Debunkery Learn It, Do It, and Profit from It -- Seeing Through Wall Street's Money-Killing Myths

by Fisher, Kenneth L.; Hoffmans, Lara W.

• ISBN13: 9781118077016
• ISBN10: 1118077016
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2011-10-11
• Publisher: Wiley

Summary

Legendary money manager Ken Fisher outlines the most common-and costly-mistakes investors make. Small cap stocks are best for all time. Bunk! A trade deficit is bad for markets. Bunk! Stocks cant rise on high unemployment. Bunk! Many investors think they are safest following widely accepted Wall Street wisdom-but much of Wall Street wisdom isnt so wise. In fact, it can be costly bunk. In Debunkery: Learn It, Do It, and Profit From It-Seeing Through Wall Streets Money-Killing Myths, Ken Fisher-named one of the 30 most influential individuals of the last three decades by Investment Advisor magazine-details why so many investors fail to get the long-term results they desire. The short answer is many investors fail to question if what they believe is true-and are therefore blinded by tradition, biases, ideology, or any number of cognitive errors. Your goal as an investor shouldnt be to be error-free-thats impossible. Rather, to be more successful, you should aim to lower your error rate. Debunkery gets you started by debunking 50 common myths-but thats just the beginning. It also gives you the tools you need to continue to do your own debunkery for the rest of your investing career.

Author Biography

Ken Fisher is best known for his prestigious "Portfolio Strategy" column in Forbes magazine, where his over 25-year tenure of high-profile calls-makes him die fourth longest-ninning columnist in Forbes 90-plus year history. He is the founder, Chairman, and CEO of Fisher Investments, an independent global money management firm with over. $32. billion under. management (as of 6/30/10). Fisher is ranked #289 on the 2009 Forbes 400 list of richest Americans, and #721 on die 2010 Forbes Global Billionaire list, hi 2010, Investment Advisor magazine named him as one of the 30 most influential individuals of the last three decades. Fisher has authored numerous professional and scholarly articles, including the award-winning article, "Cognitive Biases in Market Forecasting," and has published six previous books, including the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal bestsellers. The Only Three Questions That Count, The Ten Roads to Riches, and How to Smell a Rat, all of which are published by Wiley. Fisher has been published, interviewed, and/or written about in many major American, British, and German finance or business periodicals. He has a weekly column in Focus Money. Germany's leading weekly finance and business magazine. Lara Hoffmans is a content manager at Fisher Investments contributing etlitor of Market Minder.com, and coauthor of the bestsellers, Only Three Questions That Count, The Ten Road's to Riches, How to Smell a Rat.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	p. ix
Introduction: Debunkery Made Easy	p. xiii
Basic Bunk to Make You Broke	p. 1
Bonds Are Safer Than Stocks	p. 5
Well-Rested Investors Are Better Investors	p. 9
Retirees Must Be Conservative	p. 13
Age Equals Asset Allocation	p. 17
You Should Expect Average Returns	p. 20
"Capital Preservation and Growth" Is Possible!	p. 23
Trust Your Gut	p. 26
One Big Bear and You're Done	p. 30
Make Sure It's a Bull Before Diving In	p. 34
Growth Is Best for All Thne.No,Value No, Small Caps	p. 39
A Good Con Artist Is Hard to Spot	p. 44
Wall Street "Wisdom"	p. 49
Stop-Losses Stop Losses	p. 51
Covered Calls Gotcha Covered	p. 54
Dollar Cost Averaging-Lower Risk, Better Returns	p. 57
Variable Annuities Are All Upside, No Downside	p. 60
Equity-Indexed AnnuitiesùBetter Than Normal Annuities	p. 65
Passive Investing Is Easy	p. 68
Do Better With Mutual Funds by Sending Your Spouse on a Shopping Spree	p. 72
Beta Measures Risk	p. 75
Equity Risk PremiumsùForecasting Future Returns With Ease	p. 80
When the VIX Is High, It's Time to Buy	p. 84
Be Confident on Consumer Confidence	p. 88
All Hail the Mighty Dow!	p. 92
"Everyone Knows"	p. 99
So Goes January	p. 101
Sell in May	p. 104
Low P/Es Mean Low Risk	p. 107
A Strong Dollar Is Super	p. 112
Don't Fight the Fed	p. 116
Interest Pays Dividends	p. 120
Buy a 5% CD for 5% Cash Flow Easy	p. 123
Baby Boomers Retire, World Ends, Etc	p. 126
Concentrate to Build Wealth	p. 130
History Lessons	p. 135
Pray for Budget Surprise	p. 137
High Unemployment Is a killer	p. 143
With Gold, You're Golden	p. 148
Stocks Love Lower Taxes	p. 152
Oil and Stocks Seesaw	p. 158
Swine Flu, SARS, Ebola, and Other Viral Disasters Make Markets Sick	p. 163
Consumers Are King	p. 167
Presidential Term Cycles Are Stock Market Voodoo	p. 172
My Political Party Is Best for Stocks	p. 178
Stock Returns Are Too High and Must Fall	p. 182
It's a Great Big World!	p. 187
Foreign Stocks Just Feel So .. .Foreign	p. 189
Wno Needs Foreign?	p. 192
Big Debt Is National Death	p. 195
America Can't Handle Its Debt	p. 199
Indebted to China	p. 202
Trade Deficits Make Deficient Markets	p. 206
GDP Makes Stocks Grow	p. 211
Terrorism Terrorizes Stocks	p. 215
Notes	p. 219
About the Authors	p. 228
Index	p. 229
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