The Making of a Market Guru: Forbes Presents 25 Years of Ken Fisher

Ken Fisher is founder, chairman and CEO of Fisher Investments, an independent money management firm managing over $35 billion (as of March 31, 2010) for institutions—large pension plans, endowments, foundations, and more—and more than 24,000 high-net-worth individuals across the US, UK and Canada. Ken has written 6 books on investing and wealth management, three of which are New York Times best sellers. And, Fisher has written the monthly "Portfolio Strategy" column for Forbes magazine for over twenty-five years—since 1984—making him, so far, the fourth longest-running columnist in the magazine’s history. During this time, he’s seen everything from the stock market crash of 1987 and the great bull markets of the 1980s and 1990s to the Tech bubble of 2000 and the global market meltdown of 2008.

Now, with THE MAKING OF A MARKET GURU: Forbes Presents 25 Years of Ken Fisher (Wiley; May 2010; $29.95; Cloth; ISBN:  978-0-470-28542-8), readers get an insightful look at Fisher’s prolific career over the years and re-discover the high-profile market calls he’s made in these monthly columns. The book is a sweeping look at a recent and eventful slice of stock market history. Readers will see how things have changed over the years, and amazingly, what hasn’t.  And they’ll see investing wisdom that still applies, now and for the foreseeable future, from a quarter-century of Fisher’s concise and witty market wisdom.

Preceding Fisher’s columns for each year are a few pages of commentary—putting them in historic context, pointing out areas that are still salient, and others where Fisher’s perspective has changed over the years—while highlighting key points that deserve extra attention.

Chapter by chapter, THE MAKING OF A MARKET GURU offers practical investment advice from a leading market voice, while:

• Looking at Fisher’s market analysis over the years and providing an industry insider’s view of major, and not-so-major, market events
• Examining how Fisher called three of the last four bear markets
• Showing that what many commonly think impacts markets doesn’t—and sometimes, what few suspect can have major market implications.

The more things change, the more they stay the same—at least when it comes to investing. And seeing history through the eyes of a market guru can help improve your overall investment endeavors. If you take the time to read this unique, historic compilation, you’ll be taking your first steps to understanding how to become your own market guru.