This book is an updated summary (2012) of another book by the same author, Bull's Eye Investing, which was published in 2005. As the book mentions, Mauldin is a financial expert who also studies funds. He has authored other books which I have reviewed in this blog too.
The book is short and easy to read but to distill the key learning points is not easy as many topics and research findings are broached. The author's thesis is that we are in a secular bear market (as of 2012) with possible tactical upswings and the book should be read with that context. He talks about absolute returns, trends, cycles, market timing, value investing and fund investment (all from a historical basis as well). In the last portion, Maudlin briefly touches on other investments such as gold and real estate and his views on them.
This book is a good "Intro Book" for newbies looking beyond the basics. The topics are not in-depth and very touch-and-go making for light reading. For intermediate investors, it is a refresher and also offers a variation of critique/ opinion (from Maudlin) on familiar concepts such as the Efficient Market Hypothesis or the Modern Portfolio Theory. His comments on assumptions behind accepted models, concepts and figures, found in the earlier parts of the book, was illuminating for me.
Recommended: Yes
Found in NLB: Yes
