Warren Buffett once famously said that his number one rule in investing is to never lose money. And yet, as I had pointed out in a previous blog post, his own company Berkshire Hathaway’s shares had dropped by 50% more than once. How would he reconcile those drops with his number … [Read more...] about I avoid losing money
Investing Mindset
How I approach investing
Bear market: a curse or a blessing?
I wish all investors get at least one bear market in their investing journeys. A lot of people would consider this a curse—but it really is a blessing in disguise. I will explain why. Today, financial media is focused on when this bull market will end. As if the end of a bull … [Read more...] about Bear market: a curse or a blessing?
Gratuitous advice with no accountability
At the Markel’s shareholder meeting in Omaha in June, someone from the audience posed this question to the company management: “I met a very large international money manager last night for dinner and he warned me that now is not the time to invest in US stocks. What do you think … [Read more...] about Gratuitous advice with no accountability
Careful with defined outcome investing
I wrote about my principal-protected investments in a February blog post (Market neutral investing). Those are only a tiny fraction of my portfolio. I only use them for my liquid capital—money that I might need in short order and therefore can’t be tied up in ordinary … [Read more...] about Careful with defined outcome investing
Investor anxiety
2018 was a brutal year for individual stock investors. Following the relatively calm performance in 2016 and 2017, the US stock market in 2018 was marked with high volatility. It went down by 10% in the first quarter, and then gradually recovered. It dropped again in the fourth … [Read more...] about Investor anxiety