Why New Financial Truth?

I felt that sinking feeling in my stomach. It was like 2001 again. I saw my investment portfolio and retirement account. Thanks to some extra selling just before the closing bell, the Dow managed to post its worst daily point loss in history today, - 777.68 points (September 29, 2008). That is about $1.1 trillion dollars of wealth vanishing.

The previous record was 684.81 point drop that took place on September 17, 2001, during the post-tech bubble recession. That decline was steeper than today's on a relative basis (7.1% compared to today's loss of 7.0%). But those two cannot come close to the Black Monday (1987), the day which the Dow lost 22.6% of its worth.

I was done listening to these so called 'financial experts' on TV and internet.

Jon Stewart vs. Jim Cramer - FULL VIDEO @ Yahoo! Video

All that time, money, and my life (Well, since I was trading my life for money at so called, 'job'.) had gone down the drain.

NO MORE!!!

I knew what I had to was clear:

I ACTUALLY HAD TO GO BACK AND STUDY PEOPLE WHO BEAT THE MARKET ON CONSISTENT BASIS, INSTEAD OF JUST LISTENING TO SO CALLED 'EXPERTS'.

That is why I started this blog. This was for my education but I am hoping you guys can get some value out of it as well.

Here are some interesting quotes from Warren Buffett in his 2007 Shareholder Letters (Page 3):

"You may recall a 2003 Silicon Valley bumper sticker that implored: 'Please God, Just One More Bubble.' Unfortunately, this wish was promptly granted, as just about all Americans came to believe that house prices would forever rise. That conviction made a borrower's income and cash equity seem unimportant to lenders, who shoveled out money, confident that HPA -- home price appreciation -- would cure all problems."

He followed that with an update of one of his most famous quotes over the years, now pertinent more than ever:

"You only learn who has been swimming naked when the tide goes out -- and what we are witnessing at some of our largest financial institutions is an ugly sight."

I guess we were all swimming naked... More to follow.


(Here is an insider story on how we got to this mess by Michael Lewis, the author of 'Liar's Poker', a semi-autobiographical book about his role as a bond salesman on Wall Street during late 1980's, interesting considering this was when the Black Monday happened.)