‘The Compound Code’: Members of La Jolla firm share investment secrets in new book
With more than 40,000 stock choices that one can invest in and a seemingly endless combination of investment possibilities based on different financial goals, a pair of local investment strategists have seen the pitfalls that uninformed investors can fall into while trying to boost their financial portfolio.
To help would-be investors take a more educated approach, Scott Kyle and Patrick Fischer of La Jolla-based Coastwise Capital Group recently released “The Compound Code: An Expert Guide to Trading Stocks & Options.”
Filled with secrets, tools and strategies that readers can use to manage investments in good times and bad, the book is intended to be a straightforward and accessible guide that examines the steps to smart investing, while showing readers how to profit from the power of compounding using stocks, dividends and options in one’s investment portfolio.
“There are many great investment books, but this is a holistic book on how to invest, specifically with stocks,” Kyle said. “People don’t know what they don’t know. While investing is accessible, that doesn’t mean it is easy or easy to do well. People can underperform by making little mistakes. This book helps people understand the steps they need to take based on what is right for them.”
And it all starts with a plan.
Just like with an exercise plan that can have different outcomes, Kyle said, such as building muscle or losing weight, an investment plan can have different objectives.
“People will have a plan but sometimes change the plan based on what they hear,” Fischer said. “People can chase their tail and buy or sell at the wrong time instead of focusing on the big picture. The plan needs to be forward thinking and specific. This book helps create a plan they can refer to for decades.”
Kyle added that once investors have a plan, they then need to decide how to reach those goals.
“There are so many choices so people don’t know what to choose,” he said. “People will ask about the hot stock of the day, so they are basing their decision on what comes through the filters of the media they consume. It’s like getting your health advice from a TV personality that says run 10 miles a day, but that might not be your goal.”
Therein lies the challenge.
As emotional beings, Kyle said, “most humans are not wired to be good investors. When stocks go down, people have an emotional response. Then what ends up happening is they sell low and once the event has passed, they buy high, so most investors underperform and don’t reach their goals because their emotions dictate their actions. We talk about having a plan and taking emotions out of the equation for success.”
The two have known each other for more than 25 years and worked together off and on in that time. Thus, Fischer called the book “a milestone and reflection of decades of work together.”
Kyle added that “we know how important education is when it comes to things like money. People want their money to be healthy, so we take a holistic view on investing with this book. It gets the information to where people are in their lives.”
“The Compound Code” is available on amazon.com. In addition to the book itself, Kyle and Fischer have a website on which they write and post articles and videos to reflect modern changes to the stock market: thecompoundcode.com. ◆
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