The Age of Deleveraging


A. Gary Shilling - 2010
    Shilling explains in clear language and compelling logic why the world economy will struggle for several more years and what investors can do to protect and grow their wealth in the difficult times ahead. The investment strategies that worked for last 25 years will not work in the next 10 years. Shilling advises readers to avoid broad exposure to stocks, real estate, and commodities and to focus on high-quality bonds, high-dividend stocks, and consumer staple and food stocks. Written by one of today's best forecasters of economic trends-twice voted by Institutional Investor as Wall Street's top economist Clearly explains what to invest in, what to avoid, and how to cope with a deflationary, slow-growth economy Demonstrates how Shilling has been consistently right about major economic trends since he began forecasting in the early 1980s Filled with in-depth insights and practical advice, this timely guide lays out a convincing case for why investors need to be prepared for a long period of weak growth and deflation-not inflation-and what you can do to prosper in the difficult times ahead.

Naked Economics: Undressing the Dismal Science


Charles Wheelan - 2002
    In fact, you won’t be able to put this bestseller down. In our challenging economic climate, this perennial favorite of students and general readers is more than a good read, it’s a necessary investment—with a blessedly sure rate of return. This revised and updated edition includes commentary on hot topics such as automation, trade, income inequality, and America’s rising debt. Ten years after the financial crisis, Naked Economics examines how policymakers managed the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression.Demystifying buzzwords, laying bare the truths behind oft-quoted numbers, and answering the questions you were always too embarrassed to ask, the breezy Naked Economics gives you the tools to engage with pleasure and confidence in the deeply relevant, not so dismal science.

Behavioural Economics: A Very Short Introduction


Michelle Baddeley - 2017
    Economists also assume that we're doing the very best we can possibly do--not only for today, but over our whole lifetimes too.The study of behavioral economics is revealing that our lives are not that simple. Instead, our decisions are complicated by our own psychology. Each of us makes mistakes every day. We don't always know what's best for us and, even if we do, we might not have the self-control to deliver on our best intentions. We struggle to stay on diets, to get enough exercise and to manage our money. We misjudge risky situations. We are prone to herding: sometimes peer pressure leads us blindly to copy others around us; other times copying others helps us to learn quickly about new, unfamiliar situations.This Very Short Introduction explores the reasons why we make irrational decisions; how we decide quickly; why we make mistakes in risky situations; our tendency to procrastination; and how we are affected by social influences, personality, mood and emotions. The implications of understanding the rationale for our own financial behavior are huge. Behavioral economics could help policy-makers to understand the people behind their policies, enabling them to design more effective policies, while at the same time we could find ourselves assaulted by increasingly savvy marketing. Michelle Baddeley concludes by looking forward, to see what the future of behavioral economics holds for us.ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

Everyone Believes It; Most Will Be Wrong: Motley Thoughts on Investing and the Economy


Morgan Housel - 2011
    Why are experts so bad at making predictions? Why do rich people take outsized risks to reach for money they don't need? Is America's manufacturing base really dwindling? What did we learn about risk after 9/11? Those questions and many more are tackled in these 21 irreverent and contrarian essays, which will have readers thinking differently about the conventional wisdom.

Radical Uncertainty: Decision-Making Beyond the Numbers


John Kay - 2020
    The insurance industry’s actuarial tables and the gambler’s roulette wheel both yield to the tools of probability theory. Most situations in life, however, involve a deeper kind of uncertainty, a radical uncertainty for which historical data provide no useful guidance to future outcomes. Radical uncertainty concerns events whose determinants are insufficiently understood for probabilities to be known or forecasting possible. Before President Barack Obama made the fateful decision to send in the Navy Seals, his advisers offered him wildly divergent estimates of the odds that Osama bin Laden would be in the Abbottabad compound. In 2000, no one—not least Steve Jobs—knew what a smartphone was; how could anyone have predicted how many would be sold in 2020? And financial advisers who confidently provide the information required in the standard retirement planning package—what will interest rates, the cost of living, and your state of health be in 2050?—demonstrate only that their advice is worthless.The limits of certainty demonstrate the power of human judgment over artificial intelligence. In most critical decisions there can be no forecasts or probability distributions on which we might sensibly rely. Instead of inventing numbers to fill the gaps in our knowledge, we should adopt business, political, and personal strategies that will be robust to alternative futures and resilient to unpredictable events. Within the security of such a robust and resilient reference narrative, uncertainty can be embraced, because it is the source of creativity, excitement, and profit.

Mr. Market Miscalculates: The Bubble Years and Beyond


James Grant - 2008
    The how we got here is brilliantly described in a collection of pieces from Grant's Interest Rate Observer, the Wall Street insider's Bible. The where we are going is treated in Jim Grant's up-to-the-minute introduction. No fan of Greenspan or Bernanke, Grant tells the unvarnished truth about America.

