Novel Investor

Compounding investing wisdom...

Asset Class, Sector, and Country Returns for 2016

by Jon

The 2016 returns are in. The asset tables are updated.

I’ve explained this before here, here, here, and here, but I’ll do it again just in case. People use data to tell a story.

The simple story for these tables is diversification, allocation, and market cycles. It’s hard enough to pick the best performers every year, but even harder to do it while avoiding the worst ones, so we diversify across asset classes and geographies. When you take the good with the bad, you get a decent return over time. Decent may not be exciting or something to brag about at parties, but it gets the job done thanks to compounding. Really, that’s what you want. Exciting is for skydiving, not investing. Don’t get those confused. Continue Reading…

Happy Hour: EM Deja Vu

by Jon

Emerging markets have been cheap for a while now. Many people (including me) have pointed this out the past few years and not much has changed. My proclivity toward cheapness means I adjust my allocation towards it – moving some US to EM – and away from expensive equity assets based on valuation. That was three years ago.

This is the hard part of investing. Continue Reading…

10 Most Popular Articles of 2016

by Jon

With the year almost over, now is a good time for a review. Every year I’m surprised when something I write gains traction. This year was no different. Sometimes I spend hours on an article that gets ignored while I spend minutes on what I assume is an afterthought and it gets a ton of hits. I stopped trying to figure it out long ago and just write about what I find interesting. You, the readers, do all the rest. Thank you!

I spent most of the year reading old books, articles, interviews, and lectures from some the most well-known investors around and then sharing some of their wisdom. There was a lot to take away for it. Continue Reading…

Happy Hour: Highlights

by Jon

Did you know you can download notes and highlights from your Kindle reader? Apparently, that’s been a thing for awhile and I’m just learning it now after reading a tweetstorm about reading (a quick must read, btw).

I wish I would have known this a few years ago when I started typing out all my notes, highlights, and thoughts by hand. I’ll read a physical book over an e-book any day, but the ability to copy and paste notes might be enough to change my process. I just wish Amazon broke the highlights down by chapters. Anyways, here’s a good guide on how to do it. Continue Reading…

Walter Schloss on Ben Graham and Why Value Works

by Jon

Walter Schloss was a relative unknown on Wall Street, quietly racking up a 21% annual return over 28 years. Schloss was one of the few Graham disciples who worked with the man – even helped write a chapter in his book – and followed Graham’s strategy the closest after starting his own partnership. Then Warren Buffett outed him as a Superinvestor.

In 1985 he sat for an interview with Barron’s that gets into his early days with Ben Graham, Graham’s strategy, and Schloss’s philosophy on market timing, selling, and picking the right strategy. Continue Reading…

Happy Hour: Catching Up

by Jon

The hardest part of vacations is getting caught up on everything after you get back. Email is the worst. Reading is a close second only because there is so much more to wade through in a limited amount of time.

I’m almost caught up. Two things I did read are worth highlighting, so I pulled a few quotes from each. Links to both are below. Continue Reading…

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