The Four Most Dangerous Words... The late great Sir John Marks Templeton - of Templeton Growth Fund fame - once quipped that the four most dangerous words to an investor were: "this time is different." Many market strategists warn that the sky is falling or that the investing principles that worked in the past no longer hold true in this new world of artificial intelligence and political unrest. The truth is that the facts and situations are (slightly) different from anything in the near or distant past. The rest of the story is that the human reaction, however, is the same and reasonably predictable. Read MORE ! Mean Reversion Works In my blog post two weeks ago, I used the analogy of a spring traveling through time while being exposed to compression and extension forces. This spring never gets smushed into a pancake - just the way it never snaps in half. When the forces are briefly taken away, the spring reverts back to the normal (unforced) state. This same principle can b...

Dollar Cost Averaging - Autopilot For Investors For some, roller coasters are a great way to get their regular dose of adrenaline. For others, it is a surefire way to send their lunch back to the cook using an airborne routing mechanism. If we humans were on a conveyor belt during our tour of the amusement park, we would be required to ride the Ferris wheel, the bumper cars, and the roller coaster - among other lessor stops. Autopilot would ensure that we would get the best bang for our buck and come away with an "I never would have tried that, but I am glad I did that" sort of experience. Emotions Are Our Enemy  Some of you may be old enough to remember the bear markets that reared their ugly heads in 1987, 2001, 2008, and (gasp) March of 2020. These events were chock full of investment experts touting their ability to predict the future - whether they be the top or bottom of the investment cycle. My advice when running across someone who thinks they know exactly what is goi...