The 12% Solution


David Alan Carter - 2017
    A strategy that’s not pie-in-the-sky and not just a bunch of theory, but rather a systematic plan that is backed up with real numbers showing it clearly beating the S&P 500 over time. A trading strategy that’s understandable, repeatable, that works and works simply.Anyone can do this. In simple-to-understand language, you’ll discover---- The six ETFs that power the strategy, and why.-- The simple technique for identifying which of those ETFs to buy, and which to sell. And most importantly, when.-- How $5,000 can end up $1,000,000 in your retirement portfolio.-- How to protect your portfolio during market downturns with a simple cash trigger.-- In short, how to earn an average of 12% annually in the stock market with minimal trading, less volatility, and less risk.Beat "The Street" in just 20 minutes.If you have 20 minutes a month and a computer, you can turn any investment amount into a steadily growing compounding machine that will make you the envy of Mad Money’s Jim Cramer and 99% of all mutual fund managers.Make just 2-4 trades one day a month. The strategy tells you what ETFs to buy and what to sell. That’s it. Then turn off the computer and go live your life.

I.O.U.: Why Everyone Owes Everyone and No One Can Pay


John Lanchester - 2009
    I.O.U. is the story of how we came to experience such a complete and devastating financial implosion, and how the decisions and actions of a select group of individuals had profound consequences for America, Europe, and the global economy overall. John Lanchester begins with "The ATM Moment," that seemingly magical proliferation of cheap credit that led to an explosion of lending, and then deftly outlines the global and local landscapes of banking and finance. Viewing the crisis through the lens of politics, culture, and contemporary history -- from the invention and widespread misuse of financial instruments to the culpability of subprime mortgages -- Lanchester draws perceptive conclusions on the limitations of financial and governmental regulation, capitalism's deepest flaw, and, most important, on the plain and simple facts of human nature where cash is concerned.Weaving together firsthand research and superbly written reportage, Lanchester delivers a shrewd perspective and a digestible, comprehensive analysis that connects the dots for the expert and casual reader alike. I.O.U. is an eye-opener of a book -- it may well provoke anger, amazement, or rueful disbelief -- and, as the author clearly reveals, we've only just begun to get ourselves back on track.

Investing Against the Tide: Lessons from a Life Running Money


Anthony Bolton - 2009
    Anthony Bolton, the UK s most successful stock market investor, tells the story of his contrarian approach to managing money. He provides invaluable lessons on the factors that really matter in picking a stock: the need to identify good managers, how to run a portfolio, the importance of value investing, reading charts and how to trade successfully.It s not easy to continually buy low and sell high. This book gives clear directions for doing well in the stock market, and doing well consistently. Investing Against the Tide shows you how to make the right decisions at the right time.Anthony Bolton is considered the UK s most successful stock market investor and fund manager. Over twenty five years he delivered a market-beating return of 20% in his Fidelity Special Situations Fund. How did he do it, and what can you learn from him?In Investing Against the Tide, Anthony Bolton tells the story of his contrarian approach to managing money. He provides invaluable lessons on the factors that really matter when investing: how to pick a stock, the need to identify good managers, how to run a portfolio, the importance of value investing, reading charts and how to trade successfully.In this account of financial accomplishment, Bolton reveals the secrets of his success. It s not easy constantly to buy low and sell high and this book gives clear directions for doing well in the stock market, and doing well consistently. Chapter by chapter Investing Against the Tide shows you how to make the right decisions at the right time and featured key lessons show you how you really can learn from a life running money.Investing Against the Tideis an authoritative guide for investment professionals, offering them a rare insight into what it really takes to run money in a top-performing fund, as well as providing amateur investors the chance to learn the stock-picking strategies from a leading money-manager. About the authorAnthony Bolton left Cambridge University with a degree in engineering to begin a career in the City. He started as a graduate trainee working for Keyser Ullmann in 1971 before taking up a full time position as an assistant in their investment department. In 1976 he moved to Schlesingers where he became, for the first time, an investment manager. In 1979, aged 29, he was recruited by Fidelity, the international fund management group, as one of its first London-based investment managers, a move that proved to be the launch of a long and successful career. In surveys of professional investors, he is regularly voted the fund manager most respected by his peers. He retired from full-time investment management at the end of 2007, but continues to work at Fidelity as a mentor of the analysts and younger fund managers as well as being involved in overseeing Fidelity s investment process. His hobby is composing classical music. Anthony Bolton is married with three children and lives in West Sussex."

The Behaviour Gap: Simple Ways to Stop Doing Dumb Things with Money


Carl Richards - 2012
    They were letting emotion get in the way of smart financial decisions. He named this phenomenon-the distance between what we should do and what we actually do-"the behavior gap." Using simple drawings to explain the gap, he found that once people understood it, they started doing much better.Richards's way with words and images has attracted a loyal following to his blog posts for The New York Times, appearances on National Public Radio, and his columns and lectures. His book will teach you how to rethink all kinds of situations where your perfectly natural instincts (for safety or success) can cost you money and peace of mind.He'll help you to:avoid the tendency to buy high and sell low; avoid the pitfalls of generic financial advice; invest all of your assets-time and energy as well as savings-more wisely; quit spending money and time on things that don't matter; identify your real financial goals; start meaningful conversations about money; simplify your financial life; stop losing money!It's never too late to make a fresh financial start. As Richards writes: "We've all made mistakes, but now it's time to give yourself permission to review those mistakes, identify your personal behavior gaps, and make a plan to avoid them in the future. The goal isn't to make the 'perfect' decision about money every time, but to do the best we can and move forward. Most of the time, that's enough."

