Remember the good old days when the stock market only went up? During the final two decades of the twentieth century it seemed like the question wasn’t whether the market would rise year-to-year, but how high would it go. Falling stock prices just weren’t much of an issue in those days. Read the rest of this entry »
2011: A Year in Review
February 1st, 2012
The past year reminded investors that they should hope for the best, prepare for the worst, and be thankful when reality does not match their fears. Investors entered 2011 with hopes that the world economy would continue recovering from a long and painful deleveraging process. Read the full report.
Hedge of Darkness
February 1st, 2012
It’s true. Big money can be made from hedge funds. If you run one, that is. Read the rest of this entry »
Lessons From 2011
January 27th, 2012
Every year, Larry Swedroe takes a look back at the investing lessons the markets provided in the past year. In 2011, the markets offered investors a chance to revisit a few remedial courses by teaching lessons it had introduced in prior years. So, this year’s list includes a few reminders that we are just as likely to lose our discipline in good times as we can in bad times. Read the rest of this entry »
Embracing Imperfection
January 12th, 2012
New Year’s resolutions often involve making promises to ourselves we can never keep. But instead of tilting at windmills, we can often generate better results by merely resolving to be less dumb in certain areas. And money is a good place to start. Read the rest of this entry »
Things Change …
December 29th, 2011
It’s that time again when harried finance editors ask reporters to call investment professionals and cobble together top predictions for the coming year. These are fun to write. But for readers, they’re more entertaining a year later. Read the rest of this entry »
8 Great Gifts You Don’t Need to Wrap
December 12th, 2011
With holiday TV ads running non-stop, it’s easy to get caught up in shopping mania this time of year. Fortunately, the most important and valuable gifts you can give your family require no shopping, no wrapping, and no assembly. Read the rest of this entry »
The Good Old Days?
December 12th, 2011
“The hardest arithmetic for human beings to master,” wrote the great American working man’s philosopher Eric Hoffer, “is that which enables us to count our blessings.”
It’s a piece of wisdom worth recalling after another year that has tested the nerve of many investors and prompted questions about what current generations have done to deserve to live in such a tempestuous stage of history. Read the rest of this entry »
What Does a Winning Streak Tell Us?
December 2nd, 2011
Bill Miller is one of the most closely watched money managers in the industry, so it was big news when he announced his decision last week to step down as portfolio manager of Legg Mason Capital Management Value Trust (LMVTX) early next year. His departure also adds an intriguing chapter to the long-running debate regarding the value of active stock selection. Read the rest of this entry »
Bards of the Bar
December 2nd, 2011
As a topic of conversation, investment is like sports. Everyone has an opinion. And the strongest opinions often come from those who spend more time in front of the TV than out on the field. Practitioners, meanwhile, are wary of anything labeled a sure thing. Indeed, it’s one of life’s ironies that the people who know the least about a subject sound the most sure of themselves. In investment, these are the ones who prop up bars telling anyone who will listen that they have found the path to certain wealth. Read the rest of this entry »
