Gerald M. Loeb


Gerald Loeb was a founding partner of E.F. Hutton & Co., a renowned Wall Street trader and brokerage firm. He was the author of the books The Battle For Investment Survival and The Battle For Stock Market Profits. Loeb promoted a view of the market as too risky to hold stocks for the long term in contrast to well known value investors. He also created the Gerald Loeb Award, given annually for excellence in various categories of financial journalism.
He was married to the former Mrs. Rose Lobree Benjamin.

Career and writing

Loeb began his career in 1921, working in the bond department of a securities firm in San Francisco. He moved to New York in 1924 after joining E. F. Hutton & Co., and became vice-chairman of the board when the company incorporated in 1962.
Although he had largely avoided personal losses, the Wall Street Crash of 1929 greatly affected Loeb's investing style, making him skeptical of holding stocks for the long term. Loeb offered a contrarian investing viewpoint, in books and columns in Barron's, The Wall Street Journal, and Investor Magazine. Forbes magazine called Loeb "the most quoted man on Wall Street."
Loeb's first book, The Battle for Investment Survival, sold over 200,000 copies during the Great Depression. Loeb updated the book in 1957 and 1965, as it attained the status of a classic financial text. In 1971, Loeb published The Battle for Market Profits as a follow up to his original book where he depicted the market as a battlefield. Loeb's books are still widely read today and hailed by many as a staple for investment professionals.