The financial crisis that began in 2008 has made Americans keenly aware of the enormous impact Wall Street has on the economic well-being of the nation and its citizenry. How did financial markets and institutions-commonly perceived as marginal and elitist at the beginning of the twentieth century-come to be seen as the bedrock of American capitalism? How did stock investment-once considered disreputable and dangerous-first become a mass practice? Julia Ott tells the story of how, between the rise of giant industrial corporations and the Crash of 1929, the federal government, corporations, and financial institutions campaigned to universalize investment, with the goal of providing individual investors with a stake in the economy and the nation. As these distributors of stocks and bonds established a broad, national market for financial securities, they debated the distribution of economic power, the proper role of government, and the meaning of citizenship under modern capitalism. By 1929, the incidence of stock ownership had risen to engulf one quarter of American households in the looming financial disaster. Accordingly, the federal government assumed responsibility for protecting citizen-investors by regulating the financial securities markets. By recovering the forgotten history of this initial phase of mass investment and the issues surrounding it, Ott enriches and enlightens contemporary debates over economic reform.

Updated with a new chapter that draws on behavioral finance, the field that studies the psychology of investment decisions, the bestselling guide to investing evaluates the full range of financial opportunities.

An informative guide to successful investing, offering a vast array of advice on how investors can tilt the odds in their favour.

Traces the history of money and discusses stocks, bonds, mutual funds, futures, and options.

"A major contribution . . . on the behavior of common stocks in the United States." --Financial Analysts' Journal The consistently bestselling What Works on Wall Street explores the investment strategies that have provided the best returns over the past 50 years--and which are the top performers today. The third edition of this BusinessWeek and New York Times bestseller contains more than 50 percent new material and is designed to help you reshape your investment strategies for both the postbubble market and the dramatically changed political landscape. Packed with all-new charts, data, tables, and analyses, this updated classic allows you to directly compare popular stockpicking strategies and their results--creating a more comprehensive understanding of the intricate and often confusing investment process. Providing fresh insights into time-tested strategies, it examines: Value versus growth strategies P/E ratios versus price-to-sales Small-cap investing, seasonality, and more

Longtime friend and advisor to ordinary investors Burton G. Malkiel, together with a carefully selected team of coauthors, now gives them an investment strategy for accessing the world's fastest-growing economy. Drawing from the author team's on-the-ground experience in China, From Wall Street to the Great Wall details how average investors can tap into the opportunities China affords. Inside, readers will find: A compact tour of five hundred years of Chinese history and culture that offers readers a footing in this unique investing environment, with special emphasis on the Mao years and the rise of the reformist government of Deng Xiaoping, A hype-free, in-depth investigation of the Chinese stock market, estimating its efficiency and highlighting the best bets among Chinese firms and industries, Substantial coverage of the multinational corporations in the United States and elsewhere that stand to benefit from China's explosive growth, Overviews of the markets for commodities, real estate, and art and collectibles, as Malkiel leaves no investment possibility unexamined, Four fully realized and detailed investment strategies for China, drawn from Malkiel's broad experience and proven investment track record. Book jacket.