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Fred's Kollege of Financial Nowledge
Harry Markowitz and Modern Portfolio Theory
A few weeks ago, upon the death of Harry Markowitz, I wrote briefly on both his importance in the galaxy of of economic (financial) super stars but also of his importance to both you (assuming you’re one of our investors) and me,...
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Why We Do What We Do Redux
The underlying philosophy and principles of our portfolio construction is based upon significant historical and independent academic research. This is not guesswork, but simply acting on what the long-term, empirical data tells us. The...
Read MoreDon't Be The Blind Chicken of 2023
I’ve advised that on our first Fred After Dark broadcast of the year we’d look into our crystal ball(s) and come up with some predictions about the future. Predications are always a fun exercise – for me at least,...
Read MoreDo I Really Need To Know This?
You don't have to know everything about investing -- if you know the right things. This is one of the "right things!"
Read MoreA Bit Of Investing Lingua Franca
Everybody knows what a “stock” is, but how many know how that term was derived. Obviously, today a share of stock is a piece of paper denoting ownership in a corporate enterprise entitling the owner to the benefits derived...
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What Drives Investment Returns - Start With Ingenuity
An old friend at DFA, Wes Wellington (one of those really smart people I mentioned in one of my recent emails and whose musings I like to share) penned a very interesting article on not only what drives equity returns but also...
Read MoreIn A Bear Market: Who or What or Should I Listen To?
Obviously, while working out of town a great deal has gone on in the global markets over the last couple of weeks, but not necessarily anything that was really unexpected. We have been back and forth within the confines of a bear...
Read MoreWhy We Invest
The Zoom broadcast we started over a year ago was created due to an observation made to both JT and I regarding our lifestyle – which was articulated as: “you two live the good life and others would like to learn how to...
Read MoreIn An Inflationary Environment Does Gold Make Sense
In An Inflationary Environment Does Gold Make Sense Right now, inflation seems to be on everyone’s (including investors) minds. And, given the actions of our denizens of the swamp in D.C. this is a reasonable concern. I get some...
Read MoreInvestment Financial Terms In Plain English
One of the problems that professionals in any field of endeavor have is in communicating in terms the general public can understand. A lot of communications are oft referred to as "inside baseball," meaning that it is information that...
Read MoreA Very Unpleasant and Even More Important Subject
I've written on multiple occasions and discussed in meetings with clients the importance of those of a certain age (I'd suggest 60+ as a starting point) setting up and having a "family meeting" where children of age are brought into...
Read MoreBe Careful What You Wish For
The "garden path" many investors are trapped into following is not much different (keeping within a garden metaphor) than insects being attracted to the venus fly trap or a pitcher plant. The promise of sweet nectar results in their...
Read MoreHarry Truman's Long Quest
A frustrated president Harry Truman once opined that what he was looking for was a one armed economist. The reason being: when he asked for an economic forecast he always received as an answer, "on the one hand... then again, on the...
Read MoreFirmly Rooted In Academia
One of the reasons we have chosen MatsonMoney as a primary, core investment manager for most of our clients (when appropriate to their circumstances) is their firm foundation and relationships with academia and leading academics in the...
Read MoreWashington and Your Portfolio
January 7, 2021 Fortunately, I was preoccupied most of yesterday and didn't have access to news so I was pretty much aware of the riot taking place within the halls of congress. Fortunately, when it comes to investments and investing,...
Read More2020 -- A Brief Recap
A brief recap of the year that was as well as a look ahead to the coming year. Obviously, as we leave the current year, it was dominated by two important occurrences, both of which had investment implications: the Covid19 pandemic and...
Read MoreThe Election and Your Investment Portfolio
No doubt some of you will have concerns regarding your investments depending upon the outcome of the U.S. election. While these concerns are understandable, unless you are a short term trader or have immediate short term needs...
Read MoreDoes Using A Put Option Make Sense To Mitigate Against A Portfolio's Decline In Value
On our Zoom broadcast last Thursday evening (“Cocktails With Fred”) an excellent question was posed by one of our attendees. Specifically, what did I think of using a “put option” to protect one’s...
