Failing Well
Just a quick note on how my equity investing is doing — in April I was slightly ahead of the S&P 500, and year-to-date, things are quite good. This is not to say that I haven’t had my share of failures… Deerfield Capital, YRC Worldwide, Jones Apparel, National Atlantic, and Vishay Intertechnology have hurt. But in a portfolio of 35 stocks, even large percentage whacks get evened out if the stock picking on the remainder has been good enough. And, for me it has, though the successes are not as notable as the failures.
As an investor, I am a singles hitter, but my average is high, and strikeouts low. I have my failures, but the eight rules, which are my risk controllers and return generators, protect me. At least it seems that way for the last 7.7 years, but I know enough that even if the principles are right, they are no guarantee for the next day, year, or decade. “The markets always find a new way to make a fool out of you,” and so I encourage caution in investing. Risk control wins the game in the long run, not bold moves.
So, I keep plugging on, adapting to what I think the market will reward in the future, and ignoring the past for the most part.
Full disclosure: long VSH YRCW NAHC JNY
May 1st, 20086:39 am at
“Quite good” means different things to different people. Care to step up by posting returns as a % of equity, on a regular basis?
May 1st, 20089:13 am at
Bill; the “step up” comment seems out of line to me.