Howard Marks
Howard Marks's framework turns an investing idea into a decision memo: what to check, what to avoid, and what would change your mind. Use the 48 principles below as a checklist—not as buy/sell signals—and verify any numbers or quotes with primary sources. If you're new, start with Value Investing to frame business quality, valuation discipline, and risk, then browse topics to find the rules that match your situation. Pair each principle with a concrete trigger so you can review whether you followed the process after the decision.
- Start with the principles as questions (not trade signals).
- Write down your thesis, risks, and “what would change my mind”.
- Cross-check with scenarios, filings, and your own data sources.
Educational only. This is not investment advice.
"The most important thing is to be aware of the pendulum of market psychology."
About Howard Marks
Howard Stanley Marks (born April 23, 1946) is an American investor and writer. He is the co-founder and co-chairman of Oaktree Capital Management, one of the world's largest investors in distressed securities with over $150 billion in assets under management. Marks is renowned for his insightful memos to clients, which have been published since 1990 and are widely read in the investment community, including by Warren Buffett. These memos cover market cycles, risk management, investor psychology, and the nature of investment returns. His investment philosophy emphasizes second-level thinking – going beyond surface analysis to consider how other investors are thinking. Marks advocates for a contrarian approach, being fearful when others are greedy and greedy when others are fearful, while maintaining a deep understanding of risk. His book "The Most Important Thing" distills his decades of investment wisdom into essential principles, while "Mastering the Market Cycle" provides a framework for understanding and navigating market cycles to improve investment results.
Core Investment Principles
Price is What Matters Most
There's no asset so good that it can't become a bad investment if bought at too high a price. And there are few assets s...
→Contrarian Value Finding
To buy when others are despondently selling and to sell when others are avidly buying requires the greatest fortitude an...
→Second-Level Thinking on Value
First-level thinking says, 'It's a good company; let's buy the stock.' Second-level thinking says, 'It's a good company,...
→Quality vs Price Balance
The biggest investing errors come not from factors that are informational or analytical, but from those that are psychol...
→Risk vs Quality Perception
High quality assets can be risky, and low quality assets can be safe. It's not what you buy, it's what you pay. Risk mea...
→Browse Howard Marks's Principles by Topic
Famous Quotes
"You can't predict. You can prepare."
"Experience is what you got when you didn't get what you wanted."
"Being too far ahead of your time is indistinguishable from being wrong."
"There are old investors"
"and there are bold investors"
