Debunkery: Learn It, Do It, and Profit from It -- Seeing Through Wall Street's Money-Killing Myths

Legendary money manager Ken Fisher outlines the most common—and costly—mistakes investors make. Small cap stocks are best for all time. Bunk! A trade deficit is bad for markets. Bunk! Stocks can't rise on high unemployment. Bunk! Many investors think they are safest following widely accepted Wall Street wisdom—but much of Wall Street wisdom isn't so wise. In fact, it can be costly bunk. In Debunkery: Learn It, Do It, and Profit From It—Seeing Through Wall Street's Money-Killing Myths, Ken Fisher—named one of the 30 most influential individuals of the last three decades by Investment Advisor magazine—details why so many investors fail to get the long-term results they desire. The short answer is many investors fail to question if what they believe is true—and are therefore blinded by tradition, biases, ideology, or any number of cognitive errors. Your goal as an investor shouldn't be to be error-free—that's impossible. Rather, to be more successful, you should aim to lower your error rate. Debunkery gets you started by debunking 50 common myths—but that's just the beginning. It also gives you the tools you need to continue to do your own debunkery for the rest of your investing career.

Table of Contents:
Acknowledgments ix Introduction: Debunkery Made Easy xiii PART 1 Basic Bunk to Make You Broke 1 Bunk 1 Bonds Are Safer Than Stocks 5 Bunk 2 Well-Rested Investors Are Better Investors 9 Bunk 3 Retirees Must Be Conservative 13 Bunk 4 Age Equals Asset Allocation 17 Bunk 5 You Should Expect Average Returns 20 Bunk 6 “Capital Preservation and Growth” Is Possible! 23 Bunk 7 Trust Your Gut 26 Bunk 8 One Big Bear and You’re Done 30 Bunk 9 Make Sure It’s a Bull before Diving in 34 Bunk 10 Growth Is Best for All Time. No, Value. No, Small Caps 39 Bunk 11 A Good Con Artist Is Hard to Spot 44 PART 2 Wall Street “Wisdom” 49 Bunk 12 Stop-Losses Stop Losses! 51 Bunk 13 Covered Calls . . . Gotcha Covered 54 Bunk 14 Dollar Cost Averaging—Lower Risk, Better Returns 57 Bunk 15 Variable Annuities Are All Upside, No Downside 60 Bunk 16 Equity-Indexed Annuities—Better Than Normal Annuities 65 Bunk 17 Passive Investing Is Easy 68 Bunk 18 Do Better With Mutual Funds by Sending Your Spouse on a Shopping Spree 72 Bunk 19 Beta Measures Risk 75 Bunk 20 Equity Risk Premiums—Forecasting Future Returns With Ease 80 Bunk 21 When the VIX Is High, It’s Time to Buy 84 Bunk 22 Be Confident on Consumer Confidence 88 Bunk 23 All Hail the Mighty Dow! 92 PART 3 “Everyone Knows” 99 Bunk 24 So Goes January 101 Bunk 25 Sell in May 104 Bunk 26 Low P/Es Mean Low Risk 107 Bunk 27 A Strong Dollar Is Super 112 Bunk 28 Don’t Fight the Fed 116 Bunk 29 Interest Pays Dividends 120 Bunk 30 Buy a 5% CD for 5% Cash Flow—Easy! 123 Bunk 31 Baby Boomers Retire, World Ends, Etc. 126 Bunk 32 Concentrate to Build Wealth 130 PART 4 History Lessons 135 Bunk 33 Pray for Budget Surpluses 137 Bunk 34 High Unemployment Is a Killer 143 Bunk 35 With Gold, You’re Golden 148 Bunk 36 Stocks Love Lower Taxes 152 Bunk 37 Oil and Stocks Seesaw 158 Bunk 38 Swine Flu, SARS, Ebola, and Other Viral Disasters Make Markets Sick 163 Bunk 39 Consumers Are King 167 Bunk 40 Presidential Term Cycles Are Stock Market Voodoo 172 Bunk 41 My Political Party Is Best for Stocks 178 Bunk 42 Stock Returns Are Too High and Must Fall 182 PART 5 It’s a Great Big World! 187 Bunk 43 Foreign Stocks Just Feel So . . . Foreign 189 Bunk 44 Who Needs Foreign? 192 Bunk 45 Big Debt Is National Death 195 Bunk 46 America Can’t Handle Its Debt 199 Bunk 47 Indebted to China 202 Bunk 48 Trade Deficits Make Deficient Markets 206 Bunk 49 GDP Makes Stocks Grow 211 Bunk 50 Terrorism Terrorizes Stocks 215 Notes 219 About the Authors 228 Index 229