anecdotes

“The paradox, of course, is that anyone driven by insecurity and fear of failure who figures out its horrors then has to overcome the greatest fear of all,” he wrote, in response to last Sunday’s anecdote on insecurity, fear, drive, greatness. “Which is that overcoming a fear of failure might – you never know – be the equivalent of Superman uncovering Kryptonite,” continued the CIO, maintaining a delicate

“The key is to bring out in people the things they don’t realize make them great,” he said. We’d been seated together at one of those dinners, filled with unique folks. And this one spent his career building some of Wall Street’s top performing teams. “Nearly everyone is scared of being really good. They don’t want to fly so high that they get lost. It’s a very rare person who gets right after it, knows they’ve got i

“This is not just a problem for the Fed,” said Consigliere, back in DC from a never-ending global tour. “The same problem is faced by the Bank of Canada, the Bank of England, SNB, Riksbank, Norges Bank, HKMA, MAS, and even the PBOC now.” Following the global financial crisis the Fed adopted two objectives; maintaining economic stability (strong growth, full employment and 2% inflation), and financial stability (avoid

“What is trading about?” asked Yoda, high in the Rockies. “It is not about figuring out market direction,” continued the market’s biggest S&P 500 local. “Trading is about breaking things down. A market moves up or down. Are you comfortable fading that direction, or are you not? Hmmm? Has the market rallied on good news, or the opposite? Was there big volume? Do correlations support the move? Are they changing?” Y

“But in fact, Chase is so good at everything he does that sometimes it can be rather annoying,” said Ryan, laughing, blushing, betraying deep admiration for his teammate. Speaking more to himself, than to our clients; providing a genuine glimpse. We were sitting in the Blue Room, a tranquil space. Discussing our firm, our process, how we communicate, triangulate, collaborate. And the client asked for a description of

“I have something to admit,” said Jackson, our 13yr old, as I walked into his room. He’d had a day to digest the news of our move to Greenwich. “What’s up my man?” I asked. “Leaving Santa Barbara stinks,” he said. I nodded, in some ways it does. “But can I show you something?” he asked, excited, and played a Greenwich lacrosse highlight video. “Wow Jackson, they’re awesome.” He nodded, eyes glued to the screen. “You

“I trace the boomerang to 1993,” said the CIO, a top performer, year after year. “It circles the globe, taking out one after another,” he explained. “China’s massive currency devaluation, coupled with its economic opening, produced a massive deflationary impulse that precipitated the 1998 Asian crisis.” Emerging market leaders then concluded they want cheap currencies and huge reserves as insurance against future cri

Sent a note this week to one of my portfolio managers. He’d proposed a bullish Brazil theme following Dilma’s October re-election, which would’ve been a big loser. Here’s the email: We all get things wrong. The question is why? Improve on the margin, and long-term performance rises dramatically. So reflect back on your excitement after Brazil’s election. It’s a good example of a few things: (1) Politicians: Betting o

“Can’t count the times I’ve thought, oh my god, maybe that guy’s just better than me,” grunted Bulldog. “In the end, they’re not,” he snorted, scratching a torn ear. “They’ve just never been rocked to their core.” The top performer in any given year is supremely confident. He’s operated within the no-fear zone, fully committed in the markets, because he doesn’t yet know how badly it can hurt. “The guys you want manag