Customer Reviews

The Wall Street Waltz: 90 Visual Perspectives, Illustrated Lessons From Financial Cycles and Trends (Fisher Investments Press)

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

 

 

The concept and execution of, Wall Street Waltz is great, however the 2007 edition is basically a reprint of the 1987 version - with some commentary (well done by Mr. Fisher) - and only 4 or so charts updated.

If this were 1987, I'd give the book 5 stars+. I completely enjoyed the 1987 version, and was looking forward to the "updated" charts. I set expectations too high, and only 4 of the 90 charts were updated (Chart 18-Supply & Demand-the real drivers; Chart 74-Debt, the Federal Government, and Herion Addicts; Chart 83-Scale it to see it (defense budgets %GDP); and Chart 84-Predicting Communisms Demise (Kondratieff Wave).)

If you don't have the 1987 copy, by all means get this one. It is a fun read, and the updated commentary boxes add some new insights. If you do have the 1987 version, I'd pass on this new book. The internet can give you a wealth of updated charts and visualizations.


Happy and successful investing ###

I am dismayed by Mr. Fisher. At the same time that he is blitzing the media world with ads that solicit his management of our money (if we have $500,000 to give him), he puts out an otherwise wonderful book in 2008 that is filled with old charts, mostly not updated. Examples include "Long-Term vs. Short-Term Interest Rates, 1950-1975" and "Long-Term DJIA Showing Bull and Bear Trendlines, 1929-1977." I'm sure he knows a few additional trends have taken place in the last 30 years, and that his readers would like to see them on the same graphs! This carelessness can only make one wonder, I assume incorrectly, if he uses outdated data to manage clients' money. I hope he reads this comment and immediately puts out a revised new edition of these charts. Not long ago I experienced a very strong sales pitch from his staff. Had I known about his cavalier approach to this book, I would have ended the conversation much sooner. By the way, the book I am looking at has the same ISBN mentioned in the Amazon review, but it has only 224 pages. The review states there are 240 pages. Another odd oversight?

Having read Fisher's excellent recent book, The Only Three Questions That Count and consider his father's book, Common Stocks and Uncommon Profits among the three best books ever written about investing, I was looking very forward to an updated version of this book, initially published 1987.

Many of the charts are fascinating and Fisher's insights are generally worth reading. This is, however, hardly an updated version from the one published 20 years ago. Many of the charts even are now outdated, meaning that they are merely an anecdote of old times that have no relevance today. Most of the charts are the same with a short added commentary by Fisher regarding the 20 years between the editions. Fisher even does not bother to add any for some charts, feeling that the message has stood the test of time. Case in point is chart 25, where he comments: "If you updated this chart, the story would be much the same." Why on earth doesn't he simply update it himself?

Although I think the book itself is interesting, I do deduct a star because of the lazy attitude towards this version (am even tempted to give another minus because of Fisher's constant promo references to his recent book). It is definitely worth getting for anyone with an interest in financial history, it simply should have been better.

I have to agree with other reviewers. I was hoping that the book would be more updated. For example, the chart about oil prices ends with 1985, when the oil was around $15 a barrel. In 2008, oil was trading as high as $147. Readers can still learn a ton from the write-ups, though. I am a big fan of Ken Fisher.

- Mariusz Skonieczny, author of Why Are We So Clueless about the Stock Market? Learn how to invest your money, how to pick stocks, and how to make money in the stock market

I've mentioned this before at RealMoney, but in early 2000, I was doing some serious thinking about investing. I decided to e-mail Ken Fisher a question that he had touched on in one of his Forbes pieces. That began an e-mail dialog that forced me to ask hard questions about how I did value investing. Personally, I was surprised how much time he was willing to waste on me, but I had read the three books that he had written up to that time, Super Stocks, 100 Minds that Made the Market, and The Wall Street Waltz. I had a good idea of how he approached investing.

