Meb Faber: 'To Be a Good Investor, You Have to Be a Good Loser'

Our guest this week is Meb Faber. He is co-founder and chief investment officer of Cambria Investment Management, which manages exchange-traded funds and separate accounts. In addition to his duties at Cambria, Faber is a prolific author who has written influential books on tactical allocation and endowment-styled investing, among other published works. He also hosts the popular Meb Faber Show podcast, is an active participant in financial Twitter, and is the architect of The Idea Farm, a web-based research resource he developed for investors. Faber is an experienced angel investor in small, private businesses as well as an investor in alternative assets like farmland and rare coins. He graduated from the University of Virginia with a dual major in engineering science and biology.

Background

Bio

Books

The Meb Faber Show podcast

@MebFaber

The Idea Farm

Celera Corporation

Gattaca

Richard Thaler

James Montier

Current Environment and Market Valuations

Triumph of the Optimists, by Elroy Dimson

"The Best way to Add Yield to Your Portfolio," by Meb Faber, mebfaber.com, July 6, 2017.

"Should a Robot Be Managing CalPERS Portfolio?" by Meb Faber, mebfaber.com, June 8, 2015.

"Should Harvard’s Endowment Be Managed by a Robot?" by Meb Faber, mebfaber.com, Sept. 29, 2016.

Jim Rogers

"I Don’t Feel Overweight," by Meb Faber, mebfaber.com, July 8, 2019.

"The Case for Global Investing," by Meb Faber, mebfaber.com, Jan. 10, 2020.

"Designing a Portfolio With Crypto, Cannabis, and Value in Mind," by Evie Liu, barrons.com, July 1, 2021.

"Stocks Are Allowed to Be Expensive Since Bonds Are Low…Right?" by Meb Faber, mebfaber.com, Jan. 6, 2021.

Twitter thread on contrarian investment beliefs

"Journey to 100x," by Meb Faber, mebfaber.com, July 1, 2021.

"Stock Market Valuations," by Meb Faber, mebfaber.com, March 21, 2020.

Shiller P/E Ratio

Research Affiliates

AAII Sentiment Survey

Galapagos: A Novel, by Kurt Vonnegut

Trend-Following

"A Quantitative Approach to Tactical Asset Allocation," by Meb Faber, papers.ssrn.com, Feb. 1, 2013.

"How Does a Market Get Cheap? The P in P/E," by Meb Faber, mebfaber.com, April 4, 2016.

"OPTO Sessions: Meb Faber on Spotting Market Bubbles," cmcmarkets.com, Aug. 28, 2020.

"The Biggest Valuation Spread in 40 Years?" by Meb Faber, mebfaber.com, Jan. 25, 2019.

"The Case for Global Investing," by Meb Faber, mebfaber.com, Jan. 10, 2020.

"Is Buying Stock at an All-Time High a Good Idea?" by Meb Faber, mebfaber.com, Nov. 4, 2019.

"You Would’ve Missed 961% in Gains Using The CAPE Ratio, and That’s a Good Thing," by Meb Faber, mebfaber.com, Jan. 6, 2019.

Global Asset Allocation, by Meb Faber

Dow Theory

"Diversify, Tilt, Relax--Meb Faber’s Case for Global Investing," by Aaron Neuwirth, efttrends.com, Jan. 14, 2020.

"FAQs on Share Buybacks for Lawmakers, Journalists, and Investors," by Meb Faber, mebfaber.com, Aug. 5, 2019.

Qualified Small Business Stock (QSBS)

AngelList

Unclaimed.org

The Coffee Can Portfolio," by James Kirby, csinvesting.org, Fall 1984.

Favorite Interviews

"Episode #39: Ed Thorp, Hedge Fund Manager, Author, & Professor, ‘If You Bet Too Much, You’ll Almost Certainly Be Ruined,’" The Meb Faber Show, mebfaber.com, Feb. 8, 2017.

"Episode #343: Dr. Nathan Myhrvold, Intellectual Ventures, ‘Pizza in the United States Is What Convinced the World That Pizza Was a Great Thing,’" The Meb Faber Show, mebfaber.com, Aug. 25, 2021.

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