Ben Carlson

Q&A With Millennial Money Author Patrick O’Shaughnessy

Millennials have been taking some heat for the past couple of years on the state of their finances. My generation needs some financial guidance, sure, but there’s no way they’re going to take it from someone that’s much older than they are. They don’t want a lecture from another generation telling them what they should or…

What Are the Odds We’re Heading For Another Crash?

“The fundamental law of investing is the uncertainty of the future.” – Peter Bernstein Many investors have been hoping for a “healthy” correction to put money to work at lower prices, but corrections never feel healthy when they finally hit. It always feels like this is the big one when losses start to pile up. We…

Forecasting Your Emotions

“People who rely heavily on forecasts seem to think there’s only one possibility, meaning risk can be eliminated if they just figure it out.” – Howard Marks

It Is Always The Same Novel

The Nobel Prize for Literature was awarded this morning to a French author by the name of Patrick Modiano. Modiano has written more than 20 novels, with the first one published in 1968. What I found interesting about his story is that he said he is “always writing the same book.” Here’s more: Modiano says…

Feast or Famine in the Fairholme Fund

It was a tough couple of days for star portfolio manager Bruce Berkowitz’s Fairholme Fund (FAIRX) last week. The fund lost nearly 10% on the week, with much of that loss coming on a single day. Over the past month it’s down more than 13% even though the S&P 500 is down less than 2%.

Global Diversification: Accepting Good Enough to Avoid Terrible

The U.S. stock market is once again trouncing the broader international markets this year. Through the end of September, the total U.S. stock market, as measured by the Vanguard Total Stock Market Fund, is up nearly 7% while the Vanguard Total International Fund is basically flat on the year. Since the beginning of 2013, the…