OVER the years, people from around the world have turned to Morningstar for strong, independent, and reliable advice. The Five Rules for Successful Stock Investing provides the kind of savvy financial guidance only a company like Morningstar could offer. Based on the philosophy that "investing should be fun, but not a game," this comprehensive guide will put even the most cautious investors back on the right track by helping them pick the right stocks, find great companies, and understand the driving forces behind different industries-without paying too much for their investments. 

Written by Morningstar's Director of Stock Analysis, Pat Dorsey, The Five Rules for Successful Stock Investing includes unparalleled stock research and investment strategies covering a wide range of stock-related topics. Investors will profit from such tips as: How to dig into a financial statement and find hidden gold . . . and deception How to find great companies that will create shareholder wealth How to analyze every corner of the market, from banks to health care Informative and highly accessible, The Five Rules for Successful Stock Investing should be required reading for anyone looking for the right investment opportunities in today's ever-changing market.

Benj Gallander has among the highest returns, both short- and long-term, in North America. Co-editor of Contra the Heard Investment Letter, columnist for The Globe and Mail, writer for Bloomberg and Canadian MoneySaver, Gallander's approach has the investment world buzzing.

His approach to investing is decidedly contrarian. He does not believe in buying and holding until perpetuity. He thinks that stop losses are idiotic, like playing cards with your hand open. He redefines conventional norms of the risk-reward relationship. He rarely buys a stock that does not have a chance of a minimum 100 per cent return. He remains unconcerned with the daily pulse of trading. This ability to dance against the herd has led to a ten-year annualized return of 25.4 per cent with a staggering 64.8 per cent in the meltdown of 2001.

The Contrarian Investor's 13 focuses on the basics of his controversial methodology and philosophy, and the rules around which Benj has structured his investment approach. His goal is simple: to show people how to improve their financial returns by themselves, reducing their dependence on brokers and advisors.

David Dreman's name is synonymous with the term "contrarian investing," and his contrarian strategies have been proven winners year after year. His techniques have spawned countless imitators, most of whom pay lip service to the buzzword "contrarian," but few can match his performance. His Kemper-Dreman High Return Fund has been the leader since its inception in 1988 -- the number one equity-income fund among all 208 ranked by Lipper Analytical Services, Inc. Dreman is also one of a handful of money managers whose clients have beaten the runaway market over the past five, ten, and fifteen years. Contrarian Investment Strategies: The Next Generation shows investors how to outperform professional money managers and profit from potential Wall Street panics -- all in Dreman's trademark style, which The New York Times calls "witty and clear as a silver bell." At the heart of his book is a fundamental psychological insight: investors overreact. Dreman demonstrates how investors consistently overvalue the so-called "best" stocks and undervalue the so-called "worst" stocks.

How to succeed and profit by NOT following conventional trends, that is the secret to Contrarian investing: buy assets that are out of favor. Here, Anthony Gallea a Contrarian with impressive credentials and William Patalon a savvy business writer -- explain this strategy for everyone in the market: novices and professionals alike. Gallea and Patalon show how the Contrarian approach can be systematized. They identify the key indicators backed by solid research that tell an investor when to buy and sell stocks. The authors have created a set of guidelines or trading rules that any investor can learn and put to immediate use.

The classic bestseller by Benjamin Graham, perhaps the greatest investment advisor of the 20th century, The Intelligent Investor has taught and inspired hundreds of thousands of people worldwide. Since its original publication in 1949, Benjamin Graham's book has remained the most respected guide to investing, due to his timeless philosophy of "value investing," which helps protect investors against the areas of possible substantial error and teaches them to develop long-term strategies with which they will be comfortable down the road.

Over the years, market developments have borne out the wisdom of Benjamin Graham's basic policies. Here he takes account of both the defensive and the enterprising investor, outlining the principles of stock selection for each, and stressing the advantages of a simple portfolio policy. Among the book's special features are the use of numerous comparisons of pairs of common stocks to bring out their elements of strength and weakness and the construction of investment portfolios designed to meet specific requirements of quality and price attractiveness.

This classic book secured Benjamin Graham's status as a Wall street immortal. the carefully honed methods for finding undervalued stocks and bonds he described here have never been equaled, and have already outlived their author by more than 20 years. Even as Security Analysis has gone through five editions and nearly a million copes, you can learn time-tested investment secrets and strategies by going back to the source - THE ORIGINAL - and paying close attention to its wisdom. Written just five years after the crash, Security Analysis's message today is just as vivid, just as lucid, and just as vital as it was in 1934.

Filled with in-depth insight and expert advice, The Vital Few vs. The Trivial Many will open your eyes to a new way of looking at the investment world, especially the stock market. You'll discover how to look past media hype to discern what the Vital Few or corporate insiders—those who know their companies best—are doing. By explaining which information is accurate and valuable, as opposed to that which is misleading and financially hazardous, investment professional George Muzea will show you how to successfully and intelligently evaluate the stock market and find valuable gems that have yet to be discovered by the masses.

George Muzea has nearly forty years of experience as an investment professional. He is founder and President of Muzea Insider Consulting Services LLC, which advises well-known money management firms and whose impressive client list includes famed speculator George Soros's right-hand man, Stanley Druckenmiller, and other former Soros Fund Management partners. Muzea is frequently quoted in both print and broadcast media and is a popular speaker at investment forums nationwide. Visit George Muzea at: www.vitalfew.info.

Other winning stocks that average investors could have picked well before Wall Street became aware of them include LaQuinta motels, the Limited clothing store chain and Agency Rent-A-Car, note the authors. He advises readers to look for spectacular growth among companies that sound dull; do something disagreeable (like funeral homes) are spinoffs; are buying back their own stock. He cautions readers to avoid companies touted as the next IBM or Xerox; that are diversifying ("diworseifying"); that depend on a single customer. The book is also a primer on how the stock market works and is written in a light, entertaining style. Contrarians will be able to put the shrewd insights presented to good use!

Widely respected and admired, Philip Fisher is among the most influential investors of all time. His investment philosophies, introduced almost forty years ago, are not only studied and applied by today's finance professionals, but are also regarded by many as gospel. He recorded these philosophies in Common Stocks and Uncommon Profits, a book considered invaluable reading when it was first published in 1958, and a must-read today.

Acclaim for Common Stocks and Uncommon Profits

"I sought out Phil Fisher after reading his Common Stocks and Uncommon Profits...When I met him, I was impressed by the man as by his ideas. A thorough understanding of the business, obtained by using Phil's techniques...enables one to make intelligent investment commitments."-Warren Buffett