I normally read the entertaining Marcus Padley to wind myself up, but this article is a gem as he is sharing someone else’s thoughts.

Think beyond the USA/Australia, woops I mean square.
Starting with nothing is good.
Debt is king.
Time is the most valuable of commodities.
There is no such thing as intelligence.
Mistakes compress learning.
Education is paramount.
The willingness of highly capable and educated people to work for a certain amount rather than a variable sum is the most exploitable, available and cheap investment you’ll ever make.
There is education and there is qualification. Set out …

* Apple CEO Jobs backtracks on health, takes leave- AP
* US foreclosure filings up 81 percent in 2008- AP
* Oil falls to near $36 on weak US crude demand- AP
* Stocks tumble as worries grow about banks- AP
They were the current headlines at http://finance.yahoo.com/ on January 15th.
Check you local finance mags for confirmation and be on Bottom Alert. Before everything went crazy back in October, while people were still clear of thought, we spoke of how headlines are one of the best market timing tools.
So check your Business Week …

I’ve still got plenty more to learn from Klarman, though I will never follow his exact path. I’d be disappointed if I’d shelled out a grand for Margin of Safety. Klarman would call the trading of his book at Amazon “trading sardines”.

Quotes to Live By
Too much prosperity makes men greedy and their desires are never controlled sufficiently to stop at the point of attainment. Seneca
The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, and wiser people so full of doubts.” Bertrand Russell, philosopher, mathematician, author, Nobel laureate (1872-1970)
They are my two favourite quotes. Both are cornerstones of my life philosophy.
Another recent favourite is an Anthony Robbins quote, or at least a modern maxim attributed to Robbins.
Once you have mastered time, you will understand …

I often see this confusion in fundamental investors, how can you call a bottom? The thing is you can’t. Technical investors know that and never proclaim they can. Fusion investors also know they can’t time market bottoms, but they also know they can increase their chances of getting close to the bottom by combining fundamental and technical analysis in a mixing bowl along with some behavioral finance. Fusion analysts know they don’t have to nail the bottom, to outperform they simply buy at prices lower than 50% of other market …