Classic Investment Advice

From our friends at PBS's WealthTrack comes a program this week resurrecting the classic investment text "A Random Walk Down Wall Street" by ace Princeton professor Burton Malkiel, published 50 years, and presents an extraordinary compelling case to do the opposite of what the "experts" are doing. I read this book when I was in grad school in the late 1970s. It had a great influence on me.  Hope everyone enjoyed the weekend.  

Classic Investment Advice

August 10, 2023

Dear WEALTHTRACK Subscriber, 

The first week of Public Television’s summer fundraising season is upon us, a chance to revisit a WEALTHTRACK classic. But first, what is new this week is on our website. Legendary financial thought leader Burton Malkiel shares why he has switched his once enthusiastic embrace of China’s investment potential to one of extreme caution.       

On television this week we are revisiting a recent interview with Malkiel who is famous for his best selling, A Random Walk Down Wall Street: The Best Investment Guide That Money Can Buy. Now considered to be an investment classic, the 13th edition of A Random Walk was just published to celebrate its 50th anniversary.

Malkiel’s credentials are impressive. He is a PhD economist, Professor of Economics Emeritus at Princeton, former Dean of the Yale School of Management, former 25-year board member of Vanguard, former member of the board of the American Stock Exchange and now investment committee member of Rebalance IRA. He is author of nearly 20 books and hundreds of scholarly articles and opinion pieces. 

Malkiel believes even more strongly today in his original thesis, writing in his introduction to the latest A Random Walk: “Investors would be far better off buying and holding a broad-based index fund than attempting to buy and sell individual securities or actively managed mutual funds.” He has some convincing research to support his thesis.   

But what about now? With all of the changes that have occurred in the markets and the vast array of products and strategies available to investors, why is investing still a random walk? He will explain, as well as share his criticisms of ESG investing, factor investing and cryptocurrencies!   .

If you miss the show on public television, you can watch it on our website over the weekend, along with our past programs and our guests’ One Investment recommendations.  You can also find the WEALTHTRACK podcast on Stitcher and SoundCloud as well as iTunes and Spotify.

Please also explore our YouTube channel, where you can watch this show along with Burton Malkiel’s previous interviews. You’ll find our extensive archive of interviews with financial thought leaders and great investors there as well.

Have a great summer weekend, and make the week ahead a healthy, profitable and productive one!

Best regards,
 

Consuelo