It Was a Very Good Year: Extraordinary Moments in Stock Market History (Wiley Investment) Book

Who knows when lightning will strike? It did in 1908, and then again in 1915, 1927, and a handful of other years when the stock market soared beyond everyone's expectations, producing returns on investment that exceeded 35 and even 50 percent. Why do such spectacular periods occur? What, if anything, do they have in common? And most importantly: Can we predict when they will occur again?

In It Was a Very Good Year, leading investment authority Martin S. Fridson probes the reasons behind the stock market's spectacular performance during each of the twentieth century's ten best years. It's a fast-paced, eye-opening investigation of the past that teaches some surprising lessons for spotting golden opportunities in the future.

A member of Institutional Investor's All-America Research Team, Fridson draws on firsthand observations to discover what was actually happening during these Very Good Years. In his quest for clues, the author scoured back issues of the Wall Street Journal, Barron's, Fortune, and Forbes, as well as obscure periodicals such as Munsey's Magazine and the Magazine of Wall Street. We are rewarded by being privy to the contemporary reactions of investors, economists, bankers, politicians, and other prominent people on the scene.

It Was a Very Good Year is rich in historical anecdotes and colorful personalities. Beyond the strategies of investment legends such as J. P. Morgan and Bernard Baruch, we are treated to the investment thinking of such diverse figures as Ty Cobb, Walter Winchell, and Charlie Chaplin, among others. With a novelist's eye for detail, Fridson captures the essence of each distinct period, skillfully tracking the mounting excitement of each boom year as the pieces fall into place to create a great bull market. Wars, depressions, interest rate fluctuations, rising markets in gold, oil, real estate, and bonds are all seen in their respective roles. At the same time, Fridson highlights cyclical events and recurring themes that may provide keys to identifying exceptional investment opportunities in the future.

In a powerful epilogue, "What Causes the Very Good Years?," the author surveys the high points of the past century and distills the lessons that offer the brightest hope for getting the jump on the next great windfall.

Illuminating, timely, and remarkably astute, It Was a Very Good Year is financial history at its most fascinating and entertaining.

Acclaimed author and financial authority Martin S. Fridson leads an exhilarating tour of the twentieth century's peak golden years.

"This is a very timely, informative, and highly readable book. Because we are in the midst of a great bull market, It Was a Very Good Year offers wonderful insights into the years that provided spectacular gains in the past. There are important lessons in this book for all investors." —Henry Kaufman, President Henry Kaufman & Company, Inc.

"Martin Fridson has written a useful and extremely entertaining book. It's loaded with fascinating stock market lore and helpful investment approaches. I learned a lot and thoroughly enjoyed myself along the way." —Byron R. Wien Managing Director, Investment Strategist for U.S. Equities Morgan Stanley Dean Witter.

"Financial history with a purpose — it is a Very Good Book." —James Grant Editor, Grant's Interest Rate Observer

"With this book, Marty Fridson joins the ranks of the must-read economic and financial historians. He is that rare combination of scholar, wit, raconteur, and man with an eye on the bottom line. Read it for amusement, education, or profit. You can't lose." —Ben Stein Writer, law professor at Pepperdine University, host of Win Ben Stein's Money.