Praise for
THE ELEMENTS OF INVESTING
"These noted authors have distilled all you need to know about investing into a very small package. The best time to read this book is when you turn eighteen (or maybe thirteen) and every year thereafter."
—Harry Markowitz, Nobel Laureate in Economics 1990
"Struggling to find money to save? Befuddled by the bewildering array of investment choices? As you venture into the financial markets for the first time, it's helpful to have a trusted guide—and, in Charley Ellis and Burt Malkiel, you have two of the finest."
—Jonathan Clements, author ofThe Little Book of Main Street Money
"No one knows more about investing than Charley Ellis and Burt Malkiel, and no one has written a better investment guide. These are the best basic rules of investing by two of the world's greatest financial thinkers."
—Consuelo Mack, Anchor and Managing Editor,Consuelo Mack WealthTrack
"A low-cost index fund is the most sensible equity investment for the great majority of investors. My mentor, Ben Graham, took this position many years ago, and everything I have seen since convinces me of its truth.In this book, Jack Bogle tells you why."
Warren E. Buffett, Chairman, Berkshire Hathaway Inc.
"John Bogle is living a useful life, and this book is a useful contribution to hisfellow citizens. It is dangerous for investors to believe a lot of nonsense,and the nonsense destroyers are particularly helpful when, like Bogle,they never tire in their animosity toward folly."
Charles T. Munger, Vice Chairman, Berkshire Hathaway Inc.
"Whether you know it or not, Wall Street wants to steal your future.If you want to stop them, drop everything, read this marvelous little book,and take it to heart; your children, and their children's children, will thank you."
William Bernstein, investment adviser and author, The Four Pillars of Investing
Now in a striking new hardcover edition, Fooled by Randomness is the word-of-mouth sensation that will change the way you think about business and the world. Nassim Nicholas Taleb–veteran trader, renowned risk expert, polymathic scholar, erudite raconteur, and New York Times bestselling author of The Black Swan–has written a modern classic that turns on its head what we believe about luck and skill.
This book is about luck–or more precisely, about how we perceive and deal with luck in life and business. Set against the backdrop of the most conspicuous forum in which luck is mistaken for skill–the world of trading–Fooled by Randomness provides captivating insight into one of the least understood factors in all our lives. Writing in an entertaining narrative style, the author tackles major intellectual issues related to the underestimation of the influence of happenstance on our lives.
The book is populated with an array of characters, some of whom have grasped, in their own way, the significance of chance: the baseball legend Yogi Berra; the philosopher of knowledge Karl Popper; the ancient world’s wisest man, Solon; the modern financier George Soros; and the Greek voyager Odysseus. We also meet the fictional Nero, who seems to understand the role of randomness in his professional life but falls victim to his own superstitious foolishness.
However, the most recognizable character of all remains unnamed–the lucky fool who happens to be in the right place at the right time–he embodies the “survival of the least fit.” Such individuals attract devoted followers who believe in their guru’s insights and methods. But no one can replicate what is obtained by chance.
Are we capable of distinguishing the fortunate charlatan from the genuine visionary? Must we always try to uncover nonexistent messages in random events? It may be impossible to guard ourselves against the vagaries of the goddess Fortuna, but after reading Fooled by Randomness we can be a little better prepared.
PRAISE FOR FOOLED BY RANDOMNESS:
Named by Fortune One of the Smartest Books of All Time
A Financial Times Best Business Book of the Year
“[Fooled by Randomness] is to conventional Wall Street wisdom approximately what Martin Luther’s ninety-five theses were to the Catholic Church.”
–Malcolm Gladwell, author of Blink
“The book that rolled down Wall Street like a hand grenade.”
–Maggie Mahar, author of Bull! A History of the Boom, 1982—1999
“Fascinating . . . Taleb will grab you.”
–Peter L. Bernstein, author of Capital Ideas Evolving
“Recalls the best of scientist/essayists like Richard Dawkins . . . and Stephen Jay Gould.”
–Michael Schrage, author of Serious Play: How the World’s Best Companies Simulate to Innovate
“We need a book like this. . . . Fun to read, refreshingly independent-minded.”
–Robert J. Shiller, author of Irrational Exuberance
“Powerful . . . loaded with crackling little insights [and] extreme brilliance.”
–National Review
“If asked to name the five best books written about markets, Fooled by Randomness would be on my list.”
–Jack D. Schwager, author of Market Wizards: Interviews with Top Traders
“Excellent and thought-provoking . . . an entertaining book.”
–Financial Times
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