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Reminiscences of Marty Zweig: What I Learned From a Market Great

  
  Education
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The early years

After degrees from Wharton, University of Miami and Michigan State, Marty started his career in academia but ultimately became one of the most respected stock market “gurus” in the modern era. I have years’ worth of memories of Marty, and hope readers will indulge me as I reminisce and share some of the most important market lessons I learned from one of the greats.

But first, the personal stuff. Marty was brilliant, there’s no doubt; but he was also quirky, goofy and affable. He was the consummate worrier… but he was also the ultimate warrior. He lived, ate and breathed the markets and perpetually (and tirelessly) strived to “figure it out.”

One of my greatest memories is getting to see first-hand his now-famous memorabilia collection—to which there are no comparables. Among them, there was the dress Marilyn Monroe wore while singing Happy Birthday to John F. Kennedy in 1962; the suits worn by the Beatles on the Ed Sullivan Show in 1964; the 1992 Olympics’ US “Dream Team” basketball jerseys; the booking sheet from one of Al Capone’s arrests; a letter from Madonna to Michigan State declining acceptance so she could pursue a music career; guitars of many rock stars, including Bruce Springsteen and Jimi Hendrix; the fedora worn by Humphrey Bogart in Casablanca; the original Terminator costume worn by Arnold Schwarzenegger; and multiple boxing championship belts, Super Bowl rings and Heisman Trophies. (more…)

Observation and Analysis

  
  Education
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“Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it. Do not believe in anything simply because it is spoken and rumored by many. Do not believe in anything simply because it is found written in your religious books. Do not believe in anything merely on the authority of your teachers and elders. Do not believe in traditions because they have been handed down for many generations. But after observation and analysis, when you find that anything agrees with reason, and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all, then accept it and live up to it.”

– Siddhārtha Gautama (Buddha)

A commitment to reason, observation and analysis (of the self-reliant empirical variety) has been a winning trade for thousands of years.

Why don’t more people practice this, in markets and in life?

The C=L U=M Principle

  
  Education
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Most people like to stay within a range of relative comfort; a range that is self imposed. This is known as your comfort zone. For most of us, the grand majority of our experiences and daily life’s routines are within the limits of what we already know; the boundaries that we set, the fence that we build around us to feel safe.
We tend to ignore the outer limits of this circle of comfort almost all of the time. The unknown is a scary proposition for most. The CLUM principle simply states that COMFORTABLE = LESS OPPORTUNITY ANDUNCOMFORTABLE = MORE OPPORTUNITY; C=L U=M
The simple fact is: opportunity is in the areas that few are willing to venture. In the circle of humanity, you’re part of the circle. And, in order for you to take advantage of inefficiencies in the so-called system, you must go outside the system. You must, at some point, be a lone wolf. This requires you to be a little different than the “norm.” (more…)

Russia Test-Fires Intercontinental Missile From Submarine

  
Education, Politics
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Russia test-fired a Sineva intercontinental missile from a submerged submarine in the Barents Sea on Wednesday as part of a check on the reliability of the navy’s strategic forces, the Defense Ministry said.

The liquid-fueled missile, which can carry nuclear warheads, was fired from the Tula submarine to the Kura Test Range in the far eastern region of Kamchatka, the state-run RIA news agency quoted the ministry as saying. It gave no other details.

The Sineva, which has a range of about 12,000 km (7,500 miles), entered service in 2007 and is part of efforts to prevent the weakening of Russia’s nuclear deterrent.

President Vladimir Putin has underlined the importance of the nuclear deterrent during the standoff with the West over the crisis in Ukraine, and Russia has held several military exercises during the crisis that have alarmed Western powers.

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