“So, as a rule of thumb: if you don’t know anything about investing, you invest in index funds, and you make the market return, which has been 6–8% historically. That’s the tax you pay for being a dumbass.”
Got a good laugh out of that comment.
These types of articles always seem to pop up when the market is on the tail end of a multi year bull run.
Looks like he does not actually manage money, but sells subscriptions to an investment newsletter. Sounds like a good way to avoid liability to people who follow your advice.
I read it too and chuckled. He’s a former trader and author of “Street Freak.” I haven’t read it yet, so no comment on the guy as of yet.
http://www.wallstreetoasis.com/blog/i-need-the-cfa-like-i-need-hantavirus The guy just comes across as not being too bright. The CFA exams are the basics. The minimum standard. Not a high standard. If you drop out of the program, you lose credibility to criticize it. If you never signed up or passed all three, I tend to pay more attention.
That article is exactly why I hate WSO. the writer comes off as a total dbag who seems incredibly bitter he failed L2 and is shtting on the CFA.
An example of a test where you learn nothing is the SAT, the CFA actually gives you a wealth of real world knowledge that is quite legit. Obviously, the curriculum doesn’t tell you which stock to pick (no sht sherlock), and obviosuly you are not going to use all the knowledge you learned for your day job.
At least the author agrees that for a career as an analyst on the sell side/buy side/portfolio manager, the CFA “is necessary”.
the only thing I agree is that the legion of back office people thinking the CFA exam is the golden ticket to FO is misugided. That i’ll agree with, but not much else
The index he used, the ICEX, has 17 components. His example for why you shouldn’t invest in an index fund was the 10 year performance of 17 Icelandic securities. It’s such a meaningless data point. It’s up 23% for 1 year, up 50% for 3 years, 65% over 5 years, but those are also meaningless without a benchmark. I’m dumber for having read that.
Wait, so it’s not wise to sign up for his newsletter?
Fck my life.
Definitely not a ticket, but much better to stand in line with a nice pair of shoes than with a beat up pair of sneakers. Just get the charter. It ain’t no thing.