Quotesia
Home
Authors
Popular authors
E. Joseph Cossman
Oswald Chambers
Dale Carnegie
Arthur C. Clarke
Alexander Pope
Edwin Markham
All authors
Today's birthdays
1903 - Clare Boothe Luce
1946 - Jim Valvano
1969 - Paget Brewster
1983 - Carrie Underwood
1920 - Boris Vian
1936 - Sepp Blatter
Today's birthdays
Popular professions
Inventor
Actress
Athlete
Aviator
Actor
Chef
All professions
Authors by letter
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
N
O
P
Q
R
S
T
U
V
W
X
Y
Z
All authors
Topics
Top Quotes
Quotesia
Favorite authors
Eugene Fama Quotes
Eugene Fama Quotes
Eugene Fama
American
Economist
Born:
Feb 14
,
1939
Any
Buy
Finance
Good
People
Think
Related authors:
Alan Greenspan
Herbert A. Simon
John Kenneth Galbraith
Milton Friedman
Paul A. Volcker
Richard Thaler
Robert Reich
Thomas Sowell
After costs, only the top 3% of managers produce a return that indicates they have sufficient skill to just cover their costs, which means that going forward, and despite extraordinary past returns, even the top performers are expected to be only as good as a low-cost passive index fund. The other 97% can be expected to do worse.
Eugene Fama
Good
Past
Other
Extraordinary
Despite
Top
Worse
Only
Costs
Performers
Return
Returns
Cover
Passive
Expected
Managers
Going
Just
After
Which
Low-Cost
Produce
Skill
Means
Forward
Even
Fund
Sufficient
The problem that people don't understand is that active managers, almost by definition, have to be poorly diversified. Otherwise, they're not really active. They have to make bets. What that means is there's a huge dispersion of outcomes that are totally consistent with just chance. There's no skill involved it. It's just good luck or bad luck.
Eugene Fama
Good
People
Bad Luck
Problem
Luck
Active
Otherwise
Good Luck
Consistent
Definition
Bad
Outcomes
Totally
Bets
Diversified
Almost
Involved
Make
Understand
Huge
Managers
Just
Poorly
Really
Skill
Means
Chance
State constitutions typically provide that the state first has to service its debt, then make it pension payments, and then pay for services. What we don't know is whether that order will be enforced. And ultimately, the busted state is going to be looking to the federal government for a bailout. Think Greece, but on a much bigger scale.
Eugene Fama
Service
Government
Will
First
Looking
Pay
Think
State
Scale
Pension
Constitutions
Federal
Federal Government
Bailout
Know
Make
Provide
Ultimately
Debt
Greece
Going
Order
Bigger
Whether
Then
Much
Enforced
Payments
Busted
Services
In an efficient market, at any point in time, the actual price of a security will be a good estimate of its intrinsic value.
Eugene Fama
Time
Good
Will
Value
Market
Intrinsic
Security
Point
Price
Efficient
Any
Estimate
Actual
There's quite a bit of evidence that even professionals don't show any ability to pick stocks or to predict market rollbacks. Most of the people we identify as skilled based on returns have probably just been lucky.
Eugene Fama
People
Predict
Market
Bit
Evidence
Ability
Pick
Most
Identify
Returns
Been
Stocks
Any
Quite
Quite A Bit
Just
Skilled
Show
Lucky
Even
Professionals
Based
An investor doesn't have a prayer of picking a manager that can deliver true alpha.
Eugene Fama
Prayer
Deliver
Investor
Picking
True
Alpha
Manager
People are always saying that prices are too high. When they turn out to be right, we anoint them. When they turn out to be wrong, we ignore them. They are typically right and wrong about half the time.
Eugene Fama
Saying
Time
People
Half
Too
Out
High
About
Prices
Wrong
Half The Time
Always
Them
Turn
Ignore
Right
Right And Wrong
People don't walk away from their homes unless they can't make the payments. That's an indication that we are in a recession.
Eugene Fama
People
Walk
Recession
Unless
Indication
Make
Payments
Homes
Away
I'm an extreme libertarian, but I realize we're in a democracy, and in a democracy, people can have views of all stripes, and there's no reason to argue about it.
Eugene Fama
Democracy
People
Extreme
Libertarian
Stripes
About
No Reason
Argue
Realize
Views
Reason
I think bubbles are things people see with 20/20 hindsight. If you look at any particular period where prices go up and then they go down, you will always find people who predicted that they would go down. Those are the people you pay attention to.
Eugene Fama
You
People
Will
Pay
Pay Attention
Down
Think
Those
Would
Find
See
Prices
Bubbles
Attention
Particular
Look
Period
Hindsight
Always
Go
Up
Any
Where
Predicted
Then
Who
Things
I buy the market through index funds. Since I'm getting older, I buy TIPS.
Eugene Fama
Buy
Getting Older
Older
Market
Through
Since
Getting
Tips
Funds
After 2008, my brand of finance got a bad rap.
Eugene Fama
Finance
Rap
Bad
Bad Rap
Got
Brand
After
The investors who generate big returns over five years, the guys they write books about, are supposed to keep winning, right? Well, they don't.
Eugene Fama
Big
Books
About
Guys
Winning
Write
Generate
Investors
Over
Supposed
Well
Returns
Years
Five
Who
Keep
Right
The proposition is that prices reflect all available information, which in simple terms means since prices reflect all available information, there's no way to beat the market.
Eugene Fama
Simple
Reflect
Market
Way
Beat
Prices
Proposition
Since
Terms
Information
Which
Available
Means
In my junior year in college, I was getting kind of tired of French. So, I took an economics course, and I loved it. The rest of my two years in college I spent in economics.
Eugene Fama
Tired
Rest
College
Economics
Year
Took
Spent
Kind
French
Course
Years
Junior
Junior Year
Getting
Loved
Two
All the central banks are doing is substituting one form of debt with another form of debt. They're issuing short term debt and using it to buy long term debt. In finance, we tend to think that's a neutral activity, even though those stimulus programs are huge.
Eugene Fama
Finance
Buy
Long
Think
Programs
Those
Though
Tend
Neutral
Long-Term
Term
Another
Doing
Stimulus
Huge
Debt
Short
Banks
Form
Central
Short-Term
Using
Even
Activity
No more Eugene Fama quotes
Haven't find the right quote? Try quotes from authors related to Eugene Fama.
Alan Greenspan
Herbert A. Simon
John Kenneth Galbraith
Milton Friedman