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I like Max Gunter’s investment insights and his writings. I own and have read both his Zurich Axioms and his Luck Factor books. They are excellent. Unfortunately I read them over a decade ago, and probably don’t recall too much of the advice they proffered. Perhaps it’s time to revisit them.
However, at investment decision times, it could be difficult to implement the axioms advanced by Gunter. They could be implemented in either direction depending on circumstances and depending on thresholds that were poorly defined in his writings, and some are subject to individual interpretations. I suppose that’s true of any and all rule sets.
As President Harry Truman observed about economists: “Give me a one-handed economist! All my economists say on one hand……on the other”. It’s sometimes hard to extract a solid doable recommendation given the often duel character of a few of his pronouncements. There are plenty of ifs, maybes, and exceptions These golden rules should serve mostly as generic guidelines, not specifically unchanging tenets.
Among investment gurus, everyone and his brother has assembled his own rule set. For example, there are the Bernard Baruch’s 10 Rules of Investing. Here is a Link to that set:
They differ from those offered by Gunter, but there are substantial overlaps.
I am comfortable with some of Gunter’s wisdom, but by temperament, learning, portfolio size, age, and experience, I rebel against several of his axioms.
For example, I support diversification, he recommends resisting it. I let winning positions run, he recommends identifying a target gain. He recommends jumping ship to limit losses to 15%, whereas I am more patient. He dislikes long-term investments; Warren Buffett and I see things differently.
Regardless of these disagreements, I admire and practice much of the Gunter Axioms. There is almost never a perfect fit. I agree with his views on risk, on false pattern recognition, and on the lack of prescience among market forecasters. It’s interesting that Gunter axiom Number 8 surprisingly addresses religion and the occult.
That’s dangerous ground. It reminded me somewhat of Robert Merton’s so-called Matthew Effect from the Bible. It says: “For to all those who have, more will be given, and they will have an abundance; but from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away”. That passage is more commonly known as the “rich get richer, and the poor get poorer” truism.
The wealth of individual investors most assuredly impacts the way they invest, their performance, and their risk tolerance. The wealthy have the flexibility and timescale to endure market disruptions that the poor can not. That’s the way of a Capitalistic system and an open marketplace.
Enough from me! I certainly agree with Ted and Rono that any Max Gunter on investing is a worthwhile read.
A flash from the past. Much appreciated. As I offered before, it seems uncanny to me. Not a strict, step-by-step recipe--- because attempting to enact such a detailed, specific recipe isn't even possible. It is inimcal to investing in MARKETS. The Zurich Axioms do well, in my opinion, in dovetailing the fact-based element with the intuitive sort of stuff that makes for a good Investor.
Comments
Not only are the Zurich Axioms wonderful, you can buy anything written by Max Gunther and learn from it. The Luck Factor is a good read.
peace,
rono
Regards,
Ted
https://www.google.com/#q=max+gunther+book
I like Max Gunter’s investment insights and his writings. I own and have read both his Zurich Axioms and his Luck Factor books. They are excellent. Unfortunately I read them over a decade ago, and probably don’t recall too much of the advice they proffered. Perhaps it’s time to revisit them.
However, at investment decision times, it could be difficult to implement the axioms advanced by Gunter. They could be implemented in either direction depending on circumstances and depending on thresholds that were poorly defined in his writings, and some are subject to individual interpretations. I suppose that’s true of any and all rule sets.
As President Harry Truman observed about economists: “Give me a one-handed economist! All my economists say on one hand……on the other”. It’s sometimes hard to extract a solid doable recommendation given the often duel character of a few of his pronouncements. There are plenty of ifs, maybes, and exceptions These golden rules should serve mostly as generic guidelines, not specifically unchanging tenets.
Among investment gurus, everyone and his brother has assembled his own rule set. For example, there are the Bernard Baruch’s 10 Rules of Investing. Here is a Link to that set:
http://thereformedbroker.com/2013/02/17/bernard-baruchs-10-rules-of-investing/
They differ from those offered by Gunter, but there are substantial overlaps.
I am comfortable with some of Gunter’s wisdom, but by temperament, learning, portfolio size, age, and experience, I rebel against several of his axioms.
For example, I support diversification, he recommends resisting it. I let winning positions run, he recommends identifying a target gain. He recommends jumping ship to limit losses to 15%, whereas I am more patient. He dislikes long-term investments; Warren Buffett and I see things differently.
Regardless of these disagreements, I admire and practice much of the Gunter Axioms. There is almost never a perfect fit. I agree with his views on risk, on false pattern recognition, and on the lack of prescience among market forecasters. It’s interesting that Gunter axiom Number 8 surprisingly addresses religion and the occult.
That’s dangerous ground. It reminded me somewhat of Robert Merton’s so-called Matthew Effect from the Bible. It says: “For to all those who have, more will be given, and they will have an abundance; but from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away”. That passage is more commonly known as the “rich get richer, and the poor get poorer” truism.
The wealth of individual investors most assuredly impacts the way they invest, their performance, and their risk tolerance. The wealthy have the flexibility and timescale to endure market disruptions that the poor can not. That’s the way of a Capitalistic system and an open marketplace.
Enough from me! I certainly agree with Ted and Rono that any Max Gunter on investing is a worthwhile read.
Best Wishes.