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Ken Fisher
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Beat the Crowd: How You Can Out-Invest the Herd by Thinking Differently (Fisher Investments Press) 1st Edition, Kindle Edition

by Ken Fisher (Author), Elisabeth Dellinger (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 221 ratings
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Train your brain to be a real contrarian and outsmart the crowd

Beat the Crowd is the real contrarian’s guide to investing, with comprehensive explanations of how a true contrarian investor thinks and acts – and why it works more often than not. Bestselling author Ken Fisher breaks down the myths and cuts through the noise to present a clear, unvarnished view of timeless market realities, and the ways in which a contrarian approach to investing will outsmart the herd. In true Ken Fisher style, the book explains why the crowd often goes astray—and how you can stay on track.

Contrarians understand how headlines really affect the market and which noise and fads they should tune out. Beat the Crowd is a primer to the contrarian strategy, teaching readers simple tricks to think differently and get it right more often than not.

  • Discover the limits of forecasting and how far ahead you should look
  • Learn why political controversy matter less the louder it gets
  • Resurrect long-forgotten, timeless tricks and truths in markets
  • Find out how the contrarian approach makes you right more often than wrong

A successful investment strategy requires information, preparation, a little bit of brainpower, and a larger bit of luck. Pursuit of the mythical perfect strategy frequently lands folks in a cacophony of talking heads and twenty-four hour noise, but Beat the Crowd cuts through the mental clutter and collects the pristine pieces of actual value into a tactical approach based on going against the grain.

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  1. ISBN-13
    978-1118973059
  2. Edition
    1st
  3. Publisher
    Wiley
  4. Publication date
    March 13, 2015
  5. Language
    English
  6. File size
    3707 KB
  7. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

“..a characteristically lively read….a good holiday read for any investor who suspects they may be stuck in their ways and in need of new insights” (Money Observer, July 2015)

From the Inside Flap

Mainstream investors are wrong more often than right. Most folks intuitively know this, and statistics and studies back it up. How can you buck the trend and be right more often than wrong?

Many believe doing the opposite of everyone else is the key to avoiding the herd’s faulty investment decisions. Wall Street defines contrarian investing as betting the opposite of the crowd. Problem is, stocks often don’t do the opposite of what most folks expect! Those who bet on the opposite, thinking it makes them a contrarian, behave as crowd-like as the crowd they try to game! If the herd thinks stocks will rise 10%, the anti-herders bet they’ll fall—but markets could also skyrocket or zigzag sideways. In Beat the Crowd, bestselling author Ken Fisher shows you how to look beyond both crowds and find real contrarian opportunities that pay.

Being a contrarian simply means thinking independently. Not getting caught up in media hype and endless debate over whether Thing X is good or bad for stocks. Looking for things everyone misses. Thinking differently than the crowd, but not necessarily opposite! Beat the Crowd helps you filter the noise, test rules of thumb, shatter media myths and avoid common pitfalls.

If you’re tired of media chatter and getting burned by consensus wisdom, this book is for you. With his signature style, Ken dispels common viewpoints and knocks age-old “rules” on their head. You’ll learn how to separate what’s important from what isn’t, think outside the investing canon, find the “elephant in the room” and out-invest the herd.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B00SZ635DU
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Wiley; 1st edition (March 13, 2015)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ March 13, 2015
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 3707 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 273 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 221 ratings

About the author

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Ken Fisher

Ken Fisher

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Ken Fisher: Executive Chairman of Fisher Investments

Ken Fisher is founder, Executive Chairman and Co-Chief Investment Officer of Fisher Investments, a fee-only investment adviser managing over $208 billion* for large pension plans, endowments, and foundations globally, as well as over 100,000 high net worth individuals.

Ken Fisher: Financial Columnist

Founder Ken Fisher’s “Portfolio Strategy” column for Forbes ran from 1984 to 2017, making him the longest continuously running columnist in the magazine’s history. In addition, Ken is currently a regular columnist for several publications, including USA Today, Financial Times in the UK, Børsen in Denmark, De Telegraaf in The Netherlands and Focus Money in Germany.

