At an Impasse but Finding a New Path
“I can’t believe you see it that way!” Just last week, I said this to my wife in the middle of a discussion (O.K., a fight) about money. We were experiencing something many of you have probably also faced. We...
How to Calculate Where to Invest Abroad
With the MSCI Emerging Markets Index up nearly 10% year-to-date through May 1, I think many people are wondering whether this area is the most attractive for investors seeking international exposure. Alas, history has taught us time and again that...
Value Investing Facts And Fiction
Value is the phenomenon in which securities that sell at low prices relative to fundamental metrics (such as earnings, book value, cash flow, dividends and sales) on average outperform securities that sell at high relative prices. Specifically, the value premium...
More Value Facts And Fiction
Earlier this week, we began discussing some of the more pervasive and enduring facts and fictions surrounding the value premium. But it’s important to understand that the value premium—a phenomenon in which securities that sell at low prices relative to...
At an Impasse but Finding a New Path
“I can’t believe you see it that way!” Just last week, I said this to my wife in the middle of a discussion (O.K., a fight) about money. We were experiencing something many of you have probably also faced. We...
How a Loophole Could Gut the Department of Labor’s Proposed Fiduciary Rule
Permitting fiduciaries to accept payments from vendors will likely make the proposed rule ineffective. Washington bureaucrats seem to have a way of making everything complicated. Have you perused the tax code lately? According to The Washington Times, it has 4...
Two Predictions You Can Take to the Bank
Most predictions are utter nonsense. They’re made by self-styled “gurus” who are really emperors with no clothes. If they are right, it’s due to luck and not skill (although they are quick to claim credit). Warren Buffett’s view of those...
My Misguided Quest to Beat the Market
During my first 15 years as a professional investor, I fully believed it was possible to identify individual securities through fundamental research that would outperform the market. That commitment to seeking alpha is the one investment decision I would most...
Value Premium Goes Missing
That value stocks (in particular, small value stocks) have provided higher returns for investors over time is both well-documented and well-known. So it’s no great surprise that—as director of research for The BAM Alliance, a community of more than 140...
