Author Archives: Chris Karcher

The last line in a thoughtful book by Melanie Gerlis, Art as an Investment?, does not do her work justice, “Those looking at art purely as an investment might first consider looking elsewhere.” In fact, she makes a cautious case for … Continue reading →

Jazz guitarist Pat Metheny made a comment germane to the discussion of how to be a better investor – or, steward of personal assets. He was talking about changes he has seen while touring worldwide with his band (since 1977) … Continue reading →

Ned Davis (of the eponymous market research firm) published a very good book in the aftermath of the Internet bubble that opens with an interesting discussion of investment styles. In reviewing the methods employed by successful investors including John Templeton, … Continue reading →

Merry Christmas. It is a beautiful day here in San Antonio. A bright blue sky and a bit of chill in the air, as it should be on December 25. Laughing with the family as we opened gifts, all small … Continue reading →

Opinions on what diversification means are all over the board, even among successful investors. The notion that you simply have to own a specific number of stocks or mutual funds to achieve a “well balanced” portfolio seems to miss the … Continue reading →

There is an odd article in the 2010 Forbes special edition investment guide (Dec 6, 2010, pg 128). From the intro, “…and planners are somewhat hesitant to endorse the conclusions.” Agreed. Career risk – Yes, don’t load up on employer stock. … Continue reading →

Why ten years? This “investment horizon” appears frequently; at Morningstar it’s a common benchmark. If the experts can’t predict with much certainty what’s going to happen in the markets over the next six months, what’s with trying to guess out … Continue reading →

Terrific interview in this week’s Barron’s (Dec. 11, 2010) with Robert Kleinschmidt of the Tocqueville Fund. I’ve owned (though not currently) a couple of Tocqueville funds over the last decade and it’s a mutual fund company I’ve long respected. In … Continue reading →

Investing as an individual for personal gain is not a zero-sum game and should not be treated as one. All the talk about “beating” the averages serves only to distract from the real point of investing, which is to generate … Continue reading →