Fund-of-funds Books

Roger Lowenstein's book is a captivating look at what happens when even brilliant people rely on models and ignore the human element in investing. Their models did not take into consideration that when people are motivated by fear and greed, they are capable of extreme behavior. And as John Maynard Keynes is quoted as saying in the book, "Markets can remain irrational longer than you can remain solvent." LTCM discovered the truth of that statement too late.

LTCM earned great returns in the early years through the use of leverage, derivatives and easy credit terms from its banks. But when the market failed to behave as LTCM's models predicted they would, LTCM's leverage and large, illiquid trades caused them to quickly spiral downward. Even if they had ultimately been proven correct, they could not remain solvent long enough to benefit from their risky trades.

The story of LTCM, as told by Lowenstein, is fascinating. But the thing that intrigued me the most is that it does not appear that the Wall Street banks learned a lasting lesson from the debacle. In order to avoid systemic losses throughout the financial system, there were 14 banks that ultimately bailed out the LTCM fund, including firms like Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch, Chase, Goldman Sachs, Salomon Smith Barney, UBS, etc. These financial institutions saw firsthand the devastating losses that could occur due to overleveraging, excessive use of derivatives and providing easy credit terms to borrowers, and yet many of these same firms suffered severe losses in 2008 due to these very same factors. It does make you wonder if this cycle of greed and fear is bound to repeat itself, or if a new paradigm will emerge among financial institutions and regulators to prevent these meltdowns in the future.

This is a riveting book, which I would highly recommend.

Scary. Although LTCM rose and fell some time ago, it could be TODAY. Goes into high level of detail on the more obscure things in the capital markets. While not a quick read, an interesting one.

This book was a great read, well written, and hard to put down. Highly recommend.

This story about Long-Term Capital Management seems like a precursor to today's subprime mortgage fiasco that has come so close to collapsing the world financial markets. While much smaller in scope to the problems we are facing today, the LTC story demonstrates one sad truth : the big Wall Street players take on inordinate amount of risks and if they risk collapse, it is ultimately the taxpayer who has to bail them out.

This is a fascinating book about the collapse of one of the largest and most sophisticated hedge funds of all time. The book gives great insight to the hedge fund world, as run by Nobel prize winners and other mathematical geniuses, without being technical. Anyone with a passing interest in the world of finance is likely to enjoy this book.

Excellent inside account of the Workings of Wall street..not many see. I always find addictive personalities fascinating and Jim Does not disappoint.
I will make this short and sweet...If you liked the Movie Wall Street..You will LOVE this book! Excellent!

Great book about Jim Cramer's life as a young author to being one of the most powerful wallstreet traders.

I enjoy watching Cramer's Mad Money tv show, but I had no idea how chaotic his career was before he had the show. I just assumed he made lots of money and everything was hunky dory. It was not, you have to read the story to believe it.

If you like Cramer even a little you will truely enjoy this book. It really helps to understand where he has come from, and how he got to where he is today.....
I have passed this book along to many and they also loved this easy read. I, too, believe it would make an interesting movie....enjoy.

This is a great book. I've watched Jim Cramer on television, but never knew the whole story. From his days working as a reporter, to his time at Harvard Law School, on to Goldman Sachs, and eventually his own hedge fund. This is an up close and personal look at one of America's favorite money men. I highly recommend this book.

Peter Lynch offers a very simple philosophy to be a successful investor. A must read for wall street enthusiasts!

Being an 19-year-old beginner investor, this book is exactly what I was looking for. It strengthened my foundation on the basics and helped me establish what ratios and statistics to look for when evaluating a stock. I would recommend this book to anyone who is looking to build a foundation at such a great time. He uses a lot of examples and it's really an easy read. Nothing gets too technical and he has a good sense of humor that flares up frequently throughout the book.

Amateur investors have "numerous built-in advantages, which, if exploited, should result in outperforming the market and the experts."

Peter Lynch, America's number-one money manager of Fidelity's multibillion-dollar Magellan Fund, shows the layperson how to use what they already know to outperform the "experts" and to create investments on businesses that really matter.

Peter Lynch wrote a classic with One Up on Wall Street. Peter Lynch was lead investment manager of the Magellan Fund, which is arguably the most successful large $ mutual fund in the US. He no longer manages the fund but in his book he lets us in on some of his secrets of choosing stocks.

His approach is rather simple. Buy stock in something that you know. As a consumer and a personal investor we have the ability to know products before anyone on the street knows about them. For example he got in on the stock Yum Brands because he bought a Taco Bell burrito years ago when it first came out. He believed that their set up and approach would work and so he put some money into the company.

His suggestions like listening to things Oprah likes are great simple tips that a typical investor may not even realize we have more information on than wall street on a daily basis. His book is a read for all investor types from beginner to advanced. Enjoy!

