Probably this book annoys many readers by its failure to say which are the best companies, but we feel we have good reasons for the omission. This book aims to give information and ideas that an investor has difficulty in finding elsewhere. By contrast, details about specific investment companies, as well as other stock-issuing corporations, are easy to obtain. Also, so many of the investment companies have arguments in their favor, for some types of investors, that a fair presen tation would have to include a good many companies. Details should be revised annually, because new funds are born and old ones change their habits.

The best single source of details that we know of, on both mutual funds and closed-end investment companies, is a manual called Investment Companies (price $25) issued annually by a stockbroker firm, Arthur Wiesenberger & Com pany, 61 Broadway, New York 6, New York. The excessive size of this book is due to the repetition each year of most of the general explanation portion. Certified Financial Planner - Read More.