When a Wall Street analyst or broker expresses optimism, investors must take it with a grain of salt.

One must understand the importance of an endless drive to get information and seek value.

When a Wall Street analyst or broker expresses optimism, investors must take it with a grain of salt.

The prevailing view has been that the market will earn a high rate of return if the holding period is long enough, but entry point is what really matters.

Be sure that you are well compensated for illiquidity - especially illiquidity without control - because it can create particularly high opportunity costs.

The government - the ultimate short-term-oriented player - cannot withstand much pain in the economy or the financial markets. Bailouts and rescues are likely to occur, though not with sufficient predictability for investors to comfortably take advantage. The government will take enormous risks in such interventions, especially if the expenses can be conveniently deferred to the future. Some of the price-tag is in the form of back- stops and guarantees, whose cost is almost impossible to determine.

Individual and institutional investors alike frequently demonstrate an inability to make long-term investment decisions based on business fundamentals.