Sun Zhang, Daniel – An Investment Thinking Toolbox

Ekerlids, 2021 [Equities] Grade 4

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Within fundamental equity investing there is a body of different best practices and a canon of literature with important insights – what this site has labeled financial wisdom. Ever so often a person who has assimilated this wisdom writes a book about how he or she uses this in their investment management. This is such a book and as many of these books it is interesting to follow the personal exploration journey of the person and to see how the practical results look. Daniel Sun Zhang has written an easy to read user’s guide to his toolbox of investment thinking – similar to what Charlie Munger would call mental models. According to the author who according to the sleeve is the CXO of Teqnion the book was his own attempt to structure his investment thinking and we are all invited to join to everybody’s benefit.

The structure of the book is simple. It contains a number of chapters each dedicated to one investment thinking tool, say Warren Buffett’s circle of competence, fist principle, Munger’s inversion practice, anchoring, survivorship bias, unknown unknowns etc. Each chapter follows roughly the same format with some kind of background story related to the topic, a definition, linked personal investment experiences and finally “practical advice to myself” in bullet form.

Then there are two appendices covering the types of companies he likes (he has over time moved from deep value to compounders that are worth more than they cost) and the investment process he uses. This includes a somewhat eclectic idea generation, a learning process aiming to understand what the key issues are, a research process that combines a will to learn about all factors that has bearing on future cash flows with an insight of the declining marginal utility of investigating too many things. Then the author constructs an investment narrative that is also made quantitative to make sure it makes sense. This is thrown into a DCF using Monte Carlo analysis to account for varying scenarios. He sells when a stock has become overvalued, when there are better alternatives, when he doesn’t feel that he understands the investment case anymore or when he needs money for other things. It might not fit everybody but I would call that quite a decent investment process.

The book is in a way somewhat lightweight and it is a quick read for its 200 pages. In one or two of the linked personal investment experiences the link feels a bit loose. On the other hand this is easy to forgive as the author has digested some very useful tools and I particularly like the practical nature of his advice and the amount of self-awareness that is shown. A person that has read some amount of the books, blogs etc. of the value community the last decade or two will not find anything new but for those who haven’t they get a good dose of financial wisdom presented in an accessible way. I especially liked the linking done between William Ockham’s razor and Buffett-Munger’s notion of focusing on what is both important and knowable – see, I did find something new.

The author displays a good combination of the art of reaching an investment story and the science of looking at investment using statistical tools. Not everybody can synchronize qualitative and quantitative thinking. I think this combination could be even more important as everybody and their mum are compound investors today and stringent price discipline will be crucial for long-term success.

Above all this is a book to be used. Anyone who learns the mental models Sun Zhang presents will be a better investor than before. 

Mats Larsson, January 31, 2022

Smith, Terry – Investing for Growth

Harriman House 2020, [Equity Investing] Grade 5

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“How to make money by only buying the best companies in the world”. The subtitle of Mr Terry Smith’s latest book neatly summarises his philosophy of owning great businesses for the long run. Mr Smith has had a long and successful City career. Since 2010 he has been running Fundsmith, the eponymous fund management group. This book is an anthology of newspaper columns he has written as well as annual letters from Fundsmith covering the last decade. His previous books are Accounting for Growth (1992) and Celebrating five years of investing in decades of success (2015), the latter of which largely forms the first half of Investing for Growth. The articles and letters give readers both a sense of the philosophy employed by Mr Smith as well as an introduction to various topics like shareholder activism, share buybacks etc. Consistently, his message is to own a small number of great businesses for the long run and your returns will reflect underlying business performance. I think this piece of advice makes a lot of sense.

Mr Smith’s focus is on owning companies that generate sustainably high returns on incremental capital (as opposed to ‘cheap stocks’) while keeping a keen eye on costs e.g. by keeping portfolio turnover very low. The major difference compared with the previous book, and the reason this one is even more enjoyable and rewarding to read, is that ‘Investing for Growth’ also enables the reader to go through Smith’s annual letters in sequence. These are interspersed with his musings on topics ranging anywhere from ETFs to boxing and cycling (clue - investment success is not about winning every stage). He is no shrinking violet; it’s fun to read.

Mr Smith really manages to get across his point about focusing on the quality of the businesses first and valuations and technicals second or even third. The real value of this book though is in reading through the annual letters in chronology. There are some interesting observations to be made.

One is this: investors expressed concerns about valuation levels in 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019. In other words, many investors have spent the last decade worrying about great companies being overvalued while missing out on some very large gains. Another is this: there were concerns around more restrictive credit conditions (e.g. end of QE) already in 2013. We are still waiting.

Mr Smith is a pragmatist; while the philosophy hasn’t changed, the implementation has, with the portfolio having shifted emphasis from consumer goods to technology. He is also a highly independent thinker on matters such as retained earnings, risk vs reward etc. His list of things to avoid includes buying on valuation alone, market timing, sector rotation, making forecasts etc. He does advise to ‘look for the obvious’. It is all very ‘uncommon common sense’.

Of course one can argue that Mr Smith is talking his own book here and that the ‘evidence’ he refers to reflects a period in markets where high quality businesses of the kind he invests in have been in favour. However, the argument that in the long run returns will reflect underlying business performance is made very convincingly both by reference to Mr Smith’s own experience and to that of other great investors as well as using some very long data sets. Keeping in mind that this book will mainly appeal to long-term investors with a focus on high quality businesses, I would highly recommend the book which is a great addition to a library of annual letters from e.g. Berkshire Hathaway, Markel Corp etc.   It is fun, it is original, it is practical and Mr Smith’s ideas have made me a better investor.

Christian Billinger, January 14, 2021

Smith, Terry - Celebrating Five Years of Investing in Decades of Success

MCMLIII Publishing 2015, [Equity Investing] Grade 4

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“1. Invest in good companies; 2. Don’t overpay; 3. Do nothing”. This is the seemingly simple but not easy, recipe for success at Fundsmith, the fund management business founded by veteran financier Terry Smith in 2010. This launch followed a long and successful career in London as a sell-side analyst and CEO of Collins Stewart and Tullett Prebon. The book is a collection of newspaper columns written for the Financial Times and other newspapers in a style that suits both the interested amateur and the experienced professional. Smith lays out the principles behind Fundsmith’s investment philosophy as well as his views on some slightly more technical issues such as ETFs, fund management fees etc. It is my impression that Smith genuinely wants to educate readers and his message is this; own a small number of great businesses for the long term and your returns will reflect underlying business performance. This seems to me like very sound advice.

