Getting back to business : why modern portfolio theory fails investors and how you can bring common sense to your portfolio

**Modern Portfolio Theory has failed investors. A change in direction is long overdue.**We are in a time of enormous risk. Economic growth is anemic, and political risk to the capital markets is on the rise. In the U.S., a generation of white collar baby-boomers is heading into retirement with insufficient assets in their 401(k) programs, and industrial workers are stuck with materially underfunded pension plans.Against that backdrop, the investing industry's current set of practices and assumptions--Modern Portfolio Theory (MPT)--is based on a half-century old formula that is supposed to deliver the maximum amount of return for a given amount of risk. The trouble is that it doesn't work very well.In__Getting Back to Business__, dividend-investing guru Daniel Peris proposes a radical new approach--radical in that it does away with MPT in favor of a more intuitive, common-sense approach practiced by business people in their own affairs everyday: cash returns on cash investments."In a profession utterly lacking a historical sensibility," Peris writes. "One periodically needs to ask why we do things the way we do, how we got here, and whether perhaps there is a better way." Balancing detailed historical evidence with a practitioner's real-world expertise, Peris asks the right questions--and provides a solution that makes sense in today's challenging investing landscape. Modern Portfolio Theory has failed investors. A change in direction is long overdue. We are in a time of enormous risk. Economic growth is anemic, and political risk to the capital markets is on the rise. In the U.S., a generation of white collar baby-boomers is heading into retirement with insufficient assets in their 401(k) programs, and industrial workers are stuck with materially underfunded pension plans. Against that backdrop, the investing industry's current set of practices and assumptions--Modern Portfolio Theory (MPT)--is based on a half-century old formula that is supposed to deliver the maximum amount of return for a given amount of risk. The trouble is that it doesn't work very well. In Getting Back to Business , dividend-investing guru Daniel Peris proposes a radical new approach--radical in that it does away with MPT in favor of a more intuitive, common-sense approach practiced by business people in their own affairs everyday: cash returns on cash investments. "In a profession utterly lacking a historical sensibility," Peris writes. "One periodically needs to ask why we do things the way we do, how we got here, and whether perhaps there is a better way." Balancing detailed historical evidence with a practitioner's real-world expertise, Peris asks the right questions--and provides a solution that makes sense in today's challenging investing landscape. Cover 1 Title Page 4 Copyright Page 5 Contents 6 Preface 8 Acknowledgments 12 Introduction: The Need for Rules 14 Chapter 1 What Chaos Looks Like 28 Chapter 2 The Founding Fathers Come Together 90 Chapter 3 The March of Progress—The Emergence of MPT 116 Chapter 4 The (Nonexistent) Paradigm That Fails Investors Every Day 194 Chapter 5 Getting Back to Business 244 Conclusion 316 Notes 322 Suggested Further Reading 354 Index 358 A 358 B 358 C 359 D 359 E 360 F 360 G 360 H 360 I 361 J 361 K 361 L 361 M 361 N 362 O 362 P 362 Q 362 R 362 S 363 T 363 U 363 V 363 W 363 Z 363 Balancing detailed historical evidence with a practitioners real-world expertise, this book asks the right questions?and provides a solution that makes sense in todays challenging investing landscape. -- Edited summary from book "Modern Portfolio Theory has been failing investors for decades. Here's a common-sense, business-based alternative to generate the income streams that you need for retirement. "-- Publisher's website Introduction: The need for rules What chaos looks like The founding fathers come together The march of progress, the emergence of MPT The (nonexistent) paradigm Getting back to business Conclusion.