The Big Money: Seven Steps to Picking Great Stocks and Finding Financial Security

By Frederick R. Kobrick

Book Overview

It takes only a few high-quality stocks for a stock portfolio to make the big money. Finding winning stocks is a skill that any serious investor can learn, says Fred Kobrick, veteran stock picker and legendary mutual-fund manager. In The Big Money, Kobrick draws on a lifetime of investing experience to show how he identified four qualities that reliably predict which companies will thrive and grow, producing outsize stock returns. Kobrick explains how the four qualities of winning companies-business model, assumptions, strategy, and management (known collectively as BASM)-are a touchstone for successful investors. They are the key to repeatability, the ability to keep producing success. BASM is important for blue-chip and young companies alike. Once investors have identified companies with great potential, Kobrick shows them how to use his Seven Steps to financial success to manage their portfolios. All of these principles are embedded in Kobrick's insightful and often entertaining anecdotes. The Big Money is a book no serious investor can afford to be without. Book jacket.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0743258703
• ISBN13: 9780743258708
• Release Date: April 2006
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster
• Length: 309 Pages
• Weight: 1.15 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 6.4" x 9.5"

Customer Reviews

Crucial to your investment library.

I like this book even better than the classics on growth investing: Peter Lynch's One Up on Wall Street, and Philip Fisher's Common Stocks and Uncommon Profits. The information is timeless but it's nice that it was written in 2006 and the examples are still nice and fresh.

Excellent and Clear

Without realizing it, I've been practicing Mr. Kobrick's BASM principles successfully for years. It's exciting to see how he so clearly articulates his approach without being intimidating to a layperson. I've even begun using his BASM paradigm to explain to my children what "buy low and sell high" really means. This book is a standout!

Refreshing Focus on Fundamentals

A fascinating book that is equally useful to the individual investor and the professinoal. The book's system of focus on fundamentals [BASM and Seven Steps] is refreshing in these days of concensus investing and short term trading. The war stories about important companies are both entertaining and informative. The investment returns available from these well known companies challanges the investor to be both selective and patient. The book does a good job laying-out a way [BASM and Seven Steps] that is instructive to the individual and a great reminder for the professional. I read it twice and recommend that anyone interested in investing does the same. It will help you avoid many of the fads and mistakes being made today.

MyMoneyForest.com Gives The Big Money 5 Stars

I think this is a great book because it offers practical advice that the average investor can understand and use. There is no magic formula, no complex set of strategies, and no attempt at predicting the future. Mr. Kobrick dispenses quality advice in what is normally a sea of crystal ball gazing.

Great lessons to make BIG money!

Don't under estimate the value of a great story and a great storyteller. In Big Money, Fred Kobrick accomplishes both. He draws you in by giving you insight into his stock picking paridigm- BASM, and shares with us how we can take this approach and benefit financially in a BIG, BIG way. He does this via his entertaining stories of the companies he's invested in and their universal lessons. While I consider myself somewhat sophisticated about looking at companies and their performance, Mr. Kobrick enables me to apply business model, assumptions, strategy and management analysis (BASM) to structure my buying, holding and selling stocks. As I couple BASM with the Seven Steps, I have increased my confidence in my stock picking and decision making. I now have the framework to stay focused on the pivotal and most salient points instead of being overwhelmed with data. I will use this book as a reference guide and refresher as the stock market treats us all to its inevitable roller coaster ride. Well done Fred!