MASTERING THE MARKET CYCLE Paperback – 23 January 2020

worth reading. Every book is based on one theme. That theme contains learning and knowledge. If you can save that in your mind and implement it in your future investment. That is more than ok. Means to say if you read 50 good books then you gain 50 good themes/learning. This learning will make lots of improvement.

Howard Marks has explained the anatomy of market cycles in great detail. This is a sequel to his celebrated book, The Most Important Thing. In this book the author has explained how market cycles develop, which factors contribute to this process, how human psychology plays major role in development of cycles and how an investor can benefit from knowing where we stand in a market cycle. The market cycle include the economic cycle, the credit cycle, the debt cycle and the real estate cycle. The most important thing is to know where we stand in the market cycle. No one can predict how long the cycle will last and what will happen next week, month or year. But knowing where we stand in the cycle can help us position our portfolios to gain from our assessment. The various cycles are explained in great detail based on over five decades of experience of the author in Equity and Debt Markets. The excerpts from Howard Marks's memos to investors are quoted frequently to explain the events. The greatest investor of our time, Warren Buffet has gone on record that he eagerly awaits Howard Marks's memos to investors. The Global Financial Crisis of 2008 is explained very well. All investors, long term or short term, will benefit immensely from reading this excellent book.

Mr. Howard Marks is a successful investor and has a written a great book on how to read markets. This is esepcially topical at the time of writing where the Markets have been falling in the midst of Carona Virus scare and the fiscal stimulus, while it has arrested the decline, but has still not buoyed up the markets. Essentially, Mr. Marks is making the following points:1. Investment success is dependent upon reading and timing cycles, besides luck and choosing assets and securities whose prices are lower than the value and are well positioned to take advantage of the cycle.2. Decisions taken in a particular cycle lay the groundwork for the next cycle3. Upward circle is likely when a combination of factor comes together -- optimism/ pessimism, risk version vs risk taking, easy credit vs tough credit, hope to get value in the future vs look for value today, giving credence to positive vs negative news, pressure to buy vs pressure to sell, etc.4. Markets are rarely balanced, they are either in a cycle of optimism or in a cycle of pessimism5. Markets can also be read by both how they are priced and what is the investor psychology6. Real Estate should generate a higher rate of return than equities on account of limited liquidity.His message is simple -- "Superior investing doesn’t come from buying high-quality assets, but from buying when the deal is good, the price is low, potential return is substantial and risk is limited."As he explains"Fundamentals, which I’ve been calling “events,” can largely be reduced to earnings, cash flow, and the outlook for the two. They are affected by many things, including trends in the economy, profitability and the availability of capital.......And psychology — how investors feel about fundamentals and value them — is likewise affected by many things, particularly investors’ level of optimism and attitude toward risk."It is a well written book and he uses both the mortgage crisis and as well as the tech bubble to make his points. All in all a great reading and I highly recommend the book.

Howard Marks shows he is a master of the game in this fantastic book. He writes with great clarity of thoughts and deep understanding of the psychology of humans that underlie market cycles. A must read

Superb

Book printing is good, quality is good,but 10 pages missing in the middle. disappointed.

Howard Marks is a smart investor who looks the world the way it is. He understands the importance of human sentiment in the workings of capital markets and explains very honestly how an investor can attempt to use these cycles in their favor. He explains concepts as a matter of fact and not that these concepts are absolute.Overall, the book is not very technical but a great conceptual read.I would recommend this for self directed investors.

Masterclass from Howard marks 👍👍👍