Fisher Investments Discussion Forum

Topic: Books by Fisher Investments CEO Ken Fisher

Welcome to the Fisher Investments discussion forum on author Ken Fisher and his investment books and other published works. Fisher Investments believes investors should have a good knowledge-base of investing information prior to putting their money in today’s market. Ken Fisher, throughout his 30+-year career as an investment professional, has written books in hopes that the information provided is both accessible and useful to all investors: from the novice investor to the investment professional, and those in between. Through these books, Ken Fisher believes he can provide powerful tools to his readership to help all make more informed investment decisions. This forum is dedicated to providing Fisher Investments employee views and reviews on Ken Fisher’s titles and related subject matter. Please visit the website Ken Fisher for more information on author Ken Fisher and his published books.

The following represents commentary by Fisher Investments’ staff members on the above mentioned topic. All comments are subject to the website disclaimers located here.

33 Comments

How to Smell a Rat
Added by JM on 11/5/2009
As a Fisher Investments employee, I believe Ken Fisher’s most recent book (and New York Times bestseller!) is a great resource for retail investors looking to make smart choices when hiring a money manager. We’ve all heard about the seemingly countless scams going on out there—so many ending with investors losing their savings—and I can’t imagine anyone wants to have this happen to them! In How to Smell a Rat, Ken Fisher details the five signs of financial fraud that he believes are most important for investors to watch for when hiring someone to manage their money.

Financial Fundamentals
Added by CRF on 4/29/2009
I consder myself a finance industry novice and reading the financial news is sometimes confusing and seemingly biased. I think Ken Fisher’s books offer fundamental financial reasoning, and helps me understand the financial topics in the news. Fisher’s books also help me see through some of the biases and hype in the news.

The Ten Roads to Riches
Added by cmcgeough on 3/24/2009
I agree with EveC that The Ten Roads to Riches by Ken Fisher is an entertaining read. The advice laid out in this book would appeal to anybody looking for their own path to wealth. It was an unexpectedly inspiring for this non-sophisticated investor.

Ten Roads to Riches, an amusing read.
Added by EveC on 3/6/2009

I picked up this book thinking it would be a rather dry read, but it’s pretty amusing. There are many celebrity examples (e.g., Paris Hilton, Jay-Z, and JK Rowling), which I think made the book a lot more entertaining than I expected it to be. It’s pretty interesting to read how some well-known people got rich and stayed that way (or not).

Ten Roads to Riches... useful and timeless
Added by Dezzat on 3/16/2009
The Ten Roads to Riches is the kind of book everyone will enjoy no matter your background. It’s a fast read that is applicable in both good and bad economic times. Ken Fisher gives the reader several options of career choices or paths to embark on and he does so in a very amusing, creative manner. You’ll find yourself learning more about new industries or ideas then you ever thought possible all while getting a good laugh every now and then.

Super Stocks
Added by evec on 4/28/2009
I'm new to the finance world, and Super Stocks was an informative read. Being a non-business major, I hadn't realized there were that many finance terms or different ways of analyzing information. Informative, educational book, good read.

Lead from the front
Added by jd on 4/1/2009
Great thing about Ken Fisher’s Ten Roads to Riches—you can open it anywhere and find something entertaining and informative. For instance, I first opened the book to the section “A CEO-Volution (Through My Father’s Eyes).” Before I knew it, I was ten pages on, having learned even Ken Fisher spent some time figuring it all out. And his greatest leadership mentor? Julius Ceasar—always lead from the front. Good stuff.

Wall Street Waltz
Added by JMarquand on 4/17/2009
I agree with CRF about The Wall Street Waltz. I pick up the book and read a chapter at a time. Each story provides a quick, engrossing, and even comical read. I think this book is a great way to learn about some of the major players in the history of the stock market, especially with each individual detailed in his or her own chapter!

Refreshing Look
Added by CRF on 4/22/2009
Ken Fisher’s book, 100 Minds That Made the Market, is a historical look at the titans who crafted the modern US financial industry. Many of the financial figures got where they were through extremely hard work and with a lot of smarts. Many helped the US economy rapidly progress. With much of today’s news painting financial CEOs in such a negative light, this book is a refreshing look at the contributions by financial leaders throughout history.

A game changer
Added by jd on 4/8/2009
Ken Fisher’s Super Stocks was a game-changing book for many in finance. It popularized a new ratio, the Price Sales Ratio (PSR), for valuing stocks and predicting profits. But above all it was a great example of how “investing by knowing what others don’t” (from The Only Three Questions That Count) can give investors a leg up on the competition—many successful investors are constantly on the lookout for new capital markets technology like the PSR.

