The Message of the Markets: How Financial Markets Foretell the Future--and How You Can Profit from Their Guidance Hardcover – October 3, 2000 by Ron Insana (Author)

Can the financial markets really foretell the future?

According to CNBC's veteran market watcher, Ron Insana, they can and they do.

Every day the world's markets are speaking--shouting, really--boldly predicting the future. In fact, they are reflecting information not yet revealed to the general public: events as dramatic as the outcome of a war, as tragic as a nuclear accident in some distant part of the globe, or as mundane yet vitally important as the future and still secret decisions of the Federal Reserve.

In order to understand what the markets are saying, you have to know how to listen to and interpret the messages they are sending. This is the first book to show readers how to understand the signals put out by the markets, and how to use that information to advantage in their lives.

Since ancient times, writes Insana, investors and merchants have met to buy and sell goods--and to exchange information and gossip. This information is reflected in the prices charged for those goods, whether it is news of war in a farflung region that will cut off the world's gold supply or a crop failure that will make wheat scarce.

Now skip to the present day, where the proxies for goods and services--tradable securities--act in exactly the same fashion. From the price of oil to foreign-currency fluctuations, from the price of a stock to the interest rate offered on a bond, the financial markets provide clues to events great and small. For example, Insana documents how

• the stock market sent a shudder down Wall Street several moments before President John F. Kennedy was killed in Dallas
• the crude oil market tipped off the world that a war was imminent between Iraq, Kuwait, and the United States--and then predicted a quick victory
• the wheat market told the West about the seriousness of the Chernobyl nuclear accident days before official word of the meltdown
• a tiny currency known as the Thai baht warned the global markets that the Asian economic crisis was imminent and potentially devastating.

  In the world of finance, Insana reveals how

  • the yield curve gives a one-year advance warning of an impending recession
  • a little-known futures contract is capable of predicting with great precision what the Federal Reserve will do to interest rates weeks before the Fed makes its decision

    At a more personal level, Insana shows how individuals who heed the warnings of the markets will make better personal decisions regarding

    • investments
    • mortgages and loans
    • real estate purchases
    • career choices
    • and much more

      Whether you are an investor, a market buff, or are simply interested in making better financial decisions, the markets are speaking to you in a very relevant and personal way. Let Ron Insana be your guide and interpreter to understanding the message of the markets.

      
      Editorial Reviews
      Amazon.com Review
      CNBC's Ron Insana is one of the founding fathers of TV biz-news punditry, and his analytical strength and fondness for puns do not desert him in The Message of the Markets, the followup to his book Traders' Tales: A Chronicle of Wall Street Myths, Legends, and Outright Lies. But despite his trademark perky tone (the section on the Gulf War is titled, "Oil's Well That Ends Well"), Insana writes to fulfill an extremely serious ambition: he wants you to learn to use the fluctuations of the financial markets to actually predict the future.
      He's not kidding. Insana insists that the market leaves coded messages, "breadcrumbs on the road to the gingerbread house." With a few charts and a bit of technical explanation, he shows how you could have profited in the Great Salad Oil Swindle of 1963, the crash of 1987, the Asian crisis of 1997, and other riveting fiscal dramas. Insana makes his points convincingly. There's his anecdote about President Kennedy's assassination, when the market began to tank before the news got out. One broker sparked the selloff, saying it "had something to do with the president." The possibly apocryphal explanation: Disappointed dealers at a Dallas brokerage house go back to their office when JFK's parade is halted without explanation. Though nobody suspects the truth, their manager can think of no bullish reasons such a parade would be cancelled, only bearish ones, so he sells early and saves big.

      While this story remains unverified, Insana has plenty of verified market-message examples: the 1990 oil spike that heralded Saddam Hussein's Kuwait invasion two months early, the Thai baht crisis that presaged the turning of Asia's tigers into whipped kittens, and the 1993 Dow Jones Utility Average warning preceding the 1994 bond crash. A notable anecdote: one trader deduced a 1980s spat on the border of Egypt and Libya based strictly on upticks in U.S. based oil companies and defense stocks and dips in two international oil stocks and a designer-jeans company dependent on Egyptian cotton.

