I am not into martial arts or anything like it, but I am a huge fan of the “Bruce Lee approach to life.” Mr. Lee summed up his philosophy very eloquently when he said the following “Absorb what is useful, reject what is useless, and add what is uniquely your own.” This is precisely what the individual investor or trader must do in order to develop a sustainable competitive advantage that exploits market movements and consistently creates above average returns.

If, before his untimely death, Bruce Lee studied finance and not the martial arts, he would likely have made an excellent money manager.

He would not have dogmatically followed any particular strategy. Instead, he would take what he found useful from the various strategies, such as global macro, equity long/short, distressed securities, etc, and created his own unique strategy that leveraged his individual talents and market conditions.

He would not owe allegiance to any country’s assets - he would act as a global citizen — and utilize the effects of the inefficiencies created by dumb government policies. Right now (in general), he would continue to be short equities, short the dollar and long commodities. He would continue to ride the stagflationary recession theory as continues to increase in strength.

When you understand the nature of the economic and political institutions of the world and operate from a mental framework that utilizes the effects of the inefficiencies created by these institutions you become a true jedi master and profit from whatever the markets throw at you. -John Bardacino