风风雨雨看投资TREND WATCHING

CNBCanchorInsana(TheMessageoftheMarkets)haschronicledpastinvestmentfadsandbubblestoprovidelessonstoprospectiveandcurrentinvestors.Heassertsthatit's"notenoughtostudy,observeandcommentonfinancialfolly."Investmentfadswillcontinuetohappen,andbyusinghistoricalinformationinvestorsmayrecognizethesignsofanimpendingbubble.Theauthordevotesmostofthechapterstodescribingthefadsandbubblesthathaveoccurredovertheyears,suchastheDutchtulipmaniaofthe1630s,thefeverishinterestinplankroadcompaniesinthe1840sand1850s,thesurgeinclosedcountryfundsinthelate1980s,andthebullmarketofthe1990s.Thechapters"Trendwatching"and"Endwatching"offeradviceonhowtoidentifyamaniawhileitishappeninganddescribetheeffectsontheinvestorandthestockmarketwhenabubblebursts.Thelastchaptercontainsquestionsandanswersforanalyzingthepossibilityofafuture"hardasset"bubble.Whilewellwrittenandofferingvalidsuggestions,thisworkisbetterasanhistoricalreadthanforitspredictivevalue.Recommendedforpublicandcorporatelibraries.StaceyMarien,AmericanUniv.,WashingtonDCCopyright2002ReedBusinessInformation,Inc.