market folly

Memos from Oaktree Capital's Howard Marks have gained somewhat of a cult following and rightly so.  The investment manager often delivers pearls of wisdom to the investing masses and Warren Buffett has said that Marks' missives are some of his favorite reads.  Oaktree's leading man is out with his latest memo entitled "On Uncertain Ground."

And with that title comes a harrowing line where Marks writes, "The world seems more uncertain than at any other time in my life."  Such a warning can be quite ominous when you consider the history that Marks himself has seen over his lifetime.

Yet he rattles off a list of his current concerns, including:

- Europe
- US fiscal situation
- Concern over counting on further stimulus
- Low interest rates
- Outlook for China

Despite such warnings, Marks also intertwines some advice that many investors often forget: "in the investing world, doing nothing is doing something."  Indeed, many great managers have attributed their great gains to simply having patience and doing nothing.

At the end of his piece, Oaktree's founder concludes that "Move forward, but with caution" is his investing mantra in the present day.

Embedded below is Howard Marks' latest memo: "On Uncertain Ground" where he opines on expectations, value, sentiment, and more:




You can download a .pdf here.

For more from this manager, we recently highlighted Marks' current favorite idea & investment strategy.