Worth reading

Recommended reading, economic debates, predictions and opinions.
pmj
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Post by pmj »

Norbert Schlenker wrote:In my inbox today from CFA Institute was an indirect pointer to this 88 page PDF on life cycle saving and investing. This is basically the proceedings of a conference on the subject held about a year ago. Bodie and Siegel (Laurence, not Jeremy) ran the show, which had numerous leading lights speaking on topical subjects.

Unlike many CFAI publications, I didn't need to login to grab this one. Maybe it's free for now, maybe it's free for good, I don't know. I do know that there's a lot worth reading.
This page http://www.cfapubs.org/loi/rf suggests that many of those papers are available - although I can't get the referenced paper - "damaged file" - I've picked up several of the others.
Thank you.
Peter

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newguy
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Post by newguy »

Re: the economists numbers, why the discrepancy from this page?
http://www40.statcan.gc.ca/l01/cst01/govt48a-eng.htm

Code: Select all

	                                                           2007		     2008	     2009	
Total revenue	                                           604,592		   647,552	633,672	
Own source revenue	                                      604,592		   647,552	633,672	
Income taxes	                                            245,867	41%	269,467	248,655	39%
Consumption taxes	                                       105,809	18%	111,684	107,150	17%
Property and related taxes	                               51,277	8%	  53,882	54,862	  9%
Other taxes	                                              20,489	3%	  21,129	21,807	  3%
Health and drug insurance premiums	                        3,268	1%   	3,457	3,390	   1%
Contributions to social security plans	                   74,697	12%	 77,740	80,010	 13%
Sales of goods and services	                              44,913	7%	  49,685	53,168	  8%
Investment income	                                        50,122	8%	  52,436	57,793	  9%
Other revenue from own sources	                            8,151	1%	   8,070	6,836	   1%
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zaman
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Re: Worth reading

Post by zaman »

A friend of mine is just starting to invest in stocks and I want to give him some recommendations, he was a pretty basic knowledge so far. What would your ideal list of books be for a new investor. (assuming very little starting knowledge on the topic).

Mine would be:
The Intelligent Investor
On up on wall Street

My only concern is that the intelligent Investor might be too heavy for a newbee.
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abose
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Re: Worth reading

Post by abose »

zaman wrote:A friend of mine is just starting to invest in stocks and I want to give him some recommendations, he was a pretty basic knowledge so far. What would your ideal list of books be for a new investor.
Bylo has a good list for starters which can be found here...
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deaddog
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Re: Worth reading

Post by deaddog »

zaman wrote:A friend of mine is just starting to invest in stocks and I want to give him some recommendations, he was a pretty basic knowledge so far. What would your ideal list of books be for a new investor. (assuming very little starting knowledge on the topic).
If your friend is planning on investing in individual stocks :
O'neils How to Make Money in Stocks is what I would reccommend. I wish I had read that book first.
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Mike Schimek
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Re: Worth reading

Post by Mike Schimek »

My only concern is that the intelligent Investor might be too heavy for a newbee.
- I've been seeing a girl from Thailand on and off. Lent her this book because she had invested a lot of money in the stock market and lost it in the crash. She's been in Montreal for 10 years +/- but her french/english isn't that great, so was worried she wouldn't understand it.

I asked her about it last week over dinner and she said she was reading a bit every night when she was at her house, and that she understood everything. I was a bit surprised, and asked her if she was SURE she understood what the book was about... she looked slightly insulted and said yes.

A minute or so later, she asked me "Mike, what is an Investor?"

:rofl:

I haven't had a good laugh like that in quite some time.
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zaman
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Re: Worth reading

Post by zaman »

Thanks guys for the suggestions. Mike, that is one funny story.
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Re: Worth reading

Post by FinEcon »

Mike Schimek wrote:
A minute or so later, she asked me "Mike, what is an Investor?"

Tell me you instantly answered with 'enterprising or defensive' 8)

Zaman, IMO a person is not really ready to invest in common stock until they have read, at a minimum, the Intelligent Investor (or Security Analysis). Also recommend:
-- Common Stock, Uncommon Profit
-- Contrarian Investor (even though I don't like it personally)

It never ceases to amaze me how many people go headlong into investing strategically and tactically clueless. It's like trying to make a living playing poker without first covering Skalansky or Harrington's work.
Show me the incentive and I will show you the outcome

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zaman
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Re: Worth reading

Post by zaman »

Thanks FinEcon,
Those are good suggestions. That was kind of what I was looking for....what you would recommend if a friend was just starting out. It has been a while since I read those books and I've somewhat forgotten which ones were most pivotal. I agree that Graham's books are must read's if you are serious.
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Peculiar_Investor
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Re: Worth reading

Post by Peculiar_Investor »

Imagefiniki, the Canadian financial wiki New editors wanted and welcomed, please help collaborate and improve the wiki.