Smith focuses on a few key ideas as part of his overall approach; the importance of high returns on capital, independent thinking, running your winners and that valuations matter a lot less than commonly perceived to long-term investors. In addition, he discusses some of the factors impacting the net return to investors as for example the level of fees paid, the level of diversification and the futility of market timing. Smith uses anecdotal evidence from his own career as well as high-level data to validate these ideas. The book is organized chronologically which means there is sometimes a lack of flow if one reads from start to end. On the other hand, Smith uses plain language and his common sense approach really comes through in his style of writing; there is very little jargon. It is a fun book to read. It is also hard not to be won over by his arguments when it comes to buying great businesses for the long-term, especially given his long experience in different market environments and the success of Fundsmith. 

I think this is a useful addition to most investors’ libraries given the practical advice provided and the examples from Mr Smith’s own career; while most of the ideas will come across as mere common sense, it is the illustration of how to apply them from a successful practitioner that is the real value of the book. Terry Smith describes a philosophy and way of operating that has a lot in common with investors such as Nick Train and Tom Russo. They are all of course followers of Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger. However, while Buffett has described himself as 15 % Phil Fisher and 85 % Ben Graham in the past, Terry Smith would better be described as 15 % Graham and 85 % Fisher; he cares first and foremost about the quality of the businesses he invests in and only later about the valuations at which they trade. Important to keep in mind is that this is not, and does not pretend to be, an academic work. The amount of data provided is limited and given the format there is limited room to expand on some concepts and ideas. One could of course argue that Smith is simply arguing his own case here, however I think the ideas in the book have been sufficiently tested by the market over time to say that they probably have some merit. It is certainly a style of investing that resonates with me.

There are challenges to be made to Smith’s argument, one is the fact that he has enjoyed great success investing in ‘bond proxies’ during a period of declining long-term interest rates. This may of course be true. I see this book as a valuable insight into the practical application of a quality investing approach from someone who has been around for a long time; I hugely enjoyed reading, and re-reading, this book and would highly recommend it to anyone that is of a similar bent alongside other great books in the same vein such as “Quality Investing” by Lawrence Cunningham, et al. The book was released to highlight the 5th anniversary of the launch of Fundsmith. One can only hope that Mr Smith will highlight the 10th anniversary and beyond with further editions of this book.

Christian Billinger, October 18, 2020

Oppenheimer, Peter C. - The Long Good Buy

Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd, [Equity Investing] Grade 5

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Peter C. Oppenheimer is the chief global equity strategist at Goldman Sachs. He has written a book that gives a great overview of past cycles, which he has experienced for the last 35 years.

His idea was to write a book to help us to better understand the relationships between the economic and financial cycles. The financial market tends to create its own narrative, what George Soros called reflexivity, which makes it difficult in the end of cycles when there is a disconnect between the economy and the financial cycle.

The book has three parts: Lessons from the past, The nature of bull and bear markets and finally Lessons for the future. They can easily be read separately.

One key message is that despite all the incredible changes that has taken place, some things remain the same, human behavior. In up and downturns, from Despair, to Hope, followed by Growth and Optimism. 

The author takes us on a journey where he develops practical tools and frameworks for assessing risk and rewards over the cycle.  This gives us a helpful process to tackle the moods swings we experience as investors. As a side note, one of the best quotes (*) to describe reality is the following: “Since the unexpected happens more often than the expected, and the unexpected can happen in an infinite number of ways, while the expected only can happen in one way, its unlikely that the expected happens”. 

In the spirit of the above, Peter categorizes bear markets in three forms: Cyclical, Event and Structural. He then looks for indicators to flag bear market risks. No single indicator is reliable on its own, but a combination of six factors provides a reasonable signal for future bear market risk. This indicator, maybe even more importantly, is a guide to the likely future 5-year returns.

The book ends with a major conclusion for the equity investor. If he/she can hold the investment for at least 5 years, and be able to accept periods of fluctuations, equities is the best choice. If the investor can recognize the signs of bubbles and changes of the cycle, the/she can enjoy a really “long good buy”.

Next week we will publish our long interview with Peter, which I hope will give you more color on some of the things in the book that interested me most. Happy reading!

Bo Börtemark, September 14, 2020

(*) In memory of the Swedish economist, Assar Lindbeck, who died August 28th, 90 years old.

Parames, Francisco Garcia – Investing For the Long Term

John Wiley, 2018, [Equity Investing] Grade 5

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Francisco Garcia Parames, born in 1963, and already one of the very few successful investors that both have started a fund from scratch and written a book, and has done this in Europe - not even UK, but Spain. He kindly takes us through his story from the very beginning, which includes a heavy dose of inspiration from the usual US suspects. This book can be read with great benefit both by those with less knowledge and by experts. This is a perfect, easy to read book for the holiday or for a long flight.

The first part of the book is about Parames life before becoming an investor. I think this is very inspirational for beginners, so it’s not to be disregarded. The second part covers the author’s theory of investing and it starts with his use of Austrian economics. This clearly sets him apart from other value investors. Obviously this has increased my interest in the topic and the author graciously recommends key books on the subject. Then comes two chapters that discusses the merits of investing in stocks over the long term. I found these less interesting, but very well written and wells suited for the beginner.

Subsequently follow chapters 7-8, which I found the most interesting, since they are all about how to make money in stocks. Parames recommends 9 ways to find the winners, of which I will discuss 3. i) Opportunities in cyclical companies. Parames is by heart a value investor, and stresses the value of patience and long-term thinking. He thinks cyclical companies are the easiest and least risky way to find opportunities. Cycles always turn around. He stresses that the key here is not to try to predict the inflection points and to keep buying thru the fall. It is also vital that the company has little debt and a market leading position. ii) Long term projects. Investors in general lack patience, leading to incorrect prices and investment opportunities. Patience is an investor’s biggest asset, not intelligence. He writes “its surprising how schizophrenic investors are, disliking investments that hurt short term results, but increase value in 2-3 years.” iii) Free lunches. These appear when a stable business, which justifies its share price, comes into a possession of an asset, an overlooked early stage project that is not priced by the market.

Valuation is the author’s last step in the selection of stocks. The work here focuses on calculating a normalized earnings number and putting a relevant multiple on it - on average 15x. Once Parames has done that, he invests in those with the largest discount to current the market price. He then addresses the question when the market will realize that the stock is too cheap. It can take time, but he gives the example that even if it takes 10 years to get to his target price (which are 50% higher than current price) he will get a 4% return, which he thinks is the worst-case scenario. He works actively with portfolio rebalancing, selling winners and buying losers, keeping the weights unchanged. He doesn’t like catalysts but concludes that some factors can speed up the revaluation process, like new managers or economic cycle, currency rates etc. that change for the better. He stresses once again that patience is key for success and that you need a lot of it.