Unshakeable: Your Financial Freedom Playbook


Anthony Robbins - 2017
    There have been 30 such corrections in the past 30 years, yet there's never been an action plan for how not only to survive, but thrive through each change in the stock market. Building upon the principles in Money: Master the Game, Robbins offers the reader specific steps they can implement to protect their investments while maximizing their wealth. It's a detailed guide designed for investors, articulated in the common-sense, practical manner that the millions of loyal Robbins fans and students have come to expect and rely upon. Few have navigated the turbulence of the stock market as adeptly and successfully as Tony Robbins. His proven, consistent success over decades makes him singularly qualified to help investors (both seasoned and first-timers alike) preserve and add to their investments.

Your Money or Your Life


Vicki Robin - 1992
    Your Money or Your Life is even more relevant today than it was when the book first hit the stands, and a great publicity campaign will bring this already strong-selling book to a whole new audience.

The Gone Fishin' Portfolio: Get Wise, Get Wealthy--And Get on with Your Life


Alexander Green - 2008
    One that will yield market-beating portfolio returns in both good times and bad. The Gone Fishin' Portfolio shows you what that strategy is, how it works, and why you should begin using it immediately.The innovative approach outlined throughout these pages will help investors enjoy a notably high probability of success by using an investment strategy based on the notion that nobody knows what the market is likely to do next, which, in effect, allows investors to capitalize on uncertainty.Details one of the safest and simplest ways to reach your long-term financial goals, and explores the financial and psychological challenges you're likely to face in the years ahead The "Gone Fishin' Portfolio" is based on a Nobel Prize-winning investment strategy that takes just twenty minutes to implement Discusses the relationship between risk and reward in financial markets, and reveals how the investment industry really works The Gone Fishin' Portfolio will allow you to reach your most important investment goals, beat Wall Street at its own game, and achieve the financial independence you deserve.

The Money Masters


John Train - 1980
    In these fascinating profiles John Train reveals the unique investment styles that have made each a master: the traits that distinguish them from the crowd and the techniques that create the single characteristic unifying them all -- consisently profitable investments. Their methods, Train reveals, include those both the nonprofessional and the seasoned investor can apply for profit.

The Millionaire Mind


Thomas J. Stanley - 2001
    Stanley, Ph.D., answers these questions and provides us with further insight into the thoughts and lives of this wealthy segment of the population in The Millionaire Mind. A follow-up to Stanley's New York Times bestseller, The Millionaire Next Door, The Millionaire Mind may surprise readers with its findings about the kinds of people that millionaires really are. Interestingly, many millionaires were not straight-A students in high school, nor did they attend prestigious colleges. Instead, they were often told when they were younger that they were not bright and that they would not be successful. These challenges taught them how to surmount obstacles and motivated them to try harder and to take risks to get ahead financially. The major risks that these millionaires have taken and continue to take are financial ones. They must overcome the fear of taking risks, and they must maintain this courage throughout their adult careers. Stanley discovered that many millionaires share similarities in techniques to allay their anxieties and stay on track financially. Some of these include: Believing in myself Counting my blessings every day Countering negativethoughtswith positive ones Sharing concerns with spouse Visualizing success Outworking, outthinking, out-toughing the competition Hiring talented advisors Constantly upgrading my knowledge about my occupation Spending considerable time planning my success Exercising regularly Having strong religious faith Stanley also reveals that millionaires are very often successful in marriage as well as in work (the typical millionaire has been married to the same spouse for over twenty-five years) and that they usually lead relatively frugal, economically productive lifestyles. Perhaps most interesting to readers will be the section that Stanley devotes to how millionaires chose the career in which they would be most likely to succeed. So don't miss out on picking apart and analyzing the thoughts and habits of millionaires with Thomas Stanley and The Millionaire Mind, a book sure to be as brilliantly revealing and fascinating as his previous bestseller on millionaires. Thomas J. Stanley, Ph.D., is a researcher, author, and lecturer. He has studied the wealthy for more than 25 years. The Millionaire Next Door, published in 1996, has sold more than one million copies in hardcover and nearly one million in paperback. The book has been on The New York Times Best Sellers list for more than 150 combined weeks. His previous books include Marketing to the Affluent, which Best of Business Quarterly named one of 10 outstanding business books, Selling to the Affluent, and Networking with the Affluent. Dr. Stanley lives in Atlanta. He was a professor of marketing at Georgia State University, where he was named Omicron Delta Kappa Outstanding Professor. He holds his doctorate from the University of Georgia in Athens.