“I've lived through periods of illiquidity before. Asset prices come down. The economy slows or even goes into recession. Then the cycle re-starts. We buy at lower prices with less leverage.” EconomyPeriodsCyclesAssetsRecessions Author:Stephen A. Schwarzman
“Security can be found in renunciation of ownership over people, money, and real assets; to gain, keep or protect that which others need for periods of legitimate access. A lending library enables people to help themselves to information; a locked-up book collection is useful only to the person who owns it.” PeopleNeedsPersonsBookRealHelpingFoundSecurityInformationPeriodsProtectGainsLibraryAccessCollectionsAssetsLockedOwnershipRenunciationLendingLocked Up Author:Bill Mollison
“You have never lost money in stocks over any 20-year period, but you have wiped out half your portfolio in bonds (after inflation). So which is the riskier asset?” YearsLostHalfPeriodsInvestingAssetsInflationPortfoliosLost Money Author:Jeremy Siegel
“What we need to understand is, one, that there are market failures; and two, that there are things like asset bubbles and irrational exuberance. There are periods of booms, bubbles, and manias. These things, if left to themselves, can lead to crashes, to busts, to panics.” IfsNeedsTwoLeftPeriodsAssetsBubblesPanicCrashIrrationalManiaExuberanceMarket Failure Author:Nouriel Roubini
“If you wish to collect complimentary material for a record of yourself, never appeal to your relations. They may be proud of you as an asset to the family name, but they have a gift for remembering your gawky period privately, the follies and faults you committed and have forgotten. You may have come up in the world with a laurel on your brow, but if you go back home forty years later wearing two laurels on your brow, and a noble expression, they will miss the point.” IfsWorldYearsMayTwoHomeRememberNamesWishFamilyRecordsMissingExpressionMaterialsProudPeriodsRelationFaultsForgottenCome UpCommittedNobleAppealsFollyFortyAssetsBe ProudBack HomeBrowsLaurelsProud Of YouFamily Name Author:Corra May Harris
“Icelandic people are inbred. And they have a sense of themselves as genetically special, and a history of risk-taking because they make their living on the high seas fishing. Assets generally rose in value during this period, and so it looked like they actually knew what they were doing.” PeopleValuesRiskSeaSpecialPeriodsRoseFishingAssetsLiving OnRisk-takingHigh SeasInbreds Author:Michael Lewis
“Size will hurt returns. Look at Berkshire Hathaway - the last five things Warren has done have generated returns that are splendid by historical standards, but now give him $100 billion in assets and measure outcomes across all of it, it doesn't look so good. We can only buy big positions, and the only time we can get big positions is during a horrible period of decline or stasis. That really doesn't happen very often.” GivingLooksDoneBigsHappensLastsHurtFivePositionReturnPeriodsStandardsHistoricalSizeBillionsHorribleOutcomesAssetsDeclineOnly TimeSplendidStasis Author:Charlie Munger
“Not every company went bankrupt. Not every bank needed TARP [Troubled Asset Relief Program]. So I'm very proud that JPMorgan, throughout that time period, was completely steadfast. We bought Bear Stearns because we thought we were helping the situation. We didn't cut and run.” HelpingRunningCompanySituationCuttingBearsProudNeededPeriodsProgramReliefAssetsSteadfastTime PeriodsTarp Author:Jamie Dimon