July 2017

Today in Market History, Buy the Rumor, Sell the News

On July 31, 2008, investors were reminded of the fact that investing is a relative game, not governed by absolute laws. Exxon Mobil reported the largest quarterly profit in U.S. history, and its stock fell nearly 5%. (The S&P 500 declined 1.3% on the same day) The chart below is a great example of how…

These Are the Goods

Articles Apple has become the greatest cash machine in history with what must have, at the time, been a ridiculously stupid idea: “let’s open stores.” By Scott Galloway How is it possible that everybody believes that they are honest yet has a difficult time identifying anyone else with the same characteristics? By Ben Horowitz The influx of…

A Few Charts and a Few Thoughts

Last night, David Schawel pointed out that the worst year for the Barclays Aggregate Bond Index was -2.9%. I’ve written in the past that a bad year for bonds is a bad week for stocks, but I was still surprised to learn just how shallow the worst calendar year was. You might say, well duh, bonds…

The Topic is Gold

Last week I participated in a focus group. This is when fund companies pay participants to sit in a round table discussion and watch behind one-way mirrors. I’ve done this several times and they’re always a great experience. I get to see how other people in the industry think, how much they know, and how…

These Are the Goods

Articles Image is worth nothing and people won’t pay for it forever. By Josh Brown Don’t blame the product for the product user’s mistakes. By Cullen Roche Investors weigh the importance of change and timelessness differently, but every great company has some element of both. By Morgan Housel  While portfolio management often brings investors into…

When Something is Obvious

One of the best descriptions of how intelligent investors behave comes from The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money, which was written by John Maynard Keynes. In 1936, he said: “Professional investment may be likened to those newspaper competitions in which the competitors have to pick out the six prettiest faces from a hundred photographs,…

It’s All Happening

“There are decades where nothing happens; and there are weeks where decades happen.” -Vladimir Lenin U.S. stocks made zero progress in the seventeen months from October 2014 to January 2016. And in the seventeen months since the February lows, here’s how the following indexes have performed. S&P 500 +36% NASDAQ 100 +52% Russell 2000 +52…

These Are the Goods

Articles The beauty of compound interest is that it continues to behave fractally with each piece of interest eventually earning its own interest. By of Dollars and Data Convincing yourself that you’re right when you know you’re wrong is a time-honored tradition in the markets By Ben Carlson Your true worth is determined by how…

Ten Rules For Catching A Bottom

I’ve never met a new investor who was a trend follower. That’s because we were taught to buy low and sell high before we were old enough to open a brokerage account. So when we come of age, we go hunting for bargains. But we quickly discover this is harder than it sounds. Nobody can…

A Few Charts And a Few Thoughts

Emerging markets (EEM) are outperforming U.S. stocks this year by 12.3%. European stocks (VGK) are outperforming U.S. stocks by 8.3%. And despite the performance disparity in the first half of the year, the U.S. still owns the last decade. Over the last ten years, the S&P 500 has returned 95%. Emerging Markets are up 11%…