The Art of Investing: Lessons from History's Greatest Traders

By: John M. Longo, The Great Courses

Narrated by: John M. Longo

Length: 12 hrs

Publisher's Summary

Great investors like Warren Buffett and Ray Dalio will tell you they're no geniuses; they're simply observant, open-minded, and industrious. Using these key traits, the world's most outstanding traders have employed a remarkable mix of strategies to build huge fortunes. Their careers are a how-to manual for anyone who wants to succeed at investing, no matter what the size of their stake. The lives of rich and famous investors are gripping tales of opportunities seized and squandered; of billions won and lost, and won again. And these life stories are also an eye-opening education in the workings of financial markets.

The Art of Investing: Lessons from History's Greatest Traders profiles over 30 men and women at the pinnacle of the investing field, including Warren Buffett, Ray Dalio, John Bogle, Peter Lynch, George Soros, T. Rowe Price, Jr., Linda Bradford Raschke, David Dreman, Michael Burry, and others involved in such ventures as value stocks, growth stocks, mutual funds, index funds, hedge funds, commodity futures, private equity, sovereign wealth, distressed assets, and more. Each lecture covers one of these approaches, together with traders who have made it pay handsomely - along with insights on how they did it.

An award-winning teacher and the portfolio manager for a $2.5-billion investment firm, Professor John Longo of Rutgers Business School tells these intriguing life stories with an insider's grasp of the financial details. Included in these 24 half-hour lectures are tips on the most common mistakes made by investors, scores of pithy sayings that synthesize the hard-won wisdom of veteran traders, and, in the final lecture, an investment checklist that lets you narrow down your own best approach to building personal wealth.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your Library section along with the audio.

©2016 The Great Courses (P)2016 The Teaching Company, LLC

Should be titled:. Bios of hedge fund managers

mildly entertaining; not much substance. title is misleading, mostly a history of hedge fund managers

Excellent for anyone interested in investing.

Where does The Art of Investing: Lessons from History's Greatest Traders rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Probably in my top 3. I actually listened to all the chapters and really enjoyed the teaching from Professor John, M Longo.

What other book might you compare The Art of Investing: Lessons from History's Greatest Traders to and why?

I've only just begun learning about finance markets and investing and so there are not a lot of other books I've listened to, this was my third. The only comparable book for me that I will comment on is "The little book that beats the market" by Joel Greenblatt since Professor John, M Longo actually mentioned him at the end and that was humorous since I had just finished reading that book!

What does Professor John M. Longo bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

The experience was very similar to being in a classroom (obviously so for The Great Courses), yet one in which the teacher kept your attention the whole time. Clearly Professor Longo is very interested in the material and demonstrated a desire to represent each new investor in a unique and unbiased manner. I appreciated his teaching style which I felt allowed me to retain a great deal from each lecture as he carefully explained what was necessary for each topic/investor.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

No extremes, but listening was usually quite riveting since every new investor discussed presented a story in which I had no idea how the story would end and in which I new there would be key take-away's that would allow me to practically apply lessons learned as well as idea's I agreed with.

Any additional comments?

Lastly, the detailed PDF was one of, if not the best, outline I have used on audible for following along during the lectures or for reviewing after the lecture. The main points were organized and clearly laid out in a logical flow that helped me understand the key ideas at each point in the lecture. Fantastic job overall Professor,

Good overview, little detail

This is a history lesson on investors and their different techniques. Most of these are not options for the regular Joe: hedge funds, etc. He throws numbers and percebtages around that are hard to compare: what does 600% over 20 years mean?

So, I know this is not financial advice, but other than lokking at the P/E ratios, there are absolutely no details on how to do anything. Better use your time with another resource.

A good overview of numerous investors

This was a good overview of a number of investors and the tip of the iceberg of their strategies. When I say tip I really mean, eye drop. It reminds me a lot of the book market wizards by jack schwaggar which might actually be a better feel for the investor where this is a better contextual reference for the commonality between investors and the strategies they employ. Reading/Listening to both this lecture series and market Wizards helped give one a picture of what type of investor suites his personality. And there are numerous references to external resources that explain techniques and fundamental. Listen, you'll enjoy.

Great Information Condensed

Any additional comments?

I like how this book gets to the meat of all the traders, their philosophies, history, etc. A lot of good investing advice to glean from the book. And, it's interesting! Some of these "Great Courses" bore me, and I find dry. This kept my interest the whole time.

Mostly Incoherent

This is the most incoherent set of lectures I've ever listened to. They're given almost as if they are stand-alone pieces rather than parts of a whole course. The repetitive definitions of terms in every single chapter was overkill. We get it. We know what selling short means. We had it after the first three times.

There are a ton of really awkward stops in the narration that very much distract from the presentation. This was poor recording technique and even worse editing. Frequently, he comes to a complete stop one or two sentences before a paragraph ends. Then finishes when he returns from his coffee break, I guess.

The subject matter is presented in such a way that this is more of a mediocre course than a great one. Many of the right names are discussed, but the explanation of their strategies is completely lacking or incoherent. And, as mentioned, these shortcomings are made worse by the awkward pauses.

Experienced investors should probably skip this course as it is more aggravating than enlightening. Amateur investors should definitely skip it to avoid confusion.

The best audio lecture I've listened to

Professor Longo provides a perfect balance of teaching investing skills (helpful to new investors) and biographical details on history's greatest investors that anyone familiar with investing would find informative. Have recommended this audio book to friends, family and finance work colleagues alike!

The chapter about female investors felt forced and sexist

Why the need for a specific chapter on female investors? Where is the chapter on Native American investors or African American investors? What was done I’m sure as a nod to PC played out as bizarre and condescending. You’re either a good investor to merit inclusion or you’re not, regardless of sex, race, ethnicity etc

Know what you're getting into

This is all good information, but it is pretty difficult to listen to this type of materials. It's somewhat dry subject matter and tough to follow when everything is verbal. I'll listen to it when I'm running and can hardly remember anything from it because it really is like hearing a college lecture, but with no visual feedback that you'd get from reading or writing notes in a classroom.

Insightful speaker

It talks about every type of investor that traded in the last century. Lots of great ideas to learn.

Good but let down by Audible

The lectures are good. But Audible let's it down by not having a Lecture or Chapter titles and the app needs to be updated so one can download PDFs in the app.

Excellent course

What a great source of information. Very well presented. Highly recommended for all types of investor

Excellent overview

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The chapters are thorough but concise enough not to bore.

Rather hard to follow, full of great ideas though.

Interesting bit, but would require a lot of googling to find out more about the covered stories - it is rather quick, brief guide through many biographies and general look on a trading logic from various successful investors perspectives
- I got an impression that one could earn more reading wiki.