Ken Fisher: Bestselling Author

Ken Fisher has written 11 books on investing and personal finance, 4 of which were New York Times bestsellers. His books include 2015's Beat the Crowd, 2013's The Little Book of Market Myths, 2012's Plan Your Prosperity, 2011's Markets Never Forget, 2010's Debunkery, 2009's How to Smell a Rat, 2008's The Ten Roads to Riches (updated in 2017), and 2006's The Only Three Questions That Count (updated in 2012) - 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.

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 sectors. The 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.**

*As of 12/31/21.

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

Customer reviews

4.3 out of 5 stars
221 global ratings

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Customers say

Customers find the book insightful and useful. They find it informative and worth reading. The writing style is concise and easy to follow, with simple concepts that make good sense. Readers appreciate the author's writing style, which blends humor into the educational content. However, some feel the book lacks value for money, saying it's a waste of money.

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InsightValue for timeEase of readingWriting styleValue for money
23 customers mention "Insight"20 positive3 negative

Customers find the book insightful and useful. They say it balances practical observations with a good measure of hard data and analysis. The content makes sense and helps them understand the stock market and avoid the noise. It frees up their minds to think about the important things. The book contains many references to other great books to grow as investors and put everything you hear about stocks in perspective.

"...It balances practical observation with a good measure of hard data and analysis, so the blend is convincing...." Read more

"...perspective, which I appreciate, and his insights on overcoming conventional trading wisdom are fascinating and easy to follow...." Read more

"...also enjoyed this part as he does also make thought-provoking comments on political action." Read more

"...I also like that there are a lot of charts and other graphics to visualize the points being made...." Read more

16 customers mention "Value for time"16 positive0 negative

Customers appreciate the book's value for time. They find the content informative and enjoyable, helping them think outside the box. The book is described as one of the best investment books they have read.

"...However, this book was worth every minute spent reading and learning." Read more

"...and read it more than once to get a better appreciation of this very good book. Thank you Mr. Fisher" Read more

"If you are an active investor you will find this a fascinating and useful book...." Read more

"...Let me be clear: The content is fine and learning Ken Fisher's investing philosophy will undoubtedly make you a better, or at the very least wiser..." Read more

7 customers mention "Ease of reading"7 positive0 negative

Customers find the book easy to read and follow. They appreciate the simple concepts and advice that makes good sense. The writing style is engaging and humorous, with clear advice from a master.

"The book style is engaging, succinct and sometimes humorous...." Read more

"...The message of the book is simple: don't follow the herd, don't follow the anti-herd, do something else...." Read more

"...It's also written in a way that seems easy to understand even for someone who doesn't have a background in investing or know all the technical jargon..." Read more

"...It's the kind of data-driven straight-talk I appreciate. It's concise enough that I read it in one long sitting and frankly, the suggested reading..." Read more

5 customers mention "Writing style"5 positive0 negative

Customers find the writing style enjoyable, interesting, and informative. They appreciate the plain English and humor that makes the writing fun as well as educational. The author is described as a good writer who has written many books.

"I just finished this book and found it to be enjoyable, interesting, well written, and informative...." Read more

"...At least it was worded in plain English here and not like the textbooks I remember from school...." Read more

"Ken Fisher is a good writer I have read about 5 of his 10 previous books , plus his Forbes articles for many years...." Read more

"...Mr. Fisher always blends in some humor which makes his writing fun as well as educational...." Read more

4 customers mention "Value for money"0 positive4 negative

Customers find the book unsatisfactory. They describe it as a waste of money, disappointing, and like an episode of Seinfeld.

"...I gave this only three stars , not because it is bad book or promotes investing philosophies that I do not agree with , but because I think Fisher..." Read more

"Book was like a Seinfeld episode "much about nothing."..." Read more

"History (w charts) but muddy in delivery, ambiguous at best. Disappointing. Expected hard strategies and possible tactics to think differently." Read more

"Junk. Only fool thinks they can beat the market. A total waste of money. Don't buy." Read more

