Eightfold Investing

Markets manufacture craving and aversion. The record shows how I handle mine.

I invest my own money in a portfolio of US-listed companies. They're cheap, profitable, and conservatively run. Often people find them uninspiring, or even frightening. I aim to profit by holding them when others won't.

I publish the rules first. Then the results get published, including any errors or deviations I might make.

Read the rules

Nothing gets traded before November 1, 2026, the day my record starts.

Open the Ledger
The Core index level
100.0
VT comparative index level
100.0
Breach Count
0

The Eight

Eight principles, each with a test that says plainly when I've broken it. Every deviation is counted and published.

Wisdom: how you see

  1. Clear View

    Know what you actually own.

  2. Honest Intention

    Name the real reason before you change anything.

Conduct: how you act

  1. Plain Speech

    If you can't explain it in thirty seconds, leave it out.

  2. Pre-Committed Action

    Write the rule first, so the moment never decides.

  3. Sound Livelihood

    Your work funds the portfolio. The portfolio doesn't fund your life.

Discipline: how you hold

  1. Steady Effort

    Follow the same rules in every market, especially the bad ones.

  2. Mindful Attention

    Watch yourself, not the market.

  3. Unbroken Horizon

    Judge the strategy in decades, not months.

The Eightfold Letter

Every Sunday morning I send a short essay, with an entry from my temptation log and a link I found useful that week. Most issues take about four minutes to read.

What I publish

  • The portfolio as an index from 100, beside the world's stock markets as represented by VT, monthly
  • What I put in each month, as a cut of gross income (never under 30%)
  • Any withdrawal, the month it happens, with its reason and its size as a share of the portfolio
  • Every time I break one of my rules, and that count never resets
  • Quarterly factor loadings against published data
  • One month later: every holding with its weight, and the screen's full ranked list

What I never publish

  • Account balances, net worth, or income in dollars
  • My broker, or any account identifiers
  • Anything in real time (there's no signals group, and there never will be)