The Benchmark Bullies

Not sure if you caught John Standerfer’s post on why investing is the hardest profession in the world from this morning’s Hot Links but I want to make sure you read it.  Howard and Tadas found this thing and it’s amazeballs:

Being a professional investor is the hardest profession on the planet.

Benchmarks are the most ferocious of competitors.  They show up for work everyday. They never get sick.  They don’t take vacation.  They are always 100% invested so their results are continuously compounding.  Most importantly, they’re not aware of their own performance.  The S&P 500 will never enter the 4th quarter feeling it needs to really press to have good numbers for the year.  Nor will it take December off to “lock in” a good year.

Make sure you read the whole thing, John nails something that’s so key to understanding the psyche of a market pro.

Source:

Why Investing is the World’s Most Difficult Profession (JohnStanderfer.com)