Anthony Isola

The Only Vice That Cannot Be Forgiven

“A hypocrite is the kind of politician who would cut down a redwood tree, then mount the stump and make a speech for conservation.”  Adlai Stevenson, Former Presidential nominee and U.N. Envoy Do as I say, not as I do should be the mission statement for Wells Fargo. “Our ethics are the sum of all…

Humility, With A Touch Of Awe

“Neither fear nor awe is a productive response: both cut off questioning and the potential for gaining even a hint of understanding.”  – Samuel Arbesman, Author Whether we like it or not, our world is filled with very complicated systems. This is especially true of global capitalism. Picture an entity with the following characteristics: 15…

Invest Early, Go To School Late

Children often receive mixed messages on just about everything. Parents who drink and run up massive credit card debt often lecture their children about shunning these bad habits. Many public school teachers who have spent their entire lives in school give guidance on life in the private sector which they often have no experience in….

The Greatest Story Seldom Told

Fables and fairy tales are poor excuses for an investment philosophy. Too many investors have bet their life savings on the financial version of Science Fiction. The concept of evidence based investing takes an entirely different approach. Wide diversification, concentration on certain factors, and low investment friction (i.e., minimized taxes and fees) combined with a…

The Perfect Investment

Imagine an investment that could: Reduce the overall rate of depression by 50%; Cut alcoholism and suicide by 66%; Slash I.V. drug use and domestic violence by 75%; Markedly upgrade worker productivity; and Diminish the need for expensive incarceration for our citizens. This is not a publicly traded or private security. This investment has the…

The United States of Market History Amnesia

“The events of future history…will be of the same nature-or nearly so-as the history of the past, so long as men are men.”  – Thucydides-Athenian Historian and General Investors need an applied historian for a financial advisor. Being a former history teacher, I appreciate the skills I learned from my college major more than ever…

Don’t Let What You Cannot Do Interfere With What You Can

“Just keep going. Everybody gets better if they keep at it” -Ted Williams, Red Sox Hall of Famer Blaming the umpire does not work. If investors get caught looking at a called third strike, it is their own fault. Sports, like investing, is about sticking to a repeatable routine through both bull and bear markets. “It…

The Positive Power of Negative Investor Thinking

Maybe investors should be “nattering nabobs of negativism.” This expression, coined by Spiro Agnew (honorary captain of most crooked ex-Vice Presidents) has some validity.  In other words: Embrace the suck! In the age where everyone gets a trophy, and self-esteem is falsely built up (without accomplishment to back it up), maybe investors should go against the…

Being Smart About Money Begins With How It’s Taught

Newsflash: Financial Literacy Month does not work! Do you remember anything from your seventh grade math class? Imagine if instead of learning about the area of a rhombus, the stakes were much higher. If your financial future depended on your memory of your high school curriculum, save the formalities and declare immediate bankruptcy; it would…

Why Breadth Trumps Depth

Watching and talking about sports might not be the waste of time many believe it is. Does this mean you should paint your face before going to a hockey game like Puddy, Elaine’s on-again, off-again boyfriend from Seinfeld? Should you wait hours on the phone, wasting incalculable time for the opportunity to speak about some ridiculous, hypothetical…