Stock prices in New York skyrocketed this week and U.S. stock indexes are now about 20% higher than when the market hit bottom on March 9. Unprecedented measures to expand credit are one cause of this powerful recovery. The Fed is buying long-term Treasury bonds, increasing purchases of asset-backed securities and other credit instruments, and taking other actions. Investors were also happy to hear the U.S. government’s plan to buy as much as $1 trillion of toxic assets.

There are three key aspects of this plan: (1) the participation of private-sector investors with the backing of Fed loans will provide more funds to buy these assets; (2) the government (using the FDIC and bailout fund under the Economic Stabilization Act) will cover losses; and (3) prices will be determined by auctions. Since the government has limited the downside risk, many private-sector investors are likely to purchase toxic assets.

This massive program to …

“My wife was trying to sleep and she’s waking up and saying “What’s wrong with you?” What could I tell her, that I was cracking up over a financial book—?”

“As I approach retirement in a few years, I’m very encouraged by the cash flow my portfolio can generate. If I can generate nearly 8% cash flow in the worst bear market in 70 years, and with minimal capital gains, I’m feeling pretty good about the future.”

In the midst of financial crisis, market upheaval, and world-class uncertainty, at least one financial book provides an easily implemented strategy for safer investing. The Brainwashing of the American Investor is more than just “the book that Wall Street does not want you to read”.

It’s a book that might have helped you avoid many of the errors that have made this crisis so painful at a …