Synopses & Reviews
Ken Fisher questions authority. He challenges the conventional wisdom of investing, overturns glib theories with hard facts, and blows up complacent beliefs about money and markets. But the authority he challenges most of all is his own—because challenging yourself, Fisher says, is the key to successful investing.
In today's competitive market environment, the best way to achieve investment success is by knowing something that others don't. But many of us, amateurs and professionals alike, believe we don't or can't know what others don't—so we continue to make market bets based on "conventional wisdom."
In The Only Three Questions That Count, Fisher debunks the conventional market myths that many of our investment decisions are based upon, and reveals a precise methodology that will allow you to know what others don't. The methodology—which has helped Fisher achieve success throughout his long financial career—is as easy as asking three simple questions. The first question will help you see things the way they really are. The second question will help you see things that other investors often miss. Finally, the third question will help you understand your relationship with today's markets.
The questions detailed throughout the book aren't what you might expect; they don't have to do with the market's P/E ratio or interest rate forecasts. Rather, they focus on helping you make better investment decisions by identifying what you can know—unique to you—that others do not.
In the first three chapters of this groundbreaking guide, Fisher takes you through each question in detail. And from there, through numerous illustrative examples, he shows you how to put them to work in various ways. You'll learn how to use the questions to think about the overall market, different parts of the market, and even individual stocks. You'll also become familiar with how to apply them to interest rates, currencies, and many other investment areas. Fisher leaves no stone unturned as he explains how each of these three questions can help consistently improve your investment performance.
Filled with in-depth insights, expert advice, and engaging anecdotes, The Only Three Questions That Count provides you with a dynamic strategy and set of tools that will give you a distinct edge over other investors.
Review
"This book is quite simply the single best tome on investing that I have read in years." (Norm Conley,
TheStreet.com, January 15, 2007)
"Here's [an investment book] you're going to want to read. And when you're done, you're going to want to read it again." (Don Luskin, SmartMoney.com, October 27, 2006)
"In an increasingly unquestioning world, Mr. Fisher has a refreshingly contrarian take on pretty much every subject you care to mention." (Steve Johnson, Financial Times, January 15, 2007)
"[Ken Fisher’s] new book, an illuminating and enjoyable read, is a tutorial on how to beat the market by thinking like a scientist: with an open, inquisitive mind." (Andrew Pitts, Money Observer, January 22, 2007)"
"…a refreshingly contrarian take on pretty much every subject…" (The Financial Times, January 2007)
"an illuminating and enjoyable read." (Money Observer, January 2007)
"…aims to show the investors the way things really…a process that involves a keen examination of the actuality, coupled with a good dose of common sense." (Wealth Management, 1st August 2007)
Synopsis
Presents an investment strategy that discounts conventional wisdom and offers a methodology that provides a lifelong basis for making better investment decisions.
Synopsis
The Only Three Questions That Count is the first book to show you how to think about investing for yourself and develop innovative ways to understand and profit from the markets. The only way to consistently beat the markets is by knowing something others don’t know. This book will show you how to do just that by using three simple questions. You’ll see why CNBC’s Mad Money host and money manager James J. Cramer says, "I believe that reading his book may be the single best thing you could do this year to make yourself a better investor.
In The Only Three Questions That Count, Ken Fisher challenges the conventional wisdoms of investing, overturns glib theories with hard facts, and blows up complacent beliefs about money and the markets. Ultimately, he says, the key to successful investing is daring to challenge yourself and whatever you believe to be true. Packed with more than 100 visuals, usable tools, and a glossary, The Only Three Questions That Count is an entertaining and educational experience in the markets unlike any other, giving you an opportunity to reap the huge rewards that only the markets can offer.
