“The present, as permanent and overwhelming as it can seem, is fleeting,” writes Robert Kaplan in the introduction to The Revenge of Geography: What the Map Tells Us About Coming Conflicts and the Battle Against Fate.   “The only thing enduring is a people’s position on the map.” As a country built with a spirit of...Read More

We all know what “fragile” means.  But what is the opposite of fragile? If you are like me, your instinctive response would be “robust” or perhaps “durable.”  But you would be wrong. Something that is fragile is damaged by an unexpected shock, whereas something that is robust or durable is able to withstand it.  To...Read More

“No one who is currently working in the investment advisory or asset management business will ever say the things I am about to say,” writes Josh Brown in the opening lines of Backstage Wall Street, his exposé of the Wall Street brokerage machine. Brown may be pushing it when he says “There is no such...Read More

“There is no magic formula to make trading or investing easy,” starts Jeffrey Hirsch in The Little Book of Stock Market Cycles.  “Nothing can replace research, experience, and a healthy dose of luck.” History, however, can be a useful guide in understanding the environment in which you are investing.  This is the focus of Mr....Read More

John Mauldin is far too much of a gentleman to say “I told you so,” but he would certainly be within his rights to do so. When Mauldin published the original Bull’s Eye Investing in 2003, he made his case that U.S. stocks were in the early stages of a secular bear market.  Today, nearly a...Read More