The final chapter of the book is about the irrational investor lurking within us all. It’s a great summary of behavioral finance. He addresses the problems of extrapolation, herd mentality and the risk of drifting away from a sound strategy. His recommendation is to be aware of the biases and implement a somewhat automatic investment process. He further highlights the problem with information overload and the negative slant on all information we receive, making it more difficult to hold on to one’s convictions as it distorts reality. The book ends with some true gems. Firstly, a list of 26 small ideas and a guiding principle. Secondly, one of the best readings lists I’ve seen in a book, with a lot of inspiration for everyone. This is a perfect finish for a book from an investor that is reading all the time, and still evolves his investment style like a true master.

Bo Börtemark, October 19, 2019

Baid Gautam – The Joys of Compounding: The Passionate Pursuit of Lifelong Learning

Published by Gautam Baid, [Equity Investing] Grade 5

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There have been many books written about Warren Buffett & value investing, and many read them and are impressed by the message, not least due to Warrens outstanding performance over time & his charming ways. But many read & listen to it and then forget it. One person has more than read it, he has also immersed himself into it and created his own version of investing.  That person is Gautam Baid. For Gautam it’s not just about investing, it’s a total experience which runs his daily life. Reading “The Joys of Compounding” was surprisingly inspirational to read.

This is a must read, both for the beginner and the professional. My only critique would be that sometimes it’s too many quotes, too much of a discussion around the same things. It could be done more efficiently, i.e. in less pages. But, that’s also part of the charm, that is how Gautam is. And to some extent that has now influenced me as well. Many times, I want to get to the point too fast. Here you must spend time, to immerse yourself into the art of investing.

Still, for the ones who have read more than a few books on Warren and disciples, I want to highlight a few chapters that I think stand out and will surely re-read many times. Those chapters are 18, 27 and 32.

Chapter 18 is about the idea that the market is efficient most of the time, but not all the time. Great discussion on the difference between risk & uncertainty. Chapter 27 is a real treat, since it’s about something not so common to discuss among value investors, how to invest in commodities & cyclicals.  He also manages to make an intriguing case for “Techno-Funda” investors, looking at both fundamentals and charts for investable trends. Finally, chapter 32, key chapter of the book. Easy to read & borrow ideas, but everyone needs to develop his or her own conviction. To do that, there is a shortcut, keep a journal and (chapter 26 and update your beliefs chapter 22) learn about yourself.

We are about to come to the end of this book review, but it’s not the end of the discussion of the book, it’s just the end of the beginning. Tomorrow we will publish our long interview with Gautam, which I hope will inspire you further since they are partly about the chapters above, which I think will clarify his ideas further.

Having read the book once, and multiple chapters over and over again, I can say it has been a true Joy. I now look forward to the compounding, of not just financial returns, but in overall life, and the pursuit of lifelong learning.

Bo Börtemark, July 30, 2019

Ang, Rusmin & Chng, Victor – Value Investing In Growth Companies

Wiley, 2013 [Equity Investing] Grade 3

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To succeed in the equity market it is important not to succumb to the psychology of the market. Vital to this resilience is then to have - or cultivate - the right mindset but also to follow sound investment philosophies and stringent processes. Rusmin Ang and Victor Chng, two Singapore based chief investment analysts at 8 Investment, the largest value-investing network in Asia, offer to guide readers of their book Value Investing In Growth Companies to just this.

The preface and the first chapter gives an account of the journeys that the authors have made – both personally and with regards to becoming devoted value investors ingrained in the teachings of Warren Buffett, Peter Lynch, Philip Fisher, Ben Graham, Charlie Munger, Anthony Bolton and the like. After a chapter on how to understand investment psychology the main part of the book is then dedicated to the duo’s research method called the Jigsaw Puzzle, focusing on the business of the company, the management, the financial results it produces and the valuation of the shares. Lastly, they finish off with some thoughts on practical implementation and portfolio management (including screens to filter out good prospect stocks) plus how to avoid common mistakes.

I appreciate that the authors start by laying the groundwork discussing investment psychology and they also correctly caution readers from using their method if they don’t have the constitution for it. There are many ways to invest; you should chose one that fits your personality. Further, the method in itself requires the investor to take certain steps and to make sure firm objective criteria are met before investing in a stock, which in itself gives some protection from being psychologically swept off ones feet by the latest glamour stock.

Although useful for professional investors, I would argue that this is primarily a book for private investors interested in investing in small-cap, GARP-type of stocks – or GAUP as the authors’ calls it; Growth at Undervalued Prices. The prospect companies are those with simple understandable business models but the method still requires the investor to do a fair amount of “scuttle-butting” à la Fisher and store visiting à la Lynch so there is some fair amount of labor required. I must admit that I find the method and the book a bit commonplace – robust, correct and well crafted but not something out of the ordinary. The amount of detail and depth in the book isn’t huge. This doesn’t prevent it from potentially being incredibly operational for the private investor if well used. It is often more important to find a good practice – which this is – stick with it and perfect it, rather than to constantly chase after an illusive perfect method. Depth and detail can be added by the investor himself from real world experiences.

As a Western European, one main take from the book is that investing is pretty much the same wherever you practice your craft. There are some culturally distinctly Asian features such as the authors’ unabashed declarations to become rich which is more socially accepted in a part of the world where such large parts of the populations have managed to do so in a relatively short period of time and there are obviously references made to the quite speculative stock markets in south east Asia. Also, companies and specific persons differ from what a westerner is used to. Still, there is nothing specifically Asian about the philosophy or the research process – instead it should be universally valid for all.

This is an able book on investing in smaller growth companies that could serve its reader well but it offers no real revelations.

Mats Larsson, December 20, 2018

Saraogi, Rahul – Investing in India

Wiley, 2014 [Equity Investing] Grade 4

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India is a country of interest to investors as it offers many of the characteristics that made the West such a fertile place for business and investing during the 20th century: young demographics, a rapid rate of urbanization and improving education. The best investors have often prospered from using a bottom-up approach, investing in stable countries with a clear rule of law, a strong financial infrastructure and with capitalism and not socialism as the ruling principle. The question is if the opportunities in India outweigh the risks for investors. Judging by the title of this book from Rahul Saraogi, Investing in India: A Value Investor's Guide to the Biggest Untapped Opportunity in the World, the answer is a clear yes!

Saraogi is a value investor who was born in India and moved to the US to study. It was at that time he became interested in economics and investing. He also became enthralled by Indian economic history and realized that both Indians and Westerners had problems with understanding India. He saw an edge that he decided to pursue. He moved back to India to become an investor and now manages Atyant Capital. Saraogi wrote the book in 2014 – a time when the Indian markets had suffered from a severe downturn.

