The Best of . . .

Howard Marks released a curated anthology of what he considers his best memos across 35 years, spanning October 1990 through August 2025. The collection is organized around two themes: enduring investment principles and chronicles of major financial events. On principles, Marks consistently argues that long-term success comes from avoiding poor years rather than chasing brilliant ones, that macro forecasting is largely futile, and that risk is not volatility but a range of possible outcomes requiring skilled judgment. On market events, the memos cover the dot-com bubble (2000), the Global Financial Crisis (2007–2008) — where Marks flagged excessive leverage, untested securitization, and too-easy capital access before the collapse — and the 2022 shift in interest rate policy he called a 'sea change' after 40 years of declining rates. Recurring themes include the pendulum of investor psychology swinging between fear and greed, the necessity of unconventional thinking for superior returns, and the observation that high valuations presage low subsequent returns. Marks also notes that in the 2008 crisis, excessive negativity signaled vast opportunity for contrarian investors, and that in credit investing, avoiding losers generally serves better than finding winners.