A reader asks: I am considering starting the CFA program now while in my last year of college and then taking the level 1 exam right after graduating. My question for you is, price of the program and exam aside, do you think there is a benefit to getting started while in college so that…
Ben Carlson
Who Benefits From a Market Correction?
Jerry Seinfeld is the ultimate “it’s funny because it’s true” comedian. His night guy vs. morning guy slays because this is me all the time: We all have competing ideas and beliefs in our heads on a regular basis. Enjoying yourself in the present vs. delaying gratification for the future. Working hard vs. playing hard. Your…
Big Down Days
Yesterday the S&P 500 fell 3.29%. It was the worst single-day loss since early February when stocks fell 3.75%. Looking back at the daily returns on the S&P 500 since the fall of 1928 shows stocks have seen 325 days with losses of 3% or worse. That means it happens roughly three-and-a-half times a year…
Animal Spirits Episode 50: A Committee of Geniuses
On this week’s Animal Spirits with Michael & Ben we discuss: How social media has changed financial media for the better. The humble beginnings of this podcast. The case for investing in bonds. More hedge fund closures. Julian Robertson’s poor timing. Your adult children are killing your retirement savings. The Bernank and why so many people misunderstood…
The Case For Bonds
In my last piece we looked at how things are going in the bond market. In summation — rates are up and bonds are down. There are plenty of market prognosticators who are more informed than me predicting interest rates will rise further from here. The 10-year treasury yield currently stands at 3.3% or so. I’ve seen…
Checking in on Bond Market Losses
Interest rates are up quite a bit since bottoming in the summer of 2016. Here’s the 10-year yield since then: This is still a blip on the long-term chart but that’s an increase of almost 2% in a little over 2 years. We finally have that rising rate environment everyone has been clamoring for since…
You Never Know
Steve Martin once described his 18-year stand-up career as, “Ten of those years were spent learning, four years were spent refining, and four were spent in wild success.” In the late-1970s and early-1980s, Martin was perhaps the most popular stand-up act in the world but it almost didn’t happen. He made a promise to himself…
How Often Can You Buy the Dip in Housing?
A podcast listener asks: I know I shouldn’t expect home prices to crater like they did after 2008, but I’m wondering if there is any reasonable expectation that home prices will eventually level off or drop enough to make a buying opportunity. I just want to buy the dip. We discussed this question on the…
Animal Spirits Episode 49: Buy The Housing Dip
On this week’s Animal Spirits with Michael & Ben we discuss: The new Howard Marks book. Do super-investors like Marks & Buffett actually do more harm than good? The humble beginnings of the first Vanguard index fund. How to call a market top without calling a market top. How SoftBank’s vision fund will impact the VC…
9 Underrated Investing Books
I was looking at the best-selling investing books on Amazon the other day and it always amazes me how old some of the books are on this list: Rich Dad, Poor Dad was published in the 1990s. The Intelligent Investor was originally published in 1949. The Millionaire Next Door was 1996. Dave Ramsey’s book came…
