Nothing has really changed on Wall Street over the years. In fact, much of what happens in the financial world today has been played over in history many times before and has been captured in the cycles and trends of financial charts created over time. Understanding the movements within these charts provides a clear perspective of today's markets and can aid you in your investment decisions tomorrow.
Kenneth L. Fisher, one of America's leading investment managers and financial columnists has assembled 90 of the most revealing and provocative financial charts ever assembled in one volume. Many of the charts are snapshots of modern financial markets that show you how stocks relate to sales, earnings, dividends, cash flows, and assets. Others include turn-of-the-century originals, and new charts of even older events, like the 1720 South Sea Bubble. In each case, Fisher provides what he calls a visualisation in which he analyzes each chart according to its origin, historical significance, and most importantly, its relevance to today's market. For example, you will learn that:
as a long term investment, the S&P 500 has traditionally outperformed bonds, treasury bills, and even real estate.
Foreign stock exchanges often foreshadow movements in the American market, as was vividly illustrated before the great crash of 1929.
Today's much-criticized national debt, when measured as a percentage of GNP, is actually less than it was 20 or even 30 years ago.
The charts serve as a fascinating collection of portraits of financial history. You'll learn the timeless lessons of Wall Street and gain a new perspective of this highly orchestrated dance known as the Wall Street Waltz.
1. Price/Earnings Ratios: Then and Now
Dow Jones Industrials Price/Earnings Ratio, 1915-1986
2. In Case You Didn't Get It The First Time
The Stock Market vs Its P/E Ratio, 1871-1937
3. Earning a Good Return in the Market
The Long Term Tie Between Earnings and Stock Prices, 1926-1971
4. Earnings Yields: Stocks Versus Bonds
Earnings Yield on the S&P 500 vs Yield on High-Grade Corporate Bonds, 1946-1974
5. Price/Dividend Ratios Provide Long-Term Vision
Price/Dividend Ratios, 1920-1985
6. Price-to-Book Ratios: Playing It By The Book
The Market's Price-to-Book ratio, 1921-1986
7. Price/Cash Flow Ratios: A Hidden Twist
S&P 400 High Annual Price/Cash Flow ratio 1945-1986
8. An Advertisement for Super Stocks and Forbes
Sears, Roebuck & Company's Stock Price, 1926-1955
9. Mr and Mrs Financial - Real Split Personalities
Railroad Stocks and Bonds, 1860-1935
10. Never a Timer Be: 56 Years of Stocks and Interest Rates
Short-Term Interest rates vs the Stock Market, 1919-1978
11. Value Line Industrial Composite: All the Stats That Are Fit to Print
ValueLine Industrial Composite, 1970-1986
12. Wealth Indexes for Classes of Securities, and The Winner Is . . .
Wealth Indexes of Investments in the US Capital Markets, 1925-1985
13. Invest Overseas and Diversify
British Stocks vs Dow Jones Industrials, 1958-1977
14. Stock Prices Abroad: Seven More Mirrors
Stock indexes in Seven Countries, 1970-1980
15. The 51st estate
Canadian vs US Stock Prices, 1962-1971
16. Stock prices Versus GNP
Stock Market Indexes and Variations in GNP, 1955-1974
17. The Premium Price of Growth
Price/Earnings Multiples of Emerging Growth Stocks as a Percentage of the S&P 500 P/E, 1960-1986
18. Growth Stock Gyrations
Hambrecht & Quist Growth Index, Hambrecht & Quist Technology Index, Standard & Poor's 400, January 1970 to September 1986
19. 'IPO' means It's Probably Overpriced
Number of Initial Public Offerings, 1969-1985
20. 'Wake Up Folks!'
Stocks vs. Five Investment Alternatives, 1975-1985
21. Takeover tactics in Relation to Assets
Stocks, Inflation and Merger and Acquisitions Activity, 1968-1984
22. The Silent Crash No One Noticed
The Dow Jones Industrial Average as Adjusted for Inflation, 1920-1985
23. Moving with the Moving Average
The 40-week Moving Average of the Dow Jones Industrial Average, 1965-1977
24. All the News That's Fit to Print
Stock Prices vs. News Items, 1949-1977
25. Stock Prices vs. Recessions
Standard & Poor's Index of 500 Common Stocks and Cyclical Declines in the Economy, 1948-1977
26. Nine Major Stock Market Cycles
Long-Term DJIA Showing Bull and Bear Trendlines, 1929-1977
27. Roaring Twenties Revisited?
Comparison of Dow Jones Industrials of the 1920s vs. the 1980s
28. Price/Earnings Ratios Can Be Deceiving
Price/Earnings Ratio, 1928-1929
29. A Clear Warning
Stock Price Indexes, 1928-1929
30. The Big Boys Don't Always Buy Cheap
Mergers Record, 1919-1928
31. Preferred Stocks Shouldn't Be
Comparison of Industrial Common and Preferred Stocks, 1908-1932
32. The 2 Per Cent Rule
Tha Panic of 1907
33. Remember What The Rich man Forgot
The Average Market price of the 20 leading Railroad and 12 Leading Industrial Stocks and of the 5 Standard Bonds, 1896-1912
34. Monthly railroad Prices, 1843-1862
Indexes of rail Road Prices, Monthly, 1843-1862: index (8 Selected Stocks), 1843-1852; index IIc (18 Selected Stocks), 1953-1862; and All-Inclusive index, 1843-1862
