The Nature of Risk: Stock Market Survival and the Meaning of Life

It's been four years since I first reviewed this book (see the next to the last, below), and I still consider it to be absolutely essential for anyone considering any sort of involvement in the financial markets. In fact, it's probably essential for anyone who is considering anything at all that entails more than minimum risk.The amateurs miss the point. This is not about the best stochastic settings or how to massage the bid and the ask. This is about facing up to the very real risks inherent in the financial markets, including the very real risk of financial ruin. Amateurs don't see the risk; therefore, they don't bother to grapple with it. Instead, they would rather blow up and disappear. If one wants to last, he must come to terms with the nature of risk, his own tolerance for risk, an understanding of how to manage risk. Without that, he's doomed.

Let me say rightaway that this is a profoundly brilliant book .Since the paleolithic age down to our personal computer era RISK has been the big bugaboo of all investors & speculators__ the dirtiest four letter word there ever was!Justin Mamis helps you view risk from an entirely different perspective : risk viewed as a CHOICE rather than a HAZARD.Risk can never be completely eliminated. However it can be analysed,understood and tamed to one's advantage.Mr.Mamis tells you how to go about dealing with risk in life as well as the market with wit and verve .Also included are very useful and practical insights on decoding the technical signals that emanate from that hysteric,schizophrenic beast : the market !Like all great books this one gives you new insights upon rereading ;a very competent exegesis of the art of technical analysis .

Mr. Mamis steps beyond facts and figures used to analyze the stock market. He examines the psychology and consequences of waiting, learning, and gathering information about potential investment and life choices.An informed decision would seem to be a sound one. It may very well be, yet in the context of the market, as information risk diminishes (more knowledge is gained about a particular investment), the price risk will increase (assuming positive news results in a rising stock price). Once an investment is deemed to be solid and secure, the existing information will already be reflected in the price of the equity and the potential for appreciation becomes much more limited (price risk increases). The art of balancing information risk and price risk is a central theme of the book, which is discussed, in intricate detail. Also discussed are methods of determining when price risk is likely to be at an absolute minimum -- all news surrounding a company is bad, and no matter how much more bad news comes out the price does not decline further. An interesting "head and shoulders" method of timing the market is presented as well.Whether it's embarking on a new career, investing for a quick hit, or retirement, taking a new job, signing an agreement or contract, making a new purchase, or getting married, all of life's decisions involve the same basic tradeoff between information risk and anticipated benefits (price risk). The author discusses not only the stock market and investing, but presents mental models from various situations, which most anyone has experienced, and can relate to in some form.If you are interested in learning about the psychology of the market, or simply exploring and seeking to better understand your own decision making process better, buy this book. It is truly a book about risk, and not one of the over-hyped books blathering on about the stock market

The Nature of Risk is a seminal work for anyone who understands that self-knowledge is key for success in the financial markets, particularly at market extremes. Rather than babble about risk in general, Mamis takes this engine apart and examines its parts, among which are information risk and price risk. He explains that as one's tolerance for information risk increases (the need to know why the stock is doing whatever it's doing), one's price risk diminishes (one is better able to jump in and take advantage of whatever opportunities for picking up cheaper shares present themselves). On the other hand, if one has no tolerance for information risk and must know everything about a stock's movement, his price risk will be that much greater because the price will likely, by then, have risen to an over-extended level. Therefore, having identified these components of risk (time risk is another), one must then balance them out in order to approach the markets rationally and unemotionally.An extremely important work, particularly for the investor who is plagued by doubt, confusion, and anxiety.

I read the first edition of Nature Of Risk many years ago while in college developing a thesis about markets, the media, and mass behavior. This book helped me to sharpen my thinking on those topics, but it also was a sheer delight to read and reflect upon. It gently guides readers to consider their own risk-acceptance (and denial) behaviors in the face of everyday events and circumstances (one of which just happens to be the financial markets). Nature Of Risk is *not* a book that will help you to "win in the markets." But it is a pleasure to read. There are very few writers - especially financial writers - of Mamis' caliber, precision, and throughfulness.