The Panic of 2020? Oh, I Made a Ton of Money—and So Did You

Posted by jasonzweig on Mar 20, 2020 in Articles & Advice, Blog, Books, Columns, Featured |

Image Credit: Alex Nabaum

By Jason Zweig | Updated March 20, 2020 11:52 am ET

It’s springtime in the year 2030. You’re looking back at the crash of 2020, the devastation it dealt your portfolio and how you behaved as an investor.

What will you say?

If human nature is any guide — and, let’s face it, it is — your accounts of what happened will begin with such words and phrases as “Clearly…” or “It was obvious to me that…” or “Everybody knew that…”

In the future, your memory of the crash of 2020 won’t be a recollection. It will be a reconstruction, built partly from what is happening now and largely from what you learn later about what hasn’t happened yet.

I’m describing hindsight bias — the belief, after something happens, that we foresaw that it would occur.…

To read the rest of the column:

https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-panic-of-2020-oh-i-made-a-ton-of-moneyand-so-did-you-11584716442

For further reading:

Books:

Benjamin Graham, The Intelligent Investor