He challenged me to throw away the CFA Syllabus and think independently -- to focus on my own competitive advantage. That led me to analyze what had worked and failed in my prior efforts in value investing, and that led to what would become the Eight Rules. I did well in the prior era, but much better after my discussion with Ken Fisher.

One more note before I begin the book review. He told me that if something is known, it is not valuable for investing. I have modified that rule to be, "If something true is relied upon by many investors, it is not valuable for smart investors. If something false is relied upon by many investors, it is valuable for smart investors to bet against that."

The Wall Street Waltz takes you on a graphic tour of economic and financial history. Using beautiful old charts created by multiple sources, he uses them to describe market action in the past, and what they might imply for the present. The original version, of which I have a copy, was written in 1987. The new edition updates Ken's comments to 2007.

The charts provide a springboard for Fisher to explain a wide number of concepts:

* Why preferred stocks are suboptimal investments. (Chart 31 -- learned that first hand a a little kid as I saw my Litton convertible preferred crater.)
* How economically linked Canada is to the US (Chart 15)
* The value of P/E ratios for the market (Charts 1&2)
* Why you shouldn't panic over bad political/disaster news. (Chart 24)
* How inflation is correlated internationally (Chart 49)
* Gold preserves purchasing power in the long run, but that is about it. (Chart 57)
* Stocks create value in the long run, despite short/intermediate-term fluctuations. (Chart 88)

I could go on. I chose those pages randomly. There is a wealth of knowledge here. I would like to close with a timely page that I targeted, Chart 64 -- Unemployment and the 1 Percent Rule. The stock market tends to rally after the unemployment rate rises 1%, though the challenge is timing when to sell, and I don't know what the rule should be for that. After the last unemployment report, the rate is more than 1% over the recent low. If correct, it is time to be a buyer, though what is true on average is not always true in specific.

Most investors don't benefit from an understanding of economic history, which gives a broader skill set for analyzing current problems. This book is an aid in gaining understanding of economic history.

I have a copy of the first edition of this book, and I've looked at it so often it's falling apart. This second edition appears to be more durable, has all the charts from the first edition, repeats Fisher's commentary from that edition, AND it has a few updated charts, plus Fisher's second thoughts on the subject after twenty years.

If you have any interest in investing, I consider this book essential.

What I did not like is after looking at the e-book charts, I could not read them. The pictures were of such a low resolution that some of the charts could not be read. Get the hard copy. I did and found each excerpted article challenged me to rethink my rules of investing. For this alone, it was worth every penny and more.

Seeing charts of some of the financial cycles going back to the 1600's was simply astounding. I make all my own investment decisions. This book has upped my investing and financial decisions to a much higher level and has paid for itself many times over. I consider this book a must-read.
Like others, I would have liked a better update from the 1987 publication. The chart updates in the appendix should have been a re-write replacing the articles.

BTW I used an Apple IPad to read and display the picture, with a Kindle app.

I've been reading Ken Fisher's column in Forbes Magazine since the 80's. I'm a big fan of his analysis. I bought the original edition of this book around 1987. All the graphical analysis were illuminating.
I ordered this updated edition recently. I was extremely disappointed to find that most of the charts and text are the same as the 1987 version. Some of the charts have an updated comment or two, and a handful of the charts have been updated over the last 20 years. But the author didn't take the time to update most of the work, so most of the book was not useful to a reader of the first edition. Even charts that were current as of 1987 are mostly unchanged.
If you haven't read the first edition, this is still informative, although not nearly as helpful as the original was 20 years ago. If you have read the first edition, I would skip this and read his other works, especially "The only three questions that count"

Buying, reading, studying and implementing Mr. Fisher's work is always a pleasant and profitable experience. Excellent!

I got this because I enjoyed Fisher's other recent book, The Only Three Questions That Count. If you enjoy market history, this book is for you. This is an update on a 1987 book, but Fisher updated most of his comments,and added a few charts. Don't get the 1987 book--get this one. It has some investing wisdom that makes more sense for today.