Words of Wisdom From Doug Kass

I follow Doug Kass, a professional investor whose views often beat to a different drummer than the status quo. Below is a section from his latest article at http://www.thestreet.com/.

"In markets and in life, we are consistently bamboozled by appearance and consensus. Too often, we are played as suckers as we just accept the trend, momentum and/or the superficial as certain truth without a shred of criticism. Just look at those who bought into the success of Enron, the financial supermarket concept at Citigroup (C Quote), the uninterrupted profit growth at Fannie Mae (FNM Quote) and Freddie Mac (FRE Quote), housing's new paradigm of noncyclical growth and ever-rising home prices in the early to mid 2000s, Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction, the uncompromising principles of former New York Governor Elliott Spitzer, the morality of our politicians (e.g., John Edwards, John Ensign and Larry Craig), the consistency of Bernie Madoff's investment returns (and those of other hucksters) and the clean-cut image of Tiger Woods."

"Do you want to know the truth or see me hit a few dingers?"

-- Mark McGwire

"And, even the heroic home-run production of steroid-laced Major League Baseball players such as Mark McGwire is ignored until the facts are made public in black and white."

INVESTING LESSON:
Only by standing against the prevailing winds – selectively, but resolutely – can an investor prosper over time. Such a strategy may underperform during markets that are rising based upon the momentum of the herd vs. fundamental valuations.