mental outlook. This book has earned a place on my very short list of important books.
17 of 18 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This book really opened my eyes to the importance of taking risks and taking one's losses gracefully and quickly. The book also speaks about the risks of so-called low risk approaches. If one doesn't have much calculated risks are the way to go. The book is positive and upbeat. I read it more than 10 years ago and it is a book I turn to again and again.
12 of 13 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
No nonsense clearly articulated principles of investing, devoid of technical jargon, unsupported theories and self-congratulatory braggadocio. The book is written in an engaging, mildly cynical way that resembles a father teaching his son the main principles of the investing process - as the author apparently learned them from his Swiss banker father. The main topic is the mindset and philosophy of successful speculators and investors and the major traps to watch out for when engaged in this activity. Very general advice - there are no spesific recommendations for any stocks, etc. This is an outstanding book for individuals who want to develop a rational basis for their investment activities.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Just great
This book was recommended to me by Jeff White, and for a market speculator/trader, this book is great. Read more
Published 1 month ago by GP
Should be a pamphlet
I would sell this book or send it back, except I bought on the Kindle.
This book will not tell you what to do in regards to trading. It shoots down everything. Read more
This book will not tell you what to do in regards to trading. It shoots down everything. Read more
Published 5 months ago by Handlowiec
I want my time and money back
Feel free to consider the positive reviews but I am obligated to caution readers. It was full of the same broad advice you here espoused everywhere in investment books. Read more
Published 12 months ago by Rob
Some Axioms Insightful
I bought this book on the recommendation of Larry Williams, who claimed it was one of the few best books he'd ever read on investing. Read more
Published 17 months ago by Michael Broudy
A little book with a lot of wisdom
This book contains practical advice for all speculators. It is basically a book on behavioral finance without all the academic jargon. Read more
Published 21 months ago by traderbob
This book is indispensible for your knowledge
This book is a classic. It's why I became a stock trader.
It's advice is invaluable.
You need to memorise the advice in this book.
Seriously.
It's advice is invaluable.
You need to memorise the advice in this book.
Seriously.
Published on April 19, 2010 by Emmet O'Riordan
The Zurich Axioms
This is one of the best books I have ever read. Thanks to Dan Murphy of [...] who recommended this. Very concise, resourceful and beautifully put. Read more
Published on February 14, 2010 by Jayaram N. Rao
I recommend this book to any beginner investor!
I'm a beginner investor in real estate, and I'm self-taught in most of the things I do. This book is a good book, which I keep on my bed table together with other essential books... Read more
Published on December 1, 2009 by Gnocchi
Nice read. The axioms although kind of general they offer good...
Although the axioms are kind of general they nevertheless offer some good guidance to those who would like to build on that foundation. I liked the book, it is a nice read.
Published on February 15, 2009 by EGH
Read The Axioms, Then Create Your Own
Everyone's got to start somewhere and Max Gunther helped me get my start in the world of speculative investing. Read more
Published on July 23, 2008 by Gary O. Clement
Inside This Book
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Citations (learn more)
7
books
cite this book:
See all 7 books citing this book
- Trend Following: How Great Traders Make Millions in Up or Down Markets (Financial Times Prentice Hall Books) by Michael W. Covel in Back Matter
- The Mathematical Theory of Information (The Springer International Series in Engineering and Computer Science) by Jan Kåhre in Back Matter
- Trend Following: How Great Traders Make Millions in Up or Down Markets, New Expanded Edition by Michael W. Covel in Back Matter
- The 100 Absolutely Unbreakable Laws of Business Success by Brian Tracy in Back Matter
- Trade Stocks and Commodities with the Insiders: Secrets of the COT Report (Wiley Trading) by Larry Williams on page 195
See all 7 books citing this book
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