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About the Author
Ken Fisher is best known for his prestigious "Portfolio Strategy" column in Forbes magazine, where his twenty-two-year tenure of high-profile calls makes him the fifth longest-running columnist in Forbes' eighty-nine-year history. He is also the founder, Chairman, and CEO of Fisher Investments, an independent global money management firm with over $30 billion in assets. Consistently ranked the most accurate published market forecaster by third-party CXO Advisory Group, Fisher was ranked 297 on the 2006 Forbes 400 list of richest Americans. He is the award-winning author of numerous scholarly articles and has published three previous major finance books including 1984's bestselling stock market book, Super Stocks. He also writes frequently for other business and financial publications, including a regular column for Bloomberg Money in Britain.
Jennifer Chou graduated from the University of California with a BS in finance. She is a Research Analyst of global capital markets and macroeconomics at Fisher Investments.
Lara Hoffmans graduated from the University of Notre Dame with a BA in theatre. She is a Research Analyst at Fisher Investments.
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments.Foreword.
Preface.
Who Am I to Tell You Something That Counts?
Idiots and Professionals: Oh, but I Repeat Myself.
Because Mr. Crafty, It's Not a Craft.
It’s All Latin to Me—Starting to Think like a Scientist.
The Only Three Questions That Count.
1 Question One: What Do You Believe That Is Actually False?
If You Knew It Was Wrong, You Wouldn't Believe It.
The Mythological Correlation.
Always Look at It Differently.
When You Are Really, Really Wrong.
2 Question Two: What Can You Fathom That Others Find Unfathomable?
Fathoming the Unfathomable.
Ignore the Rock in the Bushes.
Discounting the Media Machine and Advanced Fad Avoidance.
The Shocking Truth about Yield Curves.
What the Yield Curve Is Trying to Tell You.
The Presidential Term Cycle.
3 Question Three: What the Heck Is My Brain Doing to Blindside Me Now?
It’s Not Your Fault—Blame Evolution.
Cracking the Stone Age Code—Pride and Regret.
The Great Humiliator's Favorite Tricks.
Get Your Head Out of the Cave.
4 Capital Markets Technology.
Building and Putting Capital Markets Technology into Practice.
It’s Good while It Lasts.
Forecast with Accuracy, Not like a Professional.
Better Living through Global Benchmarking.
5 When There's No There, There!
Johns Hopkins, My Grampa, Life Lessons, and Pulling a Gertrude.
In the Center Ring—Oil versus Stocks.
Sell in May because the January Effect Will Dampen Your Santa Claus Rally Unless There Is a Witching Effect.
6 No, It’s Just the Opposite.
When You Are Wrong—Really, Really, Really Wrong.
Multiplier Effects and the Heroin-Addicted Apple iPod Borrower.
Let’s Trade This Deficit for That One.
The New Gold Standard.
7 Shocking but True.
Supply and Demand . . . and That's It.
Weak Dollar, Strong Dollar—What Does It Matter?
8 The Great Humiliator and Your Stone-Age Brain.
That Predictable Market.
Anatomy of a Bubble.
Some Basic Bear Rules.
What Causes a Bear Market?.
9 Putting It All Together.
Stick with Your Strategy and Stick It to Him.
Four Rules That Count.
Finally! How to Pick Stocks That Only Win.
When the Heck Do You Sell?
Conclusion.
Transformationalism.
Appendix A: U.S. Equity Total Returns 1830 to 1925.
Appendix B: S&P 500 Composite Returns.
Appendix C: Simulated Technology Returns.
Appendix D: Nasdaq Composite Returns.
Appendix E: U.K. Stock Market Total Returns.
Appendix F: U.K. Stock Market (FTSE All-Share) Total Returns.
Appendix G: Germany Stock Market Returns.
Appendix H: Germany Stock Market (DAX) Total Returns.
Appendix I: Japan Stock Market Total Returns.
Appendix J: Japan Stock Market (TOPIX) Total Returns.
Appendix K: Fisher Investments Global Total Return Performance.
Appendix L: Ten-Year History of the Forbes Report Card.
Appendix M: The United Deficits: Data.
Notes.
Glossary.
Index.