The Money Masters

The Federal Reserve has become the most powerful financial organization in the world. The fed determines the interest rates for car loans, mortgage payments, financing of government debt, and the money supply. The fed is a private centralized bank and capitalized from its unique position. The idea of balancing the budget will not solve the American economy because the politicians can not bring debt into control. The primary reason the politicans can not control the debt financing is the Fed is a "debt based" banking system. Instead, major Banking Reform needs to occur and removing the central banking power from the private sector back into the power of the government. The fed has never been audit; the fed manipulates the credit of United States; the fed is a private bank; and the fed is more power than Congress, the courts, and is the single largest creditor of the United States. The battle is over the control of the money commodity, who gets too issue the money. The battle is not a well publicized since WWI and remains hidden from the public mind. In 1913 the government gave the Fed a monoply on the money issuing, its controls on the money supply and the right too charge interest, as a usry. Benjamin Franklin connected the American Revolution to Europes money problems. Jesus drove the money changers from the temple. The money changes had corner the market on the sheckle, held a monopoly, and charged an increase on the coin. Jesus found the money changers practices offensive and drove them out! Julius Casear attacked the practices of the money changers. Casear provided plentiful money to the common person. The increase of money supply too the common person may have been the cause of his assassination. Shortly after Casear died, monetary reform tightened the money, land was taken from the common person, society was impoverished, and the society collapsed. The money changers innovated. The Goldsmiths were the first too recognized "Fractional reserves". Fractional reserves allowed the money changers to grow their money in both easy money and tight money. Fractional reserve increased the money supply by a factor of 10. Today this process is called the business cycle. In opposition was the Catholic Church stated "money is to serve the people" and forbade the charging of interest on loans. However, eventually some charges were allowed for the risk taken by the lenders. The secret of money is an agreement on what amount will be paid for a good or a service. The money stick was such an instrument. The bank of England attacked the money stick with the aid of King Henry. By the end of the 1600s England was in financial ruin. The Bank of England could issue money out of nothing. The Bank of England sold shares to get started. 1694, the Bank of England was charter and began loaning money with only a fractional portion of the money. The Bank of England became of the model for every central bank, in every nation. The central bank is really a h

If you want to read a concise book about the investment styles and philosophies of historic "golden age" investors this book might be the one for you. Any student considering asset management as a career should read this one as well as The New Money Masters, its counterpart that highlights investors post 1975 or so. I would encourage everyone to understand the difference from this book and its latter brother, the NEW MONEY MASTERS. This book is primarily focused on investors that became household names via the companies that are their legacy such as T. Rowe Price, John Templeton and Warren Buffett. Other notable investors are Paul Cabot, Philip Fisher, Benjamin Graham, Stanley Kroll, Larry Tisch, and Robert Wilson. If you want to know how the experts do it, this is a great anthology to get you started. Listen to the best and forget the rest!Both of Train's books are in the form of interviews he has with them. Train's writing is crisp and entertaining, and his interviews uncover many pearls of wisdom applicable to any investor's philosophy. The Money Masters covers the origins of the value and growth philosophies of investing that many managers practice variations of today. The sections on Ben Graham and Sir John Templeton both outline the development of the fundamental approach to valuation as well as its original application in stock markets throughout the world. Phil Fisher and T. Rowe Price represent the two most celebrated proponents of what has come to be known as the growth strategy, adding the additional rigor of another layer of criteria to the value-style approach. Warren Buffett stands as one of the first great synthesizers of the ideas of both Graham and Fisher, while other investors like Larry Tisch represent variations on one particular strand, in Tisch's case that being value-investing. If anyone is interested in books on the people behind the financial industry read Money Masters, New Money Masters, Predators Ball, Money Culture, Den of Theives and F.I.A.S.C.O. 25 Investment Classics and Goldman Sachs: the Culture of Success are other notable books. I gave the book 4 stars because; while it was very concise and well written I didn't find any information within the book that was of great help to me. It was entertaining and informative but not ground breaking or made me say "AH HAH" or have that light bulb go off in my head.

Perhaps the best place to start learning about investing. Read the conclusions first, then read the book, then re-read the conclusions. Peter Lynch said he read this book 3 times. I have read it probably 5 times over the years (Lynch may have caught up by now). I would give this more than 5 stars if I could. After reading the Money Masters, then you may be ready for The Intelligent Investor (Graham), A Random Walk down Wall St (Malkiel), & Where are the Customers Yachts (Schwed). then start investing for real. VERY readable, VERY enjoyable, BEST insights.

The Money Masters by John Train describes the winning strategies of nine excellent investors.  The investors described include:Warren Buffett, Paul Cabot, Philip Fisher, Benjamin Graham, Stanley Kroll, T. Rowe Price, John Templeton, Larry Tisch, and Robert Wilson.  If you want to know how the experts do it, this is a great anthology to get you started. Listen to the best and forget the rest!