Other Voices
No one advisor or analyst has a lock on all the great ideas. At Stanford Wealth Management, we are voracious readers, researchers and analysts. We give credit to others when their ideas are suggested and we benefit from lively and often conflicting viewpoints on a particular region, nation, sector, industry or company.
Of course we enjoy reading what Warren Buffett and other endowment, mutual and hedge fund managers have to say. But our most spirited discussions and rigorous analyses often comes from a smaller circle of competitors, colleagues and friends in the investment analysis business. We talk to each other and discuss each others’ recommendations with a critical eye. Every one of these is a class act in the investment business. If you seek disparate and worthwhile viewpoints, may we suggest you take a look at these investment professionals we respect.
PAUL MERRIMAN was the founder and president of Merriman Capital Management as well as founder and co-portfolio manager of three Merriman mutual funds. Paul has an extensive business and teaching background that goes back more than 40 years and includes running public and private companies. He is recognized as one of the nation’s leading mutual fund and asset allocation experts.
Paul has now retired and is devoting his life to educating individual investors, in concert with PBS and other non-profit organizations. He has published four books on investing and has now dedicated himself to his “How to Invest” series, all the proceeds from which will go to charity. To learn more about Paul’s perspective on successful investing, visit paulmerriman.com.
A prolific writer, Paul just can’t seem to stop… and aren’t we glad?
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Speaking of prolific, BOB HOWARD has to win the prize there. I can barely keep up with reading what Bob writes; I have no idea how he finds the time to write it! A former broker who specializes in working with money managers and brokers, Bob knows this business – from the “inside” out. He started his newsletter, Positive Patterns, in 1992. The letter is primarily read by stock brokers and money managers, but is available to individual investors as well.
Bob covers individual stocks in depth…like 10 or more pages on a featured company! … with the long term in mind. Bob believes that the best track records are built by those with patience who under-trade. He looks for companies that dominate their industries, and enjoy a good moat around their markets. Bob and I regularly trade ideas on great companies. Nobody has a better handle on the “Dominator” companies in the best industries for the long-term.
Bob doesn’t have a website “and never will” but if you e-mail him, Bob will either send you a recent copy or give you a great deal on a trial subscription. If he sends one for free, it may not be the current copy but, then, how many advisors do you know who pour their heart and soul into their investment letter, provide 30 PAGES in each issue, and still make time to give you frequent e-mail updates? Contact Bob at positivepatterns@prodigy.net.
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GRAY CARDIFF’s monthly “Sound Advice” newsletter has been published for even longer than Investor’s Edge. That makes it one of the oldest, and I believe best, publications in the country. Gray’s investment philosophy is even more conservative than our own (OK, maybe “as” conservative.) He, too, looks to discern the important turning points in secular cycles, using a unique real estate / stock market ratio and many other indicators to do so. Always interesting and well-written, you can see snippets / teasers of some of the issues he’s looking at online at soundadvice-newsletter.com.