Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required. Learn more
Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.
Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.
Capital Returns: Investing Through the Capital Cycle: A Money Manager's Reports 2002-15: 2015 1st ed. 2015 Edition
| Price | New from | Used from |
- Kindle
$32.50 - $48.57 Read with Our Free App - Hardcover
$51.131 Used from $34.50 6 New from $47.54
Purchase options and add-ons
- ISBN-101137571640
- ISBN-13978-1137571649
- Edition1st ed. 2015
- PublisherSpringer
- Publication dateNovember 25, 2015
- LanguageEnglish
- Dimensions9.84 x 5.91 x 1.97 inches
- Print length225 pages
Frequently bought together

What do customers buy after viewing this item?
- Most purchasedin this set of products
Outlive: The Science and Art of LongevityHardcover$17.73 shipping - Highest rated | Lowest Pricein this set of products
One Up On Wall Street: How To Use What You Already Know To Make Money In The MarketPaperback$15.44 shippingGet it as soon as Monday, Jul 24 - This item:
Capital Returns: Investing Through the Capital Cycle: A Money Manager's Reports 2002-15: 2015Hardcover$16.40 shippingUsually ships within 1 to 2 months.
The Outsiders: Eight Unconventional CEOs and Their Radically Rational Blueprint for SuccessWilliam N. Thorndike Jr.Hardcover$15.99 shipping
Editorial Reviews
Review
“Capital Returns brings together industrial economics, Michael Porter’s competitive analysis and behavioral finance, into a powerful long-term investment approach that Marathon Asset Management calls ‘capital cycle’ analysis. … This is one of the best investing books I’ve read. Highly recommended!” (Strictly Value, strictlyvalue.wordpress.com, January, 2016)
“First, it covers an important and underappreciated subject, the capital cycle. Second, it contains a superb introduction by one of the great financial writers of our era, Edward Chancellor. … Capital Returns explores an oft-neglected mechanism in the capital markets. It will prove profitable reading for any finance professional, and for the securities analyst, it is essential reading.” (William J. Bernstein, CFA Institute Publications, cfapubs.org, Vol. 11 (1), 2016)
Review
'I read Capital Returns in one sitting. I wish this book had been available when I started in the business. One of the best books on investment I've ever read.'
-Russell Napier, author of Anatomy of the Bear
'Capital Returns shows how excess investment drives mean reversion in the stock market. Investors who wish to understand bubbles should read this book.'
-Jeremy Grantham, Founder and Chief Investment Strategist, Grantham, Mayo, van Otterloo
'Forget Warren Buffett. If you really want to know how markets work read this.'
-Merryn Somerset-Webb, Editor, MoneyWeek
'Investors, fancying themselves capitalists, have long ignored the vital role of capital investment in driving investment success. This wonderful book may change that. Delve into its readable and informative even revelatory pages, and let the scales fall from your eyes.'-James Grant, Grant's Interest Rate Observer
'This book exemplifies the simple but sadly unrecognised idea that long term investment success depends on understanding business models.'
John Kay, author of Other People's Money and the Kay Review of UK Equity Markets
About the Author
Marathon Asset Management (trading in the United States as Marathon-London) is an independent owner managed investment firm based in London. Founded in 1986, Marathon has successfully applied longer-term and often contrarian investment strategies around the globe.
Product details
- Publisher : Springer; 1st ed. 2015 edition (November 25, 2015)
- Language : English
- Hardcover : 225 pages
- ISBN-10 : 1137571640
- ISBN-13 : 978-1137571649
- Item Weight : 1.1 pounds
- Dimensions : 9.84 x 5.91 x 1.97 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #78,277 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #20 in Futures Trading (Books)
- #123 in Systems & Planning
- #618 in Business Management (Books)
- Customer Reviews:
About the author

Discover more of the author’s books, see similar authors, read author blogs and more
Customer reviews
Customer Reviews, including Product Star Ratings help customers to learn more about the product and decide whether it is the right product for them.
To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. Instead, our system considers things like how recent a review is and if the reviewer bought the item on Amazon. It also analyzed reviews to verify trustworthiness.
Learn more how customers reviews work on Amazon-
Top reviews
Top reviews from the United States
There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.
Whether you are a stock picker, a manager deciding on growth projects, or anyone who allocates capital, this book gives you real-world examples of the ups and downs of capital cycles.
It helps you to realize that things are too frothy (too pricey) and when the market is oversold (value picking).
Combine this with Understanding Michael Porter by Joan Magretta and Value by McKinsey and you have most of what you need for a Strategy Development playbook. (Expectations Investing by Mauboussin is quickly closing in on being included in this group).
Capital Returns is accessible, insightful, and fun to read.
The idea behind it is interesting: that we should focus on the supply side when evaluating cyclical companies and markets (like commodities, but also applicable to other industries).
But the way the author defends this idea is a bit poorly executed (apart from the introduction). The book is a collection of Marathon's monthly letters to investors, which are quite short and often present less than finished arguments, with many a large leap of faith. The connections the author makes between, for example, "management" and the central thesis of the book, is not very obvious.
In essence, I think not a lot of time and love were devoted to putting together a book from disconnected investor letters.
Top reviews from other countries
The useful part had to do with focusing on supply dynamics rather than demand, for example, which, surprise, surprise, the author claims Marathon does. But there is a not single calculation or explanation how to go about calculating supply. Capex to depreciation and free cash flow conversion ratios are generalisations. Fine, thank you. Is that it?
Most of this book is a collection of old Marathon note-to-selves, and a big marketing ploy. That's also fine - Buffett does it - but he is one man collating well-thought thoughts, not many men running mental laps of repetition, boredom and self-congratulation.
You should frown on this rag. To all potential readers, make sure you've read everything else before. See if you have any wind left for this supposedly short marathon. On paper it's short, but, trust me, it was one of the most painful reads I've come across.
(I don't write many reviews, but this irritated me to such lengths. No disrespect to the author or company as far as possible.)
Although it was very informative I must admit I had a lower drive to read the book, as it wasn’t sequential I felt it was more like reading many little books and I would sometimes get to that stage where I put off starting a new book. Also some of the essays weren’t as easy a read as others. All in all though, I thought it was a good book and very useful for those at the beginner to intermediate stage of their understanding.











