Book Review Of What Works On Wall Street

What Works On Wall Street; A Guide To The Best-Performing Investment Strategies Of All Time by James P. O’Shaughnessy

What Works on Wall Street is an in-depth book discussing how to successfully invest in the stock market whether by choosing individual stocks or by investing in mutual funds.  It is written by a professional investor and portfolio manager who has performed studies of 52 years of stock market history and has developed solid investment strategies based on his research.

It is highly informative and contains many historical charts indicating stock market performance and much more.  If you have always wanted to learn more about investing in the stock market, then this book is for you.  It will take you some time to get through it as it is almost 400 pages long, but even if you skim through it, you will be sure to benefit from it.

O’Shaughnessy’s message is clear and concise and he provides his advice based on historical data, effectively removing the emotions from investing. He recognizes that humans generally invest poorly because their decisions are spurred on by their emotions.  He offers a solution for removing emotions from your investing decisions by suggesting that you invest according to time-tested strategies and stick within those strategies through thick and thin.

Although it’s a tad dry, it’s worth reading if you want to expand your knowledge.  Just as reading about investing can be boring, investing itself, if done properly, should also be boring because sophisticated investors don’t let their emotions get in the way of making their investment decisions.  The first step to becoming a sophisticated investor is to get reading.  Enjoy!