Publishers Weekly
In the wake of Bernie Madoff's $65 billion Ponzi scheme comes this book that helps listeners invest safely and identify financial scams big and small. As straightforward as it sounds, the book is surprisingly entertaining, featuring an allegory of a cautious investor, stories about fraudsters throughout history and the five rules to evade scams. Scott Thomsen delivers a vivid reading and bypasses the pitfalls of dryness and one-dimensionality that plague so many narrators of financial and business audio books. The material allows Thomsen to loosen his collar and convey the information (and help the medicine go down) with personality and panache. A Wiley hardcover (Reviews, Sept. 7) (Sept.)
From the Publisher
With five straightforward rules that would have saved any investor from Bernie Madoff, investment firm CEO and Forbes columnist Fisher (100 Minds That Made the Market) gives readers a secure plan for fraud-proof investing, worthwhile for novices and sophisticated financiers alike. Using the example of everyman “Jim,” a precarious investor navigating shark-filled waters, Fisher presents a clear, fast-paced, tightly organized guide to principles like “Too good to be true usually is,” and “Due diligence is your job, no one else's.” Fully-referenced data, insider details, laser-focused statistical digressions, and the finer points of practical investing keep pages turning. Readers will value the practical, easy-to-follow models of solid, transparent investment strategies and examples from Fisher's experiences as CEO of his own investment firm. Fisher also includes suggestions for further reading and appendices that reproduce previously-published comparisons of different asset allocations, information for small business owners and short biographies of market-movers. Much more than what to avoid, Fisher’s concise guide should be highly illuminating and confidence-building for anyone with a bank account. (Aug.) Starred review (Publishers Weekly, September 2009)
Using well-known examples from recent headlines like Bernard Madoff and R. Allen Stanford along with a bevy of historical scam artists, Fisher details the red flags that should alert investors. They are: advisers who have access to your money; promises of returns that are too good to be true; mumbo-jumbo that takes the place of explaining investing strategy; fake benefits like exclusivity, and relying on someone else for due diligence. (Associated Press)
