Peter Lynch - Beating the Street

In a nutshell (336 pages), this is a follow-up to Lynch’s earlier book One Up on Wall Street. The premise of the follow-up, as he explains, is that in the years after his book was published the majority of the public was still overly reliant on bonds for their future. He adjusts his arguments for stocks in part by promoting and discussing how to choose mutual funds.

What I got out of it

The biggest benefit of the book is that this book contains even more of the wisdom found in his first book. Some of the arguments made in the first book are rounded out, others clarified. If someone believes in the money-making power of stocks but not in their ability to pick them, he gives good advice on what to do.

What was difficult

In all fairness Index Funds were not nearly as well known when this was written as today. That said, he gives Index Funds their due respect, which is important. What I didn’t like was the promotion of Mutual Funds. Despite the still massive market share, there are not a lot of solid arguments left for the use of Mutual Funds and their massive management fees.

Recommendation

Read Lynch’s first book One Up on Wall Street before you read this book. If you love it, then follow up with this book. If you don’t love it, give it a pass because the mutual fund advice is extremely expensive to follow and this book is otherwise an extension of the first.