Gerald M. Loeb

History of Financial Advice Collection. Drawn from Loeb’s experience of investing in the tumultuous ’30s, but first published in the early ’50s and then staying in print for the next five decades, The Battle for Investment Survival presents an individualistic and adversarial account of stock market investment. Although Loeb’s book adheres to the general principles of fundamental analysis, in that it demands in-depth research into the companies whose stock is being purchased, it also diverges from many other books published in this period in that it advocates an aggressive strategy of short, rather than medium or long term, stock ownership. It also argues against the strategy of diversification or hedging: for Loeb “when an investment is made, its prospects must be so good that placing a rather large proportion of one’s total funds in such a situation will not seem excessively risky. At the same time, the potential gain must be so large that only a moderate proportion of total capital need be invested.”… (mere)