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The Only Three Questions That Count: Investing by Knowing What Others Don't (平装)
by Kenneth L. Fisher, Jennifer Chou, Lara Hoffmans
| Category:
Introduction to investing, Value investing, Investment guide, Personal finance |
| Market price: ¥ 298.00
MSL price:
¥ 278.00
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| Stock:
Pre-order item, lead time 3-7 weeks upon payment [ COD term does not apply to pre-order items ] |
MSL rating:
 Good for Gifts |
| MSL Pointer Review:
Engaging, educating and filled with straightforward investing insights, this is a wonderful book with great financial and life lessons. |
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AllReviews |
  1 2 Total 2 pages 12 items |
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M. Ellis (MSL quote), USA
<2007-11-26 00:00>
If you spend a few minutes in the "Personal Investing" section of your local bookstore, you'll find that most of the books written on portfolio management are boring, out of date, or just plain bad. However, "The Only Three Questions That Count," by Ken Fisher, breaks the mold. In it, Fisher names the three questions most critical to investment success, debunks long held (and wrong) finance "truths" and provides commentary on the biggest issues that investors have had to deal with over the past few years (e.g. high oil prices, are budget deficits bad for stocks?, etc.)
The part of the book I enjoyed the most was the chapter on behavioral finance. If you have read any of Ken's columns in Forbes Magazine over the past 20 years, you already know that Ken is a pioneer in the field. I don't think there is another source available to investors that explains why our brains continually work against us when trying to successfully manage our portfolios. In fact, one of Ken's three questions is "What the heck is my brain doing to blindside me now?" For anyone with even a passing interest in psychology, this chapter is sure to entertain and enlighten.
A great thing about this book is its accessibility to readers of all levels of investing sophistication. Whether you have worked on Wall Street for 20 years or you don't know the difference between a bull and bear market, there is guaranteed to be something in this book that appeals to you. Fisher has an irreverent writing style that keeps the text enjoyable while still providing usable and practical information. Highly recommended - 5 stars. |
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Tim Beazley (MSL quote), USA
<2007-11-26 00:00>
I have always found Fisher's columns in Forbes to be one of the magazine's highlights. This book is equally interesting and informative.
The book has three central investment themes: 1) most investors hold beliefs about the causes of market performance that are either simply wrong, i.e., there is no causal relationship at all; or really, really, really wrong, i.e., there is a causal relationship, but it is the exact opposite of what most investors believe; 2) if an investor has no special insight that other investors don't have, then he has no reason to make a particular investment; and 3) human brains have evolved to solve particular types of problems in particular ways, and those problem-solving approaches are not just inefficient, but actually counter-productive, in trying to solve the very different types of problems presented by the investment world.
Being very interested in evolution, particularly as it compares with various creationist beliefs (see my other reviews), I found the third theme very interesting; but the first theme, "what you know that just ain't so," was the highlight of the book for me, and I suspect it would be for most others too.
Fisher talks about numerous, widely-held beliefs: high P/E markets are bad for stocks; high federal budget deficits are bad for stocks; a weak dollar is bad for stocks; ditto for rising interest rates, tax cuts, higher oil prices, high unemployment, low savings rates, and a falling economy; stock markets do better in countries with fast-growing economies; small stocks outperform large stocks; stocks of growing firms do better; trade deficits are bad for stock markets; and the U.S. has too much debt. Fisher also discusses the presidential election cycle, January effect, Santa Claus rally, "sell in May," and other widely held beliefs. In each case he explains why the belief is either simply wrong or really, really, really wrong, and then explains how to use that knowledge to outperform the market.
Fisher uses two methods to great effect in his analyses: global thinking, i.e., if a cause-and-effect relationship allegedly affects the U.S. stock market, then it should affect foreign markets as well; and scaling, e.g., a deficit of X-size will have a different effect in a small economy than in a large economy. Again, the detail and logic of his analyses were usually very convincing.
I have to say, I found Fisher's writing style distracting in many places, making the book a bit harder to read than I thought it would be. Oh well.
And the chart on 64-65, comparing the year-by-year performance of different investment classes and categories (which would be of particular interest to anyone interested in constructing a diversified portfolio), has a major error in it. In every single year, from 1986 to 2005, EAFE Growth's performance is given as +71%. That's obviously impossible. Fortunately, the chart lists each investment category in order of performance for each year, so it's possible to at least estimate how EAFE Growth did by looking at its position in each year's list and then checking the performance numbers for its immediate neighbors.
Notwithstanding those minor complaints, I thought this was a fascinating book with loads of useful information and advice. |
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