35. Financial Fluctuations in the 18th Century? You Can Bank On It!
The Bank of England - Stock prices, 1732-1846
36. Charting the South Seas
The South Sea Bubble, December 1719 to October 1720
37. 190 years of Stock Market Movements
Annual Average Stock Prices, 1790-1980
38. Do You Figure They Earned Their Keep?
Annual rates of Return on Common Stocks, 1925-1976
39. Two Ways to make a Million
Two Examples of the Power of Compound Interest
PART TWO: INTEREST RATES, COMMODITY PRICES, REAL ESTATE, AND INFLATION
40. The Interest-Rate Shuffle
Long-Term vs. Short-Term Interest rates, 1950-1975
41. Long-Term Interest Rates: Four Countries in the World Economy
42. There Seems to Be a Bond Between These Yields
Bond Interest and Common Stock Yields of Four Countries, 1960-1980
43. The Snake
AA Bond rates Compared to the S&P 400 Earnings, 1960-1986
44. Why The Interest in Oil?
Yield on 20-Year Treasuries and Price of Crude Oil, 1973-1986
45. High Interest Rates Have Been A Recurring Nightmare
US Money rates, Prime Commercial Paper, 1841-1980
46. 125 Years of Counsel of the Consols
A Comparison of Yields on Consols and US Railroad Bonds, 1860-1980
47. The Source of England's Stiff Upper Lip
Long-Term Interest Rates, UK, 1731-1970
48. When High is Low and Vice Versa
Historical Record of Real Interest rates, 1790-1980
49. Comparing Domestic and English Wholesale Prices
Wholesale Prices in England vs. the United States, 1782-1930
50. Prices in Southern England
Price Index of Southern England, 1290-1950
52. Inflation - The American Experience
United States Consumer Price Index, 1790-1985
53. Gold: The Litmus Test for Commodity Prices
Prices, in Currency and Gold, of 40 basic Commodities in Different Countries
54. Prices in Three Countries
Retail Prices in Germany, England and the United States, 1860-1910
55. A Lesson in Avoiding Wars
Effect of Wars on US Wholesale Prices
56. No Place to Go But Up?
Commodity Prices, 1982-1986
57. Long-Term Gold Holders Get the Cold Shoulder
200 Years of American Gold Prices, 1781-1981
58. The Long Cycle in Real Estate Activity
Idealized 18 1/3-Year Real Estate Cycle, 1870-1955
59. Rural Real Estate: The True Story
Changes in Average Value of Farm Real Estate per Acre, 1981-1985
60. And It Never Was, Either
Trend in US Farm Real Estate Prices, 1919-1976
61. US Housing Prices
Single Family House Price Index, 1890-1980
PART THREE: ANALYZING BUSINESS CYCLES, GOVERNMENT FINANCE, AND QUACKERY
62. The One-Minute Economic Cheat Sheet
American Business Activity, 1790-1986
63. What Do You See in This Patter?
Conspectus of Business Cycles in Various Countries. 1790-1925
64. Unemployment and the 1 Per Cent Rule
Unemployment Rate for Civilian Workers 1948-1983 (seasonally adjusted)
65. Cars Crash, Too!
New Auto sales, Domestic Type (excluding imports), 1945-1983
66. Housing Starts: An Inverted Look
Housing Starts and real Residential Fixed Investment, 1950-1979
67. Breadlines in Britain
English Unemployment, 1850-1914
68. A Capital Spending Myth
Expenditures for Business Plant and Equipment as a Percentage of the Privately Produced Gross National Product, 1900-1960
69. South Africa Gold: How Important?
Total World Gold Production, 1950-1983
70. Is Labor Really Overpaid?
Changes in the Equivalent of the Wage Rate of a Building Craftsman Expressed in a Composite Unit of Consumables in Southern England, 1264-1954
71. Electricity Use and Economic growth
Kilowatt-Hour Sales of the Electric Industry vs Gross National Product or Expenditure
72. Crude Oil Supply: A Tale of Government Involvement
Domestic and Imported Crude Oil Supply, 1950-1979
73. Texans Weren't The First to Ride - The Learning Curve
Accumulated Knowledge vs Costs, Electric Utility Industry, 1896-1912
74. In the Know, or Heavily Snowed?
Net Public Debt as a Percentage of GNP, 1930-1986
75. Taxes, The Customs of Our Evolution
Sources of Federal Revenue, 18783-1940
76. Government Growth: The Big Picture
Public Finance, 1790-1953
77. State and Local Taxes on a Steady Course
State and Local tax Sources, 1960-1979
78. The States are Revolting
Federal and State-Local Expenditures, 1954-1983
79. You Can't Put a Number On It
The Laffer Curve
80. The Myth of Federal taxes
Taxes and Spending and Their Relation to GNP, 1965-1987
81. Balancing the Budget with Hot Air
Federal Income Taxes, 1909-1987
82. Uncle 'Fat Cat' Sam's Real Estate Scam
Approximate Area of Federal Lands in the United States, 1781-1960
83. Defense Expenditures and the GNP
Defense Budget as a Percentage of GNP, 1945-1986
84. The Economic Cycle Economists Deny
The Kondratieff Wave, 1780-1986
85. Sunspots
Sunspots, 1755-1978
86. Bear Markets vs Bare Knees
The Hemline Indicator, 1897-1986
87. Don't Buy Nuttin' What Eats
Average Thoroughbred Yearling Prices Compared to Dow Jones Industrials Yearly Close, 1970-1980
88. Wall Street Witch Doctors
Exponential Upsweep of Dow Industrials, 1926-1962+
89. Flukes of Nature and Finance
The 9.6 Year Cycle of Acreage of Wheat Harvested, 1860-1970
90. Don't Lose Your Hide in the Market
Cycles of Hide and Leather Prices
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