Anthony Isola

10 Sports Terms that Help Explain Wall Street

In honor of Jason Zweig’s new book, The Devil’s Financial Dictionary, I came out with a mini-dictionary of my own, using common sports terminology. These terms will help the average investor understand how they are being deceived by fancy-pants Wall Street guys speaking in their own lingo, designed to confuse and obfuscate the masses. Unlike…

Don’t Be an Index Fund Zealot: It’s Fees that Matter

Many investors build a modern day version of The Berlin Wall between implementing strategies using index funds vs. those espousing active management. Like anything else, the answer lies somewhat in the middle. Acting as a zealot in either direction could result in many lost  investment opportunities. Most don’t realize this but the “Godfather”of indexing, Jack Bogle, is not against…

We didn’t Start the Fire

Housing bubble, sub-prime Countrywide out of its mind. Mozilo’s tan, Thain’s rug James Cayne is pretty smug. Goldman’s Muppets, Fabulous Fab Bailout Nation about to blab CDO’s, Dimon’s wine Bernanke says, “It’s all confined.”   We didn’t start the fire Brokers always been churning, so they could keep earning. We didn’t start the fire, Don’t…

Five Ways to Invert Your Broker’s Advice

“Invert always invert. It is in the nature of things, as Jacobi knew, that many hard problems are best solved only when they are addressed backwards.” Charlie Munger   These words from Charlie Munger’s 1986 speech can be used as a lifeline for investors being fleeced by unscrupulous brokers. Turning their advice upside down and applying…

Alternative to What? Making Money??

Over the years Wall Street has come out with new products to help investors “hedge” the risk of often wild and crazy markets. Liquid Alternatives, Unconstrained Bond Funds, Master Limited Partnerships and (the granddaddy of them all) Hedge Funds, are some of the fancy names thrown around to impress naïve investors. These funds are often…

Diversify and Win- in Investing and in Kids’ Sports

When it comes to investing, you are much better off holding a globally diversified, low-cost portfolio than you are making concentrated bets on individual stocks or asset classes. Unfortunately, many investors do not see the value of diversification in their investments. And perhaps that isn’t surprising, considering the many ways in which society encourages putting…

Good Enough is Almost Always Good Enough

At a diner it is difficult for many people to choose from a thirty page menu. This creates stress and often leads to bad decisions, like ordering Sushi from page 4o on the menu! This is called the paradox of choice. It is often the reason people delay investing. If you let it, this will interfere with some…

Don’t Let Instinct Ruin Your Financial Plan

The human instinct to focus only on immediate threats to our well-being is hard-wired. It evolved because it kept early humans physically safe. But while the instinct to run from danger was invaluable to a Neanderthal roaming the savanna as a hunter/gatherer, it can be devastating to a long-term financial plan. Just think about the…

You Have the Watches, But We Have the Time

Investors have a much easier job than traders. It comes down to playing the long game vs. the much riskier shorter version. The short term is all about predicting irrational human reaction to unpredictable and random short-term events. The long game enables an investor to make educated guesses on the most likely long-term probabilities. While the…

You Have the Watches, But We Have the Time

Investors have a much easier job than traders. It comes down to playing the long game vs. the much riskier shorter version. The short term is all about predicting irrational human reaction to unpredictable and random short-term events. The long game enables an investor to make educated guesses on the most likely long-term probabilities. While the…