The Art of Investing: Lessons from History's Greatest Traders

Welcome to a boot camp on investing! Discover the influences that led Professor Longo to a career in finance. Then meet some of the major figures you will study. Survey the key principles and strategies that built their fortunes.

Many of the most successful investors of the 20th and early 21st centuries were hugely influenced by the work of Ben Graham, the pioneer of value investing. Study the underpinnings of his proven philosophy, including the contrasting strategies of the enterprising investor and the defensive investor.

Explore the celebrated career of Warren Buffett, one of the world's richest people thanks to his disciplined approach to buying and selling companies. Learn how Buffett modified the strategy of his mentor, Ben Graham, by searching out high-quality companies with a competitive advantage, or "moat."

Turn to the fathers of growth investing, Philip Fisher and T. Rowe Price, Jr.. Discover how to tell growth stocks from value stocks. Then learn to spot signs that a stock is worth holding over the very long term, which is the goal of this influential school of portfolio analysis.

Study what two Nobel Prize-winning economists have to say about risk. Harry Markowitz put risk on an equal footing with return. Delve into his Modern Portfolio Theory and its implications for investors. Also investigate the insights of William Sharpe's Capital Asset Pricing Model.

See the index fund phenomenon from the inside through the career of John Bogle, founder of the Vanguard Group. Consider evidence for and against the Efficient Market Hypothesis, on which index investing is based. Also look into pitfalls to avoid when buying index funds.