November 2013

Second Level Thinking about Sector Investing

“We should try to find value among the knowable – industries, companies and securities – rather than base our decisions on what we expect from the less-knowable macro world of economics and broad market performance.” – Howard Marks Being a decent investor is fairly easy. You invest in low cost, highly diversified index funds, set…

James Montier’s Lessons on Behavioral Investing

“We will learn an enormous amount in the short term, quite a bit in the medium term and absolutely nothing in the long term. That would be the historical precedent.” – Jeremy Grantham (1) A bat and a ball together cost $1.10 in total. The bat costs a dollar more than the ball. How much…

How to Beat the Market Over 20 Years

“The goal of the advisor shouldn’t be to beat the market by picking stocks or winning funds. Advisors add value by providing the discipline required for successful investing. They add value in areas like tax efficiency, risk management, estate planning and retirement planning.” – John Bogle Investors on Wall Street are obsessed with beating the…

Are Pensions to Blame for the Retirement Crisis?

One of the prevailing theories on the sad state of affairs of the retirement statistics in this country is that our employers have failed us. The line of thinking goes like this: Employers used to provide the majority of workers with pension income for retirement as thanks for being a loyal employee.  Since pensions have…

Dinner Party Conversation Starters

“The more that you read, the more things you’ll know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.” – Dr. Suess I’m constantly reading and I tend to come across interesting information about the financial markets, businesses and the economy.  So I thought I would start collecting some of the most interesting little…

3 Mistakes to Avoid Courtesy of Warren Buffett

“You don’t need to look at the prices of the stocks you own from week-to-week, or month-to-month, or even year-to-year.  If you own a cross-section of American businesses, and you don’t get excited (and buy) just at the very top, and if you buy in over time, you are going to do well.” – Warren…