I struggled with the 1st 74 pages or so, but after that this book is excellent. There is a section he titles Kicking the Tires, in short he goes over how to evaluate a company and to stay away from the 1-2 year fly away companies. I remember when everyone was selling Apple back in the day, Peter did the opposite and started gobbling up shares. As he somewhat states, the wheels on Apple were still good.

I like the book, but wish it were less repetitive. I think that Andrew Tobias' book, The Only Investment Guide You'll Ever Need, is more succint. I wish that he would update it given the new state of the economy. 3-4 years makes a huge difference in tax laws.

This is such a great book, I will probably by a copy for my eighteen year old sister. The book provides valuable information that is valuable at any age, but even better if she can learn now. Great practical tips on debt management, saving, budgeting retirement, etc.

It's just amazing. Every other theme not too well understood is explained with clarity. Website references are a plus. If you have no idea of most financial concepts, what they mean and how to understand them this is a good starter tool.

Thought the book brought things to light I knew that I was in trouble this book just made me see more clearly how to try to fix things.

Ok...so I'm a smart guy, but the in's and out's of the financial world always seemed more like Harry Potter's dark arts class than something that would ever make sense to me. I'm happy to report that this book does a fantastic job laying it all out in a way that makes perfect sense. I now have greater confidence in assessing my financial options, which is all anyone really needs. I recommend this book strongly.

Bill Clinton, Hilary Clinton, Al Gore are exposed as committing treason against the free world, they sold out the hopes and dreams of people around the world.

They have caused damage to the security all free nations. American and Allied troops are paying the price for their treason today and will be in future conflicts.

The DNC and the GOP need to be put on trial for complacency or participation of the crimes the Clintons committed during the past 30 years.

We ask our troops to go into harms way to protect American interest. These people sold them out and must be brought to justice. The death penalty is appropriate for the crimes Bill Clinton, Hilary Clinton and Al Gore committed.

There must be justice!!!!!

If you are looking for a resource that covers the variety of Bill Clinton's character flaws, this is not it. This book concentrates almost exclusively on the Clinton/Gore China connection. So if you're looking for a few juicy Gennifer Flowers, Paula Jones, or Monica-gate tidbits, you will be sadly disappointed.

While I suspected that a lot of what this book reveals is true, I felt that it fell somewhat short of making a convincing argument. Don't get me wrong, the authors present a lot of evidence to support their claim. But I remain puzzled that if such evidence is as authentic as the authors claim, then why have Bill Clinton and Al Gore not been indicted for their crimes?

Another problem about this book is that it was written in the late nineties before the end of Clinton's presidency. There are a few chapters added to this edition that takes us up to just before the 2000 elections. At that time, such questions would've been pertinent and the obvious motives for writing such a book would be evident. But now 7 years later, with nothing transpiring regarding these claims, I am left questioning how convincing the charges actually were.

The authors explain some of this in the text such as how Janet Reno was compromised by extending her term as Attorney General providing she thwarted an independent investigation of the Clinton/Gore - China scandal. And the descriptions of how Bill and Al controlled the FBI and other investigative branches to maintain their power grip on the country are very believable. But how could the Republicans, with all that was at stake in the 2000 elections, allow this to go virtually unnoticed? Were they complicit in it themselves? Did they have other 'baggage' with which Clinton was able to manipulate them? Or were they just plain inept?

In any event, the book does document a lot of incriminating evidence about China-Gate. Their research is extensive and covers many aspects of how China was able to compromise U.S. security using Bill Clinton and Al Gore as their 'connection'. It definitely makes you think twice about putting another Clinton in the White House (Hillary is depicted as complicit in this matter as well). I just feel that I was left with more questions unanswered after reading this book than before.

I found this book very disturbing. It shows how corrupt the Clinton/Gore adminstration really was. It also shows how the "liberal press" kept these facts from the American people, and how he put his own agenda above the security of our nation, that he was sworn to protect. I would like to see those responsible brought to justice and tried as traitors. This is well written and backed up with facts when available. Anyone who thinks he was such a great president needs to read and learn the truth.

lots of sensationalism, unfunded accusations, paranoid and bias. no wonder it's only worth a few cents.

As a kid, I often took bikerides that took me past the Watergate Hotel. Every day, outside the hotel, there was this homeless-looking dude who distributed pamphlets with the same name as this book.

This book really helped me when I went to college 4 years ago. With the helpm of the advice in this book and a little work doing airbrush tattoos from www.tatstore.com in my free time, and I was able to put myself through college compleatly debt free, and I had money saved up afterward to put a down payment on my house. Now I'm a 22 year old homeowner! There is so much in this book to herlp you write scholarship essays, ace scholarship interviews, and find the little known scholarships that the online scholarship services just don't seem to uncover.

A great book that helped me with my daughter's plan for college. I highly recommend it to other parents looking for ways to pay for their children's college.