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WishingWealth
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Re: Worth reading

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Spitzer @ Slate: http://www.slate.com/id/2237826/

These Three Books Explain the American Crisis
Looking for a gift for the policy wonk in your life? Here are some recommendations.
(...)
Does the United States even have the capacity—emotionally or politically—to make the massive changes necessary for us to compete in the 21st century global economy?

I've been seeking answers to this question, and I have found some interesting ones in three books. If you're buying holiday gifts for the policy wonks in your life, you may want to add them to your basket. They are not among the crop of recent volumes detailing how the current economic crisis unfolded—
(...)
A couple of those books were mentioned a few times on FWF; specially Mancur Olson's The Rise and Decline of Nations.

WW
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ghariton
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Re: Worth reading

Post by ghariton »

WishingWealth wrote:A couple of those books were mentioned a few times on FWF; specially Mancur Olson's The Rise and Decline of Nations.
Hirschman's book has also been mentioned with great approval :wink:

All three authors were virtual cult personalities in their day. Despite this, I think that all three are worth re-reading today (yes, even this particular Galbraith :wink:)

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Re: Worth reading

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http://money.cnn.com/2009/12/15/markets ... /index.htm

US stocks were 54% of the world stock market by value 10 years ago; now, they are 33%. Nearly 50% of the revenue of the companies making up the S&P500 comes from outside the USA. In 2000, it was 32%.
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Bylo Selhi
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Re: Worth reading

Post by Bylo Selhi »

Doug wrote:Nearly 50% of the revenue of the companies making up the S&P500 comes from outside the USA.
OTOH this would support Bogle's contention that 'Murrikan investors don't need to invest (much) outside the US of A.

The world needs fewer two-handed economists, eh? ;)
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Re: Worth reading

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"The Standard & Poor's 500-stock index (INDEX:SPX) lost around 25% from Dec. 31, 1999 through Friday. Including dividends, the benchmark was down about 10%, for an annualized loss of 1%, according to S&P.

It's the blue-chip index's first losing decade ever on a total return basis, though it has lost before on a price-only basis, noted Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist at Standard & Poor's Equity Research. Even in the Depression-era 1930s the S&P 500 produced a 10% total return, largely due to generous corporate dividend yields that topped 5% annually versus barely 2% today."

I'm not sure that the above analysis takes into account inflation/deflation. In the 1930s, deflation was a signficant issue. If inflation/deflation is not taken into account in the above, it understates how bad the last decade was.

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/story/ ... C0BA017996
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newguy
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Re: Worth reading

Post by newguy »

I like this site for inflation adjusted bear markets
http://dshort.com/charts/bears-nominal- ... four-bears
Look around, there's lots of graphs.

newguy
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Re: Worth reading

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I got this link from the Bogleheads forum. For the S&P500, dividends are down 21% in 2009. You have to go back to 1939 to find a year when the percent dividend decrease was greater (39% decline). "Payouts in 2010 are expected to be nearly 17% below 2008's level, S&P says. It might be until 2013 before investors ever enjoy 2008-type dividends again."

http://www.usatoday.com/money/markets/2 ... titialskip
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Re: Worth reading

Post by Taggart »

Doug wrote:I got this link from the Bogleheads forum. For the S&P500, dividends are down 21% in 2009. You have to go back to 1939 to find a year when the percent dividend decrease was greater (39% decline). "Payouts in 2010 are expected to be nearly 17% below 2008's level, S&P says. It might be until 2013 before investors ever enjoy 2008-type dividends again."

http://www.usatoday.com/money/markets/2 ... titialskip
Yabbut the article neglects to mention what segments of the U.S. market in regards to dividends got hit really hard, namely Financials and REIT's. Other sectors of the market told a completely different story.
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Re: Worth reading

Post by pmj »

Taggart wrote:Yabbut the article neglects to mention what segments of the U.S. market in regards to dividends got hit really hard, namely Financials and REIT's. Other sectors of the market told a completely different story.
Taggart - thanks for the link. There's a forest of interesting dividend-investing papers hosted there for anyone who wants to explore.
Peter

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