“The biggest factor impacting investors is no longer our knowledge base, but rather our behavioral elements.” – Barry Ritholtz There are many factors that we can look at when trying to figure out why the stock market went up or down on any given day. We can search the economic data for clues. We can…

“In spite of promising lower returns than most other investment classes, bonds earn inclusion in portfolios by providing protection against the extraordinary circumstances of a financial crisis or economic deflation.” – David Swensen If you missed Part 1 of my common sense series on bonds please read Investing in Bonds to learn about the different…

“Do not be puffed up because of your knowledge nor overconfident because you are a learned person.  Take counsel with the ignorant as well as with the wise, for the limits of proficiency cannot be reached, and no person is ever fully skilled.” – Egyptian Magistrate Ptah-Hotep, 2400 B.C. Warren Buffett and Bill Gross are…

“I never blame myself when I’m not hitting. I just blame the bat, and if it keeps up, I change bats. After all, if I know it isn’t my fault that I’m not hitting, how can I get mad at myself?” – Yogi Berra I have spent a lot of time talking up the advantages…

“If there is time to reflect, slowing down is likely to be a good idea.” – Daniel Kahneman Thinking Fast and Slow is a fascinating book by Nobel Prize winner Daniel Kahneman. It is full of interesting studies that have been performed over the years to learn how to think about thinking and how we…

“When things are going well and prices are high, investors rush to buy, forgetting all prudence. Then when there’s chaos all around and assets are on the bargain counter, they lose all willingness to bear risk and rush to sell. And it will ever be so.” – Howard Marks Stock markets around the globe continue…

“I’ve got all the money I’ll ever need, if I die by four o’clock.” – Henny Youngman Common sense reader mailbag: I would like to increase the percentage of my salary that I put into my 401(k) but I’m nervous with the stock market trading at all-time highs? Should I wait for a pullback in…

Disclaimer: I do not know your risk profile or time horizon as an investor so I cannot possibly gauge your suitability for the investment strategy I am about to discuss. I am simply showing how this can be done for those that determine that they have the time horizon and tolerance to take on the…

“With broad asset classes, we want to take advantage of the mathematics of mean reversion. And so when any asset class runs too far ahead, it automatically gets trimmed back.  And when it falls too much, it automatically gets bought. It just happens “automatically” through math. Look, we know any individual stock can go to zero. But…