Ken Fisher’s DEBUNKERY

Learn It, Do It, and Profit From It—Seeing Through Wall Street’s Money Killing Myths

By New York Times Bestselling Author Ken Fisher With Lara Hoffmans

Investment guru Ken Fisher's just-released book DEBUNKERY: Learn It, Do It, and Profit From it-Seeing Through Wall Street's Money-Killing Myths (Wiley; October 2010; $27.95; hardcover) is a timely read that aims to dispel and discredit common investing myths that keep investors from achieving their long-term goals. "Every investor, me included, makes lots of mistakes—but a huge part of success is avoiding common errors most investors make repeatedly—and that’s the focus of this book," says Ken Fisher.

"Folks have a romantic notion about ‘beating the market, ’" says Ken Fisher. "A lofty goal—and possible, though difficult—but most investors not only don’t beat the market, they don’t match the market or come even close."



DEBUNKERY shines a bright light on these perennial blunders and fallacies, and explains how to avoid them—dispensing its myth-busting in easily digestible chunks, which need not necessarily be read sequentially. Readers can skip to any chapter, and learn from one of the leading players in the investment community. Fisher writes with an easy, conversational style that is pithy, yet decisively hammers home his points to enable layman investors to start putting his advice to work.



DEBUNKERY takes on and busts some enduring investing myths, like:

• One Big Bear Market and You’re Done. Bunk. The bigger a bear market, the bigger and swifter the returns can be—and usually are—off the bottom. Bear markets can be big, but don’t imply smaller subsequent bull markets—contrary to myth—just the opposite.

• Make Sure It’s A Bull Market Before Diving In. Bunk. There is never an "all clear" sign. If there were everyone would beat the market. The opportunity cost of missing a bull market’s first few months is massive and lasting. So be sure not to miss it—or you’ll regret it later.

• A Good Con Artist Is Hard To Spot. Bunk. In reality, it is easy to spot a potential fraudster and the author shows readers five red flags to be on the lookout for, and details how to help make sure what happened to Bernie Madoff’s victims never happens to you.

• Covered Calls Have You Covered. Bunk. The name "covered calls" is comforting, but the truth is that, despite perception, covered calls are extremely risky. Debunkery proves it.

• Sell in May. Bunk. Everybody’s heard, "Sell in May and go away," but its provably wrong and bad advice. This is easy to prove but the tool Debunkery uses to prove it can be used to disprove many other common myths. Learn it and have fun with it.

• Low P/Es Mean Low Risk. More bunk. People tend to think low price-to-earnings (P/E) ratios mean low risk for single stocks and the market as a whole. It’s an almost universal, near-religious belief that "everyone knows," but it’s just wrong. Using P/E’s to forecast risk and return over any reasonable time period is about as useful as a Ouija board.

• High Unemployment Is A Stock Market Killer. False. Unemployment is a late lagging indicator. It doesn’t predict anything—ever! Debunkery shows the proof.

• Stocks Love Lower Taxes. Bunk again. Folks love fretting over taxes. It’s a national pastime. However, there’s no evidence that a tax cut or hike has a predictable outcome on future stock levels. Other forces are bigger. You should skip taxes and focus where it counts. .

Ken Fisher shows that commonly accepted investing wisdom is often wrong, and investors can help improve their results by following his advice rather than making easily-avoidable mistakes that hurt their prospects.. Learn more at http://www.ken-fisher-debunkery.com.