In the LBO field there is a buried "covariance" with marketable equities, toward disaster in generally bad business conditions, and competition is now extremely intense.

Clever derivatives broke dozens of companies. It killed them. Bankrupt. We don't need these kinds of innovation in finance. It's OK to be boring in finance. What we want is innovation in widgets.

All sensible investing is value investing

There must be some wisdom in the folk saying: Its the strong swimmers who drown.

Just avoid things like racing trains to the crossing, doing cocaine, etc. Develop good mental habits.

You have to know accounting. It's the language of practical business life. It was a very useful thing to deliver to civilization. I've heard it came to civilization through Venice which of course was once the great commercial power in the Mediterranean. However, double entry bookkeeping was a hell of an invention.

Spend each day trying to be a little wiser than you were when you woke up.