A Note on the Market: Since my last blog entry, the stock market has kept climbing the wall of worry. It has gone on to new highs recently. As I’ve said before, I don’t plan to ever get out of the market completely but I continue to gradually raise cash by taking some money off … [Read more...] about How the three master investors would’ve ranked my stocks
InvestorBehavior
Down memory lane with The Motley Fool
I have been reading The Motley Fool’s investments letters since 2002, especially its flagship product, Motley Fool Stock Advisor. In those early years, brothers David and Tom Gardner would each personally pitch one stock recommendation every month. I appreciated David Gardner’s … [Read more...] about Down memory lane with The Motley Fool
It pays to stay invested
In recent months, I have seen a change in casual investors’ behaviors. They seem more interested in stocks. These days, people approach me to see if I have any hot stock tips for them. Or they ask if I think the market is too high and it’s time to bail out. My response tends to … [Read more...] about It pays to stay invested
Ignore your cost bases
As the stock market rose to a new high this month, it was time to divest what I had invested during the brief April downturn. I raise cash when stocks are reaching new highs and invest in them when they go down (my dry powder investing). As I considered what to sell, I noticed … [Read more...] about Ignore your cost bases
Bought stocks for my kids 13 years ago
My older son had a stock picking competition when he was in middle school. That was the year 2010. That competition gave each student a virtual cash account to invest in stocks, bonds, and ETFs. Whoever made a portfolio that performed the best over a 10-week period would … [Read more...] about Bought stocks for my kids 13 years ago
Avoid false positives in your investing
In criminal justice system, “it is better to let the crime of a guilty person go unpunished than to condemn the innocent.” [US Supreme Court 1895] Broadly speaking, in any system where there is uncertainty and incomplete information, there are two types of decision errors that … [Read more...] about Avoid false positives in your investing
Recent downturns through history’s lens
As the market teeters at the edge of another correction (so what else is new!), as always, we stand ready to take advantage of low prices whenever they come. My dry powder coffers are now full. Over the last 12 months, I took all the cash out of my portfolio that I had invested … [Read more...] about Recent downturns through history’s lens
Make your investing an infinite game
I like to think of investing as a kind of an infinite game. Although it is not strictly an infinite game, I believe it has similar characteristics. So what is an infinite game? It’s a game that has no definitive conclusion. It has no finish line and no one person can be … [Read more...] about Make your investing an infinite game
Why we can do better than professional investors
Stanley Druckenmiller regrets selling his NVIDIA position too soon. He said recently that he wished he had held on to his NVIDIA shares, but admitted he’s no Warren Buffett: “I don’t own things for 10 or 20 years. I wish I was Warren Buffett.” I admire his candid confession but … [Read more...] about Why we can do better than professional investors
If you wait for the robins
Over the last two years, too many people bailed out on stocks because they wanted to avoid a possible recession. Peter Lynch once said: “Far more money has been lost by investors trying to anticipate corrections, than lost in the corrections themselves.” Economic forecasts are … [Read more...] about If you wait for the robins