More on hemlines
Added by EBA on 3/13/2009
You’re right jd- the ‘hemline’ indicator is one that gets trotted around every so often in the Wall Street Journal. One interesting thing to note is that fashion changes so quickly these days (did you know there are now more than 8 “seasons” as opposed to just 4?) that a hemline trend is almost impossible to discern these days. No more hemline consistency to track!

Second that—Ten Roads to Riches
Added by LRD on 4/3/2009
Building off JD’s comment, I can vouch for the entertainment value of Ken Fisher’s book. I’ve laughed out-loud at certain parts. As CEO of Fisher Investments, Ken Fisher has accumulated a great deal of wisdom and hands-on experience in achieving success. Fortunately, for us readers, Ken Fisher has documented and shared this wisdom on obtaining wealth in a no-nonsense, matter-of-fact writing style. A refreshing read with solid nuggets of genuine thought. How often do you read a book that’s hilarious and informative? Ken Fisher makes it happen.

Low hemlines? Be bullish says The Wall Street Waltz...
Added by jd on 3/11/2009
We’ve all heard of inflation—it’s those rising prices leading our grandparents to utter, “In my day, boy you wouldn’t believe what a nickel would get you…” Well, the Wall Street Waltz has plenty of historical graphs and charts illustrating many well-known economic and financial concepts over the years. But even better are the relative financial obscurities it highlights too. Like who would’ve guessed Wall Streeters watched hemlines closely enough to have created a chart illustrating their correlation to stocks? Someone apparently, because the Wall Street Waltz unearths an old chart showing bull markets love low hemlines and vice-versa for the bears.

The human brain is not conditioned for investing
Added by EBA on 4/2/2009
I agree DEzzat- Ken Fisher’s points in The Only Three Questions about how the human brain trips us up as investors struck me as surprising too. While we think that humans have been investing and presumably learning from experience for hundreds of years now, our brains evolved for thousands of years before that. It’s main purpose? Staying alive in often harsh environmental conditions!

100 Minds, historical facts made entertaining
Added by evec on 4/21/2009
100 Minds reads like many biography books in one, but much more entertaining and interestingly written. Along with dry facts, I found that Ken Fisher managed to bring these characters to life, making them human and, therefore, much more interesting.

Wall Street Waltz
Added by DEzzat on 4/13/2009
For visual learners like myself, I found Ken Fisher's Wall Street Waltz to be extremely helpful in understanding key financial concepts. The layout of the book was very well put together and the graphic representations were a great resource when trying to conceptualize each topic.

The Only Three Questions That Count
Added by cmcgeough on 3/17/2009
Reading Ken Fisher’s book has helped me think differently. It is an interesting approach with great insight that investors of any level can benefit from. One of the more interesting investment books I have come across in a good while.

What’s Next?
Added by EBA on 4/9/2009
JD brings up and interesting point: what will the next game changing idea be? Surely with the upheaval we’re experiencing with this bear market, new ways of analyzing the markets (like the PSR) will emerge.

The three questions can be applied to more than just investing...
Added by EBA on 3/9/2009
After reading The Only Three Questions, it struck me that these questions can be applied to more than just investing. Take ‘What is my brain doing to trick me now’ for example: The world has changed much faster than our instincts and ‘gut’ reactions. We are overloaded with news and information. Just because we have more information doesn’t mean we will use it any more wisely!

100 Minds
Added by DEzzat on 4/6/2009
Ken Fisher’s 100 Minds That Made The Market uses anecdotes, fun facts, and concise language to describe the lives of 100 remarkable people. Some of these people you may know, others you might not have, but I found myself learning something new and interesting while reading through them all.

Visual Perspective
Added by CRF on 4/15/2009
I find Ken Fisher's "Wall Street Waltz" incredibly engrossing. Many financial books juxtapose text with graphs and charts, usually with those graphics being secondary. This book puts graphics at the forefront and makes interesting visual comparisons between different sets of data. Sometimes, a line on a graph can show you a lot more about what’s going on than a page of text. Very neat.

