This is Who You Are Posted on April 6, 2020August 17, 2026 By Matthew Garrott Regarding the stock market, “If you don’t know who you are, this is an expensive place to find out.” wrote Adam Smith. Everyone says they are investing for the long term. The joke is that “long-term” means only until the next bear market for a lot of people. Were you… Read more
Downside & Risk Long-Term Posted on March 12, 2020August 17, 2026 By Matthew Garrott Long-Term There’s an old joke on Wall Street that investors like to say that they invest with a long-term mindset. It’s just that long-term means only until the next bear market. Stock is a claim on a company’s assets and future earnings. There are a bunch of different ways to… Read more
Downside & Risk Dry Powder Posted on January 9, 2019August 17, 2026 By Matthew Garrott I’ve got some dry powder set aside for a situation just like December. During a bear market (when the market drops 20%), the plan is to deploy half of it into equities. The S&P 500 fell 19.4% from September through Christmas Eve. It was chaos on CNBC. This was the… Read more
Downside & Risk Risk-Aware Posted on January 4, 2019August 17, 2026 By Matthew Garrott This is the first in a series of posts about my investing philosophy – Risk-Aware. Risk is the permanent impairment of capital. While risk is often viewed as something that happens to a portfolio, it can also be created through the actions of a portfolio’s manager/owner. Be compensated for Risk There… Read more
The Price of Admission Posted on December 28, 2018August 17, 2026 By Matthew Garrott Everything is down this year except cash and municipal bonds. Headlines are dismal. Volatility is rampant. This isn’t some freak event. It’s the price of admission. Taken as a whole, yes it is unusual to have almost every asset class down in a calendar year. What’s not unusual is the… Read more
Downside & Risk Who is Holding Your Leash? Posted on August 11, 2017August 17, 2026 By Matthew Garrott On PIMCO’s blog, Gene Frieda writes that “markets do not explode every time volatility is low, but volatility has always been extremely low when markets have exploded.” This reminded me of the variable or intermittent reward system I stumbled upon when researching training techniques for my dog. The idea is… Read more
Chasing Risk Posted on August 4, 2017August 17, 2026 By Matthew Garrott I read the Howard Marks memo last weekend and you should, too, if you haven’t already. The memo got me to revisit some of my investing viewpoints. It’s easy to listen to the same investment philosophy on repeat. My fear is that one day I’ll look up and find… Read more
Downside & Risk Goofy, Esoteric Securities are a Red Flag Posted on December 18, 2015August 17, 2026 By Matthew Garrott Financial entertainment got a holiday gift with the fiasco surrounding the Third Avenue Focused Credit Fund. The fund halted withdrawals amid investor outflows which was “shocking” according to Barron’s. The sharks are circling as the media has had easy filler content – “Worried About Your High-Yield Bond Fund?” and so… Read more