The future promises both change and investment opportunities, and James H. Lee helps to chart a course in his excellent book Foresight Investing. Lee is a professional futurist, which means that despite his wide and deep knowledge, he is fundamentally interested in answering a simple question: “What’s next?”
The first 100 pages dazzle with a detailed look at trends and projections for the coming decades. Clean energy, human longevity, robots and artificial intelligence, and innovative new building materials are all addressed. The overall effect is akin to the wonder of a good science fiction novel, except that Lee’s writings are reality-based extrapolations, highlighting the sectors and stocks that might lead the future economy.
This satisfying but ultimately speculative approach is balanced by a firm grasp of the accepted methods and measurements of stock valuation. Later sections explain traditional tools such as price-to-earnings ratio in addition to lesser known but highly useful measures such as relative strength index (RSI).
Predicting the future is a tricky task, whether it’s focusing on general trends or specific investment suggestions, but Lee lists enough ideas, tools and potential profit makers to satisfy the most experienced investor. Beginners will appreciate the book’s thorough but easily understandable lessons on evaluating stocks via fundamental analysis, technical analysis and other methods.
Lee’s writing style is conversational but concise, and he explains buying, selling and associated concepts in stock trading in a lively way that entertains as much as it educates. Though Lee mentions his company, StratFI, several times throughout the book, the references aren’t excessive and the writing avoids the shrill tones of a mere advertisement or marketing tool. For curious readers, the book’s endnotes include listings of the articles and sources Lee references.
Foresight Investing takes a complicated, fascinating topic and admirably boils it down to the essentials.
Also available as an ebook.
