I have no idea what’s going to happen — in world events, politics, or the market — in 2018 (and neither does anyone else). This baked in uncertainty is what makes the financial markets equal parts maddening and fun to prepare for. There’s no way to reduce the uncertainty about the future or know exactly…

I was recently asked to name my favorite book on the history of speculative bubbles in the markets. There are a number of good books on the topic, but by far my favorite is Devil Take the Hindmost: A History of Financial Speculation by Edward Chancellor (it also has one of the great investment book titles ever). I…

On this week’s Animal Spirits with Michael & Ben we discuss: What to do if you’ve been sitting in cash during the bull market. The latest change I made to my personal portfolio. What trend-following is and why it’s a difficult concept for investors to grasp. The worst bear market no one ever talks about….

I talked about some of my favorite books in a recent podcast episode but wanted to put them down here just to keep with tradition since I have done so every year since I started this blog (plus there are a few I missed). These were my favorite books I read this year: Non-Fiction Deep…

People have been calling this a “low return envionrment” for a number of years now which defies all logic considering how great returns have been in the markets. But eventually those who have been predicting lower returns will be right. Lower than average returns are nothing new because markets are always and forever cyclical. This…

Traders and investors alike often invoke the following chart to remind themselves that losses can be painful because of the fact that they require much larger percentage gains to make them back: I get why people pay attention to these kinds of charts. Risk management is important for a number of reasons, such as the…

Interest rates on almost everything have fallen since the onset of the financial crisis — long-term bonds, short-term bonds, fed funds, mortgages, car loans — pretty much anything with an interest rate attached to it. Well, everything except credit cards. The average credit card APR rose to it’s highest average ever in 2017 at around 16%….

On this week’s Animal Spirits with Michael & Ben we discuss: How the new tax reform impacts your paycheck with a helpful summary from tax expert Bill Sweet. The biggest winners from the new tax bill. Why happiness declines for most people until their 50s and then improves. Why investors in 401ks are better behaved than…

A large number of people have rightly been pointing to higher valuations to temper investor expectations about future returns. The problem is many of these same people have taken things a step further and used valuations to predict market crashes or the path of returns. Valuations don’t work very well as a timing indicator, as…

It’s possible I’m becoming a huge sap over the past few years now that I have children. So during the holidays I find myself pondering things like the ideal balance between my family and everything else in my life while considering how happiness and time management fit into this equation. A few weeks ago I wrote…