The two most important words Harry Markowitz ever wrote are "portfolio selection." In 1952, when everyone in the stock market was looking for the next hot stock, as a doctoral candidate, he proposed to look at many, diverse stocks--a portfolio. He laid the first cornerstone of Modern Portfolio Theory and defended the idea that strategic asset growth means factoring in the risk of an investment. More than 60 years later, the father of modern finance revisits his original masterpiece, describes how his theory has developed, and proves the vitality of his risk-return analysis in the current global economy. Risk-Return Analysis opens the door to a groundbreaking four-book series giving readers a privileged look at the personal reflections and current strategies of a luminary in finance. This first volume is Markowitz's response to what he calls the "Great Confusion" that spread when investors lost faith in the diversification benefits of MPT during the financial crisis of 2008. It demonstrates why MPT never became ineffective during the crisis, and how you can continue to reap the rewards of managed diversification into the future. Economists and financial advisors will benefit from the potent balance of theory and hard data on mean-variance analysis aimed at improving decision-making skills. Written for the academic and the practitioner with some math skills (mostly high school algebra), this richly illustrated guide arms you with: