Replay – You’re Not as Dumb as You Feel – Herb Greenberg
Ed Borgato investment wisdom: humility, emotional discipline, and behavioral patterns from Lehman Brothers veteran. Market psychology, avoiding predictions, patience as competitive advantage, and timeless investing principles for navigating stock market cycles successfully.
Herb Greenberg curates decades of investing wisdom from Ed Borgato, a market veteran whose journey from Lehman Brothers at 19 through hedge fund management distills into one essential truth: humility beats hubris, and emotional discipline separates survivors from casualties. This isn't bearish research exposing fraud, it's a compilation of nearly 1,000 social media posts and journal entries offering timeless investment principles that help investors avoid self-inflicted wounds, recognize behavioral patterns, and maintain sanity through market cycles.
Ticker Symbol: N/A (Educational content, not company-specific research)
Position Disclosure: This is educational content curated by Herb Greenberg featuring Ed Borgato's investment philosophy. No trading position disclosed; not investment advice.
Original Source: Herb Greenberg - "You're Not As Dumb As You Feel"
Core Thesis
Key Investment Principles from Ed Borgato's Career:
- Markets humble everyone: Even successful investors face drawdowns and mistakes; intellectual modesty and emotional baseline protection are essential survival tools regardless of track record
- Discipline trumps conviction: Separating emotion from portfolio decisions, reserving feelings for people, not positions, enables investors to endure volatility without making impulsive, career-ending mistakes
- Investing ≠ Trading: Understanding the distinction between long-term commitment and short-term speculation prevents strategy confusion; each requires different risk tolerance, patience thresholds, and mental frameworks
- Patience as competitive advantage: The ability to wait, resist herd mentality, and maintain independent thinking during extremes (both euphoria and panic) consistently outperforms reactive behavior
- Predictions are dangerous: Overconfidence in market forecasting and overreaction to short-term movements destroy capital; anchoring in uncertainty and measured analysis preserves it
- Experience compounds: Borgato's four-decade journey from broker to hedge fund manager to outside money management demonstrates that documented lessons, through daily journaling and real-time market participation, create reusable wisdom
- Behavioral patterns repeat: The collection identifies recurring investor mistakes across market cycles, offering actionable frameworks for recognizing when emotion is overriding analysis
Notable Insights & Interesting Facts
Fascinating Details from Borgato's Career and Philosophy:
- Started at 19 at Lehman Brothers: Borgato's career began during a different Wall Street era, providing multi-decade perspective on market evolution and consistent behavioral patterns across technological and regulatory changes
- Daily journaling practice: His systematic documentation of trades, emotions, and lessons created a proprietary database of investment psychology, effectively turning personal experience into transferable knowledge
- Multi-platform thought leader: Originally gained following on Financial Twitter before expanding to Bluesky and Threads, demonstrating adaptation to evolving social media landscapes while maintaining message consistency
- Nearly 1,000 curated posts: Greenberg distilled years of social media observations into organized categories, "On Making Predictions," "On Valuations," "On the Virtue of Patience," "On Going Against the Herd," and "On the Mind of the Market"
- Visual redesign for accessibility: The updated collection features charts, infographics, and structured formatting, making dense investment wisdom digestible for both novices who've bought their first stock and seasoned professionals
- Beyond markets wisdom: Borgato's principles increasingly apply to broader life decision-making, not just portfolio management, reflecting universal truths about emotion, discipline, and long-term thinking
- Retirement pivot story: After retiring, Borgato returned to managing outside money, demonstrating that true investment professionals are compelled by the craft itself, not just compensation
- "A Bunch of General Common Sense": One redesigned section deliberately strips away jargon to present plainly-worded guidance, acknowledging that sophisticated investing often returns to fundamental truths
FAQs
What is the main purpose of Herb Greenberg's compilation of Ed Borgato's work?
The primary goal is to compile and republish timeless investment reminders that reinforce humility, emotional discipline, and intellectual modesty in navigating stock markets. Rather than analyzing specific companies or alleging corporate misconduct, the collection curates wisdom from Borgato's decades-long career, from Lehman Brothers through hedge fund management, to help investors avoid common psychological pitfalls and emotional extremes.
Who is Ed Borgato and why is his perspective valuable?
