Blind Faith

Informationen zum Autor Edward J. Winslow Jr. is the senior partner and founder of PM Investments and is one of the most creative and knowledgeable financial consult- ants in the country. He avoids traditional investments such as stocks and mutual funds while providing a unique strategy for building and safe- guarding wealth. Ed was the founder as well as chairman of First Affirmative Financial Network! the nation’s first broker/dealer to specialize in socially responsible investing. He was also founder and president of First American Financial Cooperative! the nation’s first cooperatively owned financial planning firm. Klappentext The risk of investing in the stock market has increased remarkably over the last decade. In this period we've seen tremendous volatility in stock prices! a market bubble and its subsequent pop! a parade of corporate scandals! the demise of a leading accounting firm and proven deception by many so-called investment analysts employed by major brokerage firms. In addition! the realities of ever-increasing geopolitical risks contribute to an uncertain economic future. Blind Faith offers a cleverly simple yet revolutionary approach for managing investments in this perpetual high-risk environment. Corporate America and the investment industry have little to gain and lots to lose when investors decide to stop playing the traditional game that can -and has - destroyed trillions of dollars of individual wealth overnight. Readers will be equipped with both the strategy and the tools for success in virtually any economic environment while ending their participation in a system that has taken full advantage of their blind faith and misplaced trust. INTRODUCTION BEYOND BLIND FAITH— THERE IS CLARITY AS A SOCIETY, we have placed our faith, hope, trust, and dreams in the upward movement of future stock prices. The wisdom of tying 50, 60, 70 percent or more of our financial net worth to this mechanism is based on the unquestioned underlying assumption that over the long run an investment in stock—a percentage share of ownership in a corporation—is the best place to put our money. As you will discover, this is a myth that we individual investors have come to blindly believe. As investors we have experienced the jubilation of a roaring bull market and the horrible carnage wrought by a grisly bear market accompanied by colorful corporate scandals. This occurred during a time when our retirement plans accounted for about half of the country’s traded stocks. Many investors feel “wiped out” by the experience and swear never to be fooled again. Yet others, who had a solid respect for the risk of tying their savings to the market, captured much of the tremendous gains of the late 1990s and gave little or none of it back when the bottom fell out in the early 2000s. These “protected” investors recognize that at times the market is a money-generating machine and at other times a destroyer of wealth. This simple realization, that the market can move dramatically and unpredictably both up and down, calls for an investment plan that works in this perpetual high-risk environment. This book lays out that plan. If unprotected against loss, an investment in stock or an equity mutual fund is nothing more than a gamble. Just as a 2fortunate few at the casino will walk away winners, while the majority of the players lose, the rules of this game favor the “house.” The people at the top rake in obscene truckloads of money in frenzied rising markets and even make carloads when the market is going down. Investors have every right to feel taken advantage of as they discover that the playing field was never level. High-profile corporate and accounting scandals provide a target for our anger and frustration as we attempt to make sense of it all. Despite everything that has happened, financial books, magazines, and advisers stick with the same old t...

List of contents

Preface: The Journey
Introduction: Beyond Blind Faith There Is Clarity

PART I: THE AVERAGE PERSON
SHOULD STEER CLEAR OF STOCKS HERE S WHY
Chapter 1: The Stock Market: Can We Win at This Game?
Chapter 2: Faith in Ourselves: The Irrational Behavior of Investors
Chapter 3: Faith in Corporations: Tricks of the Trade
Chapter 4: Faith in Professional Advice: Conflicts of Interest
Chapter 5: The Real Winners of the Stock Market Game

PART II: STRATEGIES FOR DEALING WITH UNCERTAINTY
Chapter 6: Redefining Risk Management
Chapter 7: Maintaining Control of Our Financial Future

PART III: SMARTER AND SAFER INVESTMENTS
Chapter 8: The Matching Game: Investing in the Indexes
Chapter 9: The Protected Investor: Smarter, Safer Ways to Invest
Chapter 10: Investing for Retirement
Chapter 11: Reforming the System
Appendix A: Using Options to Reduce Risk
Appendix B: Credit Ratings
Notes
Glossary
Index
About the Author

Product details

• Authors: Winslow Edward, Winslow, E Winslow, Edward Winslow
• Publisher: Berrett Koehler Publishers
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 11.05.2003
• EAN: 9781576752524
• ISBN: 978-1-57675-252-4
• No. of pages: 264
• Dimensions: 141 mm x 216 mm x 18 mm
• Series: Stop Gambling, Start Investing; Stop Gambling, Start Investing
• Subjects: Guides > Law, job, finance > Money, bank, stock market; Social sciences, law, business > Business