Howard Marks's "Cold-Shower" Letter

One of the most important voices on Wall Street is Howard Marks of Oaktree Capital Management and author of The Most Important Thing Illuminated: Uncommon Sense for the Thoughtful Investor. As reported by Robert Lenzer at Forbes, Howard Mark’s most recent letter cautions against some of the risks recently being taken in the market of late, behavior that resembles events leading up to the financial meltdown

In Marks’ letter he cites “errors of the herd,” “the brevity of financial memory,” and “the role of cycles and pendulums.”

Lenzer writes:

As Marks so grittily puts it; “The scramble for return has brought elements of pre-crisis behavior very much back to life. Mull that description of the fixed income markets in early 2013 over– and decide what the fallout might be on equities. Just as took place most shockingly in 2008 and early 2009.”