Predictably Unpredictable

By Eric Burkholder, Portfolio Manager

A 2012 review of market outcomes and the “experts” who failed to predict them.

“Prediction is very difficult, especially if it's about the future.” - Niels Bohr, Danish physicist

The world of investment advice and market forecasting is very profitable.  Let me rephrase that.  The world of investment advice and market forecasting is very profitable for those selling the advice.  The outcome for those who invest on said advice is not quite as rosy.  So each year I make a point to track all the “expert” predictions and highlight some of the more pronounced failures.  2012, as expected, did not disappoint.

The Secret to Predicting Mutual Fund Performance!

By Eric Burkholder

There is a very good article out today on MarketWatch.com.  "You are the best predictor of next bull or bear" The title is misleading but the theme of the article is this:  There is no evidence that any person or any expert has any ability to predict mutual fund returns or forecast the economy.  Actually, an even better summary of the article is in the affirmative: There IS significant evidence that traditional performance metrics cannot reliably predict mutual fund performance and there IS significant evidence that experts do a very poor job of predicting turning points in the economy.  

Sasquatch Sighting!

By Eric Burkholder

In the era of perpetual reality TV offerings it is no surprise that Big Foot has finally nabbed his own TV series.  And like most outrageous reality TV I caught myself watching for a few minutes.

While it’s almost impossible not to enjoy the spectacle of grown men and women hunting down the elusive beast and honing their Big Foot Call, most rational viewers shake their head at the futility of the exercise.  Where is the substantial proof?  This is not the 1960s.  Fuzzy videos are ancient history.  We have night vision goggles, infrared cameras, and HD video in the hands of almost every cell phone owner.  Surely some irrefutable evidence would have surfaced by now.  If you are to convince me I want an image so clear I can count his pearly whites.  That is the type of evidence the technology today demands.