A Random Walk Down Wall Street: our review

A Random Walk Down Wall Street is a must-have for anyone wanting to work in the stock market.

In a time of market volatility and economic uncertainty, when high-frequency traders and hedge fund managers seem to tower over the average investor, the Burton G. Malkiel’s classic and gimmick-free investment guide A Random Walk Down Wall Street: The Time-Tested Strategy for Successful Investing, is now more necessary than ever. Rather than tricks, what you’ll find here is a time-tested and thoroughly research-based strategy for your portfolio.

Whether you’re considering your first 401(k) contribution or contemplating retirement, this fully updated edition of A Random Walk Down Wall Street: The Time-Tested Strategy for Successful Investing should be the first book on your reading list.

In A Random Walk Down Wall Street, you’ll learn the basic terminology of “The Street” and how to navigate it with the help of a user-friendly, long-range investment strategy that really works. Drawing on his own varied experience as an economist, financial adviser, and successful investor, Malkiel shows why, despite recent advice to the contrary from so-called experts in the wake of the financial crisis, an individual who buys over time and holds a low-cost, internationally diversified index of securities is still likely to exceed the performance of portfolios carefully picked by professionals using sophisticated analytical techniques.

In this new edition, Malkiel has provided valuable new material throughout the book on exchange-traded funds and investment opportunities in emerging markets, and in a brand-new, timely chapter, Malkiel authoritatively assesses the pitfalls and prospects of the latest investing trend, “smart beta.” On top of all this, A Random Walk Down Wall Street is a classic life-cycle guide to investing, which tailors strategies to investors of any age, will help you plan confidently for the future.

You’ll learn how to analyse the potential returns, not only for basic stocks and bonds but for the full range of investment opportunities from money-market accounts and real estate investment trusts to insurance, home ownership, and tangible assets like gold and collectables. Individual investors of every level of experience and risk tolerance will find throughout the book the critical facts and step-by-step guidance they need to protect and grow their hard-earned dollars. With the prevailing wisdom changing on an almost daily basis, Malkiel’s reassuring and vastly informative volume remains the best investment guide

“Do you want to do well in the stock market? Here’s the best advice. Scrape together a few bucks and buy A Random Walk Down Wall Street. Then take what’s left and put it in an index fund.”

“Imagine getting a week-long lesson on investing from someone with the common sense of Benjamin Franklin, the academic and institutional knowledge of Milton Friedman and the practical experience of Warren Buffett. That’s about what awaits you in the latest edition of A Random Walk Down Wall Street.”

“Not more than half a dozen really good books about investing have been written in the past fifty years. A Random Walk Down Wall Street may well belong in the classics category.”

“If one of your New Year’s resolutions is to improve your personal finances, here’s a suggestion: Instead of picking up one of the scores of new works flooding into bookstores, reread an old one: A Random Walk Down Wall Street.”

“An engagingly written and wonderfully argued tome.”

“A useful introduction to investing with lots of common-sense advice.”