Trailblazers, Heroes, and Crooks: Stories to Make You a Smarter Investor - Hardcover

by Stephen R. Foerster (Author)

Develop a sound investment philosophy based on lessons from history

Trailblazers, Heroes, and Crooks: Stories to Make You a Smarter Investor is a highly entertaining and insightful look into key stories from history, teaching lessons about sound principles of investing, and controlling emotions and bias when managing your investment portfolio to help you become a stronger, more intelligent investor. Written by author and finance professor Stephen R. Foerster, this book spans from before the Middle Ages to the 2020s.

Some of the stories in this book include:

• Cristiano Ronaldo taking two bottles of Coke off a table at a press conference, and ostensibly causing Coca-Cola's stock value to plunge $4 billion
• Harry Markopolos trying to develop a strategy similar to Bernie Madoff's, realizing his strategy was bogus, and spending a decade proving his case
• A hostage crisis in twelfth century Venice involving trumped-up charges, conflict, deceit, a plague, and an angry mob, leading to the birth of government bonds
• A salad oil swindle almost destroying American Express, prompting Warren Buffett to make one of the best stock investments ever

For both experienced and novice investors, Trailblazers, Heroes, and Crooks: Stories to Make You a Smarter is a fun, accessible, and informative guide that through history shows, not tells, you how to develop an investment philosophy of guiding principles, and become a better investor.

Front Jacket

As in life, there are heroes and crooks in the investment world. Trailblazers, Heroes, and Crooks: Stories to Make You a Smarter Investor shows, rather than tells, how we can control our emotions and biases to become a smarter investor. We can develop a more sound investment philosophy based on the trials, tribulations, victories, and missteps of the investors who came before us.

Readers will learn about when Cristiano Ronaldo, considered by many to be the greatest soccer player of all time, removed two bottles of Coca-Cola from a table at a press conference, saying, "Agua. No Coca-Cola." Coca-Cola's stock price fell that day by $4 billion, and newspapers ran headlines blaming Ronaldo. But was it causation--or merely correlation--and what does the story tell us about predicting stock prices?

You will learn from the Second Punic War (218-201 BCE), when Roman dictator Quintus Fabius defeated Carthaginian Hannibal Barca, one of the greatest military commanders in history. Foerster reveals how to develop Fabius' concept of masterly inactivity--know when not to act--when it comes to managing our investment portfolios.

With entertaining and highly insightful tales from throughout history, Trailblazers, Heroes, and Crooks: Stories to Make You a Smarter Investor earns a well-deserved spot on the bookshelves of both novice and experienced investors, communicating the importance of overcoming our emotions and biases through storytelling.

Back Jacket

Praise for TRAILBLAZERS, HEROES & CROOKS

"Being a good investor entails doing the right things and avoiding errors. This delightfully written romp through some of the bogus promises and spectacular frauds from Roman times to the present, will help investors steer clear of the common blunders that can ruin any investment plan."
-- Burton G. Malkiel, author of A Random Walk Down Wall Street, 50th Anniversary Edition, 2023

"If you like to have fun and learn great lessons at the same time, this wonderful book is for you. Every beginner should start here. Every veteran will enjoy the accuracy of the great stories well told. All investors will benefit from the important life lessons that Steve Foerster reveals in story after story in this delightful collection."
-- Charles D. Ellis, author of Winning the Loser's Game

"A fun and enjoyable compilation of investment stories, packed with practical insights, for students to the most seasoned investors, to become smarter investors. Trailblazers, Heroes, and Crooks will become a go-to book to gift to family, friends and colleagues, to give them an entertaining read on investment philosophies and lessons learned from heroes to crooks throughout history. Loved it!"
-- Nicole Musicco, Former CIO, CalPERS

"For as long as there have been investments, people have tried to find a special edge, a way to earn superior returns. Stephen Foerster's latest book offers us a riveting collection of cautionary investment tales and insights from the masters, making it a must-read for novice investors and financial professionals alike."
-- Dean Connor, Corporate Director, Retired President and CEO of Sun Life Financial

"Stephen Foerster extracts lessons from exceptional episodes in financial history that ordinary investors and seasoned professionals alike can put to profitable use. The bonus is that Trailblazers, Heroes, and Crooks is immensely entertaining from start to finish."
-- Marty Fridson, Chief Investment Officer at Lehmann, Livian, Fridson Advisors LLC

"With wit and verve Steve Foerster tells teaching stories, fables for today's investors, regaling the reader with heroes to emulate, trailblazers to admire, and above all the crooks to beware--here you will learn their snares. If you are new to investment history there is much to learn, and even if you've studied history before you are sure to find new gems, stories to heed, stories to motivate, stories to scare."
-- Edward F. McQuarrie, Professor Emeritus, Santa Clara University