The Lessons of Howard Marks' Memos ('96-'00)
Bubbles, Prediction, Speculation, Exuberance, Genius, and more.
This is Part Two of the deep dive into Howard Marks’ memos.
Today we look at the years ‘96-’00, which include his thoughts during the build up, and aftermath, of the dotcom bubble.
Considering the excitement around AI in today’s market, this is going to be hugely relevant. If you want to navigate the current environment rationally, you’ll love this.
If you’re unfamiliar with this series, I’m reading 1,610-pages of everything Howard Marks has written since 1990, and sharing what I learn with you.
Each article can stand alone. You don’t need to have read Part 1 to get value here. But if you want to fully understand the thoughts behind a brilliant investor, Part 1 covers the memos of ‘90-’95 which can be read here.
Note: the anthology can be read for free, all 1610-pages. Access it here.
That amount of reading isn’t feasible for most, so while there’s no replacing the real thing — this gets pretty close.
Despite being a summary, this isn’t a short piece. I’m either very bad at summarising or Howard Marks has a remarkable ability to fill every sentence with insight... I’d like to think it’s the latter, but it’s probably both.
Today, we cover:
bubbles,
investing and speculating,
lessons from LTCM,
forecasting,
lessons from the crash,
and so much more.
The length of this article is not something that should deter you — this doesn’t need to be read from top to bottom — skip around, read what piques your interest, do what works for you.
I assure you only one thing: for whichever part you choose to read and for however long you choose to read it, you will find what is written to be extremely valuable.