Finance attracts lots of smart people. But that doesn’t mean you’ll make money from their ideas.
Here are some examples of why listening to supposedly smart analysts can be bad for your financial health:
“War is Peace
Freedom is Slavery
Ignorance is Strength“
– Slogan on the building of the Ministry of Truth (George Orwell, 1984)
The financial news offers an endless stream of scary stories and opinions.
Should you sell your stocks because of the news?
Maybe. But probably not. Continue reading “Ignore the news”
Markets are interesting again. The VIX (a volatility index) spiked yesterday. If you want to learn more about the VIX, you should check out this episode of the Odd Lots podcast from last year.
More on the XIV meltdown in this Kid Dynamite blog post.
What long-term returns can you expect to make on a portfolio of stocks? That’s a crucial question for pension funds and other investors.
There are several ways you can try to answer this question. You can look at historical returns and assume that the future will resemble the past. Continue reading “Prospective returns on equities”