Quantitative Investing: Strategies to exploit stock market anomalies for all investors Paperback – August 26, 2013

I expected yet another bloated book on investing, but was pleasantly surprised.Mr. Piard starts with a simple explanation of each of the technical parameters used later to measure the performance of the discussed strategies.Then he explains the basics behind the generic strategies (market timing, momentum, pair-switching).The rest of the book is a pure treasure for a novice investors like me:- The author is explaining how the simple strategies work and how to exploit them in plain English, with specific examples and performance measurements of the simulations based on historic data.- He is then showing a step-by-step examples on optimizing each of them and explains alternatives for different types of investing stiles, each backed by hard data on changes in performance.- In the later chapters he explores combining those strategies and is drawing conclusion on what works best and why.The work he presents shows impressive performance in terms of both return and drawdown reduction.The thing I liked most though is that the book's style. It's very clean, with great explanations, simple math and lots of hard data/examples. I'm a slow reader, but finished it in a day.Unlike many other equity investment books, it is perfect for using as a reference material.Definite 5 from me.

This book is an easy read. It is most useful to someone who already has some background in running stock screens and are comfortable with back testing quantitative investment strategies. It pairs well with a subscription to a stock filtering tool, such as Portfolio123.com, which the author uses.The focus of this book is on ETF strategies using tactical allocation and seasonal patterns. The author has a second book that focuses on screening stocks using precepts culled from fundamental analysis. There is little overlap between the two books, and if your primary interest is stock picking, you will find the other book ("The Lazy Fundamental Analyst") more useful.The book is not big on theory, but it might give you a few new ideas. I thought the discussion on statistical metrics for evaluating performance was quite practical and illuminating. The results on market timing and switching strategies are also interesting. Academic studies tend to cover cross-sectional (stock picking) tests and few books provide backtest evidence on market timing strategies.

Quoting from the introduction of the book:"Who this book is forThis book was written for anyone looking for simple, effective and low risk investing strategies. The strategies described in the following pages can be managed in just five minutes a week, sometimes much less...""The book is designed to be short and actionable."After reading the book, it is clear that the author did actually as he intended. The strategies are easy to implement, risk levels are constantly taken into consideration and transaction costs are kept low. In addition, he defines his methodologies and investing terms in clear and understandable language, thereby guaranteeing the transition from concepts to strategy implementation to be an easy one.For anyone, who wishes to create their own tests or duplicate one from the book, the author not only provides for an extended trial period of the back-testing software, Portfolio123, but he also makes his code available upon request.It is thanks to this book, that I've seen just how simplistic my own testing programs have been. The book rates a five.

A large number of strategies backtested using ETFs to inspire retail investors. Easy and comprehensive approach.The author gives ideas of portfolio timing and hedging strategies with good comments on what works and what does not.After trading and backtesting ETFs in portfolios for years, I found out good ideas in this book to carry on my research on this topic.

As person who enjoys quantitative analysis, this is a must-have in my arsenal. Author provides useful information about strategies that I find to work over time, for someone who is willing to do a just a little work to surpass market. There are no guarantees and the past isn't necessarily the future, but I found this book to be well worth the time and money and have consulted it several times since initial purchase. He does a great job of outlining risk measures from his tests of different strategies, which is very important to me. It is easy to just look at returns on paper, but when the stuff hits the fan, it is important to have confidence and know how strategies have held up in the past. He does a good job showing how strategy diversification has helped to take the edge off of drawdowns in the past and, though not a guarantee about the future, is very important to me.

The book presents a large number of trading strategies in a short book but provides little explanation as to why they might work work. Also, most of the back testing is only for short periods, e.g., 10-12 years, which is insufficient. What Works on Wall Street and Quantitative Investing are much better books.