“We can’t change the world. The only thing we can change is ourselves, by trying to get a better understanding of our own messed-up wiring.” – Guy Spier In last week’s Intelligent Investor column for the Wall Street Journal, Jason Zweig discussed value investor Guy Spier’s journey to reinvent himself as both a thinker and…

A lot has been made about the potential for a bond bubble with interest rates near historic lows and not much room to fall any further. Even though rates are down this year, investors have been worried for some time about what happens when rates do eventually rise. As a quick refresher, bond prices and…

“To succeed at any activity involving the pursuit of gain, we have to be able to withstand the possibility of loss.” – Howard Marks

“Hey, why don’t I just go eat some hay, make things out of clay, lay by the bay? I just may! What’d ya say?” – Happy Gilmore You know a comedy movie is going to be terrible if they can’t even string together enough funny parts for the trailer.  The new Adam Sandler-Drew Barrymore movie…

“Over the years, I’ve become convinced that fluctuations in investor attitudes towards risk contribute more to major market movements than anything else. I don’t expect this to ever change.” – Howard Marks Small caps have been on everybody’s radar this year because the Russell 2000 experienced a 10% drop.  This is more commonplace than you…

“But there are all sorts of analysts in the investment world, including many that have titles that don’t contain the word “analyst.” An analyst, then, is simply someone who analyzes, who examines an investment problem with a critical eye.” – Tom Brakke Tom Brakke from The Research Puzzle has put out an excellent resource for…

“In the case of equities or real estate or farms or whatever, other very important variables are almost always at work, and that means the effect of interest rate changes is usually obscured. Nonetheless, the effect–like the invisible pull of gravity–is constantly there.” – Warren Buffett

“It’s virtually impossible for young workers to deploy their investment capital too aggressively, because their human capital overwhelms it.” – William Bernstein Millennials have been taking it on the chin lately for their lack of basic financial knowledge and understanding. There was a fascinating piece in The Week by Ryan Cooper called The Confessions of…

“Being passive doesn’t mean doing nothing.” – Larry Swedroe One of the first decisions you need to make in the process of building an investment portfolio is whether you will be an active or a passive investor.  Most investors assume this means making the choice between index funds and active management, but that’s too much…

“Stocks are a piece of ownership in a firm.  Taken together, stocks represent the collective wisdom of the business world.  And they represent the promise of future technological advances and future profits from those innovations.” – Ken Fisher