Control or Chaos? Bugs Bunny
Value Driven Action
As stated in the first article in this series: “to believe in efficient markets is to believe in values, production and trade. But as an investor, only the latter will free your mind for the things you can control.” In the second essay you read: “Once we have defined the objective values that will become the performance benchmark - the variables we control, we can balance those against the uncertainty of the future - with confidence.” And in the third: “for the true intellectual, the nature of risk, the primacy of time and the absolute of reason for the creation of values.” There’s that word again – values.
The last essay concluded with: “Finally, a morally defensible investment strategy.” Obviously, there is a pattern – and it leads to the conclusion that positive values are essential for a life-sustaining code of morality. But what are the values that lead to this moral code? Naturally, there are countless values that are universal to existence, but everyone is unique, possesses free will – and reason is not automatic.
From The Moneyball Method, “The values that lend purpose to an investor’s life will appear on their Site Map. They are the ones you pursue because they answer yes to the question: Is this worth living for? To understand why introspection matters,” a good source for children can be found in the character of Bugs Bunny: “Of course I talk to myself. Because sometimes, I need expert advice.”
The identification of values must be the prime mover because it is their pursuit that gives meaning to each investor’s life. In fact, investing has no greater purpose than to answer the question: make money for what?
And by understanding the variables you control, it becomes much easier to disregard the chaos of the predicting the future and beating the market mentality that rules the investment management culture. In Bugs Bunny’s world, it’s about “The way I run this thing you’d think I knew something about it” and disregard for learned authorities, “Eh, you wouldn’t be so tough if you weren’t wearing that uniform.”
Of course, owning the sectors that are in favor and earning a higher-than-average return is tempting. After all, doesn’t a higher return mean more money to exchange for the values that give my life meaning? Yes, ceteris paribus, all things being equal. But there is the uncertainty of the probabilistic risks discussed in Control or Chaos - Being There - by Mark Shupe that screw that up.
By The Moneyball Method, it’s about dollar-weighted results, not time-weighted returns. Or as Bugs has learned, “You know, sometimes me conscience bothers me—but not this time.” To learn more, please click the link below:
https://www.amazon.com/Moneyball-Method-Middle-Class-Manifesto-Objective/dp/1696009111/