I gave this book to my twin daughters so they could to the college they wanted instead of just afford. It was great information and landed them in the private college they wanted for a community college price...recommend reading.

Truth to be told, I bought two copies to give to two couples that are having children go off to college next year. So, I did not read them. The ordering and delivery were very good, just as advertised. Clayton Penhallegon

This book is very informative. Ben Kaplan manages to convey the information in a fun and lighthearted manner. This is a great book for parents and students alike.

Over the past year, I have read 7 of the "Little Book of common sense Investing", and this is by far, the one that makes the most sense. All of the other books describe how to pick winning stocks, value stocks, diversification, and other "tricks" to winning in the market (and by my experiences, none of them work). This book, talks about "Index Funds" that track the broad markets like the S&P 500, and how safe and economical that strategy is in the long run.

I agree 100% with the author's work, especially for the average 401k investor who doesn't have time to "play the market". Especially when you factor in the fees associated with buying and selling individual stocks, and using other Funds that have high management fees associated with them.

Summary (To save you time):
If you want to retire early and financially wealthy you'll go a long way to beat this book. your first investment should be this book and then the markets. John Bogel provides a clear and concise text on how to make a good (If unexciting) return.
This book is accessible, factually based, informative and small enough to read quickly. There is no heavy analysis or huge amount of brain power required.


Review:
What makes a good investing book? It always seems to be the promise of riches and excitement. Well good luck most of the exciting stock picking methods lead to bankrupcy.
What should make a good investing book? Hows about something that can actually work?
Please bear in mind at this point that if a stock picking method cannot be rationaly explained as to why it works the chances are its garabge. One method that was well explained is Value Investing. Unfortuantely these days you are up against computers that can analyse all world wide stock markets in real time - chances are you won't win.

In a market of hype about the "Latest" and "Greatest" stock picking method John Bogel has written a book based on common sense. Inevitably all investors in a market must on average gain returns equal to the market, less costs (Forget these at your peril).
In recent years Wall Street has made $400 Billion per year in those costs (Thats right they won and you lost before your money even went into stocks). Hows about keeping that money and still investing and getting a fair (Average) share of returns? Sound boring? Well the best way isn't always the most exciting.

Through humble arithmatic John Bogel convinces you of the value and sense in a low cost index tracking fund.
Each chapter finishes whith people who endorse indexing. The likes of Warren E. Buffet, Charlie Munger, Charles Schwab, etc (Who all know more about investing than I ever will) endorse indexing. Thats good enough for me.

As a quick explanation of the aritmetic (I made these numbers up, they're not from the book, but they are mathematically accurate) and why it should convince you:
Assume the stock market returns 10% per year, you have 100% portfolio turnover per year, 2% costs (Very low) and 40% taxes (which is about right in GB where I live). If you have a system to beat the markets you need a return of 10% or more as well. So 10% return + 2% costs + 40% taxes =
(10 + 2) / 0.6 = 20%. Well good luck! Your system needs to double market returns. Hint: One reason Warren Buffet is able to beat the markets is he has very low portfolio turnover (Thus avoiding many taxes).

So are there down sides to this book?
Well Yes, there always are. Inevitable John Bogel uses the Vanguard S&P 500 index tracker (From his own company) as an example. He mentions others but not very often. So it sometimes feels a little like a sales exercise in places. However never so much that it detracts from the point. And I am a cynic who is always looking to disprove (Or even disapprove) of what I read.
Also indexing doesn't offer you very much excitment. However I can counter that with I want to retire early, not late (And broke) in life knowing I had fun in the markets.
Lastly I haven't read all the books out there and there may well be better for me yet to discover. As far as I personally have read this book tops the list though.


Resummary:
Not exciting but so well worth the money, unlike most of the garbage out there. As for most stock picking methods please remember you are taking on the best and brightest on Wall Street and their computers. They still lost huge regularly (In recent years lets all remember 2000-1, 2003, 2007-8, each time we witnessed in the region of a 40% crash in the markets). If they fail why can you or I do better? I'll stick to boredom and a fair return.

As a final endorsement of what John Bogel writes about, when companies make investments that they have to all but guarantee returns on (Pensions etc), they invest in the manner described in this book. They just don't advertise it, but if you want a good safe return guess what...

So as not to leave anyone in suspense, according to the author the "only way to guarantee your fair share of stock market returns" as it says in the title of the book is to invest in index funds that mirror the broad market, such as an S&P 500 fund. Plain and simple.

Basically, Mr. Bogle lays out his argument for that viewpoint in several relatively short, easy-to-understand chapters that each focus on a separate aspect as to why index funds are the vehicle of choice for the long term investor. He provides the reader with supporting historical data, information about fees, income tax effects, quotes from other respected investors, etc., to build a strong case for index funds. The effect of what you may think are slight differences in fund fees and charges from one fund to another over time are quite shocking.

