Winner ForeWord Magazine Bronze Award for Best Business/Economics Book of the Year. This investment book uses extensive full-color graphics to explain the fundamentals of the markets-an essential resource before reading how-to books or engaging investment advice. It is a unique combination of investment art and investment science that enables the reader to differentiate between irrational hope and a rational view of current market conditions.Editorial ReviewsFrom the Publisher"Ed Easterling has given the world of investing the single best, easy-to-read, study of stock market cycles of which I know. He lays out a path for you to find your own Unexpected Returns, showing you how to confidently navigate the waters of market volatility. Serious investors will devour this book and profit. It should be required reading for investment professionals."- John Mauldin, President, Millennium Wave Investments; author of Bull's Eye Investing"Unexpected Returns provides a broad, deep, and provocative exploration of the factors that determine stock market investment returns over a person's lifetime. Of special interest to me, as a Federal Reserve policy advisor on monetary policy, is Easterling's exploration of the critical role of low and stable inflation as a key determinant of stock market performance."- Harvey Rosenblum, Senior Vice President and Director of Research, Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas"Unexpected Returns is at once a penetrating analysis of more than a century of stock market experience and a realistic guide to how we may expect the markets to perform in the years ahead. Easterling's findings and conclusions are grounded on the best economic and financial thinking of our time. This is a book for the serious investor and student of the markets."- Richard Sylla, Henry Kaufman Professor of the History of Financial Institutions and Markets, Stern School of Business, New York University; co-author of A History of Interest Rates"The stock market is one of the few places on earth where people become more excited to buy when things are expensive, and more anxious to sell when things are cheap. Ed Easterling has penned a masterful accounting about why this is so wealth-destructive, presented without preconceived notion or bias."- Bill Mann, Senior Editor, Investing, The Motley Fool"People are accustomed to the vagaries of market cycles. Far too few realize that these are subsumed within secular bull and bear markets, spanning decades not years. Ed Easterling has done a fine job of describing how these long cycles work and how the investor can plan investment strategies accordingly." Rob Arnott, Chairman, Research Affiliates, LLC; Editor, Financial Analysts JournalFrom the Inside FlapWhy?Why is the stock market acting differently in the 2000s than in the 1980s and 1990s?Before you read any how-to investment books or seek financial advice, read Unexpected Returns, the essential resource for investors and investment professionals who want to understand how and why the financial markets are not the same now as they were in the 1980s and 1990s. In addition to explaining the fundamentals, this book takes you on a graphic journey through the seasons of the market, tying together economics and finance to explain the stock market's cycles. Using comprehensive full-color charts and graphs, it offers an in-depth exploration of what has changed over the past five years - and what you can do about it to avoid disappointment with your investments. This unique combination of investment science and investment art will enable you to differentiate between irrational hope and a rational view of the current financial markets. Based on years of meticulous research, it provides the sensible conclusions that will drive your future investment choices and give you the confidence to rely on your investment outlook, whatever your financial strategy.