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  • The Consequences of Reaching for Yield

    October 4, 2017

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    Jon

    In 1992, Seth Klarman warned investors of being too greedy toward yield. He watched investors chasing anything that came close to the high yields they once earned in the 1980s.

    Well, history may not repeat but it does rhyme.

    A similar thing has been happening for a few years now. This time around, I doubt greed is the driver. Rather, fear of not earning enough is pushing investors into higher-yielding assets. Junk bonds, emerging market bonds, and stocks look more attractive because the assets investors once relied on for yield fall way short of their needs.

    Howard Marks explained the problem perfectly in a recent interview: Continue Reading…


  • Happy Hour: Overconfidence 

    September 29, 2017

    ·

    Jon

    Charlie Munger has a unique way of describing the errors of our ways. These “errors” can be simply described as human nature.

    And yet, overconfidence has a funny way of making people believe they’re immune to these errors. Somehow, they’re the exception to the rule.

    In an article, Murger wrote about the perils overconfidence can have on something as simple as higher costs on average returns. This was in relation to foundations taking on more costly consultants for investment advice, but it’s certainly not limited to the professionals.

    Everyone deals with these same issues in (and outside of) investing: Continue Reading…


  • Charlie Munger’s Guaranteed Misery

    September 27, 2017

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    Jon

    Charlie Munger once gave a graduation speech in 1986 on how to guarantee a life of misery. He borrowed the idea from a speech Johnny Carson gave several years earlier. Instead of speaking about what leads to a life of happiness, Carson did the opposite.

    So Carson rattled off three sure things he knew would lead to misery: ingesting chemicals in an effort to alter mood or perception, envy, and resentment. If you focused on only those three things you can have the most miserable life you’ve always wanted.

    Munger liked Carson’s speech so much, he expanded on it, adding four more ingredients that would guarantee misery: Continue Reading…


  • Happy Hour: Dow 1,000,000

    September 22, 2017

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    Jon

    Warren Buffett made a Dow 1,000,000 call this week. He thinks it will be surpassed in the next 100 years.

    It’s hard to imagine a century from now. That number might even seem impossible to some people, but the math checks out. It works out to a conservative 3.8% annual return over the next century.

    Really, the number is not that important. What is important is Buffett’s faith in America’s ability to offer a competitive advantage for businesses over the next century. And if businesses have the opportunity to do well, workers do well, the country does well, and owner’s of businesses (investors) will prosper. Continue Reading…


  • Ben Graham on Risk, Efficiency, and Judgement

    September 20, 2017

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    Jon

    The battle over just how efficient the market is and how to define risk has been overdone for several decades. I think most people have come to their senses or have, at least, accepted that markets aren’t nearly as efficient as was once preached.

    Still, it’s always nice to know that not everyone back in the day fell for a theory that assumed we were all rational beings. That somehow we can make emotional decisions throughout our daily lives but the second our thoughts turn towards investing and money, we shut it off entirely and only act rationally. Seriously, how far-fetched is that?

    Had more people stopped to think about it for a few seconds, they might have saved the blogosphere vasts amounts of time and energy on an argument that refuses to die.

    As Graham lays out, the market sometimes lacks common sense and gets emotional with the information it has. Continue Reading…


  • Happy Hour: All In (Out)

    September 15, 2017

    ·

    Jon

    Howard Marks came out with a new memo to clarify the last memo he wrote. His latest is a good example of how people – the media – interpret what is said about the markets and reduce it to all or nothing decisions. It never is.

    The all in (out) mentality reminds me of a gambler on tilt. They let their emotions drive their decision until they eventually bet everything and walk away from the table with nothing. And yet, investing gets reduced to this binary view too often (which probably has more to do with the misperception people have of investing in general). Continue Reading…


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