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…)