Investment Atlas : Financial Maps to Investment Success

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.

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.