Through the course of life, there are some anniversaries that we enjoy celebrating. And then there are others that we'd just as soon forget. Last week the investment world celebrated one of the latter sort: the thirtieth anniversary of the stock market crash of 1987. It is worth remembering however, [...]
Hammer time
I have to confess that I've never been a big fan of Victorian-era, long, plodding novels. However, Charles Dickens's David Copperfield, published in 1850, contains a piece of timeless wisdom that I'd like to share with you. The book's central character is named Wilkins Micawber. A man with a [...]
September 28, 1941
On the afternoon of Sunday, September 28, 1941, it was cool and damp in Philadelphia. Inside Shibe Park, where the hometown Athletics were suiting up to face the Red Sox, all eyes were on the Sox's 23-year-old slugger, Ted Williams. It was the last day of the regular season, and Williams' average [...]
From Las Vegas to Washington
Sometimes a joke is clearly just a joke, like this bumper sticker, which I saw recently: To be sure, every joke has a kernel of truth. But, most people who play the lottery do know, rationally, that Powerball isn't a reliable route to retirement. Sometimes, though, it's not as easy to make [...]
My portfolio
I'm a big believer in transparency, so today I'd like to tell you a little about my own personal portfolio. As you might guess, the overwhelming majority of what I own is allocated to simple, low-cost index funds — the same things I recommend in my writing and for clients. That is true almost [...]