Friday, December 4, 2009

The Tao of Investing

It is quite clear that most individual investors would not study quantitative methods of investing because these are not their primary interests in life. Some follow sectors, some just buy and hold, and some practice momentum investing.

The case for momentum investing boils down to this. The prices are primarily controlled by large fund managers for whom quantitative methods are a major interest. If they make a price go up, why not follow their expertise?

The downside of momentum investing is that, when prices start to fall, every momentum investor will scramble to get out fastest and prices can drop precipitously, overshooting the mark. As someone once said "they are all trying to front run each other."

Trailing stop loss orders may limit the carnage but I have no experience with the quality of execution.

Alternatively, one can invest in things, like pipelines, that have well established revenue streams and dividends and live a less exciting life. Having lived through the great depression, WWII, Korea, VietNam, Iraq, the GW Bush administration, and two divorces, I am not looking for vast excitement.

Pipeliners Blues

"Excitement" is a magical word for me ever since I misread the caption of the frontispiece of an old romance novel. I misread it to be "she raised her lips to his and kissed him with mounting excrement."

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