Ed Borgato is a market veteran whose career trajectory spans from starting at Lehman Brothers at age 19, through roles as broker, investment adviser, and hedge fund founder, eventually returning to manage outside money after a retirement pivot. The report emphasizes that his systematic daily journaling practice over decades created a storehouse of portfolio-management principles, with historical social media posts and personal trading journals serving as primary source material that validates his observations through real-world experience.
What are the key differences between investing and trading according to this collection?
Investing involves relatively long-term commitment requiring patience and measured analysis, while trading represents rapid-fire, emotionally-charged decisions. These differing strategies require varying degrees of risk tolerance, patience thresholds, and mental discipline, with Borgato's personal journals serving as cautionary tales for those deviating too far from analytical approaches toward emotional decision-making.
Why does the report emphasize humility so heavily?
Markets inherently humble everyone, even successful investors face drawdowns and mistakes. Intellectual modesty and emotional baseline protection function as essential survival tools regardless of track record, with Borgato's decades of experience reinforcing that overconfidence and extreme emotional swings consistently destroy capital across market cycles.
What are the main categories of investment wisdom in the collection?
There are structured sections including "On Making Predictions," "On Valuations," "On the Virtue of Patience," "On Going Against the Herd," "On the Mind of the Market," and "A Bunch of General Common Sense." These categories distill nearly 1,000 social media posts into evergreen observations and rules of thumb that articulate common-sense wisdom gained over Borgato's long career.
Does this report make predictions about specific stocks or market direction?
No. According to the compiled wisdom, making predictions is actually identified as dangerous investor behavior. Overconfidence in market forecasting and overreaction to short-term movements destroy capital, while anchoring in uncertainty and measured analysis preserves it. The collection focuses on behavioral frameworks rather than directional calls.
How does the report suggest investors should handle market extremes?
Investors should maintain emotional balance during both euphoria and panic, resist herd mentality, and preserve independent thinking. The compilation stresses that the ability to wait and avoid reactive behavior during extremes consistently outperforms impulsive decisions, with patience functioning as a competitive advantage.
What role does journaling play in Borgato's investment approach?
Borgato's systematic daily journaling practice transformed personal experience into transferable knowledge, effectively creating a proprietary database of investment psychology. These journals captured real-time lessons from market participation and served as both documentation and teaching tools, encouraging readers to learn from documented successes and failures.
Is this research bearish on any particular company or sector?
No. This is not company-specific research focused on scrutinizing overblown projections, accounting irregularities, or corporate malfeasance. Instead, it's a collection of investment insights and behavioral wisdom designed to help investors at any level avoid self-inflicted psychological mistakes across all market conditions and sectors.
Where can I read the original source material?
The original compilation by Herb Greenberg featuring Ed Borgato's investment wisdom is available at: https://www.herbgreenberg.com/p/replay-youre-not-as-dumb-as-you-feel
Does Ed Borgato or Herb Greenberg disclose any trading positions?
It does not discuss specific trading positions, promotional campaigns, or conflicts of interest. According to the content reviewed, this is educational material focused on investment philosophy and behavioral discipline rather than research with disclosed long or short positions in specific securities.
How does this collection differ from typical equity research reports?
Unlike traditional equity research analyzing specific companies for potential fraud, accounting irregularities, or negative catalysts, this compilation focuses entirely on investor psychology and portfolio management principles. The report does not scrutinize corporate practices, discuss unusual trading volumes, or link entities to financial misconduct, instead offering timeless wisdom applicable across all investment decisions.
How does this collection differ from typical equity research reports?
Unlike traditional equity research analyzing specific companies for potential fraud, accounting irregularities, or negative catalysts, this compilation focuses entirely on investor psychology and portfolio management principles. It does not scrutinize corporate practices, discuss unusual trading volumes, or link entities to financial misconduct, instead offering timeless wisdom applicable across all investment decisions.
Important Disclaimers
This is not primary research. The summary above represents a brief overview of a comprehensive collection of investment wisdom compiled by Herb Greenberg featuring insights from veteran investor Ed Borgato. For complete context, detailed examples, and the full depth of analysis, readers should consult the original source material.
Original Author & Credit: Herb Greenberg (curator) featuring Ed Borgato's investment philosophy
Position Disclosure: This content does not constitute company-specific bearish research. No disclosure of long or short positions is provided in the original material, as this is educational content focused on investment psychology and discipline rather than directional trading recommendations.
Access Full Report: Herb Greenberg - "You're Not As Dumb As You Feel"
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