The Problem with Back Testing Investing Strategies for Practical Investors
In surveying some of my favorite blogs recently, I have come upon something that hadn’t previously occurred to me, but could potentially alter how I invest. That is the problem with back testing Investing Strategies. Greenbackd posted an interesting starter piece on this subject called Walking the Walk, that led me back to the original blog from Aswath Damodaran called Transaction Costs and beating the Market. I have often thought there were practical problems with back testing, but I had not tried to articulate them until I read these posts. Both are excellent and worth reading. Damodaran, who is a Finance professor at NYU, and an author of Investment Fables (which I own), writes about the many ways to beat the market in general terms and then goes on to say, “Most of these beat-the-market approaches, and especially the well researched ones, are backed up by evidence from back testing, where the approach is tried on historical data and found to deliver “excess returns”.
Greeenbackd – Interview- Deep Value Investing
Simoleon Sense has an insightful interview today with the author of the great deep value blog Greenbackd. You can get to the interview here. Both blogs are terrific for incredibly different reasons and I have mentioned both in previous blogs, but it bears repeating.
Investing 101, Not Running before you Walk. Start Here
If you are the kind of small time or beginning investor that I am hoping is reading this blog, then I didn’t just throw you into the deep end of the pool, I dropped you into the ocean. So consider this another swimming lesson. Investing 101. Beginning Investor class. More like a list of Investor tips.