I’ve posted Entry #253 to my weekly Valuation-Informed Indexing column at the Value Walk site. It’s called What a Journalist Can Tell You About Stock Investing That an Expert Cannot.
Juicy Excerpt: But politeness is not the only virtue. Frankness is a virtue. We can make a mistake when we become so polite that we hold back from stating our views frankly. I see too much of the bad form of politeness evidencing itself in the investing realm. People want to get along with each other and they know that those who advance misguided investing advice hurt their listeners in serious ways. So most of us are careful not to be too tough in the criticisms we offer of the investing ideas we hear being put forward by others.
Even I do that. I am generally a polite person. I’ve been told that numerous times on the internet, even sometimes by people who are severe critics of my beliefs. But I make an effort to combine a good measure of frankness with my politeness. I think that’s the journalist in me coming out. Lots of people view friction as a bad thing. Journalists look for friction. We believe that it is when ideas clash that learning experiences take place. We are often blunt and we usually are not apologetic about it.
Blunt is good.
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