The 90% Solution: Higher Returns, Less Risk - Hardcover

Rogers, David L.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0471770817 ISBN 13: 9780471770817

Publisher: Wiley, 2006

Synopsis

The 90% Solution is about understanding the most important factors impacting today’s stock market, how they influence performance―and how they can be used to produce higher returns. In it, author David Rogers challenges traditional investment strategies, then points the way to new and alternative investment methods that can help you rise above the “expectations for mediocrity” that seem to dominate conventional investment thinking.

About this title

About the Author

DAVID ROGERS is founder and Chief Investment Officer of Watauga Equity Management, a registered investment advisory firm in Blowing Rock, North Carolina, that specializes in active asset allocation strategies using indexed and leveraged mutual funds. He is also a Senior Financial Writer for CCG Investor Relations and Strategic Communications, Los Angeles. Mr. Rogers has nearly thirty years' experience in the investment industry and has held advisory, research, trading, and sales positions for regional and national firms. Rogers has become well known for his skill in establishing the probability of overall stock market direction and, since 1994, has specialized in portfolio construction using mid-, small-, and micro-cap companies, from both "value" and "growth" perspectives.

From the Back Cover

Discover how to achieve superior investment performance

"I enjoyed this book on several levels. First: I appreciated the factual information about stock market behavior and the increasingly sophisticated packaged products being offered to mitigate market risk. Second: I was reminded how little I know about market timing and how it can help lower the risk exposure of any portfolio. Third, and most interesting of all: I really enjoyed the personal side of David Rogers's career."
Binkley Shorts, Equity Portfolio Manager Wellington Management Co.

"I have followed David Rogers's market forecasting for many years. He is very good (not many really are). David's book, The 90% Solution is enjoyable and educational. I found the historical reviews particularly interesting and I agree with David's most important theme regarding the importance of market timing wholeheartedly. In an age where hedge funds and brokerage trading desks control over half of total market value, the adage 'timing is everything' is critically important to investors as well as traders."
Otis T. Bradley, Managing Director of Research, Gilford Securities

"David is a very thorough and dedicated analyst, and everyone, both novice and professional, could learn something from reading this book. No one has all the answers when it comes to successful investing, however David's approach can help even the most remedial investor secure better-than-average returns in his or her portfolio. I highly recommend you read each page with care."
Jack Norberg, Chairman, Standard Investment Chartered, Inc., and General Partner, Buttonwood Tree Value Partners

"This book demystifies the hocus-pocus and debunks the bad rap that market timing has attracted. Time will show why David Rogers is one of the unheralded investment gurus of our day."
Craig Pieringer, Portfolio Manager, Wells Capital Management

"David Rogers breaks through the cobweb-clichés about 'buying and holding,' spun for years by most stock brokers and mutual fund salesmen. It is high time that market timing be revisited and its best techniques be shared with the investing public. Rogers is to be commended for spotlighting this timely need."
William Schmidt, PhD, President, Tiger Software

"This book has to be on the reading list of every serious investor. David Rogers tells us why and how using the overall stock market's direction is the best way to improve portfolio performance. He knows what he is talking about because his performance ranks among the best in the world of active money management."
Roger J. Schreiner, CEO, Schreiner Capital Management

From the Inside Flap

Understand the market and then put it to work for you, rather than be its victim.

As much as 90% (and more) of the performance of today's mutual funds is explained by the concurrent performance of the overall stock market. For managers of these funds, even the so-called "5-Star" funds, that 90% is a problem because they are hard-pressed to outperform the market averages. Underperform, or just match the market averages, and they are certain to earn mostly mediocre returns. Yet, for those who know how to turn the market's influence into benefit, that 90% represents a potential solution toward earning exceptional returns.

The 90% Solution is about understanding the most important factors impacting today's stock market, how they influence performance andhow they can be used to produce higher returns. Author David Rogers, well known for his skill in analyzing stock market trends, challenges traditional investment strategies, then points the way to new and alternative investment methods that can help investors rise above the "expectations for mediocrity" that seem to dominate conventional thinking.

Rogers starts by looking at how the financial services industry drifted away from the pursuit of superior returns. He challenges the old "buy and hold" investment model as, at best, specious reasoning and, at worst, a big con. By "weathering" market cycles instead of using them, he argues, investors subject themselves and their returns to the market's whims. Combine this with the financial services industry's "oversell" of diversification and you end up with a quasi-index fund fine for what it is, but never a real winner and rarely a leader.

After demonstrating the 90% role the market plays in driving the performance of nearly every well-diversified portfolio even 5-Star mutual funds Rogers offers solutions for earning superior returns, including:

• The three primary paths toward superior stock market returns
• His personal path toward using overall market direction
• Investing for market ups and downs while better managing risk
• How alternative investments, such as hedge funds and mutual fund asset allocation strategies, are ideal for putting the market's power and influence to work
• Other market timing resources

Written in an easy, conversational style, yet conveying many sophisticated analytical methods,The 90% Solution is packed with Rogers's wisdom hard won from nearly thirty years in the investment marketplace. Whether you're a fund manager or an individual investor, this book will be the cornerstone of your own new pursuit of superior returns.

Edition details

• Publisher: Wiley
• Publication date: 2006
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0471770817
• ISBN 13: 9780471770817
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 258