Good vs. bad debt + 10 Roads to Riches
Added by LRD on 3/27/2009
I second DEzzat—the section of the book on federal deficits is eye-opening. American’s have a general fear that “Debt is bad”, but it makes sense the government should actually leverage itself like a successful company using debt efficiently to fund growth. I think I’m going to read Ken Fisher’s The Ten Roads to Riches next. The description on the Fisher Investments' website says it’s less on investing, and more on the most predominant ways to become wealthy. It should be a quicker read – Ken Fisher’s writing style tends to be fairly succinct, similar to his columns in Forbes.

Great advice on how to become a CEO
Added by evec on 4/30/2009
Using Jack Welch, GE's former CEO, Ken illustrates what makes a good CEO and helps a reader determine whether he/she has what it takes. Good to read before trying to go the CEO route and finding out too late you're not CEO material.

A weak dollar is bad for stocks?
Added by LRD on 3/20/2009
I agree with cmcgeough—The Only Three Questions That Count does a good job at challenging conventional investing “wisdom”. Ken Fisher effectively dismantles long-standing “truths” with hard data. One such myth is “A Weak Dollar Is Bad For Stocks” (pp. 262-265 if you’re interested). Ken Fisher uses research-backed arguments to reveal currency fluctuations are not meaningful within a global strategy. Ken Fisher writes that over the long run currencies are so cyclical that the net currency effect is close to zero anyways (and hardly worth hedging).

Deficits
Added by DEzzat on 3/23/2009
In today’s current environment, deficits are a major point of discussion. As deficits are climbing higher and higher throughout the year, many investors are worried about how this will affect both the economy and the stock market. But it’s important to remember, based on Ken Fisher's analysis, large deficits aren’t detrimental. Many folks see surpluses as a positive sign of growth and deficits as a negative when in fact, historically, it’s quite the opposite. For more in depth analysis on this topic, see Chapter 6 of The Only Three Questions (pages 213-220).

100 Minds
Added by JMarquand on 3/10/2009
Ken’s book, 100 Minds that Made the Market, profiles historical financial figures and their impact on the market. I found this book to be a great read not only because the individual stories are captivating (real page-turners!) but also because it shows that the financial scandals we see in the news today are nothing new in historical terms—it really provided a sense of perspective.

A One Man Central Bank
Added by jd on 3/25/2009
Financial panics were a pretty regular occurrence in the 19th and early 20th centuries—but we didn’t have the Federal Reserve until 1913. Did you know that just before the Fed was created, one man acted as central banker and lender of last resort for the US? Ken Fisher’s 100 Minds That Made the Market tells how JP Morgan singlehandedly saved the financial system during the Panic of 1907. He gathered millions in funds, injected liquidity, saved banks, steadied the New York Stock Exchange…no simple feat!

Roads to Riches
Added by JMarquand on 4/24/2009
In times like this, people seem to think that the concept of wealth may be lost for good. It's important to remember that for some, low points in the market and economy are perfect for discovering the next big idea or starting the next super successful business! Ken Fisher's Ten Roads to Riches details some of these paths to wealth, and reminds readers to stay positive - wealth is attainable!

About to re-read Only Three Questions
Added by evec on 4/16/2009
In light of the recent market environment, I'm tempted to pick up and re-read the Only Three Questions to remind myself not to give in to what my brain is trying to get me to do. I need to remember why running from stocks when things look bad is likely a bad idea.

Ten Roads to Riches
Added by evec on 4/14/2009
Dezzat makes a good point: the career choices/paths offered by Ken Fisher in this book are viable, assuming you're stubborn/creative enough to stay on a particular path. It's a good read, not only for the entertainment value, but also to learn what other options other than saving are possible on the path to becoming wealthy.

Behavioral Finance
Added by DEzzat on 3/30/2009
In reading Ken Fisher’s Only Three Questions, I noticed a particular section on behavioral finance that I found quite informative and a bit surprising as well (Chapter 3, Pages 84-86). I think it’s applicable to current times and it provides some good thoughts on how our brains function, especially during times of increased volatility. I think this is a great section for any investor to read to better understand how to think about the markets before mindlessly reacting.

Deficits in perspective
Added by EBA on 3/26/2009
I agree with DEzzat about deficits. In an absolute sense, folks fear the huge number. However, when viewed in relation to GDP, the deficit seems much more reasonable. In fact, it’s comparable from a percentage standpoint to how most major corporations structure their debt ratio!

Wall Street Waltz
Added by evec on 4/23/2009
It's like a finance picture book--and who doesn't like picture books? The number of graphs and explanations accompanying them are a great way for aspiring investors or finance students to learn the history of Wall Street. Great, easy-to-read layout and well written.