Style Agnosticism

I got into a conversation behind the scenes with a very well-known and talented chartist about a chart I made recently and I was told that it was essentially “Tourist Technician” in its simplicity.

Which made me smile.

Because while I love nothing more than to borrow the most helpful and prescient aspects of all the major securities analysis religions, the one thing I’ll never do is join one.

The greatest stock market investor of all time, Peter Lynch, had a nickname – The Chameleon. This is because no matter what was going on in the market he was able to adapt what he was doing to triumph. Lynch averaged – averaged – 29% annually for 13 years. No one else even comes close, every other manager in history is playing a different sport entirely.

If flexibility is an investing virtue, then Lynch is its patron saint. I am certain he had a great grasp on the core tenets of everything from Graham & Dodd to Growth At A Reasonable Price. And I’m sure he knew exactly when to accentuate the influence of one over the other depending on what was working.

I have great respect from those who’ve dedicated themselves to a given discipline, be it momentum or deep value, fundamentally-oriented or technically inclined. I’ll say for posterity that there is more than one way to skin a cat, and then I’ll tell you that I have no interest in initiating myself in the dogmatic rulebook that any of you pray to. Because I already know that nothing works more than a third of the time.

The great practitioners of these styles know this as well, and they expect to make a killing during the period in which the market regime favors their skills.  Witness the value player who accepts the inevitability that he will have to be patient, witness the acceptance by the momo trader that some environments offer more false breakouts than actual follow-through. The rest are all fooling themselves.

And to cap off this talk (and it was a good talk, thanks for coming) I’d like to share two quotes from two of the most successful market particpants of the last century:

“The only sound reason for my buying a stock is that it is rising in price.” — Nicholas Darvas

“The dumbest reason in the world to buy a stock is because it’s going up.” — Warren Buffett

If that doesn’t sum up the value investor / momentum investor in a nutshell, I don’t know what does.

These two quotes (and hundreds of others) appear in the prolific author Mark Skousen’s new book Maxims of Wall Street.

Apparently Buffet himself is a fan of these timeless (if contradictory) maxims. His note to the author here:

“Loved your great little book. In fact, I plan to shamelessly steal some of the lines.” –Warren Buffett

Expertise in a given investment style is great. Being doctrinaire about that style to the exclusion of all other wisdom is the fastest route to beclownment.

Check out Mark’s book at Amazon:

Maxims of Wall Street: A Compendium of Financial Adages, Ancient Proverbs, and Worldly Wisdom

Read Also:

Good Luck With That.  (TRB)

Lessons from Nicholas Darvas (The Kirk Report)

This content, which contains security-related opinions and/or information, is provided for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon in any manner as professional advice, or an endorsement of any practices, products or services. There can be no guarantees or assurances that the views expressed here will be applicable for any particular facts or circumstances, and should not be relied upon in any manner. You should consult your own advisers as to legal, business, tax, and other related matters concerning any investment.

The commentary in this “post” (including any related blog, podcasts, videos, and social media) reflects the personal opinions, viewpoints, and analyses of the Ritholtz Wealth Management employees providing such comments, and should not be regarded the views of Ritholtz Wealth Management LLC. or its respective affiliates or as a description of advisory services provided by Ritholtz Wealth Management or performance returns of any Ritholtz Wealth Management Investments client.

References to any securities or digital assets, or performance data, are for illustrative purposes only and do not constitute an investment recommendation or offer to provide investment advisory services. Charts and graphs provided within are for informational purposes solely and should not be relied upon when making any investment decision. Past performance is not indicative of future results. The content speaks only as of the date indicated. Any projections, estimates, forecasts, targets, prospects, and/or opinions expressed in these materials are subject to change without notice and may differ or be contrary to opinions expressed by others.

Wealthcast Media, an affiliate of Ritholtz Wealth Management, receives payment from various entities for advertisements in affiliated podcasts, blogs and emails. Inclusion of such advertisements does not constitute or imply endorsement, sponsorship or recommendation thereof, or any affiliation therewith, by the Content Creator or by Ritholtz Wealth Management or any of its employees. Investments in securities involve the risk of loss. For additional advertisement disclaimers see here: https://www.ritholtzwealth.com/advertising-disclaimers

Please see disclosures here.

What's been said:

Discussions found on the web
  1. adam & eve in store coupons commented on Nov 14

    adam & eve in store coupons

    […]Here are a number of the web-sites we advocate for our visitors[…]

  2. adam eve lingerie commented on Nov 15

    adam eve lingerie

    […]we prefer to honor numerous other online internet sites around the web, even when they aren’t linked to us, by linking to them. Below are some webpages really worth checking out[…]

  3. adam and eve shipping commented on Nov 15

    adam and eve shipping

    […]here are some hyperlinks to web pages that we link to mainly because we feel they are worth visiting[…]

  4. cheap sex toys for women commented on Nov 15

    cheap sex toys for women

    […]always a massive fan of linking to bloggers that I like but really don’t get quite a bit of link adore from[…]

  5. best egg vibrator commented on Nov 15

    best egg vibrator

    […]please take a look at the websites we stick to, which includes this a single, as it represents our picks in the web[…]

  6. تولید محتوا commented on Nov 16

    تولید محتوا

    Hi would you head stating which weblog system you’re functioning with? I’m preparing to commence my personal site before long but I’m getting a tough time selecting between BlogEngine/Wordpress/B2evolution and Drupal. The purpose I inquire is due to th…

  7. top rated sex toys commented on Nov 17

    top rated sex toys

    […]although sites we backlink to below are considerably not associated to ours, we feel they’re really worth a go by way of, so have a look[…]

  8. sex lube for women commented on Nov 17

    sex lube for women

    […]very few web sites that transpire to become detailed beneath, from our point of view are undoubtedly effectively worth checking out[…]

  9. best g spot stimulator commented on Nov 17

    best g spot stimulator

    […]although web sites we backlink to below are considerably not related to ours, we feel they’re actually really worth a go by, so possess a look[…]

  10. ترمیم مو commented on Nov 18

    ترمیم مو و کاشت مو

    you are actually a exceptional webmaster. The website loading speed is incredible. It type of feels that you’re carrying out any special trick. In addition, The contents are masterwork. you have done a excellent exercise in this subject!

  11. where to get a dildo commented on Nov 18

    where to get a dildo

    […]Sites of interest we have a link to[…]

  12. Home Threater Projectors commented on Nov 18

    Home Threater Projectors

    […]below you will locate the link to some websites that we consider you must visit[…]

  13. هایک ویژن commented on Nov 19

    هایک ویژن

    Many thanks for one more useful internet internet site. The area else could I get that kind of details composed in these kinds of an excellent approach?I have a undertaking that I’m just now operating on, and I have been at the appear outfor this sort…

  14. fifty shades darker sex toys commented on Nov 19

    fifty shades darker sex toys

    […]just beneath, are numerous totally not connected web-sites to ours, on the other hand, they are certainly worth going over[…]