New Book for 2008 "Surviving the Storm" Explores The Seven Warning Signs of the Coming Economic Winter

New Book for 2008 "Surviving the Storm" Explores The Seven Warning Signs of the Coming Economic Winter. Author James O. Lunney, Founder of The Wealth Strategies Group Cites Compelling Demographic Evidence and Offers Investment Strategies to Maximize Profit and Control Risk

Denver, CO (PRWEB) December 3, 2007 -- James O. Lunney, CFP®, Founder of The Wealth Strategies Group, has penned the new book for 2008 published by McGraw-Hill, "Surviving the Storm - Investment Strategies That Help You Maximize Profit and Control Risk During the Coming Economic Winter." The book is currently available in bookstores nationwide.

"The purpose of my book is to alert the investing public to the seven winter warning signs of the economy, so they can see the storm coming, and more importantly give them investment strategies to not only survive the storm, but to thrive," said Mr. Lunney.

The book is built around three profound ideas: First, that human behavior is both measurable and predictable. Second, the demographics of a population are known and fixed; and third, there are economic seasons, just as there are seasons for planting, growing, and harvesting. By studying consumer behavior, Lunney builds on research on spending patterns, and their direct effect on companies' earnings, and, ultimately, on the price of stocks.

"Different economic conditions can be forecasted just like weather patterns, based on elementary principles of human behavior - when and why people do things," said Mr. Lunney. "Importantly, if you don't understand what causes the market to go up, you won't understand when it's going to go down."

In the book, Mr. Lunney points to the Potato Chip Theory, which provides an unambiguous paradigm of the measurability and predictability of human behavior. The average American woman will spend more on potato chips at age 42 than at any other time in her life. Not because she suddenly has a mid-life craving for potato chips, but because as an average American woman she will marry around age 25 and have her first child by age 28. Fourteen years later, she has two teenagers consuming everything in sight, including a lot of potato chips. So too has Lunney studied other patterns crucial to understanding markets and the economy and for seeing the storm on the horizon.

In Surviving the Storm, Lunney relies on the weather metaphor to explain that, like the seasons of the year, four economic seasons characterize the financial world. While during spring and summer, growth and demand blossom, leading eventually to overexpansion, autumn is characterized by a brief recession due to slowing growth rates. However, even though Mr. Lunney expects the next eighteen months to offer good investment opportunities, his main focus is on winter - a hard and uncertain time distinguished by slow or zero growth and plummeting margins - the most challenging season to shield investments from the adverse impact of an economic slump.

He maintains that around the spring of 2008 investors should systematically and methodically begin to divest U.S. positions in anticipation for the next winter cycle. He points to 2008 as well as an election year, which tends to be a volatile time in financial markets.

Mr. Lunney asserts that the next economic Great Winter will begin around 2010. By that time, a series of crucial events will concurrently take place and inevitably trigger a major shift in the economic weather and signal the inception of a significant economic recession. Key occurrences will include the U.S. stock market reaching its all-time high, economic growth undergoing a remarkable deceleration, and baby boomers' spending cycle reaching its peak.

"Readers do not have to take a giant leap of faith, comprehend complex economic theories, or possess an advanced degree to predict their own financial future," says Mr. Lunney.

Among Mr. Lunney's Seven Winter Warning Signs:

* Consumer spending drops for three consecutive months

* Decreasing prices on high volume of large block trades by institutions

* A downward trend of four to five months out of six in durable goods spending

The author's mission is to teach investors what warning signs to look for, where to find them, and what to do when they see them.

The author, James O. Lunney, is a Certified Financial Planner, residing in Denver, Colorado and can be reached through the website www.wealthstratgroup.com with questions or comments.

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