Investing in India is structured in six chapters where the first four focus on giving the reader an understanding of India from a social, political and economic perspective. The fifth chapter is about value investing in India where the author presents examples of what businesses to avoid (those with bad governance and poor capital allocation) and what to look for. Throughout the book the author presents case studies to describe and strengthen the points made.

Some quirks that may be surprising for the reader is that Indians avoid buying property and machinery at certain times during the year due to spirituality and superstition. Another is that debts in Indian villages are not forgiven by death but is left with the heirs. Another central theme is that of the important roles of land, property rights and gold. It's not allowed to lend for land-buying, but prices are still high as it’s seen as a valuable consumption item. Gold has been a good store of value, as it often is in countries suffering from currency debasement and instability. The country imports gold worth $60 billion a year. Strong property rights are central to a free-market system but also act as a hindrance for building infrastructure, an area where India has huge needs of improvement.

India should not be seen as one country as the differences between the 28 states are huge - some states are likely to prosper in the near- and long-term while others have worse outlooks (the richest state has seven times the GDP per capita of the poorest). In terms of sectors, agriculture is the largest measured in people employed while services are largest in terms of GDP. On the macro side the country has a large current account deficit but at the same time a low level of external debt.

The Indian markets have often traded higher than the other “BRIC” countries. While Brazil, Russia and China have lots of cyclical and commodity companies, India has strong franchises which according to the author should command higher valuations. Saraogi is certainly bullish on the future of India, a view he shares with great investors such as Mohnish Pabrai and Prem Watsa. He thinks the groundwork has been laid and compares it with a bamboo plant that grows very slowly during the first four years while it develops its root system. In the fifth year it grows 80ft in 6 weeks! The future will tell if something similar can occur in India.

One should always invest within one’s circle of competence. The book is a comprehensive guide to one of the most important countries in the world and a great start for the investor who wants to know more about the ins-and-outs of investing in India. The reader will certainly get a better understanding of interesting sectors and might even pick up some stock-tips.

Niklas Sävås, December 04, 2018

Tsoi, Tony - Living Value Investing

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Right off the bat, it would be appropriate to bring some preconditions to this review out in the open: The author of the book, Tony Tsoi, has previously worked at Value Partners, the investment boutique founded by Cheah Cheng Hye – the very person profiled in Living Value Investing. And it is obvious he holds Mr. Cheah in very high regard. Furthermore, this reviewer owns shares in Value Partners in his day job as a fund manager – in no little regard due to the appreciation of Mr. Cheah’s capabilities and the brand name Value Partners has built. So, with that out of the way: this is a fascinating rags-to-riches story, profiling a person that have built a company labelled ”The Temple of Value Investing in Asia” and been invited to hold the keynote presentation at The Ben Graham Centre as the first person from Asia to do so. But this outcome was certainly not written in the stars. It is perhaps his ability to surprise in his success that has left people around him - including the author - the most impressed. As he states early on: ”Throughout the history of Value Partners, there has never been a shortage of doubters - not even now”.

Living Value Investing was originally published in Chinese in 2016 but after some persuasion an English version came out early this year. The first half of the book is broadly organized in chronological order, starting with Cheah’s early life in a poor Malaysian rural area, through the 17 years as a journalist in both Malaysia (editor at age 19!) and for WSJ in Hong Kong, concluding with the formative period of building Value Partners. The remaining four chapters then deal with certain aspects of Value Partners, including the decision to go public, its focus on China and Cheah’s evolving role at the company he created. This last part was no walk in the park as many founders can attest to - particularly after trying to sell the company a couple of years ago, but then reversing course as the take-over price could not be agreed upon. Probably because of the ”currentness” of the situation, but also due to my appreciation of the other topics covered in the latter half of the book, I tended to like that part more than the biographical chapters. In no way should they be viewed as fly-over chapters however. The experiences Cheah made in early life has certainly had a tremendous impact on his investing beliefs and how Value Partners was built. The feeling of always being the outsider wherever he went, the lone wolf, looking in from the outside – isn’t that the perfect description of a dyed-in-wool value investor? 

One of the more fascinating discussions revolve around the future role of Hong Kong, its diminishing role since 1997 and what its competitive edge ought to be going forward. The author argues convincingly that what the island needs is not another Li Ka-shing (property and trade) but rather several new Cheah Cheng-Hye’s (financial services). A part I have re-read several times. Another topic that the author covers well is the corporate culture Cheah and the early partners have (figuratively) built into the walls of Value Partners. The pragmatic says ”performance is all that matters”, but as everybody working in the industry knows, performance is far from everything and the examples and standards you set early on impact the quality of people you attract. There is much to learn from the examples set forth in the book, despite the obvious translational differences in business conduct between East and West.

Another trait of Cheah, avidly described throughout the book, is his image as a bookworm. Almost every person interviewed brings this up. At no time is Cheah not reading something, even occasionally in the shower. To no surprise, this certainly adds to our appreciation of the man! He and VP has surely come a long way since having to sneak into an invitation-only seminar behind the back of a good friend working for Fidelity. Today, $17bn later, Cheah and Value Partners are working hard to be the ones leading the way, creating the Asian version of Fidelity. ”Today in China is similar to the US (financial markets) in the 1950s. The opportunity-set is there”.

Henrik Andersson, November 25, 2018

Bernstein, Peter L. - Against the Gods

Wiley, 1996 [Equity Investing] Grade 5

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The sharpest minds of ancient times had a major advantage against modern thinkers. When faced with unexpected outcomes they could answer by reverting to faith or superstition. Greeks, Romans and Arabs came far in many other aspects but failed to develop the theory of probability. Instead, it was two Frenchmen, Blaise Pascal and Pierre Fermat, who made the breakthrough in the 17th century. The impact of the discovery has been massive, not only to mathematicians but also to all those who deal with matters with uncertain outcomes. In the best-selling Against the Gods the reader is taken on a remarkable journey through human history to clarify the subject of risk - which still can't be explained fully.

The author, Peter L. Bernstein was both an investor, a financial historian and prominent within academia. Having been an active investor and an economist is a feat he shares with John Maynard Keynes, an oft-cited character in Against the Gods. Bernstein published ten books and countless articles during his long career and is renowned for his supreme writing skills.

The main difficulty with investing originates from the notion that all the answers are in the past and all the questions are in the future. Many are those trying to predict the future - causing them to expose themselves to risk - or according to Bernstein "the chance of losing money". The author's main idea with the book was to explore the lessons of history to judge the current methods of handling risk. He therefore portrays those who have contributed the most to form the modern theory. This includes ancient thinkers as Aristotle and Al-Khwarizmi, later intellectuals as Pascal, Thomas Bayes and Francis Galton and modern theorists as Keynes and Daniel Kahneman. It's a remarkable history lesson.

