Posts Tagged ‘Making Mistakes’

Edge Is Everything

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October 17, 2017

I have been meaning to read Ed Thorp’s new book A Man for All Markets. Short on time in recent weeks, I settled instead for a succinct interview with Thorp in Jack Schwager’s book Hedge Fund Market Wizards. Below are highlights in which Thorp shares his thoughts on position sizing and risk management. Key takeaways: (1) […]

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Columbia Interview with Kingstown – Part 1

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July 3, 2017

Greetings! It has been a very long time since our last PM Jar article. In 2015-2016, a variety of opportunities emerged in the marketplace, and I was busy actively investing and implementing PM Jar concepts at Marram Investment Management. If you are curious about this implementation process and its outcome, here’s a link to Marram’s […]

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Ray Dalio on Mistakes

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April 6, 2016

A long time ago, I stumbled upon this gem/manifesto by Ray Dalio, the billionaire founder of hedge fund giant Bridgewater ($154Bn AUM). It doesn’t contain his investment principles or Bridgewater’s secret sauce (which is likely constantly evolving anyway, powered by talented and creative minds). Instead, it offers a wealth of general advice on life, collected […]

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BlueCrest’s Michael Platt

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December 19, 2015

Michael Platt and BlueCrest Capital have been in the headlines recently as the latest hedge fund billionaire to return external capital and morph into a private partnership / family office. Below are portfolio management tidbits from Platt’s interview with Jack Schwager in Hedge Fund Market Wizards. Capital Preservation, Risk, Team Management “I have no appetite […]

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My New Crush: Stanley Druckenmiller

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July 1, 2015

I have a new (intellectual) crush: Stanley Druckenmiller. If you don’t share my feelings, you will after you read his Jan 2015 speech at the Lost Tree Club. Portfolio management related excerpts below: Diversification, Sizing “I think diversification and all the stuff they’re teaching at business school today is probably the most misguided concept…And if […]

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Mistakes of Boredom

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December 31, 2014

Flying back to Los Angeles after Christmas, somewhere over New Mexico, I rediscovered an article written by Ted Lucas of Lattice Strategies in 2011, quoting mathematician and logician Blaise Pascal’s Pensées on the psychological propensity of humans to seek out diversion and action, and the boredom caused by inaction: “Sometimes, when I set to thinking […]

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Howard Marks’ Book: Chapter 18

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October 7, 2014

Continuation of portfolio management highlights from Howard Marks’ book, The Most Important Thing: Uncommon Sense for the Thoughtful Investor, Chapter 18 “The Most Important Thing Is…Avoiding Pitfalls” Risk, Volatility “…trying to avoid losses is more important than striving or great investment successes. The latter can be achieved some of the time, but the occasional failures […]

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Cliff Asness on Volatility, Risk & Loss

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May 18, 2014

The debate on the relationship between volatility, risk, and permanent impairment of capital rages on. Below are some thoughts on the subject from Cliff Asness of AQR Capital Management, extracted from an article titled “My Top 10 Peeves” published earlier this year in the Financial Analysts Journal. “Volatility” Is for Misguided Geeks; Risk Is Really […]

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Klarman’s Margin of Safety: Ch.13 – Part 1

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December 28, 2013

Many years ago, Seth Klarman wrote a book titled “Margin of Safety: Risk-Averse Value Investing Strategies for the Thoughtful Investor.” It is now out of print, and copies sell for thousands on eBay, etc. This marks our first installment of portfolio construction & management highlights extracted from this book. We begin this series not with […]

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Howard Marks’ Book: Chapter 14

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August 27, 2013

Continuation of portfolio management highlights from Howard Marks’ book, The Most Important Thing: Uncommon Sense for the Thoughtful Investor, Chapter 14 “The Most Important Thing Is…Knowing What You Don’t Know” Mistakes, Sizing, Diversification, Leverage, Opportunity Cost “…the biggest problems tend to arise when investors forget about the difference between probability and outcome – that is, when […]

