Hi Guys,
Being a simple man with limited talents, I like things simplified. Of course there is the danger of missing a pivotal point with oversimplification. But simplification benefits often overwhelm the embedded risks.
In investing, I am a sucker for sets of rules. Many number only 10 rules but several longer lists have been developed by rather famous investors. Here is a Link to one such list generated by the infamous Jesse Livermore:
http://www.businessinsider.com/jesse-livermores-trading-rules-2014-9Livermore was the ultimate trader, not an investor, and only traded stocks. But as a mutual fund investor, I still found his insights useful. For example his rule 17, which cautions to focus on fewer rather than many investment opportunities, naturally draws an investor to the mutual fund category.
Investing decisions are frequently coupled to economic considerations. Here again I apply the simple is often better guidelines. If you are at all interested in learning more about how the economy works, I highly recommend the Henry Hazlitt classic "Economcs in One Lesson". It is a short, breezy, and hugely informative introduction to the subject. And you can download the book for free compliments of the Von Mises organization. Here is the Link to it:
https://mises.org/files/henry-hazlitt-economics-one-lessonpdf/download?token=xBmgeDG7Enjoy. Hazlitt's one lesson on page 20 summarizes it all. All analyses must have a broad scope to capture interactions.
Best Regards for a Merry Christmas and a prosperous 2017.
EDIT: Sorry that I was too brief when I failed to include the Hazlitt rule directly in my post. Here it is:
"The art of economics consists in looking not merely at the immediate but at the longer effects of any act or policy; it consists in tracing the consequences of that policy not merely for one group but for all groups."
First hand sources are always better than interpretations. Hazlitt made book learning easy and fun.
