It’s a short list this quarter. My book reading took a hit because studying took over my reading time. It will likely remain the case for most of this year.

Here’s what I’ve been reading the past three months: Continue Reading…

An outsider not familiar with Benjamin Graham might see The Intelligent Investor as an investing book past it’s prime.

The book was first written in 1949. The fourth and last edition revised by Graham was printed in 1973. Graham regularly used current stocks and market events to keep examples and case histories fresh. Even the strategies Graham presented where timely. So it’s understandable if some readers label it “outdated.”

But those same readers probably want something tangible. There will always be a supply of people wanting a secret formula or metric, a short cut to easy gains. It’s human nature. And the publishing industry supplies that demand. The investing genre is filled with long-forgotten books like that because the formulas only last an instant.

What matters is Graham’s primary lessons on Mr. Market and margin of safety are still relevant, even though they may be applied different today. And his secondary lessons are too. Here are just a few examples that come to mind. Continue Reading…

Peter Lynch once said, “I’ve found that when the market’s going down and you buy funds wisely, at some point in the future you will be happy.” That quote sums up the transition in markets from 2018 to 2019. It turns out, the happiness Lynch refers to sometimes only takes a year.

2019 ended the 2010s on a high note for most broad asset classes. There’s a lot of green on a per-country basis too. In other words, 2018’s woes were met by a double-digit recovery in all but a handful of stock markets in 2019.

There’s a lesson in there as well. Bear markets don’t have a fixed duration or depth. There’s no telling when one might end. You can try to time it. And for that, I wish you luck (you’ll need it). But most people are better off staying in the game. Surviving a bear market is rewarding…literally!

A quick note before diving into the 2019 numbers. The asset class, sector, international markets, emerging market return quilts, and the historical returns data are up-to-date. Hit the links for each one. Continue Reading…