BizJournals Portfolio
Home >   Business Views, Opinions and Blogs >   Business Blogs >   Market Movers >  

Admirable Investors

Market Movers

by Felix Salmon
Main
News Datapoint of the Day   Could Frannie Have Prevented the Housing Bubble?

Recent Blog Posts

Links

Sep 08 2008 2:28pm EDT

Admirable Investors

Joe Nocera revisits Bill Miller's ill-starred bet on Fannie and Freddie:

Does this mean Mr. Miller was always overrated as an investor? I don't have a good answer to that. I've always admired investors with the intestinal fortitude to buy when everyone else is selling.

Actually, yes, Mr Miller was always overrated as an investor. His legendary "streak" was more a function of calendar years than anything else: if you chose just about any date except for January 1 as the measurement date, it disappeared. And while intestinal fortitude is useful for people travelling around Mexico, for me the best investors are the ones who can sleep easily at night.

In any case, the investors I admire aren't generally the ones who do it for a living. Rather, they're the normal people with day jobs, who manage to save a little here, a little there, invest it sensibly without getting greedy, and somehow, by the end of their lives, amass a substantial nest egg to pass on to their grateful heirs. For them, people like Bill Miller are nothing more than a distraction: they'd be better off just sticking their money in index funds.

blog comments powered by Disqus
Real Business, Real Results
Out of the 'Family'

Did anyone at Microsoft ever watch the (gasp!) offensively funny show Family Guy?

Cruz Missile Lands

Ex-Morgan Stanley exec Zoe Cruz is now heading her own hedge fund. Are Wall Street's leaders done?

Scandal Chic

Martha, Bernie and Skilling know that what you wear for court can go a long way in public perception.

spotlight on

Health Care

Bad to the Bone No More

Companies such as General Mills say they're stepping up efforts to change employees' bad behavior and promote healthier lifestyles. Read More