In summing up his approach to investing, Siegel writes, "Poor investment strategy, whether it is for lack of diversification, pursuing hot stocks, or attempting to time the market, often stems from the investor's belief that it is necessary to beat the market to do well in the market. Nothing is further from the truth. The principle of this book is that through time the after-inflation returns on a well-diversified portfolio of common stocks have not only exceeded that of fixed income assets but have actually done so with less risk. Which stocks you own is secondary to whether you own stocks, especially if you maintain a balanced portfolio."

Stocks for the Long Run considers subjects as diverse as the history of the various market indices and what makes for a business cycle to contrarian indicators and the utility of 200-day moving averages. If you've just come into investing in the last few years and feel the need for a solid and comprehensive text about the market, Stocks for the Long Run is probably the best primer available. It also works as an excellent reference for seasoned investors and anyone else interested in how the market works. --Harry C. Edwards

This is an excellent book, perhaps the best I've read on the title subject. An interesting point made on page 77 is that there is a conflict of goals between management and shareholders. Shareholders want the stock to go up in value, period. Managers on the other hand are interested in "prestige, control of markets, and other objectives." The other objectives that Siegel is too polite to mention include maximizing their power and control and increasing the size of their fiefdoms, which is one reason managers must be periodically tossed.

The "long run" is perhaps an ambiguous concept. For the day trader it is like the life of some insects, a day. For "buy and hold" strategists it can be decades. This book conceives of the long run in the latter sense. It has been said, of course, that in the long run we are all dead.