Rocking Wall Street

I want to announce a new book and a new book imprint. In conjunction with my publisher, John Wiley and Sons (one of the larger independent publishers), we are announcing a new book imprint or "series." Our intention is to feature several new authors each year that in our opinion have something interesting and useful to say in the investment and business world but normally do not get the chance as first-time authors. The books will be published under the Millennium Wave imprint.

I am proud that the first book is by my good friend Gary Marks. Gary is a very successful hedge fund manager and investor as well as a first-rate businessman, but just as importantly a very involved family man. He is CEO of an asset management firm with offices in New York, Tampa, and Hawaii, where he lives. However, he started out in life as a rock and roll artist, having done 10 recordings of original music over the years. Appropriately enough, his book is called Rocking Wall Street and discusses in detail four main strategies for managing your portfolio and your life. What are they?

* The Emotional Controls: how to hedge your emotions as well as your investments.

* Knowing the Difference Between Market Stats and Market Hype: there are market statistics, and then there are statistics that are neatly packaged to market you.

* Hedged Portfolio Construction: how and why to make hedging techniques the rule, not the exception, in your investment portfolio.

* Planning for the Future and Seeking "The End Game": seeing your portfolio of assets, your career, and your personal life as one inseparable "investment."

This is a valuable book for seasoned investors as well as those just starting out. Gary talks about investing from a practical, holistic viewpoint.

When he asks you to consider your portfolio of assets, your career, and your personal life as one inseparable investment, how do we get to the Holy Grail? By getting to a million or ten million or a billion dollars? Or by increasing our time spent playing music, or walking on the beach, or playing with our children, or just becoming a better person? The "End Game" is a place where we can live off of a safe income stream and no longer be forced to "play" the game. We want to get to the point where the game is not playing us. He has a step-by-step approach to get you there.

He echoes several of my main themes in Rocking Wall Street: traditional investing is far more dangerous and less profitable for the average investor than many brokerage firms are willing to admit. Losing money is so mathematically toxic that it must be avoided at all costs and at every turn.

This is a practical book, where he discusses actual portfolio construction and how to hedge risks and devise methods to balance a portfolio to achieve the results you want.

And it also meets one of my most important criteria for a book: it is well-written and enjoyable to read. I am proud that it is the first in the new Millennium Wave imprint.