Why It Ranks #72
The most practical guide to special situation investing ever written. Greenblatt hands you a treasure map to the parts of the market where individual investors have a genuine edge over institutions.
The Review
Joel Greenblatt — the hedge fund manager who returned 50% annually for a decade at Gotham Capital — reveals the special situation strategies that generate outsized returns: spinoffs, restructurings, merger securities, rights offerings, recapitalizations, and bankruptcies. The title is intentionally ridiculous, but the content is deadly serious. Greenblatt shows you exactly where to look for the mispricings that big funds cannot exploit because they are too small or too complex.
Key Takeaways
- 1Spinoffs outperform the market because institutions dump them mechanically without analysis
- 2Merger securities — the odd pieces created by deals — are systematically mispriced
- 3Bankruptcies and restructurings create securities that nobody wants to own, creating bargains
- 4Small investors have an edge over big funds in special situations because they can fish in smaller ponds
Fun Facts
- •Greenblatt returned 50% annually for 10 years at Gotham Capital before returning outside capital
- •He later wrote The Little Book That Beats the Market, which simplified his approach for retail investors
- •Greenblatt is an adjunct professor at Columbia Business School, following in the footsteps of Benjamin Graham
Book Details
You Can Be a Stock Market Genius by Joel Greenblatt
Pages
304
Goodreads Rating
4.18/5
Copies Sold
300K+
First Published
1997
I Document Every Trade — Even the Losses
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