Book Synopsis
Train your brain to be a real contrarian and outsmart the crowd
Beat the Crowd is the real contrarian's guide to investing, with comprehensive explanations of how a true contrarian investor thinks and acts - and why it works more often than not. Bestselling author Ken Fisher breaks down the myths and cuts through the noise to present a clear, unvarnished view of timeless market realities, and the ways in which a contrarian approach to investing will outsmart the herd. In true Ken Fisher style, the book explains why the crowd often goes astray--and how you can stay on track.
Contrarians understand how headlines really affect the market and which noise and fads they should tune out. Beat the Crowd is a primer to the contrarian strategy, teaching readers simple tricks to think differently and get it right more often than not.
- Discover the limits of forecasting and how far ahead you should look
- Learn why political controversy matter less the louder it gets
- Resurrect long-forgotten, timeless tricks and truths in markets
- Find out how the contrarian approach makes you right more often than wrong
A successful investment strategy requires information, preparation, a little bit of brainpower, and a larger bit of luck. Pursuit of the mythical perfect strategy frequently lands folks in a cacophony of talking heads and twenty-four hour noise, but Beat the Crowd cuts through the mental clutter and collects the pristine pieces of actual value into a tactical approach based on going against the grain.
From the Back Cover
Mainstream investors are wrong more often than right. Most folks intuitively know this, and statistics and studies back it up. How can you buck the trend and be right more often than wrong?
Many believe doing the opposite of everyone else is the key to avoiding the herd's faulty investment decisions. Wall Street defines contrarian investing as betting the opposite of the crowd. Problem is, stocks often don't do the opposite of what most folks expect! Those who bet on the opposite, thinking it makes them a contrarian, behave as crowd-like as the crowd they try to game! If the herd thinks stocks will rise 10%, the anti-herders bet they'll fall--but markets could also skyrocket or zigzag sideways. In Beat the Crowd, bestselling author Ken Fisher shows you how to look beyond both crowds and find real contrarian opportunities that pay.
Being a contrarian simply means thinking independently. Not getting caught up in media hype and endless debate over whether Thing X is good or bad for stocks. Looking for things everyone misses. Thinking differently than the crowd, but not necessarily opposite! Beat the Crowd helps you filter the noise, test rules of thumb, shatter media myths and avoid common pitfalls.
If you're tired of media chatter and getting burned by consensus wisdom, this book is for you. With his signature style, Ken dispels common viewpoints and knocks age-old "rules" on their head. You'll learn how to separate what's important from what isn't, think outside the investing canon, find the "elephant in the room" and out-invest the herd.
Review Quotes
"..a characteristically lively read....a good holiday read for any investor who suspects they may be stuck in their ways and in need of new insights" (Money Observer, July 2015)
About the Author
KEN FISHER is best known for his prestigious "Portfolio Strategy" column in Forbes magazine, where his over 30-year tenure of high-profile calls makes him the third longest- running columnist in Forbes's 90-plus-year history. He is the founder, Chairman and CEO of Fisher Investments, an independent global money management firm managing over $60 billion for individuals and institutions globally. Fisher is ranked #240 on the 2014 Forbes 400 list of richest Americans and #653 on the 2014 Forbes Global Billionaire list. In 2010, Investment Advisor magazine named him among the 30 most influential individuals of the last three decades. Fisher has authored numerous professional and scholarly articles, including the award- winning "Cognitive Biases in Market Forecasting." He has also written ten previous books, including national bestsellers The Only Three Questions That Count, The Ten Roads to Riches, How to Smell a Rat, Debunkery and Markets Never Forget (But People Do), all 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.
ELISABETH DELLINGER is an analyst and staff writer at Fisher Investments and has been with the firm for over a decade. She is a senior editor of MarketMinder.com and a contributor on Equities.com as well as other financial news websites.
