Wealth, War and Wisdom by Barton Biggs, author of Hedgehogging
Published by Wiley, March 08
During these years of political upheaval and dramatic market swings, it's important to look back on historic periods to gain insights into the direction of stocks and economic stability for investment opportunities today. In Wealth, War & Wisdom, legendary Wall Street investor Barton Biggs reveals how the turning points of World War II intersected with market performance, and shows how these lessons can help the twenty-first century investor comprehend our own perilous times, as well as choose the best strategies for the modern market economy.
In the new book, Biggs reveals how "the wisdom of the markets" prevails, even in the most turbulent of eras: the British stock market bottomed out just before the Battle of Britain; the U.S. market turned at the epic Battle of Midway; and the German market peaked at the high-water mark of Germany’s attack on Russia. Those events turned out to be the three great turning points of World War II - although at the time, no one and no instrument except the stock markets recognised them.
Through these pages, Biggs discusses the performance of equities in both victorious and defeated countries, reveals how individuals preserved their wealth despite the ongoing battles, and explores whether or not public equities were able to increase in value and serve as a wealth preserver. Biggs also looks at how other assets, including real estate and gold, fared during this dynamic and devastating period, and offers valuable insights on preserving one’s wealth for future generations.
Investors, unlike traders and speculators, must make long-term judgments about the course of events in economies and the world. Wealth, War & Wisdom provides a new and revealing context for such judgments. And its lively and lucid pages are completely relevant, indeed essential, to predicting the way modern financial markets and the economy will act during uncertain times that increasingly define this new century.
Read an extract here
About the author
Barton Biggs spent thirty years at Morgan Stanley. In that time, he formed the firm’s number one- ranked research department, built up its investment management business, and served as chairman of the investment management firm. At various times during this period, he was ranked as the number-one U.S. investment strategist by the Institutional Investor magazine poll and then, from 1996 to 2003, as the number-one global strategist. He was also a member of the five-man executive committee that ran the firm until its merger with Dean Witter in 1996. In 2003, Biggs left Morgan Stanley and, with two other colleagues, formed Traxis Partners. Traxis now has well over a billion dollars under its management. Biggs’s previous book, Hedgehogging, was also published by Wiley and is an international success.
ISBN 9780470223079; Hardback; £15.99/€21
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