May 2017

These Are the Goods

Articles Investor ambivalence can be glimpsed from a few angles. By Michael Santoli Would you be willing to give up a few percentage points in expected return to have less risk through diversification? By of Dollars and Data Having a long-term mindset and being more patient than other investors is one of the last true…

Today in Market History

Today, Netflix celebrates its fifteenth year as a public company. In 2002, the DVD rental service raised $82.5 million, just 2.5% of what SNAP did in March, 2017.  But these are different companies and certainly different times. In May 2002, the NASDAQ was 67% off its highs and fewer companies were coming public, as the…

Does the Media Influence Demand For Stocks?

Investors are paying 56% more for every dollar of real earnings in modern times than they used to. Prior to 1983, the average CAPE ratio was 14.7, and for the last 33 years it has risen to 23. There are plenty of reasons (stories?) for why multiples expanded in the bull market of the 80s…

These Are The Goods

Articles What seems like a simple change can have dramatic effects By Isaac Presley The year after Clinton’s impeachment, the S&P 500 Index rose more than 21%. By Barry Ritholtz Stocks don’t have to crash every time they fall. By Ben Carlson Nothing feels better than the satisfaction of watching everyone lose money just after…

What’s Going On?

Why does it feel like every time stocks falls a little, they’re going to fall a lot? This is probably a permanent feature of the stock market, but it seems like that drum is beating very loud these days. I believe there are two main reasons why some investors have three feet out the door….

The Right People

I worked at an insurance shop in Manhattan for almost two years right out of college. Just prior to my arrival, the agency had transitioned owners and after only a few weeks of being there, my manager went back to being a producer. So for the next eighteen months or so, without any knowledge or any…

Today in Market History

Amazon went public twenty years ago today. A headline in The New York Times read, Investors Offer Amazon.com A Warm First-Day Reception. Yet despite the warm reception, a 30% day-one pop, few could have seen that it would go onto become one of the greatest stocks of its generation. It’s incredible to think that just ten…

These Are the Goods

Articles The federal tax code now totals 74,608 pages. The Constitution fits on three pages. By Henry Hebeler Luck is so important that two investors holding the same assets over different time periods can have wildly different investment outcomes. By of Dollars and Data If a fund company isn’t disciplined enough to price its products…

The Best Place To Be

The stock market is the best place to grow your wealth over time, with few exceptions. If you’ve already arrived at that conclusion and decided that you’re going to invest for the long-term, then the chart below should serve as a sobering reminder that buying and holding is not for the faint of heart. The…

The Map Versus The Terrain

Floating in outer space and looking down on earth, one would see a perfectly smooth, spherical ball. But zoom in and you’ll find valleys drilled thousands of feet into the surface, and mountains shooting miles into the sky. There is a world of difference between glancing at a map and traversing the terrain. Likewise, looking at…