Investment Advice
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Unbeatable Investment Advice from the Great Richard Russell
Of all the great financial gurus, Richard Russell is my all-time favorite.
A bona fide old timer, Russell has survived the Great Depression, the Battle of Normandy, a heart attack, a stroke, and a motorcycle accident.
If that's not enough, he still rises long before dawn as the author The Dow Theory Letter. Even at age 89, he has never missed a single issue.
Needless to say, bull market or bear, Russell has learned a few things along the way.
In fact, here are a few nuggets of this well-earned wisdom written long ago in a letter entitled "Rich Man, Poor Man."
What Russell has to say here is absolutely priceless....
Richard Russell on Compounding:
"When I taught my kids about money, the first thing I taught them was the use of the "money bible.' What's the money bible? Simple, it's a volume of the compounding interest tables.
"Compounding is the royal road to riches. Compounding is the safe road, the sure road, and fortunately anybody can do it. To compound successfully you need the following: perseverance in order to keep you firmly on the savings path. You need intelligence in order to understand what you are doing and why. You need knowledge of the mathematical tables in order to comprehend the amazing rewards that will come to you if you faithfully follow the compounding road. And, of course, you need time, time to allow the power of compounding to work for you. Remember, compounding only works through time."
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Why Cats Make Better Stock Pickers Than Dogs
The British Observer newspaper's 2012 stock picking challenge was won by an unusual competitor: a cat called Orlando.
When I saw this, I wasn't surprised. Cats, unlike dogs, have the ideal abilities and temperament for stock selection.
The Observer set up its challenge with three competitors: a panel of three professional investment managers from top quality houses, a team of high school students, and Orlando. Pretty tough competition for the cat, one would think.
Yet at the end of the year, it wasn't even close.
Orlando had turned his 5,000 pounds into 5,542.60 pounds, the professional investment managers had turned theirs into 5,176 pounds and the high school students had managed to lose money, ending at 4,840 pounds, a sad commentary on the quality of modern British education.
By year's end, Orlando earned an 11.09% return, more than three times the 3.52% gains the professionals delivered.
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Investment Advice: 5 Ways to Conquer Gambler's Ruin
The relationship between investing and profits seems simple enough. You buy low, sell high and your portfolio grows -- or so goes the story.
In reality though, success comes down to something called "Gambler's Ruin."
Most investors have never heard the term but understanding its implications can mean the difference between heartache and success, especially now.
Gambler's Ruin is a mathematical principle that deals with the preservation of assets - or, more accurately, the probability that you'll lose them over time.
Here's how it works:
Imagine that Player One and Player Two each have a finite number of pennies, which they flip one at a time, calling "heads" or "tails." The player who calls the flip correctly gets to keep the penny.
Since a penny has only two sides, it would seem on the surface that each player has a 50% probability of winning - and that's indeed the case for each individual flip.
But, if the process is repeated indefinitely, the probability that one of the two players will eventually lose all his or her pennies is 100%.
In mathematical terms, the chance that Player One and Player Two (P1 and P2, respectively) will be rendered penniless is expressed as:
- P1 = n2 / (n1 + n2)
- P2 = n1 / (n1 + n2)
While there are wrinkles in the theory, the basic concept is that the player starting out with the smallest number of pennies has the greatest chance of going bankrupt.
In the stock market the player with the smallest number of pennies is you... and me...and any other individual investor, for that matter, who is up against the big boys.
Investment Advice: Playing to Win
If you've ever been to Las Vegas or Monte Carlo, chances are you understand this at some level, if for no other reason than that the longer you stay at the tables, the greater the probability that you will lose.
Investing is much the same.
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