Top reviews from the United States

  • RR
    5.0 out of 5 stars New Viewpoints
    Reviewed in the United States on July 8, 2024
    Verified Purchase
    The book style is engaging, succinct and sometimes humorous. It balances practical observation with a good measure of hard data and analysis, so the blend is convincing. Having read many books about investing over the decades--Lynch, Siegel, Bogle, Buffet, Malkiel--I am not easily impressed. However, this book was worth every minute spent reading and learning.
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  • Morellwj3
    5.0 out of 5 stars Four Stars
    Reviewed in the United States on June 13, 2015
    Verified Purchase
    I revised my review from 4 to 5 stars mainly because I re-read the chapters and also compared to several other investment books I have read. I don't necessarily agree with everything Ken says, but he has a hell of a lot more experience than I do. I am an engineering project manager with about 35 years of experience and have learned that the specific experts in specific fields know more than I do, which helps me make better decisions by not putting all my eggs and faith in one basket. Speculation and the magic of crystal balls don't get you far in any business but instead causes such people to lose creditability. Buy low but smart and sell high. Going by your gut based on past history is also not a bad idea. The smart folks invest early in life till retirement and move to less risky stocks when it is time to live off your savings, annuities, and social security. When you do retire, make more lifestyle changes to minimize all debt. I am at a point where my standard taxes deductions outweigh my itemized deductions. Look for those states where you don't pay income taxes on your pension, start selling all that clutter in your house, and if it is to big of a house buy a smaller one in one of those user friendly states that does not have hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes, and taxing that pension of yours. I only mention the above because a lot of folks think it is just your investment income that needs to be as high as possible, but after looking at our tax structure which I think is the best in the world and makes more sense once you are familiar with it. Anyway, you would have to be a fool not to purchase this book and read it more than once to get a better appreciation of this very good book. Thank you Mr. Fisher
    5 people found this helpful
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  • A. P. Keaton
    4.0 out of 5 stars A Solid Book, But Not Much New from Fisher
    Reviewed in the United States on June 1, 2015
    Verified Purchase
    Ken Fisher is a guru that get's it. He has a non-political perspective, which I appreciate, and his insights on overcoming conventional trading wisdom are fascinating and easy to follow. That said, this book doesn't offer much that Fisher's last three books didn't already address. If you haven't read those books, I recommend reading this one, as some of his analysis is updated to reflect more current data.

    The message of the book is simple: don't follow the herd, don't follow the anti-herd, do something else. Essentially, don't be a conformist, don't be an anti-conformist, be a non-conformist. It's a fair argument and many examples are provided to support his contention...they just happen to be the same examples he used in Debunkery, The Only Three Questions That Count, and Markets Never Forget. As a person who genuinely appreciates Fisher's sense of humor, candor, and insight, this book was a bit of a let down given that I've read his other books. If you haven't read those books, you'll likely enjoy this read (you needn't know much about financial markets to follow along).
    8 people found this helpful
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  • laurens van den muyzenberg
    5.0 out of 5 stars Spotting a Downturn in the Stock Market in Time
    Reviewed in the United States on April 17, 2015
    Verified Purchase
    If you are an active investor you will find this a fascinating and useful book. It teaches you how to spot when a bull market will become a bear market in time. That is get out before the decline. Fischer explains in great detail why the majority of investors gets out too early before the bull market has peaked or too late when a bull market has already for a considerable period changed to a bear market. He shows how taking the Leading Economic Indicator, the LEI, seriously is the right way.

    Important reasons why investors get the timing wrong are lack of discipline and ignorance in the sense of wrong concepts. Discipline refers especially to not selling unnecessarily. Shares go up and down. Most investors when a position in a portfolio goes down consider selling and replacing it by a winner. They consider a small loss far more important than a large gain. This is behavior based on the past of what has already happened. Fischer points out that what matters is what is expected to happen in the next 30 months.

    Another important factor is the media that write about the stock market. People are more interested in bad news than good news, and therefore the majority of articles are written about short-term disappointments and negative developments further in the future than 30 months. His definite view is that both short-term opinions and extrapolations of the past and past 30 months predictions are useless for predicting changes from bull to bear and vice versa.

