Process

Practitioners, Prognosticators and Portfolio Pain
I spend a lot of time looking for new stocks, either by screen or by reading or talking to other value investors. We are all having a hard time finding many stocks of interest.

A Few Simple Rules For Money Managers
As a parent the hardest thing to do is not to be a hypocrite. You tell your kids to do one thing – the right thing – but you don’t stick to your own advice.

Germany, Europe and Mother Russia – Excerpts from VALUEx Vail
I always look forward to Hendrik Leber's presentations. Hendrik runs a value investment fund named Acatis Investment out of Frankfurt, but he invests globally.

The Process – from VALUEx Vail
Investing is a peculiar industry because randomness is so deeply embedded in everything we do. I am always fascinated by the investment processes of other successful firms.

Ben Bernanke: Buy One Suit, Get Three Free
Linear thinking is dangerous. It is the easiest form of reasoning, lying on the path of least resistance. The simpler the path, the more readily people will march along it.

Jesse Livermore: Parallels Between 1920s and Today
There are lot of similarities between the 1920s and today. In fact Livermore’s quote says it all: “There is never anything new on Wall Street, because speculation is as old as the hills.” Jon talked about how the 1924-1929 bull market was rigged by stock manipulators.

Tweets from Warren Buffett’s Woodstock
Over the years, the beginning of May has turned into a wonderful tradition: a trip to Omaha to Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting.

Thoughts from VALUEx Vail 2012 Conference
VALUEx Vail is not your typical conference. It is a not-for-profit (but for-learning), by-invitation-only (you have to apply to be invited) conference.

Seek out people who disagree with you; The budget deficit is a stimulus; China = post-bubble Japan?
Buffett said "When government runs a 10% deficit, it is a stimulus, though nobody calls it that." But the bond market will not let us run 10% deficits forever.

Don’t Look to the Market for Advice
Bull markets are Emerald Cities of our own making. In a bull market it is decreed that investors and the media shall wear green-tinted glasses.

Bullish. Bearish. Brokish!
Though the market keeps raging to the upside, I keep seeing bearish signs in market sentiment – the VIX is hitting multi-year lows, NYSE short interest is hitting a four-year low, the ratio of insider selling to buying is running at what John Hussman calls “panic level,” 8 to 1


