Why Moats Matter. The Morningstar Approach to Stock Investing

Praise for The Perfect Portfolio «Today's markets are rife with challenges that confound novice and professional investors alike. Thankfully, The Perfect Portfolio provides the type of 'outside the box' thinking that can enable individual investors to not only cope with these challenges but also to view them as profit-making opportunities.» —Lynnette Khalfani-Cox, The Money Coach (from the Foreword) To achieve long-term success in today's market, you can't place your faith totally in financial «experts» who are far too often salespeople first and objective advisers second. You must take personal control of your hard-earned savings and build a portfolio that gives you a realistic chance of earning returns that enable you to meet the investing goals you really want to achieve in life. That's why Leland Hevner—President of the National Association of Online Investors (naoi.org) and a longtime educator in the financial field—has created The Perfect Portfolio. This reliable resource outlines Hevner's proven investment approach, known as the Perfect Portfolio Methodology (PPM), and shows you how to use it to thrive in today's challenging market conditions. Divided into three comprehensive parts, The Perfect Portfolio will enable you to: Build a powerful and efficient portfolio using nine asset classes instead of the traditional three Completely avoid the complexities of analyzing individual stocks and mutual funds Virtually eliminate company risk from your portfolio Use amazing new Web-based tools to enhance and automate your trading activities Easily design a portfolio that matches your investing style and thrives in any market condition And much more This is not the stuff of your average investing book. The author is not simply putting a new «spin» on the outdated investing concepts being taught today. He is providing nothing less than a dramatically new portfolio design model and a revolutionary approach to the entire field of personal investing. And this bold challenge to the status quo is long overdue! With The Perfect Portfolio as your guide, you will realize that investing does not need to be as complicated as the financial services industry would like you to believe. You will learn a simple methodology for building a portfolio that can produce incredible returns with minimal risk. You will be empowered to take personal control of your investments. It's time to start your new life as a confident investor.

Whether you are an investment professional managing billions of dollars or an individual investor with a small nest egg, TrimTabs Investing shows you how to beat the major stock market averages with less risk. This groundbreaking book begins by comparing the stock market to a casino in which the house (public companies and the insiders who run them) buys and sells shares with the players (institutional and individual investors). TrimTabs Investing argues that stock prices are primarily a function of liquidity—the amount of shares available for purchase and the amount of money available to buy them—rather than fundamental value. Finally, it outlines the building blocks of liquidity theory and explains how you can use them to predict the direction of the stock market. “Charles Biderman, a savvy and battle-scarred veteran of the investment wars, has fashioned an intriguing approach to making money in the stock market that adroitly avoids both heavy-breathing speculation and the standard Wall Street practices that enable investors, big and small, to lose money in good markets as well as bad. Aimed at the sophisticated investor (which may or may not be an oxymoron), the book is written in blessedly straightforward prose and is a worthwhile read for anyone with an urge to have a fling at investing.–Alan Abelson Barron’s “Since the days of Joseph and Pharaoh, it has been axiomatic that the size of the grain harvest affects the level of grain prices; but today’s investors have been slow to appreciate the fact that the supply of stock shares significantly determines the level of stock prices. Biderman’s long overdue book outlines the theory and evidence behind ‘Trading Float,’ the actual—and exploitable—power behind major moves in the stock market. –Paul Montgomery CEO and CIO of Montgomery Capital Management “‘Trade as corporate execs do, not as they say.’ Charles Biderman has built an impressive list of hedge fund clients from this essential insight, and this book does a great job explaining exactly how retail investors can incorporate it into their investing.” –Eric Zitzewitz Assistant Professor of Economics, Stanford Graduate School of Business “Charles Biderman is a smart thinker, clear writer—and he offers here some very interesting ideas. This book is for the little guy who enjoys reading about money and economics, even if he doesn’t adopt the strategies offered here; and for the professional or sophisticated investor, who, to a greater or lesser degree, just might.–Andrew Tobias author of The Only Investment Guide You'll Ever Need

Grow your stock investments in today's changing environment Updated with new and revised material to reflect the current market, this new edition of Stock Investing For Dummies gives you proven strategies for selecting and managing profitable investments. no matter what the conditions. You'll find out how to navigate the new economic landscape and choose the right stock for different situations—with real-world examples that show you how to maximize your portfolio. The economic and global events affecting stock investors have been dramatic and present new challenges and opportunities for investors and money managers at every level. With the help of this guide, you'll quickly and easily navigate an ever-changing stock market with plain-English tips and information on ETFs, new rules, exchanges, and investment vehicles, as well as the latest information on the European debt crisis. Incorporate stocks into your investment portfolio Understand and capitalize on current market conditions Balance risk and reward Explore new investment opportunities Stock Investing For Dummies is essential reading for anyone looking for trusted, comprehensive guidance to ensure their investments grow.

