As usual, Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett’s annual letter to shareholders contained both timely commentary and timeless investment wisdom, delivered with wit, simplicity and humility
Instead of being a calm, careful financial steward following a plan, do you find yourself constantly fretting about money and getting caught up in a losing game of financial Whac-A-Mole? If so, you’re not alone.
There is no shortage of market pundits and others whose modus operandi is to play/prey on investors’ fears by painting a picture of impending doom and gloom, whether supported by the facts or, in most cases, not.
Investors are often reluctant to act on their own information and go against the comfort of the herd, fearing damage to their reputations as sound decision-makers.
The major stock market indexes showed flattish performance in 2015, but only because the largest-capitalization stocks did well.
The SEC has been concerned about exactly this scenario caused by the mismatch between a fund offering its shareholders daily access to their money while a significant proportion of its assets are illiquid (i.e. cannot be sold quickly without affecting price).
Modern billionaires approach charitable giving in unconventional ways.
In a typical Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization, all parties suffer (except the lawyers). Creditors take a significant “haircut” on the amount owed and the owners’ investment is effectively wiped out.
Skip buying “Star Wars” gear and instead establish or make a gift to a young person’s 529 College Savings Plan account.
Fund investors endured harrowing plunges in 2015. Absent a year-end rally, returns will be disappointingly modest.
The road to reaching long-term outperformance is bumpy, but that doesn’t make these short-term periods of weakness any easier to take.
The college represents the most important investment a student will make, so you want to maximize your expected return by carefully weighing all the factors.
For the vast majority of investors, bear-market funds just don’t make sense.
We’re biologically wired to avoid losses at any cost, and the bad memories of 2008 are still fresh. So it is perfectly understandable that investors are having a visceral reaction and feeling a great deal of anxiety. By the same token, we believe investors must overcome these biases in order to succeed.
Greece shoulders most of the blame for its third trip to the brink of default in five years, but it takes two to tango and Greece had a most willing accomplice: the lenders themselves.
The combination of higher EPS and company buying usually provides a short-term boost to the stock. This makes Wall Street happy, keeps the activists at bay, and helps management enhance the value of its stock options and meet bonus targets.
The U.S. stock market has historically rebounded well and quickly from bad world news.
Golf is not only a metaphor for life, but for investing also.
People frequently ask me how they should invest their money. While everybody’s situation is different, I always advise them to not invest any funds likely to be needed in the next three to five years.
High-frequency” trading firms spend billions in a high-stakes arms race to gain a millisecond’s edge on executions. But while speed may be valuable to traders, it can be extremely detrimental to investors.
