In What Is the Future for Investors?, Nick Shulz interviews Wharton Business School Professor Jeremy Siegel:
His 1994 book Stocks for the Long Run became an instant classic. His extensive original research found that over periods of 20 or more years, stocks are not only the best investment for your money, but the safest as well, returning 6.5 -7% after inflation (now popularly called “Siegel’s constant”) while bonds and other investment vehicles fared considerably less well.Siegel is back with a new book, The Future for Investors: Why the Tried and True Triumph Over the Old and New.
An example of why you need to look at both growth and price, since price typically reflects growth:
From 1957, when the S & P was founded, to the present, the best performing company is Philip Morris, which is now the Altria Group. It won hands-down against all the others. The returns were three percent per year more than the next best-performing stock and almost doubled the S & P over the last half century, which is really remarkable when you consider the record.And a major reason for that performance is that no one wanted to buy it. The price stayed low.