We try to own the best companies in each sector and short the worst. If you do that well, the market direction matters a lot less.
The quality of your research is the quality of your edge. There's no other sustainable advantage in this business.
Shorting is the hardest thing in investing. You're fighting the natural drift of markets, and you can be right on the fundamentals and still lose money on timing alone.
Julian Robertson taught me that the most important decision is picking the right people. That applies to management teams you invest in and the analysts you hire.
We don't try to predict the economy or interest rates. We try to understand businesses. Those are very different activities.
Permanent capital loss is the enemy. Volatility is not the enemy. If you confuse the two, you'll make terrible decisions.