10 Quotes by Burton Malkiel

Stupidity well packaged can sound like wisdom.

The surest way to find an actively managed fund that will have top-quartile returns is to look for a fund that has bottom-quartile expenses.

Historically, the stock market is like a gambling casino with the odds in your favor. Over the long pull, stocks are given something like nine and a half to ten percent compounded per year. The banks have probably given you something in the order of four to five.

Index funds do not trade from security to security and, thus, they tend to avoid capital gains taxes.

Never buy anything from someone who is out of breath.

It’s like giving up a belief in Santa Claus.

Many of us economists who believe in efficiency do so because we view markets as amazingly successful devices for reflecting new information rapidly and, for the most part, accurately.

I have become increasingly convinced that the past records of mutual fund managers are essentially worthless in predicting future success. The few examples of consistently superior performance occur no more frequently than can be expected by chance.

It’s not that stock prices are capricious. It’s that the news is capricious.