The way to maximize outcome is to focus on the process.

My view is that an investor is better off knowing a lot about a few investments than knowing a little about each of a great many holdings. One's very best idea's are likely to generate higher returns for a given level of risk than one's hundredth or thousandth best idea.

Most institutional investors feel compelled to swing at almost every pitch and forgo batting selectivity for frequency.

The government can indefinitely control both short-term and long-term interest rates.

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.

If another person were to enter the building, it would once again be empty.

A simple rule applies: if you don't quickly comprehend what a company is doing, then management probably doesn't either.