Details

<p>Preface vii</p> <p>Chapter 1 Did Ronaldo Move the Stock Market? 1</p> <p>Chapter 2 Masterly Inactivity: the Art of Not Acting 13</p> <p>Chapter 3 Opportunity Cost: Why Pay Bonilla Not to Play Baseball 23</p> <p>Chapter 4 Madoff’s Ponzi Scheme: Trust, but Verify Before Investing 35</p> <p>Chapter 5 How Investor Fomo Cost Newton a Fortune 53</p> <p>Chapter 6 Hetty Green, the Queen of Value Investing 67</p> <p>Chapter 7 Greed and Fear: Buffett and the Great Salad Oil Swindle 91</p> <p>Chapter 8 The Blank-check Company Scam 109</p> <p>Chapter 9 A Tennis Book and the Index Revolution 123</p> <p>Chapter 10 Why Swiss Bankers Bet on Young Lives 137</p> <p>Chapter 11 Bre-x: All That Glitters Isn’t Gold 153</p> <p>Chapter 12 Autopilots Gone Wrong 173</p> <p>Chapter 13 A Hostage Crisis and the Birth of Government Bonds 187</p> <p>Chapter 14 A Revolutionary Innovation to Fight Inflation 203</p> <p>Chapter 15 A Market Crash, Recovery, and Conspiracy Theories 219</p> <p>Acknowledgments 235</p> <p>About the Author 239</p> <p>Index 241</p>

<p><B>STEPHEN R. FOERSTER</B> is an author and finance professor at the Ivey Business School at Western University in London, Ontario, Canada. He has a PhD from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania and a Chartered Financial Analyst designation. His previous books include <i>Financial Management: A Primer; Financial Management: Concepts and Applications; </i>and <i>In Pursuit of the Perfect Portfolio: The Stories, Voices, and Key Insights of the Pioneers who Shaped the Way We Invest </i>(with Andrew W. Lo), which won the Axiom Personal Finance category silver medal. His next project: writing the authorized biography of William Sharpe, 1990 recipient of the Nobel Prize in Economics.

<p>Praise for <B>TRAILBLAZERS, HEROES & CROOKS</B> <p>“Being a good investor entails doing the right things and avoiding errors. This delightfully written romp through some of the bogus promises and spectacular frauds from Roman times to the present, will help investors steer clear of the common blunders that can ruin any investment plan.”<BR> <b>— Burton G. Malkiel,</b> author of <i>A Random Walk Down Wall Street, 50th Anniversary Edition, 2023</i> <p>“If you like to have fun and learn great lessons at the same time, this wonderful book is for you. Every beginner should start here. Every veteran will enjoy the accuracy of the great stories well told. All investors will benefit from the important life lessons that Steve Foerster reveals in story after story in this delightful collection.”<BR> <b>— Charles D. Ellis,</b> author of <i>Winning the Loser’s Game</i> <p>“A fun and enjoyable compilation of investment stories, packed with practical insights, for students to the most seasoned investors, to become smarter investors. <i>Trailblazers, Heroes, and Crooks </i>will become a go-to book to gift to family, friends and colleagues, to give them an entertaining read on investment philosophies and lessons learned from heroes to crooks throughout history. Loved it!”<BR> <b>— Nicole Musicco,</b> Former CIO, CalPERS <p>“For as long as there have been investments, people have tried to find a special edge, a way to earn superior returns. Stephen Foerster’s latest book offers us a riveting collection of cautionary investment tales and insights from the masters, making it a must-read for novice investors and financial professionals alike.”<BR> <b>— Dean Connor,</b> Corporate Director, Retired President and CEO of Sun Life Financial <p>“Stephen Foerster extracts lessons from exceptional episodes in financial history that ordinary investors and seasoned professionals alike can put to profitable use. The bonus is that <i>Trailblazers, Heroes, and Crooks </i>is immensely entertaining from start to finish.”<BR> <b>— Marty Fridson,</b> Chief Investment Officer at Lehmann, Livian, Fridson Advisors LLC <p>“With wit and verve Steve Foerster tells teaching stories, fables for today’s investors, regaling the reader with heroes to emulate, trailblazers to admire, and above all the crooks to beware—here you will learn their snares. If you are new to investment history there is much to learn, and even if you’ve studied history before you are sure to find new gems, stories to heed, stories to motivate, stories to scare.”<BR> <b>— Edward F. McQuarrie,</b> Professor Emeritus, Santa Clara University

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