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The current market valuation is expensive by historical standards. Some say it’s overvalued but others don’t.
If you’re lean on the side of expensive, a question worth asking is what would make our current high market valuation “not expensive”?
Jeremy Grantham asks the same question in the latest GMO letter. He has some decent answers worth thinking about: Continue Reading…
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I finally finished reading a book’s worth of articles written by Peter Lynch from 1992 to 1999. It was 44 articles to be exact and offered a peek into his thought process during the last seven years of the longest bull market in history.
His articles were a mixture of the typical Peter Lynch advice and case studies where he saw opportunities at the time.
Surprisingly (maybe not), he never mentioned the huge run-up in dot-com stocks. Instead, he focused on business he understood and fit his strategy. So most of the discussion was growth stocks, cyclicals, and turnaround opportunities.
I wanted to share some of my favorite highlights from Lynch’s articles. Continue Reading…
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Show me an investor who wants great returns right now and I’ll show you an investor who wants persistently great returns while avoiding losses too. This strategy has been pursued and promised since the dawn of time.
The problem is it doesn’t exist. You can’t have it both ways but people continue to chase the dream.
In the Luncheon Speech I referenced a few days ago, Peter Lynch was asked a question on shareholders rights and whether shareholders should be more involved in business decisions. Here’s his response (emphasis mine): Continue Reading…
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You can add to this to the list of most important things every investor should know.
Know what you own!
Peter Lynch thought that was the “single most important thing” for investors. He quickly followed it up with: know why you own it.
It seems simple enough but how many people do? We have a world of information at our fingertips but I doubt much has changed since Lynch uttered those words over two decades ago. Continue Reading…
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Most of the Peter Lynch stuff I’ve dug up recently are archived articles from pre-internet days. One of his better articles did make it online. His 1995 article titled Fear of Crashing was republished just last month.
The title says it all. There must have been some worry of a crash back in 1995 since Lynch decided to address it.
Of course, fears of a crash pop up on a regular basis. But it starts with doubt. Pundits make their annual claims why this is the year the bear market returns. If the stories seem plausible, it might sow seeds of doubt. Doubt can lead investors to try to avoid the next correction. Continue Reading…
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The latest SPIVA Scorecard on the U.S. fund industry was released this week. Only 8% of large-cap, 5% of mid-cap, and 7% of small-cap fund managers beat their benchmarks over the past 15 years.
That’s pitiful. It shouldn’t be a surprise either.
Common sense says there are too many mutual funds to manage and not enough great money managers to go around. Just like anything else that requires skill, there’s a limited number of “best” people. The rest are average, mediocre, or worse. Continue Reading…