Synopses & Reviews
"The stock market represents everything that anybody has ever hoped, feared, hated, or loved. It is all of life." -Edward C. Johnson II
Investor's Anthology
Original Ideas from the Industry's Greatest Minds
"Every investor will benefit from the classics found in this volume." -Warren E. Buffett
"This book is must reading for anyone interested in investing. It contains everything one would expect in a great book - wisdom, insight, historical perspective, and wit." -Steven G. Einhorn, Partner Goldman, Sachs & Co.
"Ideas change the world and this book enables you to observe the key moments in investment thinking over the past 200 years. If having clear perspective improves investment performance, reading and understanding this book will help you make better decisions." -Byron R. Wien, Managing Director, U.S. Investment Strategist Morgan Stanley & Co., Inc.
"Now-at last-an opportunity for individual investors to sample the writing of the outstanding investors of our time, carefully crafted by Charley Ellis." -John B. Neff Managing Partner (retired) Wellington Management Company.
"From A-B-C (Hans Christian Andersen, Warren Buffett, Philip Carret) to Z (Arthur Zeikel) . . . eternal wisdom about the financial markets, compiled by one of the most astute minds in the field. A 'must read' for the serious investor." -John C. Bogle, Chairman The Vanguard Group
Reach into this jewel box of an anthology and you will come up with gems of wit, wisdom, and analysis that reflect a unique combination of experience and insight -the essential elements that investing, like life itself, requires. The Investor's Anthology offers penetrating thoughts by the greatest players in the history of investing. Discover firsthand what the experts have to say about the most important ideas, issues, and trends in the investment business. In what may feel like a series of personal audiences, Warren Buffett, Barton Biggs, Benjamin Graham, John Templeton, T. Rowe Price, and dozens of others share the experiences of lifetimes in the market. Listen as these legends talk about the investments that made their reputations: Marty Leibowitz on bond portfolios, Phil Fisher analyzing stocks, and T. Rowe Price revealing the secrets of his phenomenal success in mutual funds. And much more.
This rich collection offers not only valuable, straight-ahead investment advice, but also a chance to see the whole world of investment from an extraordinary variety of perspectives. You will hear stories of stunning victories and devastating defeats, of self-deception and popular delusions, of humble wise men and arrogant fools. You will learn the personal rules the great players follow, and, of course, discover the mistakes they'll never make again.
Among the engaging pieces this anthology offers: Sidney Homer traces the development of credit from ancient Babylonia to the present in the eye-opening "An Informal History of Interest Rates"; Arthur Zeikel poses the haunting question, "Why are so many of us wrong so much of the time?" in his probing essay "On the Threat of Change"; the estimable Warren Buffett contributes an introspective, illuminating piece, "Mistakes of the First Twenty-Five Years"; Barton Biggs delivers nuggets of useful advice in "Investment Strategy"; and David Babson personally lays to rest what many have long suspected in "The Futility of Stock Market Guessing." There is pulse-pounding, "you-are-there" drama in Adam Smith's "The Day They Red-Dogged Motorola" and Frederick Lewis's classic account of "The Big Bull Market and the Crash." And there is personal tragedy in "Catastrophe," the wrenching story of the downfall and disgrace of Richard Whitney, once a pillar of Wall Street's Old Guard.
Provocative, instructive, and always entertaining, The Investor's Anthology will prove irresistible to all who want to hear the greatest investors of all time speak their minds.
Synopsis
"Eternal wisdom about the financial markets, compiled by one of the most astute minds In the field. A must-read for the serious Investor". -- John C. Bogle, Chairman of The Vanguard Group
This anthology brings together original writings from many of the biggest names in finance, including Warren Buffett, Barton Biggs, Benjamin Graham, John Templeton, and other luminaries who have helped shape the face of modem finance. Unusually candid, amusing, and instructive, these articles give readers a unique opportunity to hear what top money mavens have to say about all the most important ideas and trends in the business. For instance, Mary Leibowitz talks about bond portfolios, Philip Fisher gives his views on common stocks, and T. Rowe Price reveals the secrets of his phenomenal success in mutual funds.
-- Packed with tales from David Babson, Roy Neuberger, Arthur Zeikel, Sidney Homers, and dozens more
Synopsis
In what feels like a series of personal audiences, Warren Buffett, John Templeton and dozens of others share the experiences of lifetimes in the market. Reach into this jewel box of an anthology and you will come up with gems of wit, wisdom, and analysis that reflect a unique combination of experience and insight in the essential elements that investing, like life itself, requires.
About the Author
CHARLES D. ELLIS is Managing Partner of Greenwich Associates. A CFA and PhD, Ellis is former president of the AIMR, the professional association of investment managers. He has taught investment courses in the graduate schools at Harvard Business School and Yale, and has written six books on investment. He is an overseer for the School of Business at New York University, a member of the Investment Committee of Yale University, and a member of the Board of Directors for the Harvard Business School.
JAMES R. VERTIN is a principal of Alpine Counselors, a financial consulting firm; a former president and trustee of the Institute of Chartered Financial Analysts; and currently Associate Editor of CFA Digest. Vertin has also served as the senior investment officer at Wells Fargo Investment Advisors, and as director of the Financial Analysts Federation.
Table of Contents
Partial table of contents:
CONCEPTS AND MARKET HISTORY.
The Market and Prices (A. Smith).
Common Stock Commandments (C. Rosenberg).
ADVICE, OPINIONS, AND COMMENTARY.
A Persistent Delusion (H. Dunn).
On the Threat of Change (A. Zeikel).
VISIONS AND AMUSEMENTS.
Everybody Ought to be Rich (J. Raskob).
Seven Rules for Investors (N. Lawson).
INNOVATIVE IDEAS AND PROVEN PARADIGMS.
A New Paradigm for Portfolio Risk (R. Jeffrey).
The Loser's Game (C. Ellis).
SPECULATION, CRASHES, AND FINANCIAL TURMOIL.
Too Many Freds (D. Babson).
Catastrophe (J. Brooks).
FORECAST, ANALYSIS, AND PERFORMANCE MEASUREMENT.
The State of Long-Term Expectation (J. Keynes).
TIPS, RULES, AND COMMANDMENTS.
On Speculating Successfully (P. Carret).
Indexes.