My First Million

Quote · My First Million

Howard Marks: how I make money while you worry about a market crash

Explore episode Jul 15, 2026

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Investing with Fear

At 18:56 · chapter starts 17:54

Marks pushes back on the idea that great investors are fearless contrarians who feel no doubt. He reads the same newspapers, watches the same shows, sees the same terrible news — and it looks terrible to him too. 'I overcome it in some way and conclude, no, I should invest. But I'm not immune to what everybody else is reading.' He draws a distinction between rationality and immunity to fear: if you're doing these things without any trepidation, 'maybe there's something wrong with you.' A battle hero isn't someone without fear; it's someone who acts despite fear. He recounts telling a panicking young portfolio manager in 1998 during the Long-Term Capital Management crisis to go back to his desk and do his job. And then the line that opens and defines the whole episode: 'If you wait until you have nothing to be afraid about, probably the opportunity has passed.'

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