Beating the Dow with Bonds : A High-Return, Low-Risk Strategy for Outperforming the Pros Even When Stocks Go South
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| Beating the Dow with Bonds : A High-Return, Low-Risk Strategy for Outperforming the Pros Even When Stocks Go South | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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In 1991, Michael B. O'Higgins, one of the nation's top money managers, revolutionized the investment industry by asserting that investors could beat the pros 95 percent of the time by putting 100 percent of their money into the "dog" stocks of the Dow. His book, Beating the Dow, became a bestselling investment classic and spawned an industry of websites and mutual funds, elevating the theory to legendary status. Now, with equities dangerously overvalued and stock prices at an all-time high, O'Higgins turns his attention to bonds, providing a proven system for achieving the lowest risk, highest returns in a chaotic stock market--requiring less than five minutes per year and helping you beat the pros 95 percent of the time, regardless of market conditions. Utilizing a simple, proven method for mastering the market by determining the best investment choices, Beating the Dow with Bonds evaluates companies and bond ratings, to help you achieve the highest risk-adjusted returns. For investors with as little as $5,000, Beating the Dow with Bonds provides a safer, more reliable opportunity to beat the Dow not just in today's market--but in any market. |
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Michael O'Higgins is worried. The ideas advanced in his 1989 classic, Beating the Dow, have been adopted by mutual-funds and market gurus alike as a proven formula for getting consistently high returns with a minimum of risk. In that book, O'Higgins introduced a system that become known as the Dogs of the Dow, which prescribed investing in out-of-favor Dow stocks--an approach that has produced annual returns that have handily beaten most all market averages.
These days, however, O'Higgins is less concerned about beating the market than surviving it. In Beating the Dow with Bonds, O'Higgins considers the wild valuations of today's stock market and sees the specter of a sharp and steep decline. To face this inevitable selloff, O'Higgins offers a survival strategy that involves annually allocating assets among stocks (Dow Dogs), T-bills, and T-bonds. While most members of the baby-boom generation know how stocks work, they'd be hard-pressed to explain the arcane world of bonds. O'Higgins explains them admirably. Had you followed O'Higgins's new system for the last 30 years, which saw six bear markets, your portfolio would have enjoyed an average annual return of 23.77 percent versus 18.03 percent with his Dow Dogs portfolio and 11.77 percent with the DJIA. O'Higgins is no Chicken Little--rather, he's a market contrarian with a proven and profitable track record. If you think the stock market will go up forever, then look elsewhere for advice. But if you believe in gravity, then get this book and read it soon. Highly recommended. --Harry C. Edwards |
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| Reader Reviews 1 - 14 of 14 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| 09-11-06 | 4 | (NA) |
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It was worth buying and reading. You should be able to achieve your goals and target your objectives properly with this book.
(Review Data Last Updated: 2006-09-12 05:11:20 EST)
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| 08-01-06 | 5 | 1\1 |
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Zero coupon bonds are the bonds spoken of in the book's title. Zero coupon bonds do well in falling interest rate and stable, low interest rate investing environments as we had 90% of the time from 1982 to 2004. Now is NOT the time to use this book's advice, wait until interest rates fall again (2010??).
but it is true, by not owning any stocks O'Higgins outperformed the greatest -and longest- bull market in history. (Review Data Last Updated: 2008-08-27 03:31:35 EST)
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| 07-31-06 | 5 | 1\1 |
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Zero coupon bonds are the bonds spoken of in the book's title. Zero coupon bonds do well in falling interest rate and stable, low interest rate investing environments as we had 90% of the time from 1982 to 2004. Now is NOT the time to use this book's advice, wait until interest rates fall again (2010??).
but it is true, by not owning any stocks O'Higgins outperformed the greatest -and longest- bull market in history. (Review Data Last Updated: 2007-04-11 00:10:46 EST)
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| 09-09-04 | 1 | 1\4 |
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Having read many books on various financial subjects, this one is on my list as one of the top 10 wastes of time. In fact I am only writting this to hopefully save you time! Warning! When the reviews are from annonymous 'a reader' be suspicious!
(Review Data Last Updated: 2007-07-10 15:51:00 EST)
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| 09-08-04 | 1 | 1\2 |
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Having read many books on various financial subjects, this one is on my list as one of the top 10 wastes of time. In fact I am only writting this to hopefully save you time! Warning! When the reviews are from annonymous 'a reader' be suspicious!
(Review Data Last Updated: 2006-07-12 06:30:44 EST)
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| 08-14-03 | 2 | 1\2 |
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I agree with much of what has already been said as far as the amount of filler and the editorial glitches. And can anyone figure out the last chart -- table 11.1? These numbers make no sense and don't even correspond with the info on table 9.1. I began the book with some excitement but ended up feeling very uncertain about the method.
