The Agile Investor: Profiting from the End of Buy and Hold

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Summary: A must read for any one interested in todays wild economy.
Review: About two years ago I read Agile Investor, by Stephen Leeb and Roger Conrad. The book makes a strong - and indeed at the time I thought compelling - case for inflation or at least the end of a world in which growth and no inflation exist together. The last two years seemed to have proved the book wrong as inflation remained very low. However, the events of the past several months have made Leeb and Conrad seem like prophets. As I understand the key forecast in the book was that we would reach a point where policy makers would have to choose between inflation and deflation and inflation would win out. The consequences of inflation are spelled out in exquisite detail as are the much more unfortunate consequences of deflation. This book is must reading for anyone with any interest at all in today's financial markets.

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Summary: Great advice for the current economic situation
Review: Leeb and Conrad were a couple years ahead of their time with respect to their predictions of massive economic change. As a reader of Dr. Leeb's newsletters, I have followed his advice for quite some time, and I believe the time is nigh for their astute analysis of world economic trends. Investors small and large should have this book on their reading list. Today's policy-makers are facing the choices that are described in the book -- between rapid economic growth with accompanying inflation, or the other, less likely, but devastating worldwide deflation and depression. Either way, the long bull market is over, and the book shows investors the way to profit from either eventuality.

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Summary: Uncannily accurate post-bull market investment advice.
Review: When I first read The Agile Investor over a year ago, I found its forecast of a long-term acceleration in inflation to be well-reasoned. But it seemed implausible in the context of the "goldilocks" economy and rip-roaring stock market of that time. About a month ago, I picked up the book again and found to my surprise it had largely forecasted the deflationary catastrophe that's now threatening the world. Suddenly, its basic contention that the world must choose now between higher inflation and a devastating new Great Depression is being debated in the highest levels of government, with inflation being by far the likely winner. I strongly recommend this book to anyone who wants a greater understanding of where the world economy is heading, which I believe is critical for building a profitable long-term investment strategy.