    Fischer points to more than thirty widely held views he considers wrong. Some examples. A high Price Earnings ratio (PE) has no validity in predicting a better or worse development than a low PE. Small companies do not have a superior long-term performance than large ones. The increase from long-term interest rates does not lead to a change in a bull market. Wars do not influence the stock market other than of the magnitude such as World War II. Fisher presents straightforward statistical proofs. He puts these concepts to tests to determine if these widely held view correspond to what happened in reality. It is necessary to look at a complete picture; there are always examples where these factors appeared to be right, but they are far fewer than when proven wrong. For learning to spot in time approaching bears and bulls this book is first class, five stars.

    Fisher frequently states that he is not a sociologist but nevertheless holds very negative opinions about politicians. Many people will have different views. His negative views of political leaders are so strong that they even get in the way of his statistical proofs. For example he states on page 132 that in 1938 the GDP started to increase when Franklin Roosevelt was president and on page 143 that a bear market reigned from 1934 to 1942. The reality is that already in 1934, FDR's second year in office, GDP increased with 10.8%. He states about the ACA on page 152 that the uninsured were reduced with between 7 to 10 million and on page 154 only with 1.1% which is only 3.5 million or half.

    Fisher as a non-sociologist has very definite opinions on government. He sometimes creates the impression that the kind of policies that President Hoover pursued most of the time of non-interference in the economy is the only right policy and political action. I nevertheless also enjoyed this part as he does also make thought-provoking comments on political action.
    46 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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  • Michael R. Drotar
    5.0 out of 5 stars Fisher publishes another great book.
    Reviewed in Canada on November 17, 2016
    Verified Purchase
    Read all books published by Ken Fisher, and this one is also a very well written book. Easy to read and the concepts provided are critical in building long term wealth.
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    Michael R. Drotar
    5.0 out of 5 stars Fisher publishes another great book.
    Reviewed in Canada on November 17, 2016
    Read all books published by Ken Fisher, and this one is also a very well written book. Easy to read and the concepts provided are critical in building long term wealth.
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  • MVP
    5.0 out of 5 stars Nils Dräger
    Reviewed in Germany on March 4, 2016
    Verified Purchase
    Beat the Crowd von Ken Fisher kann ich jedem empfehlen der sich für Aktien interessiert.

    Neben zahlreichen Tipps wie z.B. sich nicht von den Medien negativ wie positiv beeinflussen zu lassen gefielen mir besonders die zahlreichen Buch Tipps weiterer Aktien Bücher.

    Neben vielen Seiten mit Informationen wie “selbst Legenden haben “nur“ zu 70% recht beim Aktienhandel sollte man jedoch wissen, dass auch hier gilt Learning by doing.

    Zum Schluss möchte ich noch sagen dass jeder Aktionär mit Wasser kocht, ob nun neu Einsteiger oder Börsianer.

    Ps: mein zusätzlicher Buchtipp ist Laughing at wall street!!!
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  • Patrick Walsh
    3.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 5, 2016
    Verified Purchase
    As an avid reader of econmomic and financial literature I was excited to read the works of a such prolific investor. I nonetheless found this book rather disappointing. I found that it covered no specific topic in detail, and often made contradictory points. Perhaps interesting for the intermediate investor, but far better literature is available on the market.
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  • VIRAF
    5.0 out of 5 stars I just switched off TV and PC and starting listening to my favourite music. After that day the market recovered 1000 ...
    Reviewed in India on August 31, 2015
    Verified Purchase
    Must read this book if you are investing in stocks. After reading this book, I have stopped watching technical analsyt in on TV. Incase of market correcting sharply, I just switch off TV and PC. Not panicking anymore after reading this book. On 24th August 2015 Sensex crashed by 1650 points. I just switched off TV and PC and starting listening to my favourite music. After that day the market recovered 1000 points. So I avoided panic selling. My portfolio is very good and I don't panic anymore. Thanks to BEAT THE CROWD.
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  • Christopher Otto
    5.0 out of 5 stars Viele gute Einsichten, aber auch viele Wiederholungen
    Reviewed in Germany on August 31, 2018
    Verified Purchase
    Ken Fisher kann gut schreiben und mir haben die meisten seiner Bücher sehr gut gefallen. Nur dann fällt einem auch auf, dass er sich recht oft von Buch zu Buch wiederholt. Dennoch ist es ein gutes, kurzweiliges Buch, weil er viele Einsichten gewährt, die man so selten in anderen Börsenbüchern bekommt.
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