Publisher Description

Today's investor is faced with a myriad of investment options and strategies. Whether you are seeking someone to manage your money or are a self-directed investor deciding to tackle the market on your own, the options can be overwhelming.

In an easy-to-read and simple format, this book will dissect the strategies of some of Wall Street's most successful investment gurus and teach readers how to weed through the all of the choices to find a strategy that works for them. The model portfolio system that author John Reese developed turns each strategy into an actionable system, addressing many of the common mistakes that doom individual investors to market underperformance. This book will focus on the principles behind the author's multi-guru approach, showing how investors can combine the proven strategies of these legendary "gurus" into a disciplined investing system that has significantly outperformed the market.

Gurus covered in the book are: Benjamin Graham; John Neff; David Dreman; Warren Buffett; Peter Lynch; Ken Fisher; Martin Zweig; James O'Shaughnessy; Joel Greenblatt; and Joseph Piotroski.

Back Cover

The GURU INVESTOR Over the past six decades, the U.S. stock market has averaged an annual return of about eleven percent per year. Yet, except for a few renowned Wall Street gurus, the vast majority of investors, both amateur and professional, fail to come anywhere close to those eleven percent average annual gains. Why do most investors fail--and what do those very successful investment gurus have in common? The Guru Investor identifies the??stock picking methodologies developed by some of history's best and most successful stock market gurus--including Peter Lynch, Warren Buffett, Benjamin Graham, Martin Zweig, John Neff, and others--and shows how you can combine these proven strategies into a disciplined investing system that has been proven to outperform the market. John Reese breaks down the very different approaches of each of the gurus--encompassing value, growth, and quantitative investing--and lays out their philosophy and achievements, detailing step-by-step the secret formulas they used to beat the market, while explaining why these legendary investors consider certain factors to be so important when analyzing individual stocks. Reese not only discusses the individual gurus, their strategies, and why they are important, but he also explains how to best use these strategies in the real world, showing how to sift through all of the choices to find a strategy that works for you. The model portfolio system that the??author has developed turns each strategy into an actionable system, addressing many of the common mistakes that doom investors to failure. In addition to offering these individual guru-based models, Reese also explains how to combine and implement these approaches into a multi-guru system that will provide you with a comprehensive, practical stock investing strategy with a proven track record. He reveals when you should buy, when you should sell, how many stocks you should own, and much more. All investors can learn from the thinking, writing, and experience of Wall Street's greatest investors. The Guru Investor, and its free companion Web site----will teach you the lessons of these greats and give you all the tools needed to put those lessons to work in your investment strategy.

Flap

The GURU INVESTOR Over the past six decades, the U.S. stock market has averaged an annual return of about eleven percent per year. Yet, except for a few renowned Wall Street gurus, the vast majority of investors, both amateur and professional, fail to come anywhere close to those eleven percent average annual gains. Why do most investors fail--and what do those very successful investment gurus have in common? The Guru Investor identifies the??stock picking methodologies developed by some of history's best and most successful stock market gurus--including Peter Lynch, Warren Buffett, Benjamin Graham, Martin Zweig, John Neff, and others--and shows how you can combine these proven strategies into a disciplined investing system that has been proven to outperform the market. John Reese breaks down the very different approaches of each of the gurus--encompassing value, growth, and quantitative investing--and lays out their philosophy and achievements, detailing step-by-step the secret formulas they used to beat the market, while explaining why these legendary investors consider certain factors to be so important when analyzing individual stocks. Reese not only discusses the individual gurus, their strategies, and why they are important, but he also explains how to best use these strategies in the real world, showing how to sift through all of the choices to find a strategy that works for you. The model portfolio system that the??author has developed turns each strategy into an actionable system, addressing many of the common mistakes that doom investors to failure. In addition to offering these individual guru-based models, Reese also explains how to combine and implement these approaches into a multi-guru system that will provide you with a comprehensive, practical stock investing strategy with a proven track record. He reveals when you should buy, when you should sell, how many stocks you should own, and much more. All investors can learn from the thinking, writing, and experience of Wall Street's greatest investors. The Guru Investor, and its free companion Web site----will teach you the lessons of these greats and give you all the tools needed to put those lessons to work in your investment strategy.

Author Biography

JOHN P. REESE, MBA, is the founder and CEO of Validea.com and Validea Capital Management. He is also portfolio manager for the Omega American and International Consensus mutual funds offered in the Canadian market. He is a regular columnist for Forbes.com, RealMoney.com, and Israel's Globes newspaper. He holds two patents in the area of automated stock analysis and is a graduate of Harvard Business School and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. JACK M. FOREHAND, CFA, is President of Validea.com and cofounder of Validea Capital Management, LLC. Working in conjunction with John Reese, Forehand led the development of Validea's investment models as well as the quantitative testing that led to the creation of Validea Capital Management's consensus portfolios. He graduated from the honors program of the University of Connecticut with a BA in economics and is a CFA charterholder.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements ix Introduction xi Part One Why You Need this Book 1 Chapter 1 Learn from the Worst 3 Chapter 2 The Cavalry Arrives 19 Part Two The Value Legends 31 Chapter 3 Benjamin Graham: The Granddaddy of the Gurus 33 Chapter 4 John Neff: The Investor's Investor 55 Chapter 5 David Dreman: The Great Contrarian 73         Chapter 6 Warren Buffett: The Greatest Guru 95 Part Three The Growth Legends (With a Value Twist) 127 Chapter 7 Peter Lynch: The Star "GARP" Manager 129 Chapter 8 Kenneth L. Fisher: The Price-Sales Pioneer 155 Chapter 9 Martin Zweig: The Conservative Growth Investor 175 Part Four The Pure Quants 197 Chapter 10 James O'Shaughnessy: The Quintessential Quant 199 Chapter 11 Joel Greenblatt: The Man with the Magic Formula 219 Chapter 12 Joseph Piotroski: The Undiscovered Academic 233 Part Five From Theory to Practice 247 Chapter 13 Putting It Together: The Principles of Guru Investing 249 Chapter 14 The Missing Piece: Determining When to Sell 269 Conclusion Time To Take The Wheel 279 Appendix A Performance of Guru-Based 10- and 20-Stock Model Portfolios 283 Appendix B Guru Yearly Track Record Comparison (Actual or Back-Tested Returns) 287 References 295                                    About the Authors 303 Index 305

Long Description

The Guru Investor A detailed look at the successful strategiesused by some of the worlds best investors What can we learn from those rare investors who have consistently generated outstanding returns over the long haul? In an easy-to-read and simple format, The Guru Investor dissects strategies from ten of Wall Streets greatest investment "gurus" and shows exactly how to implement those strategies to improve your own long-term investment results. This book offers a step-by-step guide to the investment methodologies of Warren Buffett, Peter Lynch, Joel Greenblatt, James OShaughnessy, David Dreman, John Neff, Benjamin Graham, Ken Fisher, Joseph Piotroski, and Martin Zweig. Based on the model portfolio system that the author has developed, each strategy is turned into an actionable system that systematically addresses many of the common mistakes that hurt individual investors long-term investment results. In addition, The Guru Investor shows how you can combine the proven strategies of these legendary gurus into a disciplined investing system for building and managing portfolios including the authors key rules for when to buy, when to hold, and when to sell.

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