Book Bits: 8 January 2022

Financial Cold War: A View of Sino-US Relations from the Financial Markets
James A. Fok
Summary via publisher (Wiley)
Rising tensions between China and the United States have kept the financial markets on edge as a showdown between the world’s two largest economies seems inevitable. But what most people fail to recognise is the major impact that the financial markets themselves have had on the creation and acceleration of the conflict. In Financial Cold War: A View of Sino-US Relations from the Financial Markets, market structure and geopolitical finance expert James Fok explores the nuances of China-US relations from the perspective of the financial markets. The book helps readers understand how imbalances in the structure of global financial markets have singularly contributed to frictions between the two countries.

Money Magic: An Economist’s Secrets to More Money, Less Risk, and a Better Life
Laurence Kotlikoff
Review via NextAvenue
Laurence Kotlikoff, the provocative Boston University economics professor and Social Security expert, has written an excellent new book, “Money Magic: An Economist’s Secrets to More Money, Less Risk, and a Better Life.” In it, he offers counterintuitive and surprising personal finance tips regardless of your age.
You’ll want to hear them.
I had to smile at some of what Kotlikoff expounds on because they’re often thought, but rarely verbalized.
Take this nugget: “Marrying for money may sound crass,” he writes. “But it’s one of the oldest financial practices. For most of us, love transcends money. But we humans have the capacity to fall in love with lots of people. And there’s no shame in targeting your swooning on someone who can provide you with a higher living standard. The bottom line: If you’re going shopping for a partner or a spouse, you might as well shop for someone who is earning a lot more than you.”

Psychological Analysis: How to Make Money, Outsmart the Market, and Join the Smart Money Circle
Adam Sarhan
Summary via publisher (Wiley)
Conventional wisdom tells us that people are rational and make rational decisions with their money. But that’s simply not true considering most people fail to beat the market. Conventional wisdom also tells us that there are two primary ways to approach the market: technical and fundamental analysis. Again, that is not true because if it were—everyone would be rich. Think about it, how many times have you seen stocks with poor fundamentals go up, or stocks with great technicals go down? It’s obvious that something is missing. Author Adam Sarhan, Founder and CEO of 50 Park Investments, developed a new approach, titled, Psychological Analysis (PA). Coined by the author, the term teaches you how to make rational, not emotional, decisions with your money and shows you how to analyze both the individual and collective market mindset at a particular time based on the behavior and decision-making of people in the real-world. Psychological Analysis is designed to tip the odds of success in your favor.

The Financial Crisis of 2008: A History of US Financial Markets 2000–2012
Barrie A. Wigmore
Summary via publisher (Cambridge U. Press)
Supported by ten years of research, Wigmore has gathered extensive data covering the 2008 financial crisis and subsequent recovery to provide the first comprehensive history of the period. Financial crises cannot occur unless institutional investors finance the bubbles that created them. Wigmore follows the trail of data putting pressure on institutional investors to achieve higher levels of returns that led to over-leverage throughout the financial system and placed such a burden on recovery. Here is a ‘very good picture – and painful reminder – of the crisis’ evolution across multiple asset classes, structures, participants, and geographies.’

Risk Parity: How to Invest for All Market Environments
Alex Shahidi
Summary via publisher (Wiley)
The market volatility exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic has led many to question their exposure to risk in their own portfolios. But what should one do about it? In Risk Parity: How to Invest for All Market Environments, accomplished investment consultant Alex Shahidi delivers a powerful approach to portfolio management that reduces the potential for significant capital loss while maintaining an attractive expected return. The book focuses on allocating capital amongst four diverse asset classes: equities, commodities, Treasury bonds, and Treasury Inflation Protected Securities.

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