Galton's discovery of regression to the mean during the 19th century - covered in one chapter -may be the most important for investors. It can be summed up with these timeless words from the author: "When investors overreact to new information and ignore long-term trends, regression to the mean turns the average winner into a loser and the average loser into a winner." By being contrarians, value investors have used the idea successfully over the last century. Another enticing chapter covers Amos Tversky's and Kahneman's creation of Prospect Theory. They managed to disprove that humans are the rational beings as depicted by traditional economists, by showing that people occasionally make irrational decisions. Keynes was one of the few who had earlier criticized the view of the rational man, as he viewed humans as being driven by animal spirits. Benjamin Graham was definitely another - something he is not credited for in the book. Graham also emphasized diversification as a tool for managing risk, which is not mentioned either in the chapter dealing with Harry Markowitz and his mathematical model of diversification. Overall, I think Bernstein's coverage of the 20th century gives too much credit to academia and too little to practitioners.

The main takeaway from the book is that the lessons of history support today’s preferred method of how to tackle problems involving both skill and luck. Using objective data from the past as the base rate and adjusting the probability by critical reasoning should lead to better decisions - and therefore lower risk. This is highlighted by current thought-leaders as Michael Mauboussin and Howard Marks. The best investors have a tendency to think probabilistically and relate declining prices (without impairments to the intrinsic value of the business) to improved odds. It should be a good way to approach investing for all.

The book is certainly no walk in the park as it takes a lot of effort to grasp the ideas.  It is nonetheless a great start for those who want to join Mauboussin and Marks in making better decisions. Most of all it's a very interesting book - not only for investors but for all interested in acquiring timeless wisdom. The odds are favorable that you will enjoy it.

Niklas Sävås, October 25, 2018

Gray, Wesley R. & Vogel, Jack R. - Quantitative Momentum

Wiley, 2016, [Equity Investing] Grade 5

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Momentum investing works - period. I thought momentum was all about buying stocks that have gone up, and coming from a value background I found it a bit idiotic, but little did I know about the quantitative world behind all of this. This might not be as much of an epiphany for you as it was for me, but this book opened my eyes to a world that I was extremely unfamiliar with. If you, like me, find yourself reading the same old Graham-mantras over and over just reiterated by different authors, this is most probably something you should read.

The book is split in two parts where the first part is all about understanding momentum - what momentum really is, why it works and why it should continue to provide a sustainable edge going forward. The second part is all about the craft of constructing a momentum-based portfolio based on academic proof. To be fair Quantitative Momentum is a…quantitative book. It’s packed with graphs, tables, numbers and references to academic studies. Although its academic nature, the book is written by two PhD’s – go figure, the book is an unexpectedly pleasant read. I had no problem keeping up despite generally reading the book on my busy and chaotic morning commute.

The authors start off with explaining what momentum is, and more importantly, why momentum works. They argue that momentum investing and value investing both work because they are essentially just two different sides of the same behavioral bias-coin. Maybe the reason that active portfolio management actually works is that we humans are overly skeptic in nature. The authors write: “Value investing's edge is often characterized as pessimism in the presence of poor short-term fundamentals, which causes stocks to become too cheap relative to future expectations. Perhaps momentum investing's edge could be characterized as pessimism in the presence of strong short-term fundamentals, which causes stocks to remain too cheap relative to future expectations."

The authors are not trying to make people pick sides with this book, rather they are trying to convince value investors that a quantitative momentum approach would bring great balance to the overall portfolio composition.

The book is packed with “good stuff” but one of my favorite takeaways is the concept of “frog-in-the-pan-momentum” where the path a momentum stock takes makes a big difference going forward. The point is that a stock with lower volatility, but strong uptrend, can continue to have a strong trend while staying under the radar of most value investors. On the opposite side, a volatile stock which spends every other day on the scoreboard of best/worst performers will constantly be in the eye of investors and will therefore have a higher probability of having its trend interrupted by active investors trying to correctly value the asset.

Another key concept for me was that of mean reversion in different time series. That things mean revert in nature is hardly news, but shouldn’t mean reversion work against momentum to cancel out the effect? Well, yes and no. The authors find that stocks mean revert in shorter and longer time periods (under 1 month and over 1 year) but follow the momentum trend in medium-term time periods. Basically, stocks that have gone up the most the last month will tend to mean revert and go down the most in the coming month, and vice versa. On the other hand, stocks that have performed the best over the last 12 months will typically continue to perform well over the coming month or months. In the authors’ stock-selection-model they solve these contradictory concepts by looking at momentum for the past 12 months, while ignoring the last month, thereby using both the medium-term-momentum while also taking the mean-reversion-effect into account.

For those already praying to the momentum god, this is a great book filled with ideas and proofs to improve their momentum stock selection. For the community of Graham-believers, me included, this book is a definite must-read.

Olle Qvarnström, August 22, 2018

Graham, Benjamin & Meredith, Spencer B. - The Interpretation of Financial Statements

Harper & Brothers Publishers, 1937 (2 ed.) [Equity Investing] Grade 4

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A typical way of valuing a business is with the discounted cash flow (DCF) method. Some value investors don't agree with the use of the method due to the need for forecasting uncertain future corporate prospects. Small changes in input values often result in huge swings in the estimated corporate value. Forecasting is deemed futile by investors such as Warren Buffett, Charlie Munger, Bruce Greenwald and James Montier among others. In today's world of competitive disruption there may be alternatives or complements to the DCF method with less dependency on the future that can be used. By studying the current state and the development of the balance sheet and income statement it's possible to understand the health of the business which, in turn, is essential for the firm’s future prospects.

Benjamin Graham, the father of value investing, needs no further introduction. His co-author Spencer B. Meredith was an instructor in security analysis at the New York Stock Exchange Institute together with Graham. In this book written before Graham's more influential books, Security Analysis and The Intelligent Investor, the authors describe how to understand a business and its health by studying the financial statements.

A quote from The Interpretation of Financial Statements concludes the authors’ view on forecasting: "Of course, the success of an investment depends ultimately upon future developments, and the future may never be forecast with accuracy. But if you have precise information as to a company's present financial position and its past earnings record, you are better equipped to gauge its future possibilities. And this is the essential function and value of security analysis."

The Interpretation of Financial Statements is written for those who want to understand the language of business that consists of the financial statements. In the book, the authors describe the most important constituents of balance sheets and income statements one-by-one. The text is structured in three parts. The first part introduces the reader to balance sheets and income statements. Each chapter covers one piece of a financial statement. The authors explain the item and its significance which is essential to know for the security analyst. They also describe different key ratios that are of practical use in order to distinguish if the business is in a favorable condition or in bad shape. In the second part the authors present different financial ratios while the third part is a description of financial terms and phrases.