Overall, this is a well-written, organized, intelligent book that is also thankfully concise, and I thought it was well worth reading. I can see there is a lot of wisdom for sticking with index funds for the long run.

An excellent book on investing. Straightforward form people whom know what they are talking about. And quoting from other good references as well.

As others have mentioned, this book could be distilled down to "The only way to succeed at long term investing is to buy low-fee mutual funds that track the whole stock market". The entire rest of the book is the justification, and it's pretty hard to argue with any of it. Sure, you can beat the market sometimes, but it can't last.

As a beginning investor, I found the book informative - it helps you think about stocks and the market in ways that aren't immediately obvious to the uninformed.

So you followed the advice to carry as high a mortgage as you can, based on your house's rise in value. Bought your house for, say, $200K, it went up to $450K. Banks too willing to lend, you have a big mortgage now. Value of house dropped to $175K and you need to sell it. Lost your job, want to retire, whatever. Can't sell it, you took out a mortgage for $400K. Now what can you do? Wait 10 - 15 years for the value of your home to go up? How old are you? You're definitely in trouble. How many took Ric's advice? And now he comes out with "The Lies About Money." What did he do, rewrite his first book and change all his advice? The lies were what he wrote in "The Truth..." And it seems to me he sold his company although he's still with it. Avoiding lawsuits? I don't know. I do know I went to see him for $500 and all his financial planner did was try to sell us more and more insurance: disability, homeowners, yada yada yada. What a waste of my time and money. Use common sense, not this book. Or any of Ric's books. Or any of his services. I'm glad I didn't follow his advice.

Do you wonder why there are so many persons struggling with financial problems? The answer is simple yet only a few know the answer. We simply don't know the rules of the game. The problem also is that it is very difficult and time consuming to figure out the "Game of Money".
The good news about this book is that the author explains and clarifies a lot of myths and misunderstandings about money,investments,markets,stocks,mutual funds,taxes and a lot more about subjects directy related to money and wealth. Are you going to be rich after reading it? Maybe,maybe not, but I do know that you will turn into a well educated person regarding how to make sound financial decisions. I bought this book and I plan to keep it because the information is priceless. This is the kind of book that you read, reread it and then keep it for future reference.

I received the book in short order. Haven't read it yet; however plan to.
Ed

Very readable book on personal finance across the entire spectrum of insurance, mortgages, investing, credit management, etc. After reading, I gave copies to siblings and children so that they'd have the information at their age that I wish I'd had when I was their age. Can't recommend it highly enough. Edelman's a fun writer to read. It's not a heavy financial text at all; it's all in street English!

Its really that worth reading! It spans a variety of subjects relating to money and is a must read for any new investor. I really like the seetion on paying down your mortgage. It is very different than many rules of thought that you hear or see on TV and Radio.
Adam http://www.halfpricebob.com

When I was in St. Maarten, I bought The Captain's Fund. I enjoyed reading the story. I had never heard of Raina and I wanted to try something different. I'm glad I did. I see she has 4 other books that I'm going to get. Raina tells her story and doesn't let trivia get in the way. You can follow along without having to repeat what you read.

Harris can tell a story and she gets better with each book. The Captain's Fund was the first and reads very well. I liked the fast pace and her style kept you reading on. She created several characters that are so real i enjoyed following them through each of the other three books too. If you like romance mysteries, get this one.

Harris can really mix action and romance in a story. The Captain's Fund captures you from the first chapter and doesn't stop until you finish the last page. I was looking for a new author to read this summer annd found a great one in Harris.

I like books I can bring to the beach. Harris wrote The Captain's Fund in a light and entertaining style. I found it to have enough detail to get the story across, but not make it boring. I enjoyed the people Harris created. She constructed a believable crime and police investigation.

I just returned from a week of vacation and spent the entire time reading. After finishing The Captain's Fund, I bought the three other books by Harris. She has an easy style that makes it wonderful beach reading. Harris writes abouts the same characters - you really get to know them. Her books contain a good mixture of romance and none stop police work.

This book was a gift for the man interested in investments!
He loves it!

You must read this book. And it's the only mutual fund investment book you need. I read it cover to cover in just a few days. Now I know exactly what to do with my 401k's, and my IRA's.

Investing in mutual funds? This book is the granddaddy of books that reveal everything you want and need to know about mutual fund investing. Bogle, the founder of Vanguard, delivers a knockout blockbuster here that you won't want to miss.

Very detailed and informative book. I still read it from time to time to keep my investment perspective. It lead me to index investing a number of years ago, and I've never been sorry!

This book reads like a college text (easier version from Bogle would be the little book of common sense investing) but it has all the information you will need to become a proficient investor of mutual funds. What impressed me the most was the use of data going back several hundred years for the case of asset allocation, the use of diversified equities, and cost containment.