      Can you really predict Greenspan by reading Insana's book? Or is it all just Monday morning quarterbacking? Hard to say. But Insana's book is as fun as the investment game itself. --Tim Appelo END

      From Publishers Weekly
      Significant world events and financial markets' movements are closely aligned, says Insana, anchor of CNBC's Street Signs and frequent contributor to Imus in the Morning and The Today Show. Among his most notable examples are the precipitous drop in the stock market right after President Kennedy was shot, but before the news of the assassination attempt appeared on the wire services, and the odd spike in oil prices before Iraq began massing troops at the Kuwaiti border. Insana emphasizes the importance of reading market statistics, including index charts and records of stock market performances around the world over time. He wants investors to understand that, like successful stock pickers, they must learn to play detective and look for the reasons for economic up and down turns in order to make more intelligent investments. In the concluding chapter, Insana briefly mentions some of the signs that pointed to a market correction in 2000. By late last year, he notes, only a handful of stocks were going up while many other stocks and indices were declining. Insana's writing is lively, and the book offers insights into the complex machinations of the stock market and a thoughtful historical perspective, but he doesn't offer a prescriptive plan for investment mastery, and readers expecting a guaranteed method of predicting future stock market winners will be disappointed. Agent, Arthur Klebanoff. Author tour; 25-city national radio campaign; 15-city NPR radio campaign. (Oct.)
      Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.
      Review
      "Imagine -- a smart business book by a TV personality! Insana's stock keeps rising." -- -- Fast Company, October 2000

      "Ron Insana is a great financial reporter -- and this book is an invaluable guide to the market's mysterious ways." -- -- Tom Brokaw, Anchor and Managing Editor, NBC Nightly News and author of The Greatest Generation
      From the Back Cover
      Can the financial markets really foretell the future?

      According to CNBC's veteran market watcher, Ron Insana, they can and they do.

      Every day the world's markets are speaking--shouting, really--boldly predicting the future. In fact, they are reflecting information not yet revealed to the general public: events as dramatic as the outcome of a war, as tragic as a nuclear accident in some distant part of the globe, or as mundane yet vitally important as the future and still secret decisions of the Federal Reserve.

      In order to understand what the markets are saying, you have to know how to listen to and interpret the messages they are sending. This is the first book to show readers how to understand the signals put out by the markets, and how to use that information to advantage in their lives.

      Since ancient times, writes Insana, investors and merchants have met to buy and sell goods--and to exchange information and gossip. This information is reflected in the prices charged for those goods, whether it is news of war in a farflung region that will cut off the world's gold supply or a crop failure that will make wheat scarce.

      Now skip to the present day, where the proxies for goods and services--tradable securities--act in exactly the same fashion. From the price of oil to foreign-currency fluctuations, from the price of a stock to the interest rate offered on a bond, the financial markets provide clues to events great and small. For example, Insana documents how

      the stock market sent a shudder down Wall Street several moments before President John F. Kennedy was killed in Dallas
      the crude oil market tipped off the world that a war was imminent between Iraq, Kuwait, and the United States--and then predicted a quick victory
      the wheat market told the West about the seriousness of the Chernobyl nuclear accident days before official word of the meltdown
      a tiny currency known as the Thai baht warned the global markets that the Asian economic crisis was imminent and potentially devastating.
      In the world of finance, Insana reveals how

      the yield curve gives a one-year advance warning of an impending recession
      a little-known futures contract is capable of predicting with great precision what the Federal Reserve will do to interest rates weeks before the Fed makes its decision
      At a more personal level, Insana shows how individuals who heed the warnings of the markets will make better personal decisions regarding

      investments
      mortgages and loans
      real estate purchases
      career choices
      and much more
      Whether you are an investor, a market buff, or are simply interested in making better financial decisions, the markets are speaking to you in a very relevant and personal way. Let Ron Insana be your guide and interpreter to understanding the message of the markets.

      About the Author
      Ron Insana is familiar to millions of viewers as the popular business journalist and anchor in CNBC. His show, Street Signs, is seen in 70 million American households and in 71 countries. Insana makes frequent guest appearances on NBC Nightly News, the Today Show, and Imus in the Morning.

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      Publisher ‏ : ‎ Harper Business (October 3, 2000)
      Language ‏ : ‎ English
      Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 224 pages
      ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0066620457
      ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0066620459
      Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.1 pounds
      Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.12 x 0.87 x 9.25 inches
      Best Sellers Rank: #497,966 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
      #118 in Microeconomics (Books)
      #163 in Business Planning & Forecasting (Books)
      #220 in Macroeconomics (Books)
      Customer Reviews: 3.5 3.5 out of 5 stars    22 ratings