In an interview with John Mihaljevic of Beyond Proxy, Marks said that value investors need to do more than just identify a stock that is cheap but has intrinsic value.
That is just "hubristic". From Beyond Proxy:
“If you are a
“I guess what you are saying is we just look at the micro; we look at them one stock at a time; we buy them whenever they are cheap. I can’t argue with that. On the other hand, it is much easier to make money when the world is depressed, because when it stops being depressed, it’s like a compressed spring that comes back.
"…I think it is unrealistic and maybe hubristic to say, ‘I don’t care about what is going on in the world. I know a cheap stock when I see one.’ If you don’t follow the pendulum and understand the cycle, then that implies that you always invest as much money as aggressively. That doesn’t make any sense to me. I have been around too long to think that a good investment is always equally good all the time regardless of the climate."
Marks said it is important for investors to not just be "aggressive" but sometimes, "play defense" too.