Welcome to this companion website for the book, The Wall Street Traffic Light. The material below introduces you to the book. To explore the website, click on the buttons at the left.

The U.S. stock market is a wonderful thing. Anyone can own shares in American companies and participate in the growth of the largest economy in the world. While investing is open to everyone, successful investing is a rather exclusive club. Experienced investors have learned, and novice investors quickly discover, that the results of investment decisions do not always meet expectations. Whether experienced or not, all investors face the same three fundamental questions:

1. When to invest in U.S. stocks?
2. When not to invest in U.S. stocks?
3. How to invest in U.S. stocks?

The Wall Street Traffic Light, a new investment strategy explained in my book, provides specific answers to those questions. The strategy is best suited to 401(k) and IRA investors (because of their tax advantage), but other investors also may find it to be useful.

The Wall Street Traffic Light (WSTL) strategy is based on historical patterns of the S&P 500 Index—the broad-based, large-company index of U.S. stocks that serves as a widely-used barometer of the market. By looking closely at the annual returns and short-term movements of the S&P 500 over time, I found four recurring patterns that will help guide investors today. In this book you will discover this important, scientifically-tested history lesson:  For every rolling decade during 1935-2009 (1935-1944, 1936-1945…2000-2009) the WSTL strategy has achieved higher returns and took lower risk compared to buying-and-holding the S&P 500. That is “sleep well” performance indeed.

As you will discover, this book contains ample numerical support for the basic workings of the WSTL. Some readers will parse every chapter and review all of the calculations. For others, understanding the fundamentals of when to invest in U.S. stocks (that is, when the WSTL is “green”) and when not to invest in U.S. stocks (when the WSTL is “red”) will be enough. I wrote this book for both groups of readers. As a result, the WSTL strategy should be of interest to anyone involved in the U.S. stock market—individual investors, financial advisers, market strategists, professional money managers, academicians and financial journalists.

I hope the newfound knowledge imparted in my book and this website will help you manage your 401(k) and/or IRA with confidence. In other words:

May the WSTL help illuminate your financial path.

John K. Harris