Well over a year ago I read an article by LeggMason's Michael Mauboussin, Capital Ideas Revisited - Part 2, and recently had the joy of rereading that article. What originally drew me to the article was the intellectual discipline Mr. Mauboussin brought to it. Very impressive. I know nothing about investing (or much else, I'm sure) but what got and kept me reading was his multi-disciplinary approach to his topic. Elements which especially appealed to me include:
- thoughts on social psychology and how crowds generate momentum whether they intend to or not
- the breakdown on anomalies in the market
- I got a laugh out of "In other words, the best trading rule worked until the professors published their findings."
- recognition of the divergence between short term (what I like to call "incident") and long term metrics.
- the Slow Traveling Ideas section which reads much like a preamble to works on viral marketing
Mr. Mauboussin's work makes me think that'll be sooner rather than later.
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