Additions to Mission and Values

I'll bet you have never read the Mission and Values statement on SensibleStocks.com. Most people don't. Many have been jaded by generic mission statements that abound in corporate life, and others may think it is just hype or self-serving claptrap.

I actually take the statement of Mission and Values very seriously. I drafted it carefully and have revised it several times. I use it to guide me. It truly reflects what I want to accomplish with SensibleStocks.com.

Inherent in all investing is the gathering, analysis, interpretation, and use of information. I ran across something yesterday that made me realize that I had not explicitly and clearly stated my philosophy about information. So I have now done so.

These are the sections affected. The numbers in parentheses are the numbered statements in the Mission and Values themselves. The text marked in color is what I have added. (Note to subscribers: Such features as boldface and color do not show up on the subscription version of this Newsletter that you receive. I don't know why. You can see the fully formatted version by clicking on the title at the top of this page.)

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(2) Gaining an edge. Peter Lynch was correct when he said, “the amateur investor has numerous built-in advantages that, if exploited, should result in his or her outperforming the experts, and also the market in general.” SensibleStocks.com will help the individual exploit these advantages and create an edge where it can. The edge does not usually come from having more (or "inside") information, but from how information is interpreted and utilized.

(3) Fact-based. SensibleStocks.com is non-ideological. There is no "correct" style of investing. All information and strategies are fact-based and targeted at raising the odds of success. We try out diverse viewpoints and go where the facts lead us. Furthermore, we strive to present all information in an accurate, meaningful, understandable, and insightful way.

(5) Transparent. All information provided or published on Sensible Stocks.com is identified as to source. No secret formulas or proprietary algorithms are used. Everything can be checked out by the user. We aim to simplify concepts wherever possible. Source data is gleaned from multiple free public providers believed to be reliable. That data is then analyzed, integrated, and interpreted to provide meaningful, educational, and actionable information for self-directed individual investors.

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I had another motivation in clarifying my thinking about information and making these changes. I believe that in the age of the Internet, the trustworthiness of information has reached an all-time low, while the ease of its dissemination has reached an all-time high. For example, you have undoubtedly been exposed to political e-mails that fly around the Internet. Some of them are useful and thoughtful, and they can help hone one's thinking on important political subjects. Others are meant to be, and are, funny, and we can all stand to laugh at ourselves once in a while.

But many of them are little more than rants. They are based on faulty, falsified, and selective information used to support a pre-chosen viewpoint. They state opinion as fact. They conform to no editorial standards whatsoever. They seem designed to incite, anger, create fear, and mislead. Sometimes they refer to a source, and if you check out the source, you discover that it has been mis-represented or outight falsified. And nobody seems embarrassed to pass this misleading stuff around, nor moved to correct it for the benefit of their many recipients if the errors are pointed out. Frankly, I am distressed by how prevalent this practice has become. I have taken to deleting practically all incoming e-mails whose titles sound political. It is upsetting to think that otherwise intelligent Americans will use lies, smears, distortions, and name-calling to influence other Americans on important subjects.

Similar problems exist in financial and investing information. In the course of my work, I consult many sources, including blogs, articles, and reader commentaries. I check out or just reject anything that does not pass a basic smell test, or that seems to be opinion masquerading as fact. False financial information can cost you big bucks. It is important to make investment decisions based on information that is both accurate and interpreted intelligently. Unfortunately, there is lot out there that does not meet these fundamental requirements.

So I have made the changes outlined above both to reinforce my own practices, and also to reassure users of SensibleStocks.com that the facts and information provided on this site are, to the best of my knowledge and ability, accurate and interpreted intelligently. The site truly is dedicated to the success of the individual investor. That mission would be violated by the use of false data or stupid analysis.

If you would like to read the full Mission and Values statement (it is not very long), click here.