(Review Data Last Updated: 2007-07-10 15:51:00 EST)
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| 10-18-01 | 5 | 6\7 |
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This is one of the few stock market books from the 1990s that will be read and appreciated many years from now. While silly stuff like "Dow 36,000" & Harry Dent quickly withers away, O'Higgins advice gains credibility every day in this apparently multi-year bear market. Several web sites (beartopia dot com & others) mention this book. Perhaps the book's title should have substituted "zero coupon bonds" for the word "bonds." Do look up the authors corrected list of investment steps here at Amazon, however, do not let the slightly sloppy editing deter you from learning this powerful investment advice. The more knowledgable one is of the market, the more one appreciates O'Higgins and his two works. This book's advice works in bull and bear markets.
(Review Data Last Updated: 2006-07-06 07:44:43 EST)
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| 07-26-01 | 2 | 1\5 |
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The book was not very well written, and why he felt the need to devote 70 pages describing in copious detail all 30 of the Dow stocks is beyond me. However, his 30 year zero-coupon analysis does have something going for it, and the inflation rate is a good predictor for a change in asset allocation.
(Review Data Last Updated: 2006-07-06 07:44:43 EST)
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| 07-24-01 | 1 | 4\6 |
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I bought this book because I wanted to learn more about investment products OTHER than common stocks. Instead, (in the book on tape), I got 5-10 minutes about the different types of bonds, a little detail about T-bills, and the frank admission that this book "doesn't really discuss corporate bonds". WHAT!? The whole rest of it is spent preparing you to run for cover for the upcoming crash of 2000 - for that, I must say he was prescient (Too bad I didn't read this in 1999!). More time is spent describing the basics of common stocks, and how the major industrial averages are calculated than is spent on bonds! Oh - and that WRONG formula for computing the price/sales ratio erroniously also made it onto the cassette version. I actually had to rewind the tape to see if I had heard correctly!
(Review Data Last Updated: 2007-07-10 15:51:00 EST)
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| 04-24-01 | 1 | 2\3 |
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The method of BTDWB is good, but the book is VERY POOR!!! There is serious mistake in the method described. Donııt forget to go to Corrections to "17 Simple Steps to Super Returns" for a further reading. (You can find it in Amazon website----Editorial Reviews) But the correction is still containing mistake. Please note the Gold Price of the example in Corrections to "17 Simple Steps to Super Returns"!!
(Review Data Last Updated: 2006-07-06 07:44:43 EST)
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| 03-05-01 | 4 | 5\5 |
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Although there are some holes, they do not ruin the basic info provided. I think that in trying to keep it simple, O'higgins might have made it too simple. In the end he shows that this is a strategy that doesnt take alot of complicated research to use and that is the true beauty. It is especially relevant in todays stock market.
(Review Data Last Updated: 2006-07-06 07:44:43 EST)
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| 05-22-00 | 4 | 2\3 |
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Many people here didn't like the editing, and rated the book badly as a result. Personally, I bought the book for the content, which was by and large very good, and a very enjoyable and eye-opening read. I'm glad I followed his advice too - today 22nd May my original stock portfolio dived well below what I paid for it, despite the "Dog Dow" strategy. I think it's got a long way to go, too.
Personally speaking, I think that if you're even only slightly interested in the subject, give it a read (whether or not you agree with my opinion about the stock market!), it takes the uninitiated through the TWO most important/fundamental instruments in the financial markets (i.e., there's more to life than equities). The quote on the back says "a wake-up call for the equity obsessed". Couldn't agree more! (Review Data Last Updated: 2006-07-06 07:44:43 EST)
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| 03-30-00 | 2 | 2\3 |
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I gave the author 2 stars because I agree with him on one basic premise - equities are generally overvalued. However, I found the rest of the book to be entirely lacking.
First, it severely lacks content. The book is short to begin with - and what few pages it has are spent poorly. Almost 1/3 of the book is dedicated to descriptions of the 30 DOW companies. His investment strategy is simple. In fact, it's too simple. His conclusions are based upon very little research - nothing more than historic data that just happens to work out. He has some valid points (i.e. zero coupon bonds as investments), but spent very little effort crafting it. The knowledge encapsulated within the 200+ pages of this book could be condensed to a single web page with little effort. (Review Data Last Updated: 2006-07-06 07:44:43 EST)
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| 03-29-00 | 3 | 3\3 |
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I really can't defend this book, other than to say, "It told me what I wanted to know." Higgins' original Beating The Dow was my first introduction to the wonderful world of investment literature some ten years ago, so my purchase of this latest one was not an impartial decision. What's ironic about the existence of BTD With Bonds is that at the end of the original book, Higgins plainly showed that mixing his original Beating The Dow theory with other investments only weakened it. So why did I buy this book? I wanted a very clear, easy to understand book about investing in bonds. And that is what I got. While I probably won't be following the investment advice in this book, I did find it a pleasant alternative to Bonds for Dummies, or some similar title.
(Review Data Last Updated: 2006-07-06 07:44:43 EST)
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