94 THE INVESTMENT TEAM
“Heavier-than-air flying machines are impossible.” (Lord
Kelvin, 1895)
“Everything that can be invented has been invented.” (Charles
Duells, Patent Office director, 1899)
“It is an idle dream to imagine that... automobiles will take
the place of railways in the long distance movement of people.”
(American Railroad Congress, 1913)
“There is no likelihood that man can ever tap the power of the
atom.” (Robert Millikan, Nobel prizewinner in physics, 1920)
“Who the hell wants to hear actors talk?” (Harry Warner, 1927)
“There is no reason for any individual to have a computer in
their home.” (Ken Olson, president of Digital Equipment Cor-
poration, 1977)
“The Beatles will go nowhere.” (Decca Records, 1963)The investment profession is not immune to the same sorts of
laughable mistakes. Here are some beauties:“Bonds will outperform stocks.” (Typical 1920s investor)
“Diversification is undesireable. One or two, or at most three
or four securities should be bought.” (Gerald Loeb, 1950)
“We believe that growth stocks are the soundest and safest plan
for the average investor.” (T. Rowe Price, 1960)
“The stock market is efficient.” (Jim Ware, student at Univer-
sity of Chicago, 1978).As you can see, no one is exempt from the making of dumb state-
ments.
One major bank is currently running ads that feature serious-
looking career people saying things like, “Our job is to see around
corners.” Uh-huh. The people pictured are wearing the most con-
servative outfits that big money can buy... and they are supposed
to be the wild and crazy types who dream up the next zany idea.08-13 ware 94 1/19/01, 1:11 PM