This is a book for those who would like to understand concepts such as earnings power and book value, which is of essence in the fundamental analysis of a company. By only considering the qualitative aspects of a business the investor is at risk of missing important details that are necessary in order to set a reasonable intrinsic value range. In order to get further guidance on how to use the knowledge in practice, Graham’s Security Analysis is a great place for further study.

If I were to mention anything negative about the book it would be that the examples drawn are from a different time, meaning that they are typically limited to industrials, railroads and utilities. This is of course no criticism of the authors as the mix of listed companies was truly different in 1937. However, it's important to convert the reasoning and language to a broader set of modern businesses. Even more importantly, the financial statements were arguably more easily structured and read in the first half of the 20th century compared to today's often complex reports. This is also commented upon in the introduction.

I would like to conclude with a timeless statement from the book that summarizes the difficult challenge all investors face: "Common stock selection is a difficult art - naturally, since it offers large rewards for success. It requires a skillful mental balance between the facts of the past and the possibilities of the future."

Niklas Sävås, June 07, 2018

Marshall, Kenneth Jeffrey - Good Stocks Cheap

McGraw Hill, 2017, [Equity Investing] Grade 4

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Value investing might be described as the practice of buying and holding stocks that according to the investor’s best judgment have a suitable probability of having a substantially higher value than current price. The insistence on such a margin of safety is in part a philosophical issue but – similar to the requirement of tilting probabilities in one’s favor – is also a very practical issue of applying a suitable and rational investment process. In Good Stocks Cheap Kenneth Jeffrey Marshall, an investor and academic who teaches value investing and asset management at the Stockholm School of Economics and at University of California, shares his personal value investing process.

Although the author covers the basics of value investing it has to be said from the outset that this is not a book for anyone seeking deeper knowledge of finer nuances on the topic. This is a book on process. And mainly the process of selecting stocks to invest in. As such, important topics worthy of entire books in themselves, such as capital allocation, insider dealings, selling positions, moats etc. are covered in one or a few pages each. The benefit of this book instead lies in how explicit it is in penciling out how to actually perform the craft of value investing. Execution matters greatly in the potential success of investing.

The title is an apt description of the content as value investing in this case refers to the currently popular quality-compounding genre, not investing in low valuation multiple, bombed out, deep value stocks. This is a Joel Greenblatt Magic Formula-type of stock selection but with a quality bent.

The author suggests a sequential process of analytical steps for a stock to pass to qualify as a portfolio holding. Firstly, by looking to a number of angles the investor must be able to say that he truly understands the business of the company. If not, he should move on to another candidate. Secondly, it must qualify as a good business. In this Marshall looks to the historical financial success of the company, the indications of whether this success will continue into the future and of how shareholder friendly the management is. After weeding out bad businesses the next needle(s) to pass is the parallel decision on if this good stock is also cheep judging from the absolute level of a number of valuation multiples and if the investor in the process of analyzing the qualities and inexpensiveness of the stock has been free from biases. If all boxes are ticked it could be warranted to allocate 10% of the portfolio to the stock. It’s quite easy to visualize what a flowchart of the process would look like - and Marshall offers his version. He subsequently presents a short chapter on idea generation that logistically perhaps should have been placed earlier in the book. Further, there is no advice on what to do during the times when no stocks qualify, as all good stocks are expensive. Is cash then the preferred option?

The text is written in an accessible language making it suitable for the novice investor, but is not at all dumbed down due to this. Writers who have taught value investing – such as Ben Graham and Bruce Greenwald – have often had the chance to refine how they explain topics to an audience and this gives great clarity to their texts - so also in this case. The one section that doesn’t come out as well is chapters 6 to 10 that gives a combination of a basic accounting course and further shows which adjustments to the accounting Marshall thinks necessary to render the financial ratios best suited for his process. This section would have benefited from incorporating a case study to be followed throughout the chapters. Instead the reader in appendices and 10-K’s online get to work with the accounting of GAP, but few readers ever read appendices or look up online annual reports in parallel to reading a book. Still, this section is already a quarter of the book – perhaps Marshall didn’t want to burden the text further?

Growth and momentum has ruled this investment cycle. Value investing isn’t chic anymore. Thus, now might be the time to catch the turning tide. This book shows one way forward.

Mats Larsson, May 6, 2018

Miemietz, Marietta / CFA Institute - The Pharmaceutical Industry

CFA Institute, 2013, [Equity Investing] Grade 3

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Together with the CFA Institute Belgian financial analyst and consultant Marietta Miemietz delivers a knowledgeable but quite short first introduction into the art of analyzing pharmaceutical companies. This sub-50 page booklet first explores the industry basics in the introduction and a chapter each on the lengthy drug development and on the protection of intellectual property. Then the investment and business topics take over with chapters covering business models, financial analysis and pharmaceutical company valuation.

Skillful bottom-up investing is hard work. There are several skills and competences needed and knowledge of a number of areas required. There is a vast amount of investment literature but also business literature that can aid an investor in gaining required understanding. One of the required sets of knowledge is the understanding of the industries in which investments are made. Still, there are surprisingly few publications that attempt to give a broad overview over the full set of industries represented by the companies on listed exchanges. There are books covering industries but they often focus on the most spectacular ones and often they also push an opinion like anti-Big Oil books or books that argue for or against Big Tech. From what I know Fisher Investments is the only firm that has published a series of books to help investors to understand the full range of sectors from an analytical point of view. The CFA Institute should be well placed to do the same and this book is one in a series of such introductions. Still, there are so far few books published in the series and it is unclear if there is an ambition to issue a comprehensive set of texts.

Most large companies sustain a collection of current commercial products that at some future point in time will be phased out, plus a pipeline of future product candidates that hopefully will take the place of the existing ones. This portfolio approach is however seldom as obviously important as with pharmaceutical companies. The long lead-times in developing a drug, the unpredictable ebb and flow of blockbuster drug sales, the patent cliffs and looming danger of competition from generica (and more recently biosimilars) make the pharmaceutical industry an unusual place.

Because of this the author’s opinion is that it is critical to build bottom-up models of each drug and drug candidate that a company has. Even though I probably agree that it has to be done by some, I’m not sure if there is much edge in doing it – even corporate insiders usually have a very hard time estimating the future commercial success of prospective drug candidates. Large companies with broad diversified drug portfolios will at times experience relative headwinds compared to their competitors due to low R&D-productivity or others breaking into their markets with novel treatments. Still, these headwinds generally will shift into tailwinds. For the long-term investor it should be a good strategy to buy diversified companies in times of investor pessimism and then wait for the reversal of fortunes. I also think it is a strategy well worth perusing to bet on the better R&D-productivity of the smaller company. Hence, all else alike a portfolio of 15 companies with 1 drug candidate each will probably yield more success than investing in one company with 15 drug candidates.

