Good reads from around the Web.
I really liked an analogy from blogger Random Roger that I read this week. In an article stressing that investing is about long-term results, Roger writes:
One comment we’ve heard several times in this year’s Tour de France is that they can’t win the Tour today but they can lose it today.
And this relates to investing.
You cannot ensure that you will have enough money when you need it by having a good month, quarter or year, but it is possible to seriously jeopardize your ability to have enough when you need it with certain behavior.
Can you remember how much you were up in March 2010? Or whether you beat the market (if that’s your aim) in 2007?
Very unlikely. Even if you do keep detailed records, you’re either a savant or you’ll need to consult your files before answering.
Yet how much does the typical news-obsessed investor sweat when the market falls 5%?
These short-term oscillations matter a lot to fund managers and financial journalists, but they don’t mean much in the long run. What goes up usually comes down almost as far on a day-to-day basis. Often enough by tomorrow!
It’s over the months and much more so the years that the gains really add up.
So forget winning the yellow jersey. Keep your eyes on the finish line!
From the blogs
Making good use of the things that we find…
Passive investing
- Beware Blackrock’s crafty fund names – Simple Living in Suffolk
- Invest like a chicken – Rick Ferri
- There is no such thing as emotionless investing – Abnormal Returns
Active investing
- Are these mistakes costing you 6% a year? – UK Value Investor
- In defense of concentrated portfolios – Aleph blog
- What fund managers really think – iii blog
- The US market looks expensive on a PE10 basis – Value Perspective
- How to actually profit from the Shiller PE10 ratio – A Dash of Insight
Other articles
- The world according to investors [Graphic] – The Reformed Broker
- If I woke up broke – Mr Money Mustache
- Life expectancy grows with age – Wade Pfau
Product of the week: Leeds Building Society has launched a 0% mortgage. Of course it’s an introductory offer. The Guardian has all the details.
Mainstream media money
Some links are Google search results – in PC/desktop view these enable you to click through to read the piece without being a paid subscriber of that site. 1
Passive investing
- How to choose the right ETF [Search result] – FT
- Swedroe: More lies about active investing – Index Universe
- Common investing mistakes… – Vanguard blog
- …and 4 more mistakes that make you a bad investor – Motley Fool
- Beware bad financial journalism – Swedroe/CBS
Active investing
- 1,000 dividends, 3 lessons – MorningStar
- Don’t invest in hedge funds – The Atlantic
- Gold loses its luster – Newsweek
- How much of their trusts should directors own? – Money Observer
- Hedge fund alpha has gone negative – Value Walk
Other stuff worth reading
- Understanding your personal rate of return – Morningstar
- Should you help your child buy a house? – The Telegraph
- Homes in the sun luring Britons again – The Telegaph
- A villain’s guide to football – The Economist
- The Apple App Store era’s winners and losers – Splat F
Book of the week: Simon Lack’s new book on the end of the 30-year bond bull market, Bonds Are Not Forever
Like these links? Subscribe to get them every week!
- Reader Ken notes that: “FT articles can only be accessed through the search results if you’re using PC/desktop view (from mobile/tablet view they bring up the firewall/subscription page). To circumvent, switch your mobile browser to use the desktop view. On Chrome for Android: press the menu button followed by “Request Desktop Site”.”[↩]
