August 2017

Today in Market History, The First Index Fund

42 years ago today, Vanguard’s First Index Investment Trust was born. Bogle’s goal was to launch with $150 million, but there was little appetite for “average returns” and it gathered just $11.5 million, missing its target by more than 90%. Not only did they fall short in terms of money raised, but the product itself…

Did Buffett Kill Value Investing?

From 1957-1969, Warren Buffett’s partnership returned 2800%, or 29.5% a year*. Over the same time, the S&P 500 rose 153%, or 7.4% a year. Warren Buffett has been crushing the market for seven decades, but his early success went largely unnoticed. His name didn’t appear anywhere noteworthy until Adam Smith’s Supermoney, which wasn’t written until 1972….

I’m Buying Gold

On Thursday, I’m buying gold. This is not a typo. In the past, I’ve been a pretty vocal critic of the barbarous relic, but I want to clear up a few things. I am not anti-gold, I have no view on its fundamentals or what it might do in the event that the economy does…

These Are the Goods

Articles The city’s cost of living was by far the highest among 821 school districts in the state, but its average teacher pay ranked No. 528 By Heather Knight For funds that hold exotic assets like palladium however, quirks in the underlying market can often lead to more unpredictable patterns By Carolina Wilson and Luzi-Ann Javier…

These Are the Goods

Articles Don’t ask big companies who sell annuities if you should own one. By Tony Isola From a surface-level standpoint, it looks like we’re either too selective, or complacent. Neither could be further from the truth. By Brent Beshore A virus that mutates and evolves means a vaccine that might work today won’t work tomorrow….

Only a Market of Stocks

It’s hard to believe that the S&P 500 has been within 5% of its all-time high for the last 284 trading days, going all the way back to June, 2016. It would surprise no one if that streak ended sooner, rather than later. On Friday, The S&P 500 closed 1.99% below its all-time high. The…

These Are the Goods

Articles Over-diversification can create a false sense of confidence whereby we believe we are well diversified, but in reality, a large number of investments actually share a common risk. By Corey Hoffstein An advisor who isn’t counting on some percentage of their clientele needing more than just emailed assurances probably isn’t being realistic. By Josh…

在庫バブル

Meb Faber recently asked three very interesting questions on Twitter. Do you currently own U.S. stocks? 87% Yes, 13% No (1,401 votes) Would you continue to hold U.S. stocks if valuations hit a 10-year PE (CAPE) of 50? 55% Yes, 45% No (1,282 votes) Would you continue to hold U.S. stocks if valuations hit a…

If This is 1929…

Eight days before the market bottomed in July 1932, Ben Graham wrote an article in Forbes, Should Rich But Losing Corporations Be Liquidated? In it he wrote, “More than one industrial company in three selling for less than its net current assets, with a large number quoted at less than their unencumbered cash.” At a time…

These Are the Goods

Articles I asked if they measured the efficacy of the analysts’ historical picks. No. I asked if they measured the accuracy of the analysts’ fundamental estimates. No. By Leigh Drogen Curiosity’s treasures are a bitch to extract. By Mike Dariano You can’t see the end in advance, nor can I, nor can Druck. By Josh…