Outpacing the Pros Using Indexes to Beat Wall Street's Savviest Money Managers

Investors are waking up to Wall Street¿s biggest secret: the majority of actively managed mutual funds will regularly underperform the S&P 500 index. Index investments are a new class of easy-to-use investment tools¿WEBs, SPDRs, and others¿that trade like shares of stock, even as they reflect the market indexes they track and the fund-topping performance those indexes provide. Outpacing the Pros provides today¿s independent investor with a detailed introduction to stock indexes as a key element in either short- or long-term investing strategies. This complete guide to stock indexes looks inside today¿s most little-known, exciting investment, with: *What index investments are and how they work *How to use indexes to safely, effectively diversify any portfolio *Four sample portfolios using indexes

All About Index Investments: the New Tools that Trade as Easily as a Stock-and Outperform the Majority of Managed Mutual Funds!

The secret is out: In any given year, a surprising number of actively managed mutual funds-up to 70 percent or more-fail to even equal the returns of the S&P 500 index, today's best indicator of the overall market. In this environment, a portfolio that performs similar to the market isn't just average...it's vastly superior!

Outpacing the Pros is an inside look at the new class of investments that, year in and year out, are helping investors outperform professionally managed mutual funds. From no-load indexed mutual funds that are just a phone call away to exchange traded funds such as SPDRs that can be bought and traded like common stocks, Outpacing the Pros includes:

*Detailed explanations of the different types of index investments *Indexing strategies to safely-and affordably-diversify your portfolio *Four sample portfolios you can customize for your own use

In today's investor-friendly market, it is possible to profit directly from the gains of the major indexes without enduring high costs and high commissions. Outpacing the Pros will show you how to use indexes as a key element in your successful long-term investment strategy, and give you step-by-step directions for incorporating these easy-to-use, high-return investments into your own portfolio.

"Everyone must provide for themselves by investing for themselves." -From the Introduction

Many of our fathers had jobs for life-along with the generous benefits and guaranteed pensions that came with those jobs. But as we cross into the twenty-first century, most of us don't have this luxury. We must learn how to take care of ourselves, and our financial futures, through prudent and profitable investing.

Outpacing the Pros shows you how to take control with a stock investing strategy that is simple, inexpensive, and proven over decades of market history. This hands-on book shows you how to closely match the returns of indexes-the very same benchmarks that an astonishing two out of three professional money managers won't even match in any given year-by investing in securities designed to track the indexes themselves.

Written by David Blitzer-the chairman of the Standard & Poor's 500 Index Committee and the man whose decisions most affect the makeup and performance of today's most representative stock index-this uniquely authoritative book explains:

- How to use indexes to select and evaluate individual stocks, or find undiscovered values in international and emerging markets - Signs that a bull market may be headed for a correction-and time-tested techniques to safeguard your profits - The little-known "index effect" and how it can help shorter-term traders foresee and take advantage of sudden price surges in a stock

Without a doubt, Outpacing the Pros is today's most comprehensive crash course in getting the most out of your investment dollars while minimizing your market risk. But it is much more than that. Author-and Standard & Poor's managing director-David Blitzer gives you a high-level guided tour of investing from the inside, with no stones left unturned, no questions unexamined.

The result is a comprehensive look at investing that explains the signs of a quality stock, outlines the techniques of a good investor, and reveals the secrets behind creating a high-return, low-risk portfolio. It gives you a valuable, behind-the-scenes look at how you can use index-based investment products to increase your long-term profits-as you greatly simplify your own investment decision making.