Investment Gurus

Interviews with top money managers uncover their techniques for beating the market consistently

Can a smart money manager working from the outside revive a bankrupt company with his clients' massive capital and a sharp management agenda? Are "value" stocks better than "growth" stocks? Can anyone "beat the market"? Is volatility okay? What about the role of the Internet in trading? These and other questions vital to stock market investors are aired in this remarkable series of interviews with investment industry leaders by Tanous, whose firm, Lynx Investment Advisory, finds money managers for billion-dollar clients. The author brings out the financial background, strategy and tactics of such mutual-fund miracle men as Fidelity Magellan's Peter Lynch ("what happens to the company... happens to the stock"); "momentum" trader Richard Driehaus ("look for earnings surprises") and "Super Mario" Gabelli, who champions "intrinsic private market value." Other big-name trader/managers also speak out freely here. In closing, the author constructs sample "portfolios" of guru-managed mutual funds for the reader's consideration. $50,000 ad/promo; author tour.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Investment adviser and novelist Tanous probes the minds and methods of 18 successful investors. Most of the interviewees are analysts; one is a professor and two are Nobel laureates in economics. Tanous asks each about his start in stocks, investing style, attitude toward the "efficient market" idea, sell discipline, etc. This is all about U.S. common stock investing?no options, shorting, or other arcana. Interestingly enough, although all these seasoned pros have handily beaten the market over the past five or so years, none appears in John Train's classic, The Money Masters (LJ 1/15/80), or its 1989 sequel, The New Money Masters (HarperCollins, 1990). Thus, success over an even longer period is more random than these gurus may want to believe. Tanous's two-chapter summary of the lessons and insights is more satisfying and instructive than the interviews. For comprehensive business collections.?Alexander Wenner, Indiana Univ. Libs., Bloomington
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Tanous follows the proven format of John Train's "money masters," Bill Griffeth's "mutual fund masters," and Jack Schwager's "market wizards." His method is to interview or profile succesful investors and suggest that readers might discover uncovered insights. Tanous is president of Lynx Investment Advisory, a Washington firm that provides consulting services on the selection and evaluation of money managers for individuals and institutions. In interviews that run from 15 to 20 pages each, Tanous questions 18 investment gurus, including 4 academics and 2 Nobel Prize winners. Instead of relying on a standard set of questions, he starts by asking each person how he or she got interested in stocks and lets the conversation go where his curiosity takes it. David Rouse