The Only Three Questions That Count

The Only Three Questions That Count: Investing by Knowing What Others Don't
Author(s)	Ken Fisher with Jennifer Chou and Lara Hoffmans
Language	English
Genre(s)	Finance
Publisher	John Wiley & Sons
Publication date	2007
Pages	448
ISBN	ISBN 0-470-07499-X
OCLC Number	76836205
Dewey Decimal	332.6 22
LC Classification	HG4521 .F585 2007

The Only Three Questions that Count: Investing by Knowing What Others Don't is a book on investment advice. It was released in December 2006 and spent three months on The New York Times list of "Hardcover business bestsellers" ^[1]. It was also a Wall Street Journal and a 'BusinessWeek best seller^[2].

Overview

This is the fourth book by Fisher, a longtime columnist for Forbes magazine. In the book, he maintains that because the stock market is a discounter of all widely known information, the only way to make, on average, winning market bets is knowing something most others don’t. The book claims investing should be treated as a science, not a craft, and details a methodology for testing beliefs and uncovering information not widely known or understood. The book’s scientific method consists of asking three questions:

1. What do I believe that’s wrong?
2. What can I fathom that others can’t?
3. What is my brain doing to mislead me?

The first question addresses common investing errors, the second shows how to try and find bettable patterns which others may misinterpret, and the third deals with behavioral finance, pointing out cognitive errors such as overconfidence and confirmation bias.

Other issues covered include high P/E ratios; debt; the federal budget, trade, and current account deficits; the U.S. dollar; high oil prices; emerging markets; gold; and the U.S. economy.

Please note that the Fisher Investments performance numbers published in the Appendix K of the book are for the years ending on June 30th (instead of December 31st).

Book reviews have also appeared in the Financial Times^[3], Forbes Magazine^[4] and Canada's National Post^[5].

References

1. ^ The New York Times list of "Hardcover business bestsellers"
2. ^ BusinessWeek best seller
3. ^ Financial Times book review
4. ^ Forbes Magazine book review
5. ^ National Post book review