Sunday, May 05, 2013

Bulls, Birdies, Bogeys & Bears



Bulls, Birdies, Bogeys & Bears examines the relationship between two fields of activity which are at opposite ends of the spectrum as far as my level of interest is concerned. At one end we have investment markets, which I find fascinating, while at the other is golf, about which I could describe my interest as passing, at best.

Never-the-less, author Kevin Armstrong is someone with whose investment newsletters I am very familiar (and here I must disclose an interest of a different sort; I worked with Kevin for a number of years) and I was looking forward to his examination of "the remarkable & revealing relationship between golf & investment markets".

BBBB follows the correlation between the US stock market and golf's US leading money winner since the early 1930s. It tracks the interplay between the Ryder Cup and the relative fortunes of the European and US equity markets. It considers the prize money on the women's tour relative to that of the men's tour and what was happening in financial markets at the same time. The degree of correlation that is revealed in these various studies is astounding.

The central thesis of BBBB is that the "pulses" of golf and investing are not coincidental and reflect the  broader ebb and flow of the "social mood". When the mood of society as a whole is positive, money flows into both golf and the share market, while the opposite is true when the mood turns negative.

Even without a great interest in golf, BBBB is an engrossing read and, if nothing else, it is a well researched piece of history. My golfing knowledge comes solely from the sports headlines in the New Zealand Herald but, even so, the way Armstrong describes the exploits of golfers like Snead, Palmer, Player, Nicklaus, Norman and Woods kept me interested. Adding in the share market action from the depths of the Great Depression to the Dotcom boom & bust to the Global Financial Crisis really brings the story to life.

Those who follow golf and investing will get much enjoyment out of Bulls, Birdies, Bogeys & Bears. Even those, like me, who follow only one of the two 'games' will get a great read.


Book review by Neil Beattie


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