Many investors or potential investors we meet assume that once they put their money to work, they are guaranteed a return. Unfortunately, that is not how investing works.

Companies and countries have used markets for years to raise money from public investors. In return, investors receive compensation for the risk they take. But not all companies - or countries - are the same.

Wouldn’t it be great to know in advance whether the stock market will rise or fall and position ourselves to profit from it? In reality, nobody can get it right - not even the giants in investing. We show why it is detrimental to one’s health and wealth to play this fool’s game.

Every year brings its share of surprises. But how many of us could have imagined that 2016 would see the Chicago Cubs win the World Series, Bob Dylan receive the Nobel Prize in Literature, Donald Trump elected president, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average close out the year a whisker away from 20,000?

Our analysis of markets over a 15 year period shows that markets go up more often than come down. In fact, the best market days typically follow a correction.

Diversification has been called the only free lunch in investing. But can investors do even better?

The market events of January 2016 provide an opportunity to examine several questions important to investors and revisit some fundamental principles of investing in capital markets.

Contrary to the beliefs of some investors, dramatic changes in security prices are not a sign that the financial system is broken but rather what we would expect to see if markets are working properly.