Last week I was offered this glib investment advice from a retiring real-estate developer who is getting ready to diversify a part of his holdings into common stocks.

He revealed that his past attempts at making money in the stock market had proven fruitless — acknowledging that the Coffeehouse philosophy might be a better approach this time around. read more »

Hitting the cutoff man. Moving the runner into scoring position. Turning the double play. Keeping the ball down in the strike zone. Will spring training pay off come September? Let’s find out, because it’s time to play ball!

Finally, something to take our attention away from this confounding stock market.

Like baseball and pumpkin pie, individual common stock ownership has been a dynamic part of American life for most of the last century, and has taken on a heightened significance during the last two decades, largely because of two events that occurred simultaneously. read more »

Once you remove yourself from Wall Street’s complete and total obsession with trying to beat the stock market average, and accept the fact that equaling the stock market average is a sophisticated approach to the whole thing, building a successful portfolio becomes an immensely gratifying experience.

The Coffeehouse Investor has long advocated the simple concept of indexing — owning all the securities that make up a particular index, or asset class. read more »

A recent phone conversation with my four-year-old niece removed all doubt, at least in my mind for that moment. According to her, Santa Claus was busy making his list and checking it twice. Who am I to argue otherwise?

On to the next topic of debate: Are capital markets efficient? Not long ago, I received a call from a Coffeehouse Investor, a retired doctor who continues to embrace life with the wonder of a four-year-old and the wisdom of a sage. She said, “Bill, you’ve got to explain the basics. read more »