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Weekend reading: Stamina versus sprinting when investing

Good reads from around the Web.

I really liked an analogy from blogger Random Roger that I read this week. In an article stressing that investing is about long-term results, Roger writes [1]:

One comment we’ve heard several times in this year’s Tour de France is that they can’t win the Tour today but they can lose it today.

And this relates to investing.

You cannot ensure that you will have enough money when you need it by having a good month, quarter or year, but it is possible to seriously jeopardize your ability to have enough when you need it with certain behavior.

Can you remember how much you were up in March 2010? Or whether you beat the market (if that’s your aim) in 2007?

Very unlikely. Even if you do keep detailed records, you’re either a savant or you’ll need to consult your files before answering.

Yet how much does the typical news-obsessed investor sweat when the market falls 5%?

These short-term oscillations matter a lot to fund managers and financial journalists, but they don’t mean much in the long run. What goes up usually comes down almost as far on a day-to-day basis. Often enough by tomorrow!

It’s over the months and much more so the years that the gains really add up.

So forget winning the yellow jersey. Keep your eyes on the finish line!

From the blogs

Making good use of the things that we find…

Passive investing

Active investing

Other articles

Product of the week: Leeds Building Society [13] has launched a 0% mortgage. Of course it’s an introductory offer. The Guardian has all the details [14].

Mainstream media money

Some links are Google search results – in PC/desktop view these enable you to click through to read the piece without being a paid subscriber of that site.1 [15]

Passive investing

Active investing

Other stuff worth reading

Book of the week: Simon Lack’s new book on the end of the 30-year bond bull market, Bonds Are Not Forever [31], is available for pre-order on Amazon, ahead of its early September release date. Nice timing.

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  1. Reader Ken notes that: “FT articles can only be accessed through the search results if you’re using PC/desktop view (from mobile/tablet view they bring up the firewall/subscription page). To circumvent, switch your mobile browser to use the desktop view. On Chrome for Android: press the menu button followed by “Request Desktop Site”.” [ [36]]