Reading Minds and Markets: Minimizing Risk and Maximizing Returns in a Volatile Global Marketplace

4. Exploit Your Edge; Eliminate Your Weakness II—Battling Yourself

I am my own worst enemy—but at least I know it. After 25 years in the investment world, I have gradually learned to notice the warning signs that try to alert me to an attempted takeover by my instincts. Most of the time, I am able to ensure that my hard-won professional judgment triumphs in these battles, which is why I can say that my mantra, shared with many other investment advisers, is that “my clients pay me to lose sleep at night so that they don’t have to.” And I do lose sleep, because navigating the financial markets is never simple or straightforward. Like many of you, I endure market plunges with about the same level of fortitude as I cope with severe turbulence on ...