Miemietz has produced a well-crafted text. Even though the booklet is short the novice investor in the pharmaceutical industry will come away better prepared after reading The Pharmaceutical Industry. For a higher-grade rating a more thorough coverage would have been needed – the writing on intellectual property is for example very summary. The text could also have benefited from including more illustrations, partly for enhanced understanding but also to simply make the text less dense.

Books like these are well needed. If the CFA Institute upped their ambition for the texts just a bit this series would fill a void for many investors.

Mats Larsson, April 8, 2018

Mobius, Mark - Passport to Profits

Warner Books, 1999, [Equity Investing] Grade 3

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For 30 years emerging markets equities have been synonymous with the bald, Yul Brynner-like head of Mark Mobius, the portfolio manager of The Templeton Emerging Markets fund. Over the period Mobius, often called the global nomad for his relentless 250 travelling days a year, managed to return 12.6% per year – an outperformance of about 2 percentage points per year. Mobius, now aged 81, has recently announced his retirement from Templeton – but only to launch his own ESG-funds. Some of the tireless energy remains.

The legendary investor John Templeton hired Mobius in 1987. Apart from being one of the truly iconic value investors Templeton, less well known, has also sometimes been called the godfather of emerging markets investing. This book is written just one third into Mobius’ fund manager career. Still, since the author prior to his fund management vocation, had run several companies, he possesses the oversight and perspective of a much more seasoned emerging markets PM. In Passports to Profits (perhaps a bit clichéd title?) the reader gets to accompany Mobius and his team on their travels to Estonia, Russia, Hong Kong, Thailand Brazil, Nigeria and South Africa. In each part of the world the author meets a string of companies and uses these case studies to discuss the development of the region at hand – this is written only a year or two post the 1990’s Asian crisis - and to teach the reader the investment lessons needed to invest in less mature equity markets.

Mobius clearly has emulated Templeton with regards to his investment style. The focus is on the change in fundamentals on a five-year time frame with a well-defined contrarian stroke as crashes are seen as buying opportunities instead of something negative. Since EM countries often differ substantially when it comes to inflation levels Mobius adjusts for this when looking to valuation multiples. Due to the relative lack of corporate information and the sometimes shaky shape of the corporate governance in many emerging market countries, visiting management is absolutely vital. On top of the managerial sales pitch Mobius tries to overlay a less emotional view of the environment, history and situation of the company.

Mobius hasn’t always been popular in all camps as he’s flamboyant, cocky and self-confident and seldom holds his punches when it comes to advocating the free market economy as a force of positive change or in criticizing the crony capitalism of many corrupt third world leaders that often labeled themselves socialist. In fact, many of Mobius’ best investments have been in recently privatized companies liberated from centrally planned corporate governance that induced a destructive land grab mentality instead of creating values for the customers. Mobius’ record is great overall but it has been volatile, giving his critics ammunition during less successful times.

The author’s elevated self-image isn’t always fully beneficial for this book. Most of the investment lessons are given in the form of sometimes a bit pompous “Mobius Rules”. The ting is, there are 84 rules listed throughout the book and they are of quite different depth and often overlap. If all these rules had been distilled down to perhaps 20 rules they would in my view have been more memorable. There are numerous rules and also case studies throughout the book, sometimes at the expense of more generalized lessons. Reading this text almost 20 years after publication gives a useful reminder of the end-of-history-sentiment at the time. The potential of Russia and Eastern Europe is on par with that of China and the Asian tigers. The liberal democratic market economy was to lift all boats into prosperity. It was at the time obviously hard to forsee how different these regions would develop going forward.

Mobius delivers a well-crafted story of fundamental kick-the-tires fund management well worth reading for those that are into EM stocks.

Mats Larsson, March 10, 2018

Dorsey, Pat - The Little Book that Builds Wealth

Wiley, 2008, [Equity Investing] Grade 4

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Warren Buffett has four main principles for investing in businesses. They need to be within his circle of competence, run by good management, have good long-term prospects and be available at a fair price. The little book that creates wealth gives the investor some well needed filters for how to think about good long-term prospects. In order to achieve high returns over the long term the business needs to have some type of competitive advantage or in Buffet terms, moat. A book that is most often recommended for readers who want to understand the concept of a moat is Michael Porter’s book Competitive Advantage. However, this is a book for corporate managers. Dorsey wanted to write a book for investors and it doesn't disappoint.

Pat Dorsey has had a long career at Morningstar where he was Director of Equity Research and where he was one of the main contributors to the firm’s economic moat ratings. Morningstar follows businesses and rank them in terms of the strength of the moat and an ETF has even been created to track these businesses. For a long-term investor that wants to create wealth without having to continuously find new investment opportunities the business then needs to have some kind of moat. Munger refers to this as "sit on your ass investing" in his usual witty way.

Businesses that are undervalued for the short term may give the investor gains but the challenge is that these gains need to be re-invested, causing the need for continuously making good stock picks. It takes time to find good investments, meaning that it's important to benefit from the opportunities that come up. Having a large analyst team makes it possible to analyze a broad set of companies leading to a higher chance of finding continuously good opportunities. This might be harder for the individual investor.

Dorsey divides moats into four categories: intangibles (brand, patents, licenses), switching costs, network effects and economies of scale. The moat can either be strong, wide moat, or weak, narrow moat. It's rather self-explanatory that a business can't be prosperous over the long term without having some kind of advantage against the competitors. A business may have a patent that shuts out the competition for a set period of time or it may have a brand that enables the business to set a price that is above the cost of production. Some businesses have historically had a high degree of customer retention meaning that the switching costs are high. A typical example of a business with high switching costs are banks. An example of a business with high network effects is Facebook where existing users benefit from having more users on the platform. Interestingly, Dorsey explained during a presentation that it's not always a benefit for a company to have all or many types of moats; a really wide moat in any of the categories may well be better.

The book is focused on the US in terms of the majority of businesses examples that is brought up and especially in terms of how to think about taxation which disturbs the flow a bit for a non-US investor. A topic in the book where value investors often have different opinions is about moat versus management. Dorsey is of the view that moat is more important and uses the quote from Buffett: "When a management with a reputation for brilliance tackles a business with a reputation for bad economics, it is the reputation of the business that remains intact".

I tend to agree with this as there are so many examples of great managers working in tough industries without being able to create sustainable high returns on capital.  However, I would also like to emphasize that an excellent manager may well create a corporate culture that could work as a moat in certain instances and through this achieve extraordinary results in highly competitive industries.

