We are talking about wars of detainder, but before we get into the meat of the matter let me emphasize that a war of detainder is pertinent mainly in the special situation of the United States of America. read more »

“Molon labe.” – King Leonidas

In 480 BCE a vast Persian army under Xerxes, King of Kings, bore down on the unprepared Greeks. At a narrow spot in the road, Thermopylae, a tiny band of 300 Spartans blocked the Persian advance. According to Herodotus, a bemused Xerxes first asked the Spartans to surrender, then suggested that the Spartans join with Xerxes to dominate Greece, and, finally, exasperated, demanded that the Spartans lay down their swords or die. “Molon labe,” Leonidas laconically replied, “Come and take them.” read more »

In my last post we took a brief trip down memory lane to the wild-and-crazy 1990s, watching as semi-intelligent (“gromentum”) investors got their clocks cleaned when gromentum stocks collapsed in 2000-2002. We took that detour because I suggested that there is much to learn from that era today. read more »

We’ve been talking about the dangers associated with investor enthusiasm for growth and momentum stocks – what I’ve dubbed “gromentum” stocks. The same phenomenon crops up every few years. Investors get wildly excited about some hot sector and drive stock prices into the stratosphere. Worse, any investor – or advisor! – who sticks to Ben Graham’s “intelligent” investing eventually finds itself on the outside looking in. Somehow, “intelligent” investing becomes “dumb” investing. Meanwhile, “semi-intelligent” investing becomes smart investing. read more »