Behind the Memo - On Bubble Watch

The Memo: Investing Without People

The Memo: You Bet!

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

Selling Out

As I’m now in my fourth decade of memo writing, I’m sometimes tempted to conclude I should quit, because I’ve covered all the relevant topics., Then a new idea for a memo pops up, delivering a pleasant surprise., Origins Much of what I’ll write here got its start in a 2015 memo called Liquidity., That memo evoked the strongest reaction from readers of any of my memos to date., This memorandum is being made available for educational purposes only and should not be used for any other purpose.

2014-04-08-dare-to-be-great-II

All Rights Reserved Memo to: Oaktree Clients From: Howard Marks Re: Dareto Be Great II In September 2006, I wrote a memo entitled Dare to Be Great, with suggestions on how institutional investors might approach the goal of achieving superior investment results.,  Most importantly for the purposes of this memo, how will you define success, and what risks will you take to achieve it?, In the memo I mentioned my favorite fortune cookie: “the cautious seldom err or write great poetry.”, This goes all the way back to the beginning of this memo, and each organization’s need to establish its creed., Some of this comes from my last memo, on the role of luck

2000-01-02-bubble

A l l R i g h t s R e s e r v e d Memo to: OaktreeClients From: HowardMarks Re: bubble.com Thebook"DevilTaketheHindmost" by Edward Chancellor does an excellent job of chronicling the history of financial speculation., * * * I will devote the rest of this memo to what certainly seems to me to be another market bubble., A l l R i g h t s R e s e r v e d Legal Information and Disclosures This memorandum expresses the views of the author as of the date indicated and such views are subject to change without notice., This memorandum is being made available for educational purposes only and should not be used for any other purpose., This memorandum, including the information contained herein, may not be copied, reproduced, republished, or posted in whole or in part, in any form without the prior written consent of Oaktree.

2012-02-15-assessing-performance-records-a-case-study

Memo to: OaktreeClients From: Howard M a r k s R e : AssessingPerformance Records – A Case Study What are the non-negotiable requirements for accurately assessing investment performance?, in my memo Pigweed, from December 7, 2006, Legal Information and Disclosures This memorandum expresses the views of the author as of the date indicated and such views are subject to change without notice., This memorandum is being made available for educational purposes only and should not be used for any other purpose., This memorandum, including the information contained herein, may not be copied, reproduced, republished, or posted in whole or in part, in any form without the prior written consent of Oaktree

2013-03-13-the-outlook-for-equities

Memo to: OaktreeClients From: Howard Marks Re: The Outlook for Equities It doesn‟t take much to get me started on a memo., I‟m not going to drag you through it again, but I will copy over parts of that memo from a year ago: . . . people have been throwing in the towel and selling stocks., Those low expectations, when combined with modest fundamental and psychological improvement, gave the S&P 500 a return of about 13% over the year since that memo was written., Legal Information and Disclosures This memorandum expresses the views of the author as of the date indicated and such views are subject to change without notice., This memorandum is being made available for educational purposes only and should not be used for any other purpose.

2013-11-26-the-race-is-on

Memo to: Oaktree Clients From: Howard Marks Re: The Race Is On I’ve written a lot of memos to clients over the last 24 years – well over a hundred., This memo is about the cycle’s first half: the manic swing toward accommodativeness., It’s primarily these latter elements – rather than securities merely getting pricier – with which this memo is concerned., Examples from the Media My preparation for writing these memos often includes amassing media citations around a central theme., This memorandum is being made available for educational purposes only and should not be used for any other purpose.