The Wall Street Waltz: 90 Visual Perspectives, Illustrated Lessons From Financial Cycles and Trends, Revised and Updated Edition

A Reintroduction to the Waltz

I originally wrote this book, my second, fully 20 years ago. I was a mere 15 years into my money management career and writing a regular column for Forbes a paltry three years. My firm managed about $200 million in assets out of my basement. Times have changed! Today, I oversee a firm of over 1,000 employees, managing over $40 billion (and growing) for clients in all 50 states and around the globe. (Oddly, I still live over the office. It's just a vastly bigger office.) I'm now the fourth-longest running columnist in Forbes' history. My fourth book, The Only Three Questions that Count, was a New York Times best seller. And I hit number 271 on the 2007 Forbes 400 list. I don't think I could have fathomed any of that when the idea to make a little picture book about some big market phenomena struck me two decades ago.

Much more changed. Technological innovation exploded exponentially. Vast, comprehensive data are available fast and free. Anyone with an email address and a bank account can now join the investor class. Fees are cheaper! Information more transparent! Transactions faster! Analytical computational power cheap and easy to use! So much has changed, and yet much about the Waltz remains the same, which is why I'm pleased to reissue this book.

You'll notice, though 20 years old, I changed very little. Why? Because, I have great love and respect for market history. As they say, those who don't study history are doomed to repeat it. The same is ...