Avoiding where others go wrong is an important step in achieving investment success. In fact, it almost assures it.

I don't have a Bloomberg on my desk. I don't care.

Complexity - limits competition.

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.

The average person can’t really trust anybody. They can’t trust a broker, because the broker is interested in churning commissions. They can’t trust a mutual fund, because the mutual fund is interested in gathering a lot of assets and keeping them. And now it’s even worse because even the most sophisticated people have no idea what’s going on.

Nowhere does it say that investors should strive to make every last dollar of potential profit; consideration of risk must never take a backseat to return. Conservative positioning entering a crisis is crucial: it enables one to maintain long-term oriented, clear thinking, and to focus on new opportunities while others are distracted or even forced to sell. Portfolio hedges must be in place before a crisis hits. One cannot reliably or affordably increase or replace hedges that are rolling off during a financial crisis.

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