Sunday, September 27, 2009

The only three questions that count: investing by knowing what others don't


This is the book I recommend reading by Kenneth Fisher, "The only three questions that count: investing by knowing what others don't", costs about $33.00 but you can get it from the library.

Kenneth Fisher is the son of the later Philip Fisher. The elder Fisher was famous for the book "Common Stocks, Uncommon Profits". Kenneth Fisher's contribution has been the Price to Sales ratio, which he claims is no longer useful.

What I learnt from the book

1. Time in the market counts. Missing the best days by staying out of the market reduces your returns severely.

2. Bear markets lasts at most 3 years, and average 18 months. These figures are important if you want to grow your wealth through common stock.

Why this book does not suit retail investor

The formula he suggests for investing, namely, asset allocation through weighting/indexing either locally or globally, is slightly out of reach to most of us. I believe his target audience is for those with US$500,000 (wow!).

Overall, I feel that you should borrow this book from the library and read chapter 8 and 9 first before reading the front, as it is a bit technical. The technical bits are useful, but the chapters I highlighted are more interesting.

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