The Little Book that Still Beats the Market

The Little Book that Still Beats the Market, an updated edition of Joel Greenblatt’s classic 2005 financial volume The Little Book That Beats the Market, was published today by Wiley. Featuring a new, timely introduction and afterword by Greenblatt, The Little Book That Still Beats the Market includes updated and expanded data and analysis covering the five-year period, including the financial crisis, since the previous edition’s publication. Using the same straightforward style and simple math that characterized the original version, Greenblatt once again illuminates basic value investing concepts and demonstrates their durability amid this era of economic turbulence and uncertainty. 

After its publication, The Little Book that Beats the Market went on to become a New York Times bestseller with over 300,000 copies in print and translations in 16 languages. Greenblatt’s stated intention for the book – to explain investing principles in a manner that his young children could comprehend and that would also offer value to seasoned investors – led him to share his signature, time-tested “magic formula” of investing, which makes buying above-average companies at below-average prices automatic. The Little Book That Still Beats the Market builds upon and enhances the information provided in Greenblatt’s original volume by offering both contemporary market data and relevant analysis; Greenblatt’s new afterword addresses the difficult economic circumstances that have confronted investors in recent years. 

“I first wrote The Little Book That Beats the Market to clearly explain an investing methodology that has proved time and time again to beat both the market and professional asset managers by a wide margin,” explains Joel Greenblatt. “The five years since then have offered many significant challenges for even the savviest investors, making this the perfect time to revisit the magic formula and to demonstrate its enduring value over the long term.”   

In addition to The Little Book that Beats the Market and its updated edition, Greenblatt is the author of You Can Be a Stock Market Genius (1999). He is the founder of Gotham Capital, an investment partnership that has achieved outstanding returns since its inception in 1985. Greenblatt is also the co-founder of and chief strategist for Formula Investing and a professor on the adjunct faculty of Columbia Business School. 

As The Wall Street Journal stated about the original edition, "Mr. Greenblatt says his goal was to provide advice that, while sophisticated, could be understood and followed by his five children, ages six to fifteen. They are in luck. His Little Book is one of the best, clearest guides to value investing out there."