Howard Marks

Howard Marks’ Book: Chapter 8

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January 22, 2013

Continuation of portfolio management highlights from Howard Marks’ book, The Most Important Thing: Uncommon Sense for the Thoughtful Investor, Chapter 8 “The Most Important Thing Is…Being Attentive to Cycles”   When To Buy, When To Sell “Rule number one: most things will prove to be cyclical. Rule number two: some of the greatest opportunities for gain and […]

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Howard Marks’ Book: Chapter 7

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January 11, 2013

Continuation of portfolio management highlights from Howard Marks’ book, The Most Important Thing: Uncommon Sense for the Thoughtful Investor, Chapter 7 “The Most Important Thing Is…Recognizing Risk” Risk, Capital Preservation, Compounding “…Warren Buffett, Peter Lynch, Bill Miller and Julian Robertson. In general their records are remarkable because of their decades of consistency and absence of disasters, […]

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Howard Marks’ Book: Chapter 6 – Part 2

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December 24, 2012

Continuation of portfolio management highlights from Howard Marks’ book, The Most Important Thing: Uncommon Sense for the Thoughtful Investor, Chapter 6 “The Most Important Thing Is…Recognizing Risk” Marks does a fantastic job illustrating the impact of the (low) risk free rate on portfolio expected risk & return, position selectivity, hurdle rate & opportunity cost. Expected Return, Hurdle […]

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Howard Marks’ Book: Chapter 6 – Part 1

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December 20, 2012

Continuation of portfolio management highlights from Howard Marks’ book, The Most Important Thing: Uncommon Sense for the Thoughtful Investor, Chapter 6 “The Most Important Thing Is…Recognizing Risk” Risk, Intrinsic Value, Psychology “Risk means uncertainty about which outcome will occur and about the possibility of loss when the unfavorable ones do.” “It’s also ephemeral and unmeasurable. […]

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Howard Marks’ Book: Chapter 5 – Part 4

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November 24, 2012

I’m finally back from vacation. In light of recent market volatility and “risk,” let’s kick off with a continuation of portfolio management highlights from Howard Marks’ book, The Most Important Thing: Uncommon Sense for the Thoughtful Investor, Chapter 5 “The Most Important Thing Is…Understanding Risk” Risk, Intrinsic Value “…risk of loss does not necessarily stem […]

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Howard Marks’ Book: Chapter 5 – Part 3

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October 14, 2012

Continuation of portfolio management highlights from Howard Marks’ book, The Most Important Thing: Uncommon Sense for the Thoughtful Investor, Chapter 5 “The Most Important Thing Is…Understanding Risk” No commentary necessary – self explanatory and eloquently written. Definition of Investing, Risk “Investing consists of exactly one thing: dealing with the future. And because none of us […]

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Howard Marks’ Book: Chapter 5 – Part 2

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September 24, 2012

The following excerpt from Howard Marks’ book, The Most Important Thing: Uncommon Sense for the Thoughtful Investor, Chapter 5 “The Most Important Thing Is…Understanding Risk,” is one of the best clarifications on the relationship between risk and return that I have ever read. Risk, Expected Return “…when you’re considering an investment, your decision should be a […]

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Howard Marks’ Book: Chapter 5 – Part 1

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September 21, 2012

Continuation of portfolio management highlights from Howard Marks’ book, The Most Important Thing: Uncommon Sense for the Thoughtful Investor, Chapter 5 “The Most Important Thing Is…Understanding Risk” This is the first of three chapters to which Howard Marks dedicates to the topic of Risk. For those interested in Marks’ thoughts on risk, these chapters are […]

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Howard Marks’ Book: Chapter 4

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August 20, 2012

Continuation of portfolio management highlights from Howard Marks’ book, The Most Important Thing: Uncommon Sense for the Thoughtful Investor, Chapter 4 “The Most Important Thing Is…The Relationship Between Price and Value.” Topics covered: Volatility, Leverage, When To Buy, When To Sell   Volatility “…most of the time a security’s price will be affected at least as […]

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Howard Marks’ Book: Chapter 3

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July 23, 2012

Below is a continuation of portfolio management highlights from Howard Marks’ recent book, The Most Important Thing: Uncommon Sense for the Thoughtful Investor, Chapter 3 “The Most Important Thing Is…Value”: For anyone who has purchased a security too soon while the price continued to decline, I would highly recommend reading the last few pages of […]

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Howard Marks’ Book: Chapter 2

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June 29, 2012

Below is a continuation of portfolio management highlights from Howard Marks’ recent book, The Most Important Thing: Uncommon Sense for the Thoughtful Investor, Chapter 2 “Understanding Market Efficiency (and It’s Limitation)”: Risk “I have my own reservations about the theory [efficient market hypothesis], and the biggest one has to do with the way it links […]

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Howard Marks’ Book: Chapter 1

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June 20, 2012

In his recent book, The Most Important Thing: Uncommon Sense for the Thoughtful Investor, Howard Marks of Oaktree writes about a lot of different investment topics. I’ve done my best to lift out relevant portfolio management details. Without further ado, below are highlights from Chapter 1, titled “The Most Important Thing Is…Second-Level Thinking.” Portfolio Management […]

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