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Michael Price & Portfolio Management

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July 21, 2013

Summaries below are extracted from a speech Michael Price gave at the 2013 (June) London Value Investor Conference. If you have read our previous article based on an interview Peter J. Tanous conducted with Michael Price many years ago, you’ll find that Price’s portfolio management philosophy has not changed much since then. Many thanks to […]

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PM Jar Exclusive Interview With Howard Marks – Part 4 of 5

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June 27, 2013

Below is Part 4 of PM Jar’s interview with Howard Marks, the co-founder and chairman of Oaktree Capital Management, on portfolio management. Part 4: The Art of Transforming Symmetry into Asymmetry “If tactical decisions like concentration, diversification, and leverage are symmetrical two-way swords, then where does asymmetry come from? Asymmetry comes from alpha, from superior […]

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Bill Lipschutz: Dealing With Mistakes

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June 10, 2013

The following excerpts are derived from Jack Schwager’s interview with Bill Lipschutz in The New Market Wizards. Lipschutz helped build and ran Salomon’s currency desk for many years – here is a 2006 EuroMoney Article with additional background on Bill Lipschutz. There are number of worthwhile portfolio management tidbits here, mainly the relationship between making mistakes, […]

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Consequences of Contrarian Actions

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May 9, 2013

Below are excerpts from a speech Bob Rodriguez of First Pacific Advisors gave in May 2009. Quite a few interesting lessons derived from his previous trials and tribulations in dealing with clients and redemptions during periods of contrarian actions and underperformance. Psychology “I believe I have found success because I have been deeply aware of […]

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Mind of an Achiever

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April 20, 2013

In the competitive world of investing, each of us should constantly be seeking out competitive advantages. Personally, I believe that a certain degree of competitive advantage can be found in the cross-pollination of different schools of investment thought. Many in the value school often deride trading strategies, but they cannot deny the existence of those […]

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Montier & Mauboussin: Process Over Outcome

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April 16, 2013

James Montier’s Value Investing: Tools and Techniques for Intelligent Investment is a book I often recommend to others – Montier does a wonderful job of pulling together a range of topics related value investing. Below are excerpts from Chapter 16 titled “Process not Outcomes: Gambling, Sport and Investment.” Montier derived much of the content below […]

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Wisdom from Whitebox’s Andy Redleaf

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April 12, 2013

Ever experience those humbling moments when you read something and think: “Wow, this person is way smarter than me” – happens to me every single day, most recently while reading a Feb 2013 Whitebox client letter during which Andy Redleaf & Jonathan Wood devoted a refreshing amount of text to the discussion of portfolio management […]

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The Importance of Knowing Thyself

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March 23, 2013

Readers know that I’m a fan of Mariko Gordon of Daruma Capital. Below is an excerpt from her recent March 2013 Letter. Although she is referring specifically to equities, I think her comments are applicable to all portfolio assets. Lao Tzu wrote that “He who knows others is wise; he who knows himself is enlightened.” This […]

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Howard Marks’ Book: Chapter 11

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February 28, 2013

Continuation of portfolio management highlights from Howard Marks’ book, The Most Important Thing: Uncommon Sense for the Thoughtful Investor, Chapter 11 “The Most Important Thing Is…Contrarianism” Trackrecord, Clients, Mistakes, Redemptions, Patience “‘Once-in-a-lifetime’ market extremes seem to occur once every decade or so – not often enough for an investor to build a career around capitalizing on […]

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Howard Marks’ Book: Chapter 10

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February 19, 2013

Continuation of portfolio management highlights from Howard Marks’ book, The Most Important Thing: Uncommon Sense for the Thoughtful Investor, Chapter 10 “The Most Important Thing Is…Combating Negative Influences” Mistakes, Portfolio Management, Psychology “Why do mistakes occur? Because investing is an action undertaken by human beings, most of whom are at the mercy of their psyches and […]

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