THE ONLY INVESTMENT GUIDE YOU'LL EVER NEED
Another little investment classic that is worth reading is Andrew Tobias' "The Only Invesment Guide You'll Ever Need." First published in 1978, this book keeps showing up in book stores in updated versions. Worth a read...
Tobias used to be a syndicated columnist and free lance financial journalist whose work showed up everywhere. I have no idea whatever happened to him.
He structures his book first around concepts and investment strategies involving "Minimal Risk" and then proceeds to devote a large section to various investment strategies involving the stock market. Moreover, he includes several targeted appendices: taxes, life insurance, mutual funds, etc.
It is remarkable how much of the same subjects of his book (plus the afore-mentioned "Paper Money" by Adam Smith) are relevant still today. Some of the concepts, such as buying in bulk (think CostCo, Sam's Club, etc.), avoiding life insurance scams, and investing conservatively for the long haul are timeless. One only need to observe the nice cars pulling into CostCo (also gassing up there to save about 5-10 cents per gallon) to get a clue that there's something worthwhile going on inside! (Think of the stocks of such companies over the past twenty years as well: WMT, etc.)
Moreover, he spends much time trumpeting the glories of the Keough plan accounts and IRA accounts (tax-deferred saving and investing vehicles that all of us should utilize if we can). IRA accounts were brand new at the time.
I enjoy reading about the "Nifty 50" stocks of this era (big cap "can't lose" stocks that were all the rage of the late 1970s) and comparing it to my own experience with the massive Tech/Nasdaq bubble of the late '90s. The ridiculously high PE ratios that people were paying for such clunkers as Xerox, Polaroid, et.al. were seen again in the late '90s. Of course, in the 1970s, people did not view Xerox as a "clunker" - it was a serious wealth builder in that era - IF you got out in time! Regardless, they - just as we in the late '90s - were dancing around the golden calf of "can't miss" nifty stocks that were bid into the stratosphere.
Ah yes - it all seems so obvious and logical in retropect (hindsight - it's always 20/20). Will today's housing market be the next "tech wreck"? We'd all better say our prayers and hope not...
TTC
Tobias used to be a syndicated columnist and free lance financial journalist whose work showed up everywhere. I have no idea whatever happened to him.
He structures his book first around concepts and investment strategies involving "Minimal Risk" and then proceeds to devote a large section to various investment strategies involving the stock market. Moreover, he includes several targeted appendices: taxes, life insurance, mutual funds, etc.
It is remarkable how much of the same subjects of his book (plus the afore-mentioned "Paper Money" by Adam Smith) are relevant still today. Some of the concepts, such as buying in bulk (think CostCo, Sam's Club, etc.), avoiding life insurance scams, and investing conservatively for the long haul are timeless. One only need to observe the nice cars pulling into CostCo (also gassing up there to save about 5-10 cents per gallon) to get a clue that there's something worthwhile going on inside! (Think of the stocks of such companies over the past twenty years as well: WMT, etc.)
Moreover, he spends much time trumpeting the glories of the Keough plan accounts and IRA accounts (tax-deferred saving and investing vehicles that all of us should utilize if we can). IRA accounts were brand new at the time.
I enjoy reading about the "Nifty 50" stocks of this era (big cap "can't lose" stocks that were all the rage of the late 1970s) and comparing it to my own experience with the massive Tech/Nasdaq bubble of the late '90s. The ridiculously high PE ratios that people were paying for such clunkers as Xerox, Polaroid, et.al. were seen again in the late '90s. Of course, in the 1970s, people did not view Xerox as a "clunker" - it was a serious wealth builder in that era - IF you got out in time! Regardless, they - just as we in the late '90s - were dancing around the golden calf of "can't miss" nifty stocks that were bid into the stratosphere.
Ah yes - it all seems so obvious and logical in retropect (hindsight - it's always 20/20). Will today's housing market be the next "tech wreck"? We'd all better say our prayers and hope not...
TTC
posted by thoughtful conservative at 7:26 PM
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