The Five Rules for Successful Stock Investing «By resisting both the popular tendency to use gimmicks that oversimplify securities analysis and the academic tendency to use jargon that obfuscates common sense, Pat Dorsey has written a substantial and useful book. His methodology is sound, his examples clear, and his approach timeless.» –Christopher C. Davis Portfolio Manager and Chairman, Davis Advisors Over the years, people from around the world have turned to Morningstar for strong, independent, and reliable advice. The Five Rules for Successful Stock Investing provides the kind of savvy financial guidance only a company like Morningstar could offer. Based on the philosophy that «investing should be fun, but not a game,» this comprehensive guide will put even the most cautious investors back on the right track by helping them pick the right stocks, find great companies, and understand the driving forces behind different industries–without paying too much for their investments. Written by Morningstar's Director of Stock Analysis, Pat Dorsey, The Five Rules for Successful Stock Investing includes unparalleled stock research and investment strategies covering a wide range of stock-related topics. Investors will profit from such tips as: * How to dig into a financial statement and find hidden gold . . . and deception * How to find great companies that will create shareholder wealth * How to analyze every corner of the market, from banks to health care Informative and highly accessible, The Five Rules for Successful Stock Investing should be required reading for anyone looking for the right investment opportunities in today's ever-changing market.

The irreverent guide to investing, Boglehead style The Boglehead's Guide to Investing is a DIY handbook that espouses the sage investment wisdom of John C. Bogle. This witty and wonderful book offers contrarian advice that provides the first step on the road to investment success, illustrating how relying on typical «common sense» promoted by Wall Street is destined to leave you poorer. This updated edition includes new information on backdoor Roth IRAs and ETFs as mainstream buy and hold investments, estate taxes and gifting, plus changes to the laws regarding Traditional and Roth IRAs, and 401k and 403b retirement plans. With warnings and principles both precisely accurate and grandly counterintuitive, the Boglehead authors show how beating the market is a zero-sum game. Investing can be simple, but it's certainly not simplistic. Over the course of twenty years, the followers of John C. Bogle have evolved from a loose association of investors to a major force with the largest and most active non-commercial financial forum on the Internet. The Boglehead's Guide to Investing brings that communication to you with comprehensive guidance to the investment prowess on display at Bogleheads.org. You'll learn how to craft your own investment strategy using the Bogle-proven methods that have worked for thousands of investors, and how to: Choose a sound financial lifestyle and diversify your portfolio Start early, invest regularly, and know what you're buying Preserve your buying power, keeping costs and taxes low Throw out the «good» advice promoted by Wall Street that leads to investment failure Financial markets are essentially closed systems in which one's gain garners another's loss. Investors looking for a roadmap to successfully navigating these choppy waters long-term will find expert guidance, sound advice, and a little irreverent humor in The Boglehead's Guide to Investing.

Praise for Wall Street's Buried Treasure «Mr. Houtkin has provided the reader with a wonderful education on a great strategy that has the potential to turn a very limited risk investment into an extraordinarily high return. He makes the critical distinction between penny stocks and serious opportunities available to the low-priced value investor using important examples of his own methodology. Along the way, Houtkin provides valuable insight into some of the inner workings of Wall Street.» —BILL KRAFT, trader, speaker, trading coach, and author of Trade Your Way to Wealth «Investing without Wall Street's Buried Treasure is like trying to live without food. Mr. Houtkin provides the facts of survival one needs to make money in any market. He reports the truth that no one else wants to state. This is a playbook for success; a forty-year apprenticeship is explained right between these covers! Take advantage of it.» —JAMES DEPELISI, president of the Stock and Bond Club of South Florida; founder of LDV Capital Management; finance professor at Broward Community College; and host of Investors Business Hour radio program

An up-to-date guide to the complex world of equities Getting Started in Stock Investing and Trading walks investors and traders through the essential information they need to know before they decide what kind of participant they want to be in equities. The book is filled with the key strategies and tools and offers a comprehensive guide for those entering this marketplace. The author does not argue that one method is better or more appropriate than another. Rather, he reveals the various methods and lets investors decide for themselves. The book covers investment risks, value investing, market strategies, trading methods such as day and swing trading, technical indicators, and diversifying your portfolio, and Offers a thorough overview of strategies and tools that investors need to profit from the volatile equities markets Provides examples, charts, and timely additions that reflect recent changes in the equities markets Other titles by Thomsett: Getting Started in Bonds and eight editions of Getting Started in Options. This book is another title in The Getting Started series, which makes complex issues easy to understand.

