Global markets looked rejuvenated in the first half of 2019. Gains were seen practically across the board.

In the U.S., the S&P 500 shook off 2018’s 20% peak to trough decline to reach new highs. But it was foreign markets that topped the list.

Of course, for investors, you had to be in the market to earn those gains. And I doubt many expected market returns of this level in a mere six months. It just shows that timing is hard for a reason.

Here are a few observations before getting to the results: Continue Reading…

Fred Schwed’s classic Where are the Customers’ Yachts? delivers simple financial truths with a side a satire. He presents the unvarnished view of Wall Street as he saw it:

…thousands of erring humans, of varying degrees of good will, solemnly engaged in the business of predicting the unpredictable.

The book is filled with more great lines about timeless lessons on investing, speculating, and Wall Street.

I thought I’d share a few of my favorites: Continue Reading…

We can point out the errors to be avoided much more successfully than we can lay out a course of positive action.

G.C. Selden wrote that line in 1912. It fits Munger’s idea of inversion: figure out the best ways to lose money, then avoid doing those things. It’s a common-sense way to improve returns.

I came across this idea twice this week (it happens every week, really) from century-old sources. Selden covered the usual suspects — over-optimism, enthusiasm, stubbornness, fear, anger, greed — before summarizing his book on investor psychology. Continue Reading…