14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
It's many great parts more than make up for its age, November 21, 2007
This review is from: Paths to Wealth Through Common Stocks (Wiley Investment Classics) (Paperback)
With due respect to my fellow reviewers, this book contains some of the best passages describing inflation, the real effects of Federal Reserve rate cuts and hikes (as surprising today as it was then---Fisher asserts that a loose monetary policy encourages deflation), technology as a major brake on inflation, as well as something that has received very little attention in my reading experience: the quality of management. We all know Warren Buffet (who saw Fisher as a mentor) buys companies with strong earnings growth potential and an above-average management. But what makes up an outstanding management team? This is one of the best questions that I've never asked myself and had never found an answer to, but this book starts to address it. Evaluating management teams is something that is valuable in investing but also for selecting an employer or running a company, I think. In addition to these points, the discussion of mergers and acquisitions is also lucid and as relevant today as it was fifty years ago.
So, if you're into stock picking a la Cramer, or maybe a bundle of ETFs is more your cup of tea, or perhaps you really bought Malkiel's advice on indexing, this book won't tell you too much specifically about these themes (Andrew Tobias covers some of that well). But at the center of investing lies a business, and this book really helped me understand more about businesses. Even if I don't ever evaluate companies and pick stocks, I think that this understanding will become increasingly valuable to me not only as an investor, but also as an employee and an entrepreneur.
Parting thoughts. Today, the speed that knowledge about a firm spreads is completely beyond that of 1959---adjust your framework accordingly. The sections on selecting "the right investment man" are of historic interest only. Also, the world of foreign investing has changed a lot over the last 50 years.
A more general thought: investors, old and young, might do well to remember that these last 25 years (1982-2007) have seen spectacular returns in many, many markets (especially in equities), and should discount for this fact when digesting modern investment reading. Cramer and his buddies of twenty-five years don't know the meaning of the words 'recession' or 'bear market'. If you've been investing in this time period based on hunches, don't be surprised if you did really well. These next couple of decades promise to be much more interesting, in that they seem to offer far better gains to those who are truly prepared. And that involves evaluating a lot of history and really understanding it.
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14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
You are not missing anything, October 3, 2007
This review is from: Paths to Wealth Through Common Stocks (Wiley Investment Classics) (Paperback)
It's more of a "state of the investment industry circa 1960" book than it is "how to invest" book. There are chapters on how to find a financial advisor, challenges financial advisors face today, what large endowment and pension funds are doing, and discusses why you should buy growth stocks. You will not get an expanded discussion on the "scuttlebutt" method or 15 points, or things like that. This book is outdated and would only be good if you were in 1960 and still cautious toward stocks because of the crash of 1929, and didn't know who to give your money to in order to invest. I hesitate to give it 3 stars because there isn't much practical information, but didn't want to give it 2 stars because there was 1 discussion I did like, which was the story of an imaginary sheet metal company bought for $30,000 and 10 years later worth several million, and the owners made large fortunes but you as an investor would have been taking big risk by buying in that early in the game. That's about it. I do not see this book going on anyone's "must read" list.
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6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Disappointing compared to Common Stocks, October 21, 2007
This review is from: Paths to Wealth Through Common Stocks (Wiley Investment Classics) (Paperback)
This book may be valuable to an investor who wants to learn more about investing during the 1960s; however, it did not supply as much valuable detail as Common Stocks and Uncommon profits.
I read this book because of the Warren Buffet quote, "I am an eager reader of whatever Phil has to say, and I recommend him to you." If you are interested in a how-to investing book, this book is not for you. However, if you are interested in learning as much as possible about the investing environment of the 1960s this book may of some value.
I gave this book 3 out of 5 stars because I enjoyed 2-3 of the five sections of the book.
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