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I know this book thru. an article on March 18, 2013 issue of The Edge. The article is on the author Howard Marks and his fund.
Will put this into my reading list. Will share after that.
A fund manager specializes on distressed debt. So debt is not always a dirty word for investors.

He managed to achieve average annual return of 17.5% net off the two and twenty fees, since 1995
Few interesting quotas
"If you want to succeed as an investor, you must work harder than others and find more obscure corners of the investment world that might not be ruled by the same brutal efficiency as stocks"
"Investors, in his opinion, tend to be lazy and superficial in their investment decisions, embracing rosy scenarios when optimism reigns and end of the world despondency when markets sink"
“夏则资皮,冬则资纱,旱则资船,水则资车” - 范蠡
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20-03-2013, 04:46 PM
(This post was last modified: 20-03-2013, 04:47 PM by opmi.)
Yes. Read this book. Interesting. Gave a few to my friends.
I like books by Howard Marks, Martin Whitman, Joel Greenblatt.
Different from the 'standard' investment books.
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I took some time to search out this book - It is not readily available at the local bookstores (like Popular) and i could only find it at Kinokuniya (i am still not an adopter of e-commerce). The book only came in hardcover and was selling at above avg prices (40-50sgd) but when a book has WB's quoting 'This is that rarity, a useful book' on it, it should be and is worthed every single cent.
There are about 15-20 chapters in the book but along the way, one would be able to find many common repeating themes - 'understanding risk and cycles, countercyclical behavior, 2nd level thinking contrarian etc..' These themes are actually also repeated throughout all his memos in the link provided by musicwhiz and i would see the book as a way of paying Howard Marks to summarize all his memos from 1990.
I am not a certified financial advisor and so nothing of what I say should be construed as financial advice. Please consult a certified financial advisor for advice instead.
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I bot from Amazon.
Bot a few to give to friends. I doubt they have read it yet.
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you can also buy online from books depository for $36. I did that and its about $10 cheaper than Kinokuniya..
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21-03-2013, 10:53 AM
A must read in my opinion. Allows you to view investments from another angle.
His memo's are fantastic as well.
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This is a great book. I think it is the common sense approach to risk taking that is its best point.