I Beg to Differ

The Essential Difference In 2006, I wrote a memo called Dare to Be Great., Many years have passed since I wrote that memo, and the investing world has gotten a lot more sophisticated, but the message conveyed by the matrix and the accompanying explanation remains unchanged., Talk about simple – in the memo, I reduced the issue to a single sentence: “This just in: You can’t take the same actions as everyone else and expect to outperform.”, Thus, in 2014, I followed up on 2006’s Dare to Be Great with a memo creatively titled Dare to Be Great II., And yet, as I mentioned in my January memo, Selling Out, the S&P 500 has returned about 10½% a year on average over that century-plus.

Gimme Credit

Ever since interest rates got up off the floor in 2022, there’s been increased interest in credit, and that’s why I’m devoting this memo to it., I’ve written so much about this that I’m not going to belabor it further (see my memo Ruminating on Asset Allocation, October 2024), but I’m always available to talk., Credit Versus Equities I’ve written about equity valuations – primarily referencing the Standard & Poor’s 500 – as recently as this January in my memo On Bubble Watch.

2004-03-16-hey-steward!!

A l l R i g h t s R e s e r v e d Memo to: OaktreeClients From: HowardMarks Re: Hey,Steward!!, My October memo “The Feeling’s Mutual” argued that late trading wasn’t the worst thing going on in the mutual fund industry., [Before I go further, I want to do something I failed to do in October: make clear that neither my earlier memo nor this one is intended as a universal indictment of the mutual fund industry.

2012-01-10-what-can-we-do-for-you

Memo to: Oaktree Clients From: Howard Marks Re: What Can We Do For You?, Oaktree on Market Timing This memo provides an ideal opportunity for me to discuss Oaktree’s position on these matters and address some potential inconsistencies., Thoughts on Portfolio Positioning I’m going to use the context of this memo to set out a way of thinking about portfolio structuring that I’ve developed recently, and to show how I would apply it today.

Behind the Memo - Easy Money with Howard Marks and Edward Chancellor

2012-09-11-on-uncertain-ground

Memo to: OaktreeClients From: Howard M a r k s R e : OnUncertainGround Theworld seems more uncertain today than at any other time in my life., I’m going to devote this memo to the uncertainty in the world and the investment environment and then offer my take on the appropriate strategy response., Each one deserves a memo, but – as I said – I’m trying to be economical with your time and attention, On January 10 of this year, I sent out a “clients-only” memo called “What Can We Do For You?”, I said in that memo that I had come up with three questions that might help in setting strategy

Time for Thinking

My memo writing followed suit: one a week for the first six weeks, and a total of ten over 18 weeks., After starting off at that rapid clip, I haven’t issued a memo in more than a month – which might seem like a long interval until you realize the norm in recent years has been only one per quarter., All Rights Reserved Follow us: the end of this memo for postscript in which I discuss the significance of that reported 32.9% decline.), And in a memo on this subject in June of last year, I wrote, “in areas like technology and digital business models, I’d bet things will be different more than the 20% of the time Templeton cited.”, However, thinking about the results in connection with writing this memo raised some questions: • I had immediately assumed Q2 GDP was down $1.81 trillion, or 32.9%, from Q2 of last year.

2004-05-07-us-and-them

A l l R i g h t s R e s e r v e d Memo to: OaktreeClients From: Howard M a rks Re: UsandThem As a kid, I – and probably you – viewed the world in simple terms., In my memo “Returns and How They Get That Way” (November 2002), I gave examples from a brilliant dichotomization propounded by Nicholas Taleeb., May 7, 2004 P.s.: As I wrote this memo, one thing pained me, and I want to address it: I found myself constantly writing “he,” even though I absolutely do not think investing skill is gender-related., So please bear with me; I’m really an equal opportunity memo writer

Go Figure

All Rights Reserved Follow us: Memo to: Oaktree Clients From: Howard Marks Re: Go Figure!, That behavior calls to mind my January memo, “On the Couch,” on the subject of the market’s irrationality., In that memo, I included a cartoon showing a newscaster saying, “Everything that was good for the market yesterday was no good for it today.”, * * * This is the last memo on politics for a while, I hope (as may you).

Different

All Rights Reserved Follow us: Memo to: Oaktree Clients Only From: Howard Marks Re: A Different World Our powers and choices are limited in the coronavirus environment, but one thing I can do is communicate., But I decided on Sunday March 1 that the virus called for a memo, and it was issued on March 3.