Market failure
“There are two ways of learning how to ride a fractious horse; one is to get on him and learn by actual practice how…
A black mark for benchmarks
“Sir, So Ed Miliband “forgot” to mention the deficit. This from a man who was a key member of the team that ran up…
Let’s stick together
“Sir, On reading all the jittery comments in your paper on the issue of Scottish Independence these past few days, I cannot help but…
Back to the future
“Sir, Arnaud Montebourg, the former French economy minister and the sourest note in the Hollande repertoire, dares to complain of “absurd” austerity policies ?…
Storm warning
“When Nobel Prize-winner Joseph Stiglitz was asked in Germany this week if the country and its neighbours would suffer a lost decade, his response…
Stocks and the Stockdale Paradox
“Anything can happen in stock markets and you ought to conduct your affairs so that if the most extraordinary events happen, you’re still around…
Lessons in investment warfare
“Let us learn our lessons. Never, never, never believe any war will be smooth and easy, or that anyone who embarks on that strange…
Bedtime for Bondo
“By sacrificing quality an investor can obtain a higher income return from his bonds. Long experience has demonstrated that the ordinary investor is wiser…
Wood will burn
“I am definitely concerned. When was [the cyclically adjusted P/E ratio or CAPE] higher than it is now? I can tell you: 1929, 2000…
A time of universal deceit
“Individuals who cannot master their emotions are ill-suited to profit from the investment process.” – Ben Graham. “What really broke Germany was the…