Read MoreThe Science of Investing Explained
In the world of portfolio management, where chasing “hot stocks” and the objective of “beating-the-market” seem to rule the day, many investors inevitably lose out by suffering huge losses and destroying their...
Read MoreThe Investment Conundrum
A conundrum faced by all investments both now and over the last ten years since 2008 is how they can generate income – both for retirement income as well as an add on to portfolio returns in a diversified, non-correlated...
Read MoreWhy Even Consider Investing In Foreign Stocks
May 31, 2020 Why Even Consider Investing In International Stocks Before getting deeply into a discussion regarding the how’s and why’s of including international stocks in a well engineered portfolio, its probably best to...
Read MoreOnly In America
I have always been an optimist about our country -- even in what appeared to be her darkest hours of wartime, assassinations, rioting, runaway inflation and economic distress. I always knew, as Americans we could truly "overcome," find...
Read MoreOur Advantage
I've oft described there are nuances to the investment process that add to the returns that are lost upon those who only focus on the internal costs of index funds. The mistake many investors make is, as I've pointed out before is...
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The Cost Of Attempting To Time The Market
Attempting to time markets involves a twofold decision: not only when to get out of the markets but also when to get back in. Missing only of the few better days can be enormously costly to a portfolio as the graph (Courtesy of...
Read MoreContext Is Everything -- Redux
In an earlier tome I talked about context and revisited the 1918 pandemic (Spanish Flu) and the succeeding period which was known as "The Roaring Twenties" when this country and the stock market experienced exceptional growth. It even...
Read MoreA Simple Explanation
Markets are reflective of and report to us on human behavior via their pricing mechanisms. As an old friend, psychology Prof Ed Timmons from LSU once explained to a small group of us, when you take into account the human brain has...
Read MoreImportant Personal Letter To Our Clients About These Times We're Living In
Dear Clients & Friends, To begin with, I hope this letter finds you and your family safe. It is certainly a chaotic time, but as is often stated, “this too shall pass.” First off, it’s okay to be nervous about the...
Read MoreThe Investment Cost That Dare Not Speak Its Name
I've often written that one of the problems undisciplined, uncoached investors have is they always seem to be focused on picking up pennies while they miss seeing the dollars that would be otherwise available to them -- in other words...
Read MoreSanity In An Insane World
Sanity In An Insane World As is often the case when an occurrence takes place that lights the fuse of a market/economic decline, a great deal of irrational behavior comes to light – that which both precedes the event (see...
Read MoreNow Is The Time That Try Men and Women Investors' Souls
This is a guest video created today by my good friend Mark Matson. I commend it to you because it addresses today's events and investors' responses to it that is all to human. I have addressed this issue in several turbulent markets...
Read MoreIs The Sky Really Falling or What Do I Do Now
Obviously, this is the type of week and global market action that the media loves (if it bleeds it leads) and tends to bring the pundits out of the woodwork as various talking heads and the public look for some sort of explanation and...
Read MoreInvesting Like A Nobel Laureate
As most of my readers know, our fundamental approach to investing is guided by specific principles (for which their creators received a Nobel Prize), namely: a passive approach (except where client circumstances dictate otherwise),...
Read MoreThe Largest and Most Hidden Cost of Investing
I've written in my commentaries, before, about the hidden costs of investing – some which are not readily available to the average investor either from stock brokerage firms, financial planners or mutual fund purveyors. Among...
Read MoreThose Who Can Time The Market
OK, its a teaser headline. I'm not aware of anyone, with any tool or tools who can consistently make correct market timing calls – of when to get in or out of the market(s) or which asset class(es) to move into and which to move...
Read MoreAre Professional Investment Managers Stupid?
In perusing one of the trade journals I was struck by a listing of "the best performing funds," which was followed by a list of the worst. What interested me was the fact that I found the "leading loser" was a (formerly) highly...
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