The book is being published again but after the market pull back over the past year good luck finding any gems of wisdom. The premise of investing by knowing what others dont is partially common sense thats your edge. But just how exactly are you going to outsmart anyone? Maybe you could think in terms of long-term business trends but is that going to make you rich in this market environment when smart money is exiting the game and earnings arent forecast to improve for many years? So, were now stuck with those three questions:
Are we seeing things wrongly?
Are we seeing at all?
Is what Im seeing actually what Im seeing?When the ad came out for the book it mentioned why investing in cash might be the riskiest thing you do. Come on, that turned out to be the best thing or most appropriate call to action that retail investors could have done over the past year. The ad claimed: All you need is a scientific methoda simple yet disciplined query process. Come, on, there is no scientific method that works in all markets. The only clear thing mentioned in the ad was: You need an advantage over your peers. Yes, but why would someone give it to you?Let me give you a fourth question: Should I be playing the stock game at all? Wasnt that the most important question for the past twelve months? You need a filter, investing is also knowing when not to risk. Or have you forgotten the story about J.P. Morgan receiving a stock tip from the shoeshine boy? The story goes that J.P. Morgan sold his holdings
stocks at all times cannot be a good investment.