A bear market is normally defined as a drop of 20% or more in stock prices. By this definition, according to BAML, there have been 25 bear markets since 1929. That means markets have averaged one roughly every 3.5 years or so. Unfortunately, market averages aren’t neat and tidy. They trade in both short and…

“Good judgment comes from experience, and experience comes from bad judgment.” – Barry Le Platner

“We should try to find value among the knowable – industries, companies and securities – rather than base our decisions on what we expect from the less-knowable macro world of economics and broad market performance.” – Howard Marks Being a decent investor is fairly easy. You invest in low cost, highly diversified index funds, set…

“The more that you read, the more things you’ll know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.” – Dr. Suess I’m constantly reading and I tend to come across interesting information about the financial markets, businesses and the economy.  So I thought I would start collecting some of the most interesting little…

“You can’t control what markets can do, but you can control the costs you pay. The less you pay to the purveyors of investment services, the more there will be for you. The quintessential low-cost investment vehicles are index funds, which should comprise the core of every investment portfolio. The high fees charged for active…

“Conventional valuation is established by the mass psychology of a large number of ignorant individuals…the market will be subject to waves of optimistic and pessimistic sentiment.” – John Maynard Keynes

“Habit is habit, and not to be flung out of the window by any man, but coaxed downstairs a step at a time.” – Mark Twain I feel like every week I read another story about the terrible state of retirement savings by individuals. Here are some of the scary retirement stats I read about…

“Heaven: Where the Police are British, Chefs are Italian, Mechanics are German, Lovers are French and, it’s all organized by the Swiss. Hell: Where the Police are German, Chefs are British, Mechanics are French, Lovers are Swiss and it’s all organized by the Italians.” – Proverb

“Many things about investing are counterintuitive. Low-quality assets can be safer than high-quality assets. Things get richer as they become more highly respected (and thus appreciate). There can be more risk in thinking you know something than in accepting that you don’t.” – Howard Marks The stock market is the one area in life where…

“The markets are a classroom where lessons are taught every day. The keys to investment success lie in observing and learning.” – Howard Marks I just finished The Most Important Thing by legendary investor Howard Marks of Oaktree Capital. Marks is one of the greatest value investors of all-time and the book cover even comes…