I was in New York this week for client meetings and media interviews.  Found some time to swing by the Morgan Library and Museum to explore a visiting exhibit focused on J.R.R. Tolkien.  Talk about a lesson in the value of spending a lifetime in the pursuit of creating something special!

From the Market Misbehavior mailbag: “What predictive power does technical analysis really have?  Sometimes the signals are just plain wrong.” The short answer is that nothing’s perfect, there is no holy grail, and yet I’ve still found technical analysis to be an important piece to a holistic investment process.
Here’s the long answer…

Slowly but surely I’m chipping away at the library of books I’ve assembled over the years.  I’ve often found that the best investors are insatiable readers.  And they’re not reading just anything, they’re reading long-form content that will help challenge their thinking and expand their horizons.

A recent article on the Airplane Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) website reminded me of the value of situational awareness and a big picture orientation. I was on one of my first long training flights with my flight instructor, navigating a Cessna 172 from Providence (KPVD) to our home airport of Norwood (KOWD)…

I’ve launched a new Market Misbehavior channel on YouTube, with the goal is providing short-form educational commentary exploring the relationship between behavioral psychology and the financial markets.

I started a mindfulness routine a couple years ago, during a particularly stressful period in my life.  A daily meditation practice was a life changer for me, bringing a new sense of awareness and calmness to how I approach everything from work to food to my family. As with pretty much anything in life, I would often relate what I was learning through meditation back to my professional efforts.  How could the lessons of mindfulness be applied to the investment process?

This week the Wall Street Journal provided yet another article about moderating and/or flat out eliminating your usage of social media.  As with many things in life, a little bit can be a positive, but too much is too much.  So what’s the right balance for investors?

This is Part 4 of a four-part series on how I strive to align my days and weeks with my values.  Combine this article with my earlier posts to get the whole story on how I manage my time and priorities.

From the Market Misbehavior mailbag: “Dave, how do you think about candles?  Specifically, weekly and monthly vs. daily candles?  What if the signals conflict?” That’s a great question and the short answer is I pay attention to weekly and daily candles because I feel they are good representation of investor behavior during a well-defined period of time. The somewhat longer answer is as follows…

The market will move up.
The market will move down.
I will think the market’s going to go up, and it will actually go down.
I will think the market’s going to go down, and it will actually go up.
I will think the market will go up or down, and it will actually go sideways.  Frustrating.