A psychoanalytic perspective on the emotional and irrational forces that affect decisions gives professional investors an uncommon edge.

"This is that rarity, a useful book."--Warren Buffett Howard Marks, the chairman and cofounder of Oaktree Capital Management, is renowned for his insightful assessments of market opportunity and risk. After four decades spent ascending to the top of the investment management profession, he is today sought out by the world's leading value investors, and his client memos brim with insightful commentary and a time-tested, fundamental philosophy. Now for the first time, all readers can benefit from Marks's wisdom, concentrated into a single volume that speaks to both the amateur and seasoned investor. Informed by a lifetime of experience and study, The Most Important Thing explains the keys to successful investment and the pitfalls that can destroy capital or ruin a career. Utilizing passages from his memos to illustrate his ideas, Marks teaches by example, detailing the development of an investment philosophy that fully acknowledges the complexities of investing and the perils of the financial world. Brilliantly applying insight to today's volatile markets, Marks offers a volume that is part memoir, part creed, with a number of broad takeaways. Marks expounds on such concepts as "second-level thinking," the price/value relationship, patient opportunism, and defensive investing. Frankly and honestly assessing his own decisions--and occasional missteps--he provides valuable lessons for critical thinking, risk assessment, and investment strategy. Encouraging investors to be "contrarian," Marks wisely judges market cycles and achieves returns through aggressive yet measured action. Which element is the most essential? Successful investing requires thoughtful attention to many separate aspects, and each of Marks's subjects proves to be the most important thing.

A supplement for undergraduate and graduate Investments courses. See the decision-making process behind investments. The Psychology of Investing is the first text of its kind to delve into the fascinating subject of how psychology affects investing. Its unique coverage describes how investors actually behave, the reasons and causes of that behavior, why the behavior hurts their wealth, and what they can do about it. Features: What really moves the market: Understanding the psychological aspects. Traditional finance texts focus on developing the tools that investors use for calculating risk and return. The Psychology of Investing is one of the first texts to delve into how psychology affects investing rather than solely focusing on traditional financial theory. This text’s material, however, does not replace traditional investment textbooks but complements them, helping students become better informed investors who understand what motivates the market. Keep learning consistent: Most of the chapters are organized in a similar succession. This approach adheres to following order: -A psychological bias is described and illustrated with everyday behavior -The effect of the bias on investment decisions is explained -Academic studies are used to show why investors need to remedy the problem Growing with the subject matter: Current and fresh information. Because data on investor psychology is rapidly increasing, the fifth edition contains many new additions to keep students up-to-date. The new Chapter 12: Psychology in the Mortgage Crisis describes the psychology involved in the mortgage industry and ensuing financial crisis. New sections and sub-sections include “Buying Back Stock Previously Sold”, “Who Is Overconfident,” "Nature or Nurture?”, "Preferred Risk Habitat," "Market Impacts," "Language," and “Reference Point Adaptation.”

Updated with a new chapter that draws on behavioral finance, the field that studies the psychology of investment decisions, the bestselling guide to investing evaluates the full range of financial opportunities.

Drawing on interviews with 40 winners of the MacArthur Foundation Fellowship—the so-called "genius awards"—the insightful study throws fresh light on the creative process.

Introduces important new findings in psychology to demonstrate why most investment strategies are flawed, outlining atypical strategies designed to prevent over- and under-valuations while crash-proofing a portfolio.

Doing well with money isn’t necessarily about what you know. It’s about how you behave. And behavior is hard to teach, even to really smart people. Money—investing, personal finance, and business decisions—is typically taught as a math-based field, where data and formulas tell us exactly what to do. But in the real world people don’t make financial decisions on a spreadsheet. They make them at the dinner table, or in a meeting room, where personal history, your own unique view of the world, ego, pride, marketing, and odd incentives are scrambled together. In The Psychology of Money, award-winning author Morgan Housel shares 19 short stories exploring the strange ways people think about money and teaches you how to make better sense of one of life’s most important topics.

Before you read any how-to investment books or seek financial advice, read Unexpected Returns, the essential resource for investors and investment professionals who want to understand how and why the financial markets are not the same now as they were in the 1980s and 1990s. In addition to explaining the fundamentals, this book takes you on a graphic journey through the seasons of the market, tying together economics and finance to explain the stock market's cycles. Using comprehensive full-color charts and graphs, it offers an in-depth exploration of what has changed over the past five years - and what you can do about it to avoid disappointment with your investments. This unique combination of investment science and investment art will enable you to differentiate between irrational hope and a rational view of the current financial markets. Based on years of meticulous research, it provides the sensible conclusions that will drive your future investment choices and give you the confidence to rely on your investment outlook, whatever your financial strategy. Book jacket.

Embark on an extraordinary journey through the intricacies of entrepreneurship and investment in "Frontiers Unveiled." This unique guide takes you beyond conventional wisdom, exploring the entrepreneurial mindset, strategic investment, scaling processes, trend navigation, and the future landscape. Each chapter unfolds a narrative of transformative insights, offering practical strategies and real-world examples to empower entrepreneurs and investors. "Frontiers Unveiled" isn't just a book; it's a compass for navigating the ever-evolving business cosmos, equipping you with the knowledge and resilience to forge your own path to success.

Presents an informative guide to financial investment, explaining how to maximize gains and minimize losses and examining a broad spectrum of financial opportunities, from mutual funds to real estate to gold.