The best-selling investing «bible» offers new information, new insights, and new perspectives The Little Book of Common Sense Investing is the classic guide to getting smart about the market. Legendary mutual fund pioneer John C. Bogle reveals his key to getting more out of investing: low-cost index funds. Bogle describes the simplest and most effective investment strategy for building wealth over the long term: buy and hold, at very low cost, a mutual fund that tracks a broad stock market Index such as the S&P 500. While the stock market has tumbled and then soared since the first edition of Little Book of Common Sense was published in April 2007, Bogle’s investment principles have endured and served investors well. This tenth anniversary edition includes updated data and new information but maintains the same long-term perspective as in its predecessor. Bogle has also added two new chapters designed to provide further guidance to investors: one on asset allocation, the other on retirement investing. A portfolio focused on index funds is the only investment that effectively guarantees your fair share of stock market returns. This strategy is favored by Warren Buffett, who said this about Bogle: “If a statue is ever erected to honor the person who has done the most for American investors, the hands-down choice should be Jack Bogle. For decades, Jack has urged investors to invest in ultra-low-cost index funds. . . . Today, however, he has the satisfaction of knowing that he helped millions of investors realize far better returns on their savings than they otherwise would have earned. He is a hero to them and to me.” Bogle shows you how to make index investing work for you and help you achieve your financial goals, and finds support from some of the world's best financial minds: not only Warren Buffett, but Benjamin Graham, Paul Samuelson, Burton Malkiel, Yale’s David Swensen, Cliff Asness of AQR, and many others. This new edition of The Little Book of Common Sense Investing offers you the same solid strategy as its predecessor for building your financial future. Build a broadly diversified, low-cost portfolio without the risks of individual stocks, manager selection, or sector rotation. Forget the fads and marketing hype, and focus on what works in the real world. Understand that stock returns are generated by three sources (dividend yield, earnings growth, and change in market valuation) in order to establish rational expectations for stock returns over the coming decade. Recognize that in the long run, business reality trumps market expectations. Learn how to harness the magic of compounding returns while avoiding the tyranny of compounding costs. While index investing allows you to sit back and let the market do the work for you, too many investors trade frantically, turning a winner’s game into a loser’s game. The Little Book of Common Sense Investing is a solid guidebook to your financial future.

Start making money today –with the ultimate guide for first-time investors No matter what the market does, real estate stilloffers plenty of moneymaking opportunities. In thisnew edition of The Beginner's Guide to RealEstate Investing, Gary W. Eldred presents the toolsand knowledge new investors need to get started profitably. Packed with smart moneymakingstrategies and real-life stories from successfulinvestors, this edition also covers the latestinformation on financing, foreclosures, cash flow, and much more. You'll not only master the basics ofinvesting, but also discover specialized techniques that the pros rely on to grow their long-term wealth. Concise yet comprehensive, this practical guide shows you how to: * Find great deals on properties with big potential * Get started with low- or no-down payment financing * Utilize creative financing options and otherpeople's money * Buy low-cost foreclosures and REOs * Make value-adding improvements to any property * Craft winning offers and negotiate like a pro * Manage rental properties hassle-free * Flip investment properties for fast profit In addition, Eldred shows you how to tailor yourinvestment strategy to make money almost anywhere, in any type of market. With proven tech-niques, timeless principles, and totally up-to-dateinformation, The Beginner's Guide to Real EstateInvesting, Second Edition is the perfect place to start building a prosperous future – today.

Achieve annual returns of 25% or more with a well-designed angel portfolio Written by David S. Rose, the founder of Gust—the global platform that powers the world of organized professional angel investing—Angel Investing is a comprehensive, entertaining guide that walks readers through every step of the way to becoming a successful angel investor. It is illustrated with stories from among the 90+ companies in which David has invested during a 25 year career as one of the world’s most active business angels and includes instructions on how to get started, how to find and evaluate opportunities, and how to pursue and structure investments to maximize your returns. From building your reputation as a smart investor, to negotiating fair deals, adding value to your portfolio companies and helping them implement smart exit strategies, David provides both the fundamental strategies and the specific tools you need to take full advantage of this rapidly growing asset class. He details the advantages of joining an angel group, explains how seed and venture funds can help leverage an investor’s resources, and reveals how recent regulatory changes and new online platforms are making startup investing accessible to millions of Americans. Making money is no longer about sitting back and reading stock listings, David says. It is now about being part owner of an exciting startup that can be fun and financially rewarding. Angel Investing teaches investors how to carefully select and manage investments, establish a long term view, and approach angel investing as a serious part of an alternative asset portfolio while also enjoying being an integral part of an exciting new venture.