What Wall Street Doesn't Want You to Know
Larry E. Swedroe
Copyright 2001
Read: 5/4/2021
My Rating: 3/5
A fine book but lacking a bit of overarching organization. I don’t get a good clear feeling of A to B to C. Lots of studies, and good information, but I think a reorganization would help it tie together better.
In a direct comparison with "A Random Walk", I'm going to give the nod to "A Random Walk". Which interestingly the exact opposite that I did 18 years ago. The subject matter between these is identical, so if you really just want something shorter, I guess I could recommend this 330 page book vs the 418 of Malkiel. (Though I must say that page number is highly misleading given print size and margins. Think 250 pages vs 500).
Analysis wise about the only differences I could find revolve around the relationship between Large and Small Cap stocks and returns, and the same with Growth vs Value Stocks. Larry Swedroe falls into the camp with DFA that there is a difference if slight, and that the performance gains do exist. Burton Malkiel takes a slightly more hesitant view that they might, but it also may be a statistical mirage that might disappear with longer time frames. This is one case where I wish I had the most recent revisions of both of these books as the last 10 years have really seen the Growth Stock boom and I would like to see if they have changed their thoughts in any way.