Investment Atlas - Hardcover

Ken Winans

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0979301440 ISBN 13: 9780979301445

Publisher: KGW Publishing, 2008

Synopsis

We have all heard the phrase History repeats itself! Yet very few people seriously apply long-term history to the art and science of investing.

There is no better example of this than how the majority of modern investors, the most knowledgeable and technologically advanced in history, mishandled the dot.com bubble and the panic selling in response to the corporate scandals of 2002.

Clearly, the constant barrage of news, earnings projections, economic reports, and advice from respected professionals flowing from the Internet 24 hours a day hasn t helped investors separate the forest from the trees and tackle the age-old problems of successful investing.

Simply put, something is missing!

This artistic, colorful reference book has been written with one objective to make sure investors are armed with useful information about the performance and characteristics of stocks, bonds, commodities, real estate, and collectibles since 1800.

Investments have different personalities and act differently during good times and downtrends. Past bull and bear markets are examined within the various investment groups to show how they differ, and the tools investors can use to navigate the changes in long-term trends.

Finally, the book reviews the surprising reactions of investors to triumphant and catastrophic events that have confronted mankind throughout the ages such as wars, monumental peacetime achievements, natural and man-made disasters, and government actions (i.e., interest rates, taxes, and regulations) in reaction to these situations.

Similar to how a traveler uses a road atlas to learn about his destination and avoid getting lost, Investment Atlas will help the investor be a profitable user of investment history, not a victim of it.

About this title

About the Author:

Kenneth G. Winans is an award-winning author, renowned collector, and president and founder of the respected investment management and research firm Winans International. For more than 26 years he has conducted groundbreaking investment analyses and designed innovative financial strategies during some of the investment industry s most volatile times. He is a regular guest on numerous TV and radio shows and has had much of his investment research published by leading websites, magazines, and newspapers. He is the senior market commentator on one of the most popular business news radio stations in Los Angeles (CBS affiliate KNX 1070 AM).

His Winans International Preferred Stock Index (WIPSI)TM and the Winans International Real Estate Index (WIREI)TM are considered leading market benchmarks. They are used by major financial and academic institutions and have been featured in Investor s Business Daily and USA Today.

Ken wrote the first book on preferred stocks since the 1930s, Preferreds Wall Street s Best-Kept Income Secret, won the 2007 National Best Book Award.

He is a member of the Market Technicians Association and the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) Institute, and has earned the Chartered Market Technician (CMT) accreditation. He also served as adjunct faculty member of the Graduate School of Business at St. Mary s College in California from 1996 to 2001. In 2004, his alma mater, University of San Francisco, named him one of its most celebrated graduates in its 152-year history.

He is very active with community endeavors. In 2002, he co-founded The W Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to the public education of the history and future benefits of space exploration. He also serves on the board of the Chabot Space Science Center.

In his spare time, Ken ski-races in the U.S. Ski Association s Masters Program and is a renowned collector of artifacts from space exploration and antique financial documents. Many pieces from his collections are on display at leading museums coast to coast (such as a Gemini capsule on board the USS Hornet Museum in California, and a large gold nugget from the California gold rush at the Museum of American Finance in New York City).

Ken and his wife Debbie are longtime residents of the Bay Area.

Review:

Ken Winans has written a book that will fascinate anyone interested in the financial markets and their history, and will hopefully convince everyone else of the importance of studying our financial past.

If you re not a financial history expert, with 200 years of financial market history in the United States, where do you start? How do you get a handle on what was important in the past and what wasn t? Many investors have some understanding of the past, but the problem is how to put it all together.

Investment Atlas provides the perfect starting point. It is a comprehensive map to past financial markets, looking at many of the issues that have affected investors over the past 200 years. The book organizes the various factors that affect financial markets succinctly for quick reference. So next time someone comes out and proclaims, This time, it s different, you can go to the investment atlas to find out that it probably isn t.

The atlas is a time capsule. Each chart is accompanied by pictures, cartoons, historical documents, old stock certificates, and other artifacts to give you the feel of what was going on in the past. It helps you see how people who lived through the events of the past viewed what was happening to them. Even those who aren t financial history buffs and technical analysts should enjoy the book for all the historical documents that are included.

One of the things I like about the book is that it goes beyond the traditional portfolio of stocks, bonds and bills, and includes real estate, commodities, collectibles, and other investments to show how they have performed over time. For most people, their home is the largest investment asset they own, and millions of people collect coins, stamps, art, or other non-financial items. Assessing the performance of real estate, collectibles, and other investments is difficult, and now you can get an idea of how these compare with traditional investments.

Like any atlas, the goal is to help the investor find out where they are going. The charts make me want to study the data in more detail and look at the real numbers, play around with them, test out my own hypotheses, and see what works and doesn t work in the market. Looking at the chart for Enron makes me wonder how similar the chart is to Bear Stearns.

In short, Investment Atlas is a fascinating book that helps you dive into the history of financial markets, and let s you live it as well. --Dr. Bryan Taylor, President, Global Financial Data

Ken s new book is the reference I have needed for years! It will stay close to my desk. Sometimes a good reference book is far more efficient and useful than wasting time on the web. --John Knudsen, Dean - Texas A&M Foundation

The book is beautiful! --Matt Krantz, Senior Writer - USA Today

Ken s new book is the reference I have needed for years! It will stay close to my desk. Sometimes a good reference book is far more efficient and useful than wasting time on the web. --John Knudsen, Dean - Texas A&M Foundation

The book is beautiful! --Matt Krantz, Senior Writer - USA Today

About this edition

• Publisher: KGW Publishing
• Publication date: 2008
• ISBN 10: 0979301440
• ISBN 13: 9780979301445
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 256
• Editor: Renee Robinson (Book Angel)
• Illustrator: Rik Rice (Designer)