For investors who want to understand the concept of moats this book is a great start. It's short but packed with insights and I have already started to benefit from the book in terms of how I think about barriers to enter an industry. I didn't pick that up the first time I read Porter's Competitive Advantages which is why I have to give a lot of credit to Pat Dorsey for helping me to grasp this important concept better. If the concept of moats isn’t part of your set of mental models yet, then begin with reading this book.

Niklas Sävås, December 30, 2017

Schneider, David - The 80/20 Investor

The Writingale Publishing, 2016, [Equity Investing] Grade 4

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I’m not sure this is the best way for a private person to invest his money but it is one that I feel very sympathetic towards. Fortunately life is so much more than investing. Thus, there is a need of rational investing that occupies very little time and this is where The 80/20 Investor by the entrepreneur and former banker plus asset manager, David Schneider enters the picture. This is a book that takes the private investor seriously. Not because it is a complex book, on the contrary – but because it trusts him to do the right thing, thinking long term.

The author’s 80/20-investment method is as they say simple but not easy. In a nutshell you are advised to get a steady and regular source of cash flow for example from a job or a business venture you enjoy. Then as early as possible in life start the habit of automatically saving 10% of all your income and put the money aside in an easily accessible account. Further, when – but only when – “no-brainer” investment opportunities present themselves, as good assets sell at low prices, a good chunk of the cash should be invested in these. Diversify somewhat. Live your life in peace. Check up on you portfolio with long-between intervals. Only sell if you realize you have made a mistake, if you feel very uncomfortable with a position, if the asset is severely overvalued or if you are forced to do so due to personal emergencies.

The structural advantage of the method is the ability to go against the general market psychology by using a longer time frame. The investor must bide his time, wait for the right moment and let the market come to him - not the reverse. Risk in investments is real loss of money. Mostly these losses come from overpaying for an asset. The main lurking danger is therefore that the investor’s impatience makes him invest his money before there are any no-brainers offered by motivated sellers that need the liquidity the 80/20-investor has available. To avoid being lured into the short-term competitive rat race, discussions around benchmarks, the performance of friends etc. should be avoided like the plague.

To build wealth it is vital to start saving and investing as early as possible to get the force of compound interest on your side. Investment action is only needed very infrequently so the investor should use the time in-between to read up on prospective investments. Schneider suggests to start looking for investments within one’s personal circle of competence, for example in the sector where one works or in an area of special interest. Otherwise other no-brainers could be found during a global market crisis, a country crisis, an industry crisis, an asset class depression and during a single company crisis. Just read the paper and the leads to an idea will probably be on the front page. Don’t time the bottom, simply buy at good prices.

The book is not without its objections. There is a bit too much space in the first half of the text that makes glorious promises of what will come later and that tries to create cliffhangers, instead of just getting to the point immediately. Perhaps the now 195 pages book would have been considered too short otherwise? Given the intended private investor audience I think the next edition should be 150 pages – it would only add to the book’s impact. Also, please make the print and the pictures somewhat prettier.

I’m not sure if the method actually beats simply constantly investing 10% of your income in an index fund ignoring the timing of the investments. Still, the methodology fits well with how I think and with how I would want to say that I invest. I would claim I pass the test when it comes to keeping a long time horizon and letting the market come to me, but I probably should save more while waiting. Instead I have prioritized paying back mortgage loans. It might not be that rational when interest rates are close to zero but for me it’s a matter of gaining independence.

There might be a specific time to sow and a different time to harvest in the financial markets but the time for buying this book is always.

Mats Larsson, December 20, 2017

Bruner, Robert F. & Carr, Sean D. - The Panic of 1907

John Wiley & Sons, 2007, [Equity Investing] Grade 4

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When historic financial crashes are discussed the US Wall Street crisis of 1929 to 1932 often springs to mind. The less well-publicized crisis of 1907 might not have been just as brutal but it was still severe. The stock market declined by 37%, 42 banks and financial institutions went under and in 1908 the US and many other areas around the world saw an “intense” depression. It was a crisis with classic bank runs that had a long lasting effect on the organization of the American financial system. Robert Bruner and Sean Carr of the University of Virginia set out to explore what we can learn from the 1907 events.

In the introduction the authors propose a loosely held framework for how financial crises can be understood and explained. They offer a model with multiple factors that influence the development, instead of succumbing to the one-trick-pony rationalizations of many pundits – “it was the greedy bankers” or “it was the stupid politicians” etc. The major part of the book describes the historical events but in a concluding analytical chapter Bruner and Carr return to their model.

It is obviously a good thing to bring these perhaps too forgotten events into the spotlight. The historical account is despite its sometimes-complex content very readable. The main character of the book is undoubtedly John Pierpont Morgan. Even if the details, companies and persons of this crisis are specific to 1907 the chain of events are easily recognizable from other late day crashes. One thing is however different, the US had no central bank in today’s meaning. J.P. Morgan accompanied by George Baker at the First National Bank and James Stillman at the National City Bank instead shouldered the role as the lender-of-last-resort, in the end - and after many late night sessions - bringing calm to the markets.

The public reactions to the rescue endeavors were however mixed. Some hailed Morgan as a hero. In an increasingly radicalized US where the public opinion often was against Big Finance others accused the “money trust” to have exploited the crisis to their own gain. Morgan had to appear in a number of hostile congressional hearings. In 1913 the Federal Reserve System was formed to take on the role that Morgan and his partners had had previously. Ironically the FED was formed from a blueprint drawn up by much the same investment bankers the bank was set to replace.

So what are the components of the authors’ model of financial crises? They start with the statement that the financial market must be seen as a system where the actors interact with each other by decisions taken on imperfect information. This opens up for contagion where trouble will travel and the chain of events are more often than not non-linear and thus impossible to predict. Some pre-conditions for a bust is a preceding economic boom with increasingly voluminous and loosely controlled credit growth and add to this political decisions within financial and monetary policies that too often affect the market pro-cyclically. An economic shock that manages to reverse the psychological climate then triggers the crisis and greed turns into fear. When collateral values and trust disappear, liquidity quickly does the same. Collectively beneficial calmness is tossed aside as everyone runs for the exit simultaneously.

This book is published pretty much on the top of the 2002 - 2007 bull market. Yet, even if the authors in my opinion identify the components of a crisis correctly the forward looking part that rounds up the concluding section is completely devoid of the factors that only a few months later will create an even worse crisis than the one in 1907. This is no critique but only serves to show how hard it is to foresee financial calamities in advance. For anyone that wants to understand the coming financial crisis – whenever it arrives – it will be beneficial to read this well written account of the events that helped to shape the world we live in today.

Mats Larsson, October 19, 2017