The subtitle is Uncover the
Secret Hiding Places of Stock Market Profits and the author is Joel
Greenblatt (1997).
Some years back, Harris Kupperman mentioned this book as one of his
favorites on investing. And it does focus
the reader on special situations in stocks where risk/reward is more favorable –
such as spinoffs, recaps, merger securities, etc. However, given the highly automated and computerized
nature of today’s markets, I question whether these strategies still work in
nearly the same way, since algorithms are looking for exactly these
inefficiencies (and likely do it far faster than any human mind). Maybe when today’s lofty levels come back to
earth, some of the concepts discussed will be more fertile terrain. Or, maybe, I don’t pay attention to the stock
market in the same way that I used to, so I’m not really prepared to put in the
extra work to see for myself. Regardless,
his style is light and entertaining and his discussion of special situations is
instructive.
