So you want to be an investing superstar. Or at least retire comfortably with control over your own finances. Here’s a simple starting point for Buffett like returns.

Buy stock in the highest book to market decile, rinse and repeat.
Hold more cash when the market is above long term trend lines, deploy that cash when it is below.

Skillful individual investors exploit market inefficiencies to earn abnormal profits.

The greatest outperformance can be achieved by buying growth stocks using a value framework.

The following article was generously contributed by a regular reader and commenter. I hope you enjoy reading West Wind’s journey as much as I did. He raises some interesting questions those considering retirement should consider.
Before starting, let me make it clear that I am not an Accountant or a Financial Adviser. This is just a tale of how one individual managed the transition from everyday share punter to contented self-funded retiree. For more intricate detail, seek professional advice.
Having started investing in shares during my student days, my early experience was …

Taking 3% bets on your best ideas gets you no where. Concentrate to accumulate.

Why should Australian’s bother investing in the USA.
- Diversity of companies. If you want to invest in tech, biotech, alternative energy or international companies then the US is the place to do so. If you want to invest in Chinese companies, then you’ll find their ADRs listed in America.
- Size. The Australian market is 2%, IIRC, of global markets. Size matters if you want exposure to the global economy.
- Because right now the Australian dollar is near to it’s all time highs and investing in the US actually decreases currency exposure rather than increases it as many people assume.

What have David Rosenberg and Seth Klarman got in common? Diddly squat as far as I know, except they wrote the best two things I’ve read in the last few days.

The random walk theory does not look right and current index valuations have a strong predictive ability for future long term returns.

This excellent article exemplifies a style of fusion investing, the fusion of business momentum and value.

When is price the same as value?