The Guru Investor

Today's investor is faced with a myriad of investment options and strategies. Whether you are seeking someone to manage your money or are a self-directed investor deciding to tackle the market on your own, the options can be overwhelming.

In an easy-to-read and simple format, this book will dissect the strategies of some of Wall Street's most successful investment gurus and teach readers how to weed through the all of the choices to find a strategy that works for them. The model portfolio system that author John Reese developed turns each strategy into an actionable system, addressing many of the common mistakes that doom individual investors to market underperformance. This book will focus on the principles behind the author's multi-guru approach, showing how investors can combine the proven strategies of these legendary "gurus" into a disciplined investing system that has significantly outperformed the market.

Gurus covered in the book are: Benjamin Graham; John Neff; David Dreman; Warren Buffett; Peter Lynch; Ken Fisher; Martin Zweig; James O'Shaughnessy; Joel Greenblatt; and Joseph Piotroski.

Acknowledgements ix

Introduction xi

Part One Why You Need this Book 1

Chapter 1 Learn from the Worst 3

Chapter 2 The Cavalry Arrives 19

Part Two The Value Legends 31

Chapter 3 Benjamin Graham: The Granddaddy of the Gurus 33

Chapter 4 John Neff: The Investor’s Investor 55

Chapter 5 David Dreman: The Great Contrarian 73

Chapter 6 Warren Buffett: The Greatest Guru 95

Part Three The Growth Legends (With a Value Twist) 127

Chapter 7 Peter Lynch: The Star “GARP” Manager 129

Chapter 8 Kenneth L. Fisher: The Price-Sales Pioneer 155

Chapter 9 Martin Zweig: The Conservative Growth Investor 175

Part Four The Pure Quants 197

Chapter 10 James O’Shaughnessy: The Quintessential Quant 199

Chapter 11 Joel Greenblatt: The Man with the Magic Formula 219

Chapter 12 Joseph Piotroski: The Undiscovered Academic 233

Part Five From Theory to Practice 247

Chapter 13 Putting It Together: The Principles of Guru Investing 249

Chapter 14 The Missing Piece: Determining When to Sell 269

Conclusion Time To Take The Wheel 279

Appendix A Performance of Guru-Based 10- and 20-Stock Model Portfolios 283

Appendix B Guru Yearly Track Record Comparison (Actual or Back-Tested Returns) 287

References 295

About the Authors 303

Index 305

JOHN P. REESE, MBA, is the founder and CEO of Validea.com and Validea Capital Management. He is also portfolio manager for the Omega American and International Consensus mutual funds offered in the Canadian market. He is a regular columnist for Forbes.com, RealMoney.com, and Israel's Globes newspaper. He holds two patents in the area of automated stock analysis and is a graduate of Harvard Business School and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

JACK M. FOREHAND, CFA, is President of Validea.com and cofounder of Validea Capital Management, LLC. Working in conjunction with John Reese, Forehand led the development of Validea's investment models as well as the quantitative testing that led to the creation of Validea Capital Management's consensus portfolios. He graduated from the honors program of the University of Connecticut with a BA in economics and is a CFA charterholder. Over the past six decades, the U.S. stock market has averaged an annual return of about eleven percent per year. Yet, except for a few renowned Wall Street gurus, the vast majority of investors, both amateur and professional, fail to come anywhere close to those eleven percent average annual gains. Why do most investors fail—and what do those very successful investment gurus have in common? The Guru Investor identifies the stock picking methodologies developed by some of history's best and most successful stock market gurus—including Peter Lynch, Warren Buffett, Benjamin Graham, Martin Zweig, John Neff, and others—and shows how you can combine these proven strategies into a disciplined investing system that has been proven to outperform the market.

John Reese breaks down the very different approaches of each of the gurus—encompassing value, growth, and quantitative investing—and lays out their philosophy and achievements, detailing step-by-step the secret formulas they used to beat the market, while explaining why these legendary investors consider certain factors to be so important when analyzing individual stocks.

Reese not only discusses the individual gurus, their strategies, and why they are important, but he also explains how to best use these strategies in the real world, showing how to sift through all of the choices to find a strategy that works for you. The model portfolio system that the author has developed turns each strategy into an actionable system, addressing many of the common mistakes that doom investors to failure. In addition to offering these individual guru-based models, Reese also explains how to combine and implement these approaches into a multi-guru system that will provide you with a comprehensive, practical stock investing strategy with a proven track record. He reveals when you should buy, when you should sell, how many stocks you should own, and much more.

All investors can learn from the thinking, writing, and experience of Wall Street's greatest investors. The Guru Investor, and its free companion Web site—www.guruinvestorbook.com—will teach you the lessons of these greats and give you all the tools needed to put those lessons to work in your investment strategy.

The GURU INVESTOR

Over the past six decades, the U.S. stock market has averaged an annual return of about eleven percent per year. Yet, except for a few renowned Wall Street gurus, the vast majority of investors, both amateur and professional, fail to come anywhere close to those eleven percent average annual gains. Why do most investors fail—and what do those very successful investment gurus have in common? The Guru Investor identifies the??stock picking methodologies developed by some of history's best and most successful stock market gurus—including Peter Lynch, Warren Buffett, Benjamin Graham, Martin Zweig, John Neff, and others—and shows how you can combine these proven strategies into a disciplined investing system that has been proven to outperform the market.

John Reese breaks down the very different approaches of each of the gurus—encompassing value, growth, and quantitative investing—and lays out their philosophy and achievements, detailing step-by-step the secret formulas they used to beat the market, while explaining why these legendary investors consider certain factors to be so important when analyzing individual stocks.

Reese not only discusses the individual gurus, their strategies, and why they are important, but he also explains how to best use these strategies in the real world, showing how to sift through all of the choices to find a strategy that works for you. The model portfolio system that the??author has developed turns each strategy into an actionable system, addressing many of the common mistakes that doom investors to failure. In addition to offering these individual guru-based models, Reese also explains how to combine and implement these approaches into a multi-guru system that will provide you with a comprehensive, practical stock investing strategy with a proven track record. He reveals when you should buy, when you should sell, how many stocks you should own, and much more.

All investors can learn from the thinking, writing, and experience of Wall Street's greatest investors. The Guru Investor, and its free companion Web site—www.guruinvestorbook.com—will teach you the lessons of these greats and give you all the tools needed to put those lessons to work in your investment strategy.