Investing In One Lesson: A Welcome Addition to Any Library

I recently had the pleasure of reading the new book, Investing In One Lesson, written by my friend and colleague Dr. Mark Skousen. Mark is one of the smartest guys in the room in whatever room he enters, and his intellectual acumen and understanding of financial markets is second to none.

Now given Mark’s tremendous and near encyclopedic knowledge of economics, investing and the markets, I was a bit surprised to see that his new book was aimed at the novice investor. I guess surprised isn’t the right word. Rather, I was a bit suspicious at first that he would be able to relate to the average investor, especially considering his sophisticated understanding of market intricacies.

But from the very first page, Mark proved to me that he can truly relate to the fledging market player. In fact, Mark’s characteristic humor and wit actually invites the reader into the world of investing with interesting anecdotal tales of lost wealth and common mistakes that befall many novice investors.

The "one lesson" Mark builds this compact-yet-powerful tome around is that "Wall Street is not Main Street." What this means, Mark wrote, is that the business of investing is not the same as investing in a business. Once you understand this vital precept and its corollaries, you will be able to conquer what Mark describes as, "The beast called Wall Street."

To help novice investors in their task of taming the beast, Mark lifts back the veil of perplexity and confusion that surrounds the workings of the stock market, and he explains such contradictory concepts as why good news for the economy is often bad news for the stock market.

Mark also explains why stock prices can suddenly skyrocket or collapse regardless of the underlying fundamentals in the economy or in a particular company. In one of the most interesting chapters of the book, Mark explains how Wall Street is like a giant casino, and more importantly, how it differs from a casino.

If you are just getting started as an investor, I strongly urge you to buy this book. If you are a seasoned investor, I also strongly recommend this book. I guarantee you’ll learn something you didn’t know before. Hey, I’ve been around this game for more than three decades, and even I picked up a few choice bits of knowledge.

Thank you, Mark, for writing this most-excellent book.

To order Investing In One Lesson, just click here.