Markets Never Forget but People Do: How Your Memory is Costing You Money - and Why This Time Isn't Different

Publisher Marketing: Why do so many investors make the same mistakes repeatedly being too bullish or too bearish at just the wrong times? Because they forget. Forgetting pain is an instinct humans have evolved that way to better cope with the problems of survival. But for the complex and often counterintuitive world of investing, it causes serious errors. This time it s different are the four most expensive words in the English language (according to investing legend Sir John Templeton). Yet many investors routinely fall into the trap of thinking now (whenever now is) is different somehow. In Markets Never Forget (But People Do): How Your Memory Is Costing You Money and Why This Time Isn t Different, four-time New York Times bestselling author Ken Fisher shows readers how their memories play (often costly) tricks on them and how they can combat their faulty memories with just a bit of history. This isn t to say history repeats itself perfectly. It doesn t but a recession is a recession. Some are vastly worse than others but investors have lived through them before. Credit crises aren t new, nor are bear markets or bull markets. Geopolitical tension is as old as mankind, as is war and even terrorist attacks. Understanding how investors have reacted to similar past events can help guide investors in shaping better forward-looking expectations. The past never predicts the future, but it can reduce guesswork about what s ahead. In this book, Fisher takes aim at some major market memory mishaps like the idea stocks have become inherently more volatile or that wildly above- or below-average returns are abnormal. He shows how, early in every recovery, investors don t believe in it often at a huge cost. And he shows how, in investing, ideology is deadly. Most important, he teaches how you can use history as one powerful tool to help begin reducing your error rate and help begin getting better investing results." Contributor Bio:  Fisher, Ken Ken Fisher is best known for his prestigious "Portfolio Strategy" column in Forbes Magazine, the fourth longest-running columnist in Forbes' ninety-year history. He is also founder, Chairman, and CEO of Fisher Investments, an independent global money management firm with over $45 billion in assets. He is the award-winning author of numerous scholarly articles and has published four previous major finance books, including 2006's New York Times bestseller The Only Three Questions That Count. He has a weekly column in Handelsblatt, Germany's leading finance daily. Contributor Bio:  Foster, Mel Mel Foster has narrated over 150 audiobooks and has won several awards. Twice an Audie finalist for "1864: Lincoln at the Gates of History" by Charles Bracelen Flood and "Finding God in Unexpected Places" by Philip Yancey, he won for the latter title.