Category Archive

In his memo titled Irrational Exuberance, Howard Marks discusses two investment philosophies: prudent investing and the approach that worked during the 1999 tech boom. Prudent investing emphasizes factors like diversification, value investing, and taking profits. This approach would have led to underperformance in 1999. The 1999 tech boom approach focused … Read More

One of the best resources for investors are the publicly available 13F-HR documents that each fund is required to submit to the SEC. These documents allow investors to track their favorite superinvestors, their fund’s current holdings, plus their new buys and sold out positions. We spend a lot of time … Read More

In this interview with Infomoney, Howard Marks highlights the importance of emotional control and risk tolerance in investing. The biggest mistake, according to Marks, is taking on too much risk, leading to panic selling during market downturns. This is because investors, unable to handle the volatility, sell their investments at … Read More

In his recent interview at the Onde Investir 2024 event, Howard Marks uses an analogy of movie ticket prices to explain the potential problems with government-controlled interest rates. Key points: Price controls can lead to unintended consequences: Just like forcing movie ticket prices down leads to overcrowding and reduces enjoyment, … Read More

During his recent interview with Merryn Talks Money, Howard Marks explains how low and declining interest rates have been a major advantage for investors, especially private equity firms, over the past 40 years. He uses the analogy of being on a moving walkway at the airport – even standing still … Read More

During this Q&A session with KKP Wealth Management, Howard Marks talks about the consistency of good returns rather than chasing ‘elephants’ (exceptional single investments). He uses the analogy of dining at his favorite Italian restaurant – always good, sometimes great, never terrible. Your objective should be not top performance every … Read More

During his latest Insight Conversation, Howard Marks says the current market and economic climate call for a cautious and strategic approach to investment, prioritizing stability and potentially shifting from equities to credit-based options. In terms of the market and economy he says: The market is not excessively high or low, … Read More

In this interview with James Altucher, Howard Marks explain how markets don’t always reflect the intrinsic value of assets. During positive cycles, optimism pushes prices beyond what individual assets are worth. This leads to excesses like the pre-Enron boom. When bubbles burst (like Enron’s bankruptcy), pessimism sets in, causing prices … Read More

In his book Mastering The Market Cycle, Howard Marks discusses a 1979 Business Week article titled “The Death of Equities”. The article highlights how popularity (or lack thereof) of an asset class can be a powerful indicator for future performance. After a decade of poor stock market performance, the article … Read More

Howard Marks and the team at Oaktree Capital have just released their 10 Year-End Book Recommendations for 2023. Here is a list of the ten: 1. Thinking in Bets: Making Smarter Decisions When You Don’t Have All the Facts by Annie Duke This book is a helpful guide for anyone contemplating … Read More

One of the best resources for investors are the publicly available 13F-HR documents that each fund is required to submit to the SEC. These documents allow investors to track their favorite superinvestors, their fund’s current holdings, plus their new buys and sold out positions. We spend a lot of time … Read More

In his latest Insight with Annie Duke, Howard Marks emphasizes the importance of intellectual humility and considering alternate outcomes when making decisions. He argues that most people focus on their expected outcome and neglect the potential for negative consequences. They advocate for calculating expected value while being aware of its … Read More

During his recent interview with Bloomberg, Howard Marks discusses some of the greatest lessons from Charles Munger. Here’s an excerpt from the interview: Marks: Well if you want to hit the long ball you have to be very patient. And when the stock moves up the first 20% you can’t … Read More

During his latest Insight Conversation, Howard Marks explains why the tide is going out and the unusually ‘easy’ period for risk-taking is over. Here’s an excerpt from the conversation: The short answer is very simple. In the 10 years you’re talking about, Anna, 2010 through 2019, it was an easy … Read More

In his book Mastering the Market Cycle, Howard Marks discusses the madness of markets, and why stock prices fluctuate more than earnings. Here’s an excerpt from the book: If the market were a disciplined calculator of value based exclusively on company fundamentals, the price of a security wouldn’t fluctuate much … Read More

One of the best resources for investors are the publicly available 13F-HR documents that each fund is required to submit to the SEC. These documents allow investors to track their favorite superinvestors, their fund’s current holdings, plus their new buys and sold out positions. We spend a lot of time … Read More

During his recent interview with Bloomberg, Howard Marks discussed the recent increase in high yield bond yields and how they can be competitive with equities when their yields are higher. He emphasizes the trade-off between the reliability of credit investments and the potential for equity investments to surprise on the … Read More

During his recent interview on the OakTree Podcast, Howard Marks says looking ahead those who conduct better credit analysis and take less risk are likely to be rewarded. The period just behind us was an unusually easy period in which risk taking was rewarded. Here’s an excerpt from the interview: … Read More

In his latest memo titled Further Thoughts on Sea Change, Howard Marks believes that investors are still optimistic about the future of the stock market, despite the recent challenges caused by inflation and interest rate hikes. However, he also